The Ugly Duchess is the first book I've read by Eloisa James and for the most part I enjoyed it. I've read other reviews where others either loved it or hated it. I am somewhere in-between. I am a huge fan of the friends to lovers trope so the beginning of the book really worked for me. As the marriage fell apart when James' betrayal was revealed and the years apart changed both James and Theo into different people, I felt that their actions were selfish and couldn't totally get on board with the reconciliation at the end.James and Theo have been friends since they were babies. At the age of 17, Theo is finally coming out among the ton. James is 19 and has no interest in getting married. When he discovers that his father has gambled away the family fortune and has started embezzling from Theo's dowry, James is forced to marry Theo to hide his father's crimes. At first, James is resistant. He doesn't want to deceive his friend and he is more than willing to have his father pay for his crimes. But when he sees Theo flirting with another man, James can't help but have unbrotherly-like feelings towards her.Theo knows that she's not pretty. Her looks are not conventional or feminine. When she sets her sights on Trevelyan as the man she want to pursue, she convinces James to act like her beau in order to gain Trevelyan's interest. What she doesn't count on is the heated kiss that she experiences with James to completely change their friendship forever.I really enjoyed the first half of The Ugly Duchess. James and Theo are both young so I wasn't surprised when James gave into his father's demand to marry Theo. At the age of 19, James is still wet behind the ears and not yet a man. So I didn't think of James as weak when he married Theo in order to save his father. He truly loved Theo as a friend and they have a great relationship. That friendship is a great foundation for their marriage and I felt that eventually the friendship would bloom into full-fledged love in which it did. When Theo discovered that James married her under false pretenses and threw him out the house, declaring the marriage was over, I could understand why James ran off, with his tail between his legs. Again, he hurt his dearest friend. The only person he truly loved and could be himself with. He hated himself for it. So he takes off to the seas. But there comes a time where you have to man up and return to your life and face the consequences. In my opinion, James took too long to do this. It took seven long years for him to return and he expects for Theo to welcome him with open arms? I don't think so.While James was gone, Theo had to deal with the fall out of her marriage. She was called The Ugly Duchess and the papers said that her husband couldn't stand to be married to her because she's so ugly. Theo remakes herself; going to Paris and buying the best fashion. She has a successful business and runs her household with order. She decides she doesn't need the kind of relationship she had with James. She just needs a husband to possibly give her children. Theo has become cold. Gone is the happy girl that James called, Daisy.What ruined my enjoyment of the book was that when James returned, Theo put up a good fight. She wasn't going to be lulled by his charm. She didn't want her husband and was more than willing to move out of the house so that she wouldn't have to be around him. But her resistance didn't last long. James admitted on several occasions that he had mistresses while he was gone. But they didn't mean anything and he only slept with them when he changed his name from The Early to Jack Hawk. Well, it still counts because a name change doesn't change the fact that it was your penis! And he also tried to justify his adultery by saying that Theo was the one that said the marriage was over. Weak! If he'd bothered to return and not stay away like a weak little bastard, I am sure his marriage would have been more than salvageable and Theo would have forgiven him. But he took the cowards way out by staying away and then returns, blaming Theo for his indiscretions. This bothered me a lot and it really bothered me when Theo basically was like, yeah you're right. I did tell you to never come back.Theo had remade herself into a successful businesswoman but had very little spine when it came to dealing with James. James should have been on his knees begging for forgiveness. It should have take longer than days for him to earn her forgiveness. James giving Theo a bath without wanting to have sex with her is not an indication that he's serious about his marriage.I felt the reconciliation to the weakest aspect of the book. I found it disappointing that Theo forgave him so easily and that James didn't fully own up to his own crap. I felt that in the end, Theo was to blame for everything and James got off scott free.The Ugly Duchess was a good read (the first half) and a frustrating read as well. James pissed me off for his reasoning for staying away. Theo pissed me off for not giving him a harder time for his indiscretions and being away for so long. But all in all, it didn't deter my enjoyment of the book. She should have kicked him in the balls over and over and over while James is begging for her mercy and forgiveness.
