NEW REVIEW: Three Weeks With Lady X by Eloisa James

Having made a fortune, Thorn Dautry, the powerful bastard son of a duke, decides that he needs a wife. But to marry a lady, Thorn must acquire a gleaming, civilized façade, the specialty of Lady Xenobia India.
Exquisite, head-strong, and independent, India vows to make Thorn marriageable in just three weeks.
But neither Thorn nor India anticipate the forbidden passion that explodes between them.
Thorn will stop at nothing to make India his. Failure is not an option.
But there is only one thing that will make India his—the one thing Thorn can't afford to lose...
His fierce and lawless heart.

I may need a moment because the epilogue left me wrecked! Wonderfully wrecked though... Three Weeks With Lady X is the second book I've read by Eloisa James, the first having been My American Duchess which is also a favourite of mine. But Thorn has to be my favourite hero in James' books... so far that is. I've always said that I prefer titled heroes in my historicals but I may have been a bit premature because I feel like by blows are extremely underrated. Thorn with his rough ways, his passion and his confidence snared me from the start.

"He might have dressed like a bloody peacock to come to her, but it was all just show, covering up who he really was: more beast than man. They were beauty and the beast, the lady and the bastard... It was stupid. Impossible."

India and Thorn's relationship starts as wonderfully as any amazing love/hate relationship romance starts. At first they can't stand one another but there's this underlying attraction despite that. Their chemistry just sizzled off the pages and if I wasn't laughing at the veiled insults they threw at one another, I was getting all hot and bothered because of the sexual tension.

"Incredible," he murmured. "Miracles necer cease. I am always surprised by what my sex will tolerate."

"How odd," India said sweetly. "I myself am never surprised by men. Absurdity is so common that it seems characteristic of your sex."

Then there were all the heartwarming moments when they were realising their feelings for one another, or when they were remembering their childhood. I honestly don't want to go into the details of this book, because while there was nothing out of the ordinary about it when it comes to a historical romance, the characters were definitely extraordinary and I fell in love with them so hard. The writing drew me in which is why this is my first 6 star read of 2017.

Strongly recommended!