Wilde Child: Wildes of Lindow Castle

by Eloisa James, Susan Duerden (Read by)

Overview

Eloisa James returns to the Wildes of Lindow Castle series with the next Wilde child who runs and joins a theatre troupe — and the duke who tries to save her reputation. He wants a prim and proper duchess, not the Wildest of the Wildes!

Already notorious for the golden hair that proves her mother’s infidelity, Lady Joan can’t seem to avoid scandals, but her latest escapade may finally ruin her: she’s determined to perform the title role of a prince—in breeches, naturally.

She has the perfect model for an aristocratic male in mind: Thaddeus Erskine Shaw, Viscount Greywick, a man who scorned the very idea of marrying her.

Not that Joan would want such a dubious honor, of course.

For years, Thaddeus has avoided the one Wilde who shakes his composure, but he’s horrified when he grasps the danger Joan’s putting herself in. Staring into her defiant eyes, he makes the grim vow that he’ll keep her safe.

He strikes a bargain: after one performance, the lady must return to her father’s castle and marry one of three gentlemen whom he deems acceptable.

Not including him, of course.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781799952480
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/30/2021
Series:	Wildes of Lindow Castle Series , #6
Sales rank:	735,792
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 6.70(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Susan Duerden is an actress and an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. Her reading of The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht earned her an AudioFile Best Voice Award and a Booklist Editors’ Choice Award. She has won ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. Here career spans film, television, theater, voice-overs, and animation. She has played critically acclaimed and award-winning theatrical roles on London’s West End and Off Broadway; acted in the features Lovewrecked and Flushed Away; and held a recurring role on ABC’s Lost.

Eloisa James, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, wrote her first novel after graduating from Harvard, but alas, it was rejected by every possible publisher. After she got an MPhil from Oxford, a PhD from Yale, and a job as a Shakespeare professor, she tried again, with much greater success. In 2013 she won a Rita Award for Best Romance Novella. She teaches Shakespeare in the English department at Fordham University in New York. She is the mother of two children and, in a particularly delicious irony for a romance writer, is married to a genuine Italian knight.

Editorial Reviews

"A story as wild as the heroine's family name and one that will reward romance fans who want a funny book about an unusual heroine." — Kirkus Reviews

"With the latest swoon-worthy addition to her best-selling the Wildes of Lindow Castle series, RITA award-winning James (My Last Duchess, 2020) not only delivers another utterly beguiling, effervescently witty, and scintillatingly sensual love story in splendid homage to the Bard but also a fascinating mini-masterclass on Hamlet." — Booklist (starred review)

“Longtime historical romance fans and newbies to the genre (particularly those whose interest was piqued by Bridgerton) will delight in this well-done addition to a solid series.” — Library Journal

“A sparkling Georgian romance. James’ writing shines and the Wilde clan’s infectious energy is the epitome of delightful. Overflowing with tried-and-true romance tropes like opposites attract and secret pining, Wilde Child proves that sometimes there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.” — BookPage

“As usual, Eloisa James manages to weave a sweet, funny, and poignant tale. I don't think readers of the Wilde family antics will be disappointed.” — Romance Reviews Today

From the Publisher

A sparkling Georgian romance. James’ writing shines and the Wilde clan’s infectious energy is the epitome of delightful. Overflowing with tried-and-true romance tropes like opposites attract and secret pining, Wilde Child proves that sometimes there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.”

BookPage

As usual, Eloisa James manages to weave a sweet, funny, and poignant tale. I don't think readers of the Wilde family antics will be disappointed.”

Romance Reviews Today

"With the latest swoon-worthy addition to her best-selling the Wildes of Lindow Castle series, RITA award-winning James (My Last Duchess, 2020) not only delivers another utterly beguiling, effervescently witty, and scintillatingly sensual love story in splendid homage to the Bard but also a fascinating mini-masterclass on Hamlet."

Booklist (starred review)

04/01/2021

A seemingly stodgy ducal heir meets his match—a particularly improper member of the scandalous Wilde family. Thaddeus, Viscount Greywick, must marry a proper woman in order to keep the gossips at bay as his ailing father casts doubt on his legitimacy. Naturally, he falls for the theater-obsessed, likely illegitimate Lady Joan as he helps her fulfill her dream of playing the title role in Hamlet. James continues her latest series with the same mix of humor and emotion that has characterized the previous books. The funnier scenes are balanced with genuinely heartwrenching moments, particularly as Thaddeus navigates his feelings about his dying father. While some of the situations are downright farcical, the well-drawn characters keep the novel grounded. VERDICT Longtime historical romance fans and newbies to the genre (particularly those whose interest was piqued by Bridgerton) will delight in this well-done addition to a solid series.—Jenny Kobiela-Mondor, Eckhart P.L., IN

Library Journal

2021-01-13
Opposites attract when the unconventional daughter of a Georgian duke strikes an unlikely bargain with a straight-laced family friend.

Lady Joan Wilde has been raised as the beloved daughter of the Duke of Lindow in spite of the fact that she is known to be illegitimate and no daughter of Lindow’s. The whispers about her parentage, juxtaposed with a loving and loyal family, have made her a bit wild. Her shenanigans have been harshly judged by the rigidly proper heir to the Duke of Eversley—Thaddeus, Viscount Greywick. Joan has grown up acting in theater productions with a traveling troupe that visits Lindow Castle every year but dreams of acting on a real stage before a public audience. Against his better judgment, Thaddeus, who's visiting Lindow Castle with his mother, agrees to help her perform in disguise as Hamlet in a nearby town. This plot brings them closer together, but Thaddeus needs to marry an unimpeachable lady to repair the reputation of his family and his title since his father has been living scandalously with his mistress and their children for decades. Joan’s illegitimacy and wild ways make her ineligible, especially if Thaddeus’ father carries out his threat to publicly challenge his marriage to Thaddeus’ mother so his son with his mistress can inherit the dukedom. James displays her signature humor, describing a society matron (named, delightfully, Lady Bumtrinket) as “the kind of well-upholstered English lady who glistens with rectitude.” In another laugh-out-loud scene, the dramatically dying Duke of Eversley is borne into the Lindow dining room on an ermine-draped litter. The Duke of Lindow goes on with his meal, the ultimate snub.

A story as wild as the heroine's family name and one that will reward romance fans who want a funny book about an unusual heroine.

Kirkus Reviews