Eloisa James Books

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Eloisa James is a tenured Shakespeare professor (Fordham University) that writes historical romance. Eloisa’s real name is Mary Bly. She was born in 1962 in Minnesota to Robert and Carol Bly.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that writing runs in Eloisa’s blood. Her father was an award-winning poet. On the other hand, Carol Bly wrote short stories. In fact, Carol used her daughter for inspiration when she wrote ‘The Maternity Wing, Madison, Minnesota.’

Her godfather (James Wright) was even more awe-inspiring. Wright wrote a poem for Eloisa, which he included in ‘Collected Poems.’ The volume won a Pulitzer Prize. Eloisa grew up reading.

She did not have a choice in the matter. Her household did not have a television. Instead, her family had amassed a sizable collection of books. Eloisa’s father was always reading to his children, introducing their young minds to literary classics.

These stories sparked the author’s imagination. She started producing plays with her siblings and charging adults a fee to witness the results of her hard work. Her fascination with romance at that time was difficult to ignore.

She blames the obsession on Georgette Heyer. Eloisa couldn’t get enough of her work. And even though Robert wanted her to read the classics, he permitted Eloisa to consume one romance novel a week.

Eloisa, who attended Havard, Oxford, and Yale University, started writing romance during her stint at the University of Virginia. She already had one child, and her husband was hesitant to add a second one.

He wanted the couple to clear their student loans before expanding their family. The author responded by following in her parent’s footsteps. She wrote a story and made a submission to a publisher.

The advance she made cleared her student loans. However, despite her success, she was a little hesitant to pursue publishing. The author was an untenured professor. She wanted to keep her academic work separate from the romance novels she wrote.

This is where the ‘Eloisa James’ pen name emerged. She used the name to write multiple bestsellers. Eloisa was so determined to keep her publishing career a secret that she would ditch her glasses in favor of contacts whenever she attended functions under her pseudonym.

However, by the mid-2000s, Eloisa had decided to reveal her second career to her friends. The author realized that she kept her second career a secret because she was ashamed of her romance novels.

She rejected that attitude, walked into a faculty meeting at her university, and shared copies of her books with every professor at the gathering. She also defended the romance genre in an article in The New York Times.

Eloisa’s father, stepmother, and mother are proud of her publishing success. They support her decision to write romance novels. Carol went so far as to create a crossword puzzle for the author’s website.

When she died from ovarian cancer, Eloisa worked with her publisher to support a program that raised awareness about the illness.

Eloisa James Awards

Eloisa has won RT Reviewers Choice and Romance Readers Anonymous Awards.

Best Eloisa James Books

The author is married to an Italian knight (Alessandro Vettori). They have a son and daughter. Eloisa James’ best books include:

When Beauty Tamed The Beast: Linnet Berry Thrynne was a different kind of beauty. Some women were lovely. But Linnett was blessed with equally impressive wit and charm. She had brought princes to their knees, and in her esteem, Piers Yelverton would succumb to her wiles just as quickly.

People said the Earl of Marchant was immune to the seductive ways of women. They also spoke of his bad temper. But Linnet was confident she could bring him to his knees within weeks. She had no idea what awaited her.

A Kiss At Midnight: Kate Daltry was too old to believe in love or fairy tales. Gabriel proved her right when he appeared at a ball Kate’s mother forced her to attend. The pair couldn’t stop clashing with one another.

However, neither Kate nor Gabriel could ignore their attraction for each other. The only problem was Gabriel’s fiancee. Gabriel was already betrothed, and even though he liked his fiance, he was more interested in wooing the impoverished beauty he met at the ball.

This left him in a difficult position. Could he abandon everything he wanted for a chance at true love?

When Does The Next Eloisa James book come out?

The next book by Eloisa James is Hardly a Gentleman and will be released on April, 29th 2025.

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