Any Duchess Will Do

Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare

Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, is kidnapped by his mother one morning and taken to Spinster's Cove where she tells him he must find a bride. He negotiates a deal to choose any woman he pleases and his mother will turn her into the toast of the ton within a week or she will cease to pester him about marriage. Thinking to get the best of her Griffin chooses the most unsuitable young lady he can find: Pauline Simms, a barmaid at the local tavern. Pauline is having an incredibly awful day after the closed minded villagers pick on her sister who is mentally retarded. At first she thinks Griffin's attentions are a joke, but when he offers her money for spending a week being a disappointment, she accepts his offer. She is fascinated by London and by the lifestyle that Griffin and the rest of the aristocracy leads, but she knows that it is not a life she is destined for as she has her sister to look out for. She quickly realizes that behind his facade of carefree elegance, Griffin has a streak of melancholy and her curiosity is piqued when she discovers he has a set of rooms that he does not allow anyone to enter.

Griffin is surprised at how well Pauline takes to his mother's Duchess training and it quickly becomes apparent that Pauline was destined for something more than being a mere barmaid. Pauline and Griffin form a team of sorts as they work with each other to fool the ton and joke about life, the people around them, and their own situations. Pauline also gets to know the Duchess, Griffin's mom, and is surprised to learn that she is truly a caring woman who just wants what is best for her son and she feels bad about her agreement with Griffin. Pauline also feels comfortable enough with Griffin to reveal that she longs to open a library for the ladies of Spindles Cove and Griffin is immensely supportive, even going so far as to recommend books. But as much as they've bonded over this week, Pauline has a family and a future to return to and it is up to Griffin to show Pauline how much he is willing to work towards a future for them.

Dare has always been a solid writer and this book is definitely one of her better ones, even if it is not quite as good as I know she can write. Pauline does not really work as a barmaid as she has so much knowledge, common sense, and life skills that someone who had had her life would really not have had. I do overlook unrealistic aspects of romance novels though so this did not really bother me and I saw that it was necessary as a Duke and a barmaid would, in reality, have so little in common as to make a relationship between them ridiculous. She is spunky (in a good way), she is compassionate and caring and her relationship with her sister is so admirable that it would be impossible not to like her. Griffin is also funny and smart and he suits Pauline so well in these aspects and, typical of the romance novel hero, he has a past as a rake and a bit of a hell raiser. References to this are sporadic and irritated me as at one point he talked about liking variety among women's breast sizes and I felt it tasteless and awkward.

There were many little things between them that really made their relationship so great; little moments where they'd joke or share a private secret or memory and are so hard to completely express in a review. They were so supportive of each other and I really appreciated that in a romance and they did get to spend quite a bit of time together in moments both happy and sad which went a long way towards showing how they would get on together as a real couple. I really enjoyed the the relationship between Griffin and his mother because it was so complex and so full of past hurts and misunderstandings when really they both wanted the other to be happy. And I liked that Pauline was able to be a part of this part of the story as she wanted to help the man she loved. I also liked reading about Pauline's sister and how Pauline cared for her and how she got along in society.

Rating: A very fun, enjoyable book that was a very fast read. Both characters were likable if not entirely realistic and I always like romances that bust out of societal norms in a big way.

A Lady by Midnight

A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare

Kate Taylor has been looking for a place to belong her entire life after being abandoned at a girls' school as a young child and having only hazy memories of her past. She has found friends and happiness in Spindles Cove but she is still determined to find out the truth about her past. Captain Samuel Thorne, a militia leader stationed in Spindles Cove, recognized Kate immediately upon seeing her after many years, but is happy when she does not recognize him. He knows he must keep his distance; despite his attraction to her he believes she is far too good for him and she mistakes his standoffish attitude as dislike. But she is slowly coming to realize that maybe he is more kind and generous than he is letting on and wants to delve more into this handsome man. Everything is thrown into the air when the Gramarcy's, a titled but very unconventional family, show up and claim that Kate is their long lost relative. Kate cannot believe her good fortune in finally having a family of her own, but Thorne is wary of trusting them and does not want them to learn the truth about Kate's upbringing.

To protect her he declares that the two of them are engaged and though they decide it is temporary it does not stop everyone they know from being thrilled at the idea of their marriage. Neither thinks the marriage will happen, but they do find that they are spending far more time together than usual and Kate is noticing little things about Thorne that go against the taciturn image he has built up. Thorne has dreams about moving to America and working his own plot of land and when Kate starts talking about going with him as his wife, he knows that he wants this future but does not want to drag her down with him. When papers surface that make it clear Kate is the legitimate daughter of a marquess neither knows what path to choose as she now stands to inherit piles of money and property even while it means her family may go broke. As her past starts to resurface Kate discovers that Thorne has been keeping secrets from her and while she is furious she cannot see a future without him. She must make him see that, no matter their social standings, they belong together wherever the future takes them.

I loved Katie and how caring she was for those around her, how determined she was in everything she did. I liked her insecurities and her naivete, which is unusual for me but Dare portrays these foibles with such a deft touch that it was impossible not to like her. She was strong and capable and had a great sense of humor but did have a tendency to do things that were a little too stupid to live. Thorne was obviously a dedicated captain with a checkered past and I did enjoy that he felt comfortable enough with Kate to finally share the truth with someone. He is dark and unsmiling and, although he has flashes of kindness she has to look deep to find them, and I felt like it was a very unusual pairing as they were so different. He was trying to protect her by keeping the past from her but that just seemed ridiculous and the inevitable fight that arose from his deception was equally so. His past, while haunting, did not really justify in my mind such an unhappiness that pervaded him and I quickly grew tired of his moodiness. Because of their differences I just did not see how a relationship between them would work.

The two of them spent quite a lot of time together and while it was no hampered by any distracting side plots of crazy circumstances, I just did not see how this time would lead to the two of them falling in love. He seemed infatuated with her partly because of their past together and she was very attracted to his muscular good looks, but neither was particularly in love with the other because of real reasons that I could understand. There was a nice amount of sex in the novel and Dare does a great job of imbuing her novels with great buildup and this book was no exception however, as romance novels break more sexual boundaries, she does begin to seem tame. Unfortunately, one incident particularly disturbed me; Thorne had a flashback to war and entered a different mindset and ended up flinging Kate against a wall. The fact that she does didn't get hurt proved to her that he could never truly harm her, but I do not like this new trend of mentally disturbed, almost violent, heroes who need the heroine to make him all better.

Rating: A fun heroine with a brooding and damaged hero, but the relationship was sorely lacking. This book definitely did not live up to the Spindles Cove, or Tessa Dare, standard.

A Week to Be Wicked

A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare

Minerva Highwood, eldest of the three Highwood daughters and long overshadowed by her younger sisters' beauty, has been enjoying her summer in Spindle's Cove away from the pressures of society and with the freedom to pursue her own interests. Minerva is interested in rocks and Spindle's Cove has plenty of caves that offer a budding young geologist lots to explore and study. When Minerva discovers the footprint of a giant lizard in one of these caves she knows she must present it at the next meeting of the Scottish Geological Society and she knows the best way to get there. Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, is whiling away his time in Spindle's Cove until he comes into his majority and his older cousin has no choice but to give him access to his funds. He does not find playing nursemaid to the women of "Spinster's Cove" amusing and has no love for the local militia his cousin is so interested in. But even he admits that butting heads with the bookish Minerva has its high moments, but even he is unprepared when Minerva comes to his house in the middle of the evening to share her plan for how to get to Scotland. She wants the two of them to fake an engagement and they can travel together to Scotland and afterwards they will break the engagement and she will live out her life in Spindle's Cove.

Colin knows the idea has no chance of working but he is intrigued by the offer and the chance to spend more time with this fascinating women, however he is swept along by the moment and the two of them are off to Scotland before he realizes what is happening. He is determined to protect Minerva and her fossil, intrigued by this woman who has more passion in her than he has ever had for anything in his life. The two run into quite a lot of trouble on their journey and Minerva discovers that the carefree facade that Colin presents to the world is a way to escape the horrors of his past and forget about the tragic deaths of his parents. Both realize they have misjudged the other and all those nights spent in close proximity bring out the desire they have had for each other since the beginning. But as they get closer to Scotland Colin's doubts about his past and Minerva's fear that she is not good enough for the beautiful rake come bubbling to the surface and it is only one more little hiccup on the journey that will prove to both of them that they can make a happily ever after for themselves.

Tessa Dare consistently writes fun, entertaining, and easy to get lost in romance novels with sympathetic and lovable characters who have a real, have to root for, relationship and this book continued her winning streak. Minerva was the perfect mix of independence and intelligence with some naivete and understandable fear and self-doubt thrown in and it this realistic mix that makes her so perfect. I love that she wasn't stereotypically beautiful, especially loved that she was dependent on glasses and didn't just have to wear them to read, and that she was so passionate about something. Colin was not so different than many romance novel heroes in that he had a tortured past and a reputation for trouble. He's desperately gorgeous and a lord, however his youth and his fortune being controlled by someone else are certainly new and I liked that he wasn't all powerful and did have someone to answer to. The two have a history in previous book that the reader is given a hint of and apparently they are quite opposed to each other, probably as a cover for the attraction they feel. The two are very compatible, despite being almost complete opposites, because they have such respect for the other. She admires the way he has overcome the circumstances of his parents' demise and offers him comfort as a means of continuing to move past it. He is so respectful of her chosen career path, even when he acknowledges he does not really understand it, and is so helpful in furthering her career and determined to see her succeed. Even while they didn't seem to have all that much in common, what they did have in common was their mutual love for each other and a desire to see the other happy and it was quite beautiful really. One of my favorite scenes was when she compared her need for spectacles to make the world right to their need for each other in order for the world to make sense. There was some pretty hot, and frankly very humorous, sex scenes that were sprinkled nicely throughout the book. As usual, Dare's writing was spot on; humorous, entertaining, fast, and enjoyable and she set up the next book in the Spindle's Cove series very nicely and I look forward to reading it.

Rating: Avery well written and enjoyable book with two great characters and a romance that was so wonderfully done.

Once Upon a Winter's Eve

Once Upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare 1221

Violet Winterbotom is a wallflower who escaped to Spindle's Cove after she fell in love with her next door neighbor, gave him her virginity, and he promptly left to go exploring. She finally found her voice and a place where she feels welcome and accepted but her family wants her to come back and marry. Until one day a French farmer appears at a ball, bloody and weak, bearing a striking resemblance to the man Violet had named The Disappointment. She uses her skills with languages to try to find out what the man is hiding something and when she is left alone with him the truth inevitably comes out. Christian had fallen in love with Violet but when his brother was killed in the war he saw it as a sign that he needed to do something more, but leaving Violet was the hardest thing he ever did. Hearing of her family's marriage plans he comes back to make one last desperate plea for a future with Violet even while knowing he cannot give up his career. Both of them have a lot to work through but together they can move beyond their past and start a new life that suits both of them.

The story was incredibly short but it was enough time to fall in love with Violet as a character because she was so intelligent and quick thinking, not to mention quite caring for a man who could have been the enemy. Christian's motives were well explained but I did not really enjoy not knowing who he was until about halfway through a really short book. They had fallen in love with each other before the book began but throughout the course of the novella their feelings changed because the person they had fallen in love with had changed as well. I really enjoyed that they both had to get to know the new person and how it added to their feelings because it was a nice change from many short stories. There was a little bit of steam, nothing major but I did not feel like anything was missing and it fit well in the story and in the progression of their relationship. There was a lot of intrigue in the book because they had to escape from the people in Spindle's Cove and it was not my favorite thing because it took up a lot of space in an already short story but it was an interesting little addition.

Rating: A good little short story that continued the story of a very interesting little town about two people who were well suited to each other but the shortness did mean some things were left out.

A Night to Surrender

A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare 1112

Susanna Finch is the de facto leader of Spindle's Cove which has become a haven for women who have trouble fitting in with society and need a place to explore and be themselves. She enjoys herself and the environment of welcoming she and her fellow townspeople have created. Victor Bramwell is desperate to regain his commission to help fight Napoleon and he turns to his father's friend, the amorist, Lewis Finch. Finch informs Bram that he can get his command back but that he has been honored with the Earldom of Rycliff and he must raise and train a militia in Spindle's Cove. Bram is not pleased to hear this but he sets about trying all he can to find eligible men, a hard task since the community has turned into a haven for women and even the local tavern has become a tea shop. Susanna does not like Bram for coming in and disturbing her peace and his actions threaten to ruin the reputation of Spindle Cove; a reputation she has worked so hard to maintain. She needs Spindle's Cove as a safe place for herself and for all the women of England who need to be welcomed somewhere.

Bram has been an officer his whole life and when his knee injury threatens to ruin his career it also threatens his sense of self so he sees his enterprise in Spindle's Cove as his last chance and he doesn't want anyone standing in his way. They are at cross purposes and bickering and bantering over the future of Spindle's Cove, but they also come to an agreement that their two groups can work together. Bram thinks he is just what Susanna needs; she is loud and tall and takes charge and he is just the man who can stand up to her and not allow her to run roughshod over him. Susanna feels that she has finally found someone in Bram who she can depend on but she worries that his military career will always be more important and he will end up abandoning her. With the officer's ball and the militia review coming up tensions are running high and Susanna and Bram are both unsure of where their relationship is heading and how much they will have to give up to be together. But when an accident threatens Spindle's Cove and their lives it is clear to both of them that they will do anything for the love they share.

I really liked Susanna because she was genuinely strong and brave and capable and presented herself as so confident and had hidden vulnerabilities. I take issue with romance novel heroines who are presented as so strong but Susanna really was; she built Spindle's Cove to protect other women like her who needed a safe haven and took pride in what she had accomplished. She had a purpose in life beyond the mere charity work and because Bram had one too, it made them more equals. Bram was a very well developed character because he so identified with his role in the army that he couldn't see his life without it. It was only with Susanna coming into his life that he could see life beyond being an officer and enjoy that prospect. And similarly he made her take risks with her own hopes and desires and come to recognize that she was hiding in Spindle's Cove and could take a chance on him and on her life. This really made their relationship pop to me because they complemented each other so well and each of them needed the other in some way and became a better person with the other's help.

There was a good amount of sex in the novel and it was well written and pretty hot and inventive. While I understood that Bram was presented as so different from all the men she had met her life up to this point because he did was not intimidated by her and presented a challenge, I found it odd that such a big deal was made over how he could stand up to her and wouldn't be pushed around. The men in Spindle's Cove did tailor their work to suit the needs of women because that's how they made their living and Bram was personally affronted by this. There was a little too much of a theme of making real men out of people and I found it insulting that Bram couldn't appreciate that a blacksmith who fixed lockets was just as good as one who spent his life throwing horseshoes or whatever. The militia buildup was interesting and I liked that Bram and Susanna worked together for much of the novel to make things work out and helped each other. The book was a typical length but for some reason I became bored about half way through and felt like the book dragged after that.

Rating: Two well developed and well suited characters with a strong relationship but I was bored during the book even if I can't put my finger on precisely why.