Once Upon a Tower [NOOK Book]

( 98 )

Overview

Once upon a time…

A duke fell in love

Gowan Stoughton of Craigievar, Duke of Kinross, values order and self-control above all else. So when he meets a lady as serene as she is beautiful, he promptly asks for her hand in marriage.

With a lady

Edie—whose passionate temperament is the opposite of ...

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Once Upon a Tower

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More About This Book

Overview

Once upon a time…

A duke fell in love

Gowan Stoughton of Craigievar, Duke of Kinross, values order and self-control above all else. So when he meets a lady as serene as she is beautiful, he promptly asks for her hand in marriage.

With a lady

Edie—whose passionate temperament is the opposite of serene—had such a high fever at her own debut ball that she didn’t notice anyone, not even the notoriously elusive Duke of Kinross. When her father accepts his offer… she panics.

And when their marriage night isn’t all it could be, she pretends.

In a tower.

But Edie’s inability to hide her feelings makes pretending impossible, and when their marriage implodes, she retreats to a tower—locking Gowan out.

Now Gowan faces his greatest challenge.  Neither commands nor reason work with his spirited young bride. How can he convince her to give him the keys to the tower…

When she already has the keys to his heart?

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Eloise James' new romance puts a dizzying new spin on the fairytale classic Rapunzel. In Once Upon a Tower, the lush golden locks belong to Lady Edith Gilchrist, a noble woman with a passion for solitude and music. Her impetuous decision to marry a near stranger leads to disappointment so severe that she locks herself in the closest available belfry to teach her new mate a much-deserved lesson. However, Marmaduke Leopold, Duke of Kinross, is not so easily deterred, and his attempts to win back the affections of his wife form the body of this perfect bedtime novel. A mass-market and NOOK Book original.

Library Journal
Captivated by the charming, ever-so-agreeable Lady Edith Gilchrist from the first time he sees her, the normally levelheaded Duke of Kinross proposes—and is accepted—the next day. But Edie was ill and not at all herself, so she writes him a very direct letter laying out her practical, unromantic marital expectations. Her missive in turn elicits an equally direct but totally opposite response from the surprised duke, setting the stage for an unforgettable romance that satisfies on all counts. Superb secondary characters (a wonderfully outrageous stepmother, in particular) and timeless, well-handled relationship issues add to the fun. VERDICT Exquisitely written, insightful, hilarious, and sometimes bawdy, this adroit, offbeat, music-laced, Shakespeare-infused take on the classic Rapunzel story will put cello-playing into a whole new light and a tower on every woman's wish list. James (The Ugly Duchess) lives in the New York City area.
BookPage
“Eloisa James delights again with a story that’s both sophisticated and sweet, featuring layered characters who walk right off the page and into the reader’s heart.”
RT Book Reviews (top pick) 4 1/2 Stars
“James’ twist on Rapunzel sweeps readers away into a fairy tale full of deep emotion while exploring the themes of self-imposed imprisonment, family relations, love, marriage and what is at the heart of any relationship. James wraps big themes in a wonderfully romantic story, beautifully written, intelligent and unforgettable.”
Booklist (starred review)
“a symphony of delights for romance readers, a lyrically written love story graced with richly nuanced characters and generously seasoned with the author’s incandescent wit.”
Teresa Medeiros
“Eloisa James’s writing is absolutely exquisite. She is one of the brightest lights in our genre...her writing is truly scrumptious.”
Julia Quinn
“Eloisa James writes with a captivating blend of charm, style, and grace that never fails to leave the reader sighing and smiling and falling in love. Her style is exquisite, her prose pure magic. Nothing gets me to a bookstore faster than a new novel by Eloisa James.”
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleyps
“Eloisa James is extraordinary. With her sensuous and elegant style, inventive plotting and warm, human characters, she makes every book a treasure. A novel by Eloisa is a delicious treat that shouldn’t be missed. A wonderfully original voice in romance fiction!”
Kirkus Reviews
An erotic novel set in England and Scotland in the early 1800s. Gowan, a Scottish duke, falls in love with Edie, the daughter of an English gentleman, who reciprocates his feelings. They are both virgins: Gowan was disgusted by his own father's philandering and wants to save himself for the love of his life, and Edie is a proper English lady. Both were raised by their fathers after their respective mothers died. As it happens, sexual incompatibility threatens their marriage, but ultimately, their shared values as well as their deep love for one another will save it. Edie is a talented cellist who might have been a world-class performer had she been born a man. She jealously guards her time for practice. It was her father who taught her to play, and music was how they connected. Gowan, meanwhile, runs the family estate and oversees the workers, unlike his father, who was an irresponsible drunk. Gowan also has a half sister he wants to raise with Edie. Edie loves her stepmother, whose own marriage to Edie's father is on the brink. The two women help each other with marital advice that eventually will pay off. The dialogue between characters is witty, but there are too many explicit, repetitious bedroom scenes. According to the author, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and the story of Rapunzel inspired this book, and there are references to and quotes from both. A work of romantic historical fiction with an emphasis on sex.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780062223883
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 5/28/2013
  • Series: Fairy Tales
  • Sold by: HARPERCOLLINS
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 416
  • Sales rank: 10,551
  • File size: 2 MB

Meet the Author

Eloisa James

Eloisa James is a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author and professor of English literature, who lives with her family in New York but can sometimes be found in Paris or Italy. (Her husband is an honest-to-goodness Italian knight!) Eloisa's website offers short stories, extra chapters, and even a guide to shopping in Florence.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 98 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(57)

4 Star

(21)

3 Star

(11)

2 Star

(4)

1 Star

(5)

Your Rating:

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 98 Customer Reviews

  • Posted May 28, 2013

    more from this reviewer

    Once Upon a Tower there was Sir Gowan and Lady Edi. Sir Gowan wa

    Once Upon a Tower there was Sir Gowan and Lady Edi. Sir Gowan was a strapping Scottish Laird and Lady Edi was a Musical prodigy. They met by chance at a ball. They married before they truly knew each other. Now The Scottish Laird must get his lady love to come out of Tower so he can prove that there really are HAE's. This is the story of a couples way to happily ever after. I loved the hero and heroine as well as the secondary characters.

    6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 30, 2013

    Good not great

    First off....I love this author, but this plot just wasn't her best. I felt she was parodying Romeo and Juliet at first...the twist being what actually happens after that love at first sight moment ends and real life begins...and i liked it based on that. I just had a hard time with the ending. I was thinking now she's in a tower...not sure why except maybe that fits the rapunzel fairy tale theme??? It just seemed forced at the end to fit that theme. Also i didn't buy their responses to each others issues. I felt like it was one capricious move after the other and it came off immaturely. I do generally enjoy that "young love messes up due to immaturity" plot device EJ uses at times (Ugly Duckling is one of my favs). But unlike that wonderful novel the immature behavior comes at the end of the tale rather than the beginning. I didn't feel like it was realistic (or endearing) for the story to be resolved this way. I feel like I'm being really picky but that's what happens EJ when you write awesome books...your fans start to expect the best of the best! Sorry I still love your work.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 29, 2013

    I loved, absolutely LOVED, "Once Upon A Tower", Eloisa

    I loved, absolutely LOVED, "Once Upon A Tower", Eloisa! I laughed, I cried, I rejoiced. I also loved how you brought to light the realistic issues of an intimate nature between a married couple. It's not all fun and games and endless hours of mutual pleasure. Then your resolution... {{SIGH}} I believe all men should read romance novels to get more acquainted with how to romance their girlfriends, partners, and wives... not to mention perhaps bedroom tips(!).

    4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 28, 2013

    Fairy Tales do come true

    Do it
    Buy it
    Read it
    Love it
    Once again Eloisa James writes a story that spins such a sweet tale - music, Shakespeare, love, heartbreak, Scotland!

    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 14, 2013

    Love this series

    Interesting how Eloisa incorporates the fairy tale into her story line. Also love seeing characters from Julia Quinn as part of the story.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 10, 2013

    I usually love everything that comes from EJ's pen.  Once Upon a

    I usually love everything that comes from EJ's pen.  Once Upon a Tower just wasn't up to her usual standards. I was very disappointed.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 24, 2013

    Aggravating

    I didnt care for this one. Both of the main characters were unlikable, the storyline was pretty thin. The fairy tale series is running out ofgas.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 14, 2013

    Great

    This was a great story and the characters were amazing to read about. I lovd the entire book start to finish !

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 5, 2013

    Eloisa James is one of my favorites....and while reviews were di

    Eloisa James is one of my favorites....and while reviews were divided and I didn't know what to expect, I found this book to be a delightful win! Moved me to tears, to laughter. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 31, 2013

    Bad book

    This book was very boring.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 2, 2013

    Fun Book

    Really enjoyable. I love this authors style and really enjoy her characters. We worth the read.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 21, 2013

    Good but...

    Not up to her usual standards. Eloisa James is always on my 'buy' list but this book ended up being disappointing to me. It felt like maybe it was out too soon and needed to stew in her head a bit longer and have another revision before it hit the shelves. At the beginning, I immediately liked Gowan and Edie, but then they became very wishy washy in their character to me and I lost my connection. I couldn't get a feel of who they were. By the end I didn't care much for Edie and thought Gowan deserved better-- especially when he is getting beat up by everyone! Even the tower scene was anti-climactic for me. And the secondary characters had a lot of potential too but then they just petered out and got ridiculously dramatic. This book won't stop me from buying Eloisa James the next time, but if this is your first reading experience with her, I would suggest starting at When Beauty Tamed the Beast or Much Ado About You first.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 14, 2013

    Needed serious editing and characters to care about. Waste of ti

    Needed serious editing and characters to care about. Waste of time, money and paper/ink.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 9, 2013

    Sad that I didn't enjoy it more.

    I had loved her previous work but this one left me cold. Hopefull for her future work.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 3, 2013

    Couldn't put it down

    Ms James has outdone herself. I like how she turned this fairy tale into a true lesson in love. She didn't make it all happiness and perfection. It showed love is imperfect and you have to make comprimises. You could feel the music of the cello as it wrapped around the two lovers, the power of words and how it destroys. But in the end, how far some one will go to get what they need, what they can't live without.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 2, 2013

    Redemption!

    I forgive you ej for "The Ugly Duchess". This one is much more heartfelt and better constructed, the plot makes a lot more sense with events that unfold organically and elegantly. The characters mature (in an age appropriate way) such that if we were to encounter them 7 years later (ahem), they would probably still be recognizable as themselves, just older and wiser. Also, they're likeable. Ms. James has captured perfectly the obsession world class musicians, dancers, artists, writers and anyone driven to express themselves creatively has with their art. Yes it can drive the people around you bonkers, but if you find someone who "gets it" or at least tries very hard, you can't help but love them. Gowan does eventually understand sooner rather than later and in typical "golden boy" fashion "gets it " good. Edie is an interesting mix of snarky and innocent, and isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer but is a musical genius who is racked with self-doubt.

    The best character of all is Layla who seems to have stepped right out of that Tennessee Williams screwball comedy "The Glass Cat on a Hot Streetcar". We all need a Layla!

    I'm puzzled by the "professional" review that calls this erotic. It's not. There is sex in it but it's mostly cringe worthy and clunky, intentionally. Until the characters figure it out, then it's sweetly sexy and endearing. Anne Rice's "Beauty" series is erotic, this is...........not.

    Wow this is a long review, sheesh. So, except for the anachronistic dialogue which normally irritates me but doesn't so much this time, I think she hit it out of the ballpark!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 1, 2013

    Let me be honest here. Eloisa James is probably my favorite roma

    Let me be honest here. Eloisa James is probably my favorite romance author. However, this is the one book by her that I was very dissapointed by. SPOLIERS: I found the heroine Edie very whiny and contradictory. Ms. James usually has very strong willed women as heroines but Edie was annoying and childish. She came off loving and sincere in the beginning and then went the opposite way at the end. She would show desire for her new husband Gowan and then pretty much her repulsed her during sex. She was too childish to to tell that sex hurt her, and she treated the situation like an immature woman. Gowan seemed to love her much more than she loved him. I liked his character a lot more than Edie's. Edie was also OBSESSED with her fricken cello. She was in love with an object; she would complain that Gowan doesn't make time for her but she pretty much went crazy on anybody that bothered her while practicing her beloved Cello. I'm not really sure who she is after reading this. Her personality seemed to change throughout the book. Layla, he stepmother was the best character in this entire book; lots of laughs. 3 stars.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 11, 2014

    Bree (post)

    Continue tommorow guys im sorry... if the lags back then im going to bed))

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 11, 2014

    Austin

    Austin nodded, already halfway recovered.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 11, 2014

    Dec

    Pulled out of her mourh and smacked her

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
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