PART 1 : LOVED it! Witty, charming, fun, sweet, passionate and so heartbreaking. 
 PART 2 : Everything that made the story and characters enjoyable started to fall apart. I didn't care for Theo's (a.k.a Daisy) 'transformation'. She went from a sweet, goofy, lovable mischievous young girl to an aloof, serious, tightly controlled frigid ice queen. I understood her need to want to take control of her life after separating from James but her strict rules on her fashion style and way of life I found tiring and snobby. She turned into an obsessive compulsive dingbat who would panic if her bed wasn't made up or her sheets weren't properly folded (even during sex come on!). And she thought everything regarding sex was distasteful and shameful, that bothered me to no end because it was such a polar contrast to her younger self who clearly loved making love. And her reasonings to why she hates sex didn't seem genuine. I missed Daisy. I know Eloisa James is a fashion fangirl and loves the high culture of the Regency era and all things delightfully embellished but when the heroine gets carried away describing every detail and nuance in refurbishing a ducal room or how she had a cape cut to suite her 'edgy' style it starts to create an artificial tone that isn't endearing or relatable. I had the same issue in another of her books regarding the fashion mania and once again EJ got carried away in here. There were moments where I really didn't like the cavalier arrogant tone in Theo's inner monologues. I especially wasn't a fan of her internal dressing down of her close 'friends' and complete obsession with beauty. I had to keep pausing and ask myself this is the heroine??........Never a good sign. I understood the reason behind the obsession with vanity but there were moments it made her come off like a high-flying hypocritical snob rather than enchanting swan. EJ's heroines are known for their snarkiness and eccentric off-the-bat personalities but she missed her mark completely here with how she characterized Theo. She came off more like a haughty mean girl one too many times for my liking. So while I loved and adored young Theo, it was difficult at times to empathize or even like older Theo. :( 
 James, the former Earl-turned-pirate-turned-Duke was quite a hero. He started off on the wrong foot and went into a marriage with his 'Daisy' under false pretenses but EJ did a good job rationalizing and giving a lot of introspection on James's true feelings and motives. He clearly loved and adored Daisy so I couldn't hate him or blame him for everything. You have an eccentric heroine who's labeled as 'ugly' by the entire ton which leads to her deep insecurity of herself. The ugly-duckling-turned-swan theme of the story was heartbreaking and sweet. The transformation was more of Theo finding her confidence and learning to dress better and embrace her sharp features. I thought James becoming a pirate was a nice surprising twist. I very much enjoyed that because it was unexpected. It was fun seeing his transformation from a young lanky handsome teen to a huge intimidating swash-buckling pirate. 
 This book is the perfect example of how EJ can write very angsty romance with a tormented couple. She has it in her and here she mastered it brilliantly. I felt both hero and heroine had a lot of growing up to do and they did but it was a lengthly process and understandably so. There is a lot of self-discovery and self-revelations I just wish EJ didn't spend so much page time keeping the h/hr apart only to come to a rushed abrupt reunion in the end. The ending is what made it lose a star for me. If the ending was a little more realistic and well paced than I would have probably rated this higher. I adored the epilogue but still their overall reunion could have been handled better. It almost came across like the couple were up against a clock and had run out of page time so they needed to hurry. It just screamed 'oh! there are only 20 pages left??! Quick, let's kiss and make up! The End.' Eeeh. Didn't fly with me. I mean you have them sharing ILY's and Theo miraculously overcoming her personal fears and reservations over marital intimacy in a matter of 2 DAYS after James's return to England. That gave me whiplash and was a little unbelievable. Theo's abrupt turnabout was the most contrived part of all it considering hours earlier she was set on moving out and insisting they separate. Their reunion takes up the last 20% of this book, not even that. They were apart for 7 years I think they deserved a little more time than 2 freaking days to truly re-discover each other and fall in love again.