‘The Duchess Deal’ Girl Meets Duke #1 by Tessa Dare

From the BLURB:

When girl meets Duke, their marriage breaks all the rules…

Since his return from war, the Duke of Ashbury’s to-do list has been short and anything but sweet: brooding, glowering, menacing London ne’er-do-wells by night. Now there’s a new item on the list. He needs an heir—which means he needs a wife. When Emma Gladstone, a vicar’s daughter turned seamstress, appears in his library wearing a wedding gown, he decides on the spot that she’ll do.

His terms are simple:

• They will be husband and wife by night only.
• No lights, no kissing.
• No questions about his battle scars.
• Last, and most importantly… Once she’s pregnant with his heir, they need never share a bed again.

But Emma is no pushover. She has a few rules of her own:

• They will have dinner together every evening.
• With conversation.
• And unlimited teasing.
• Last, and most importantly… Once she’s seen the man beneath the scars, he can’t stop her from falling in love…

‘The Duchess Deal’ is the first book in a new historical romance series by Tessa Dare, called ‘Girl Meets Duke.’

Yes I have finally, finally, finally read this much-anticipated book and it was indeed worth the wait.

‘The Duchess Deal’ is very much borrowing from the ‘Beauty & the Beast’ trope (which is itself, harking back to the Greek myth of Psyche and Eros), about a scarred war veteran who takes a seamstress as his wife – purely for the purposes of begetting an heir, and under the condition that there be no true love between them … which of course all unravels when they start to get to know each other.

What is interesting about this historical romance though, is how it perfectly illustrates the responsiveness of the romance genre to changing social norms and political discourse. I had read Tessa Dare talking about writing this book right when Donald Trump was elected, and how suddenly this ultra-Alpha hero she wrote just didn’t cut it anymore. She had to address the issue of a woman falling for an outwardly vile person who is actively trying to put her off falling for him … look, the Duke of Ashbury is no pussy-grabber by any means. But there’s clearly been a lot of work put into him showing his true (kind, caring) colours to wife Emma, and putting on a mask to the rest of the world. It works – astonishingly well.

What else works is the little asides that Dare throws in, referencing the here and now. Like this wink-wink that actually had be GASPING for joy;

“Forgiveness requires penitence. She was warned. Given every explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted in her sinful behaviour, and she would not repent of it.”

Yes. This is Tessa Dare at her clever best, and the romance genre proving itself as the most feminist in publishing – women writing women for women, and proving that a woman’s place is in the resistance.

This book was hot with heart, and I was 1000% here for it. I am so excited for more instalments about this group of clever and commanding women.

5/5

'Spindle Cove' by Tessa Dare

Series BLURB:

Spindle Cove, nestled in a peaceful corner of Regency Era England, has long been known as "Spinster Cove," due to its preponderance of unwed ladies of "delicate constitutions"--and that's the fictional setting for a delightful historical romance series by Tessa Dare.

‘Spindle Cove’ is the historical romance series by Tessa Dare, which started in 2011 and currently stands at five books.

So, I read first book in the ‘Spindle Cove’ series way back when and loved it. But at the time there were only two books in the series – ‘A Night to Surrender’ and ‘A Week to Be Wicked’ – and I remember deciding that I’d keep buying all the books, but put the aside for a huge binge read when the time was right and I was in the regency romance mood.

Well, my friends – that time came and I am one happy, happy reader.

I inhaled the first three books in this series – ‘A Night to Surrender,’ ‘A Week to Be Wicked’ and ‘A Lady by Midnight’ – over the course of one month. Books four and five are next on my list, but first I just wanted to rave about where I’m at right now.

 So ‘Spindle Cove’ is exactly what it sounds like – a remote seaside village in England that’s part nature-convent and part bluestocking-hideout for young women who are past their “prime” or have little chance of ever reaching it. The Cove is run by Susanna Finch, who had a troubled upbringing in and out of institutions for various medical conditions, and vowed to create a more holistic approach for other young women and shy wallflowers.

But Spindle Cove’s idyllic setting is interrupted by the presence of militiamen, and someone across the seas called Napoleon who is causing some troubles … Victor Bramwell, the new Earl of Rycliff, is in charge of the militiamen and finds himself drawn to Ms Finch and the rabble of local men and spinsters who are enlisted to help protect the Cove.

The series pivots around various spinsters and militiamen, and it’s as scrumptious as it sounds. Particularly as Tessa Dare has basically decided to write about a regency feminist outcrop where modern ideals are presented as outliers to the times, but utterly accepted within the confines of the Cove. It’s bloody marvellous and ingenious.

I also love that the various spinsters are all the types of women you don’t get to read a whole lot of in regency/historical romance … Susanna in the first book is an out and out feminist, waaaaaay ahead of her times. Second book heroine is Minerva Highwood; a young geologist who prioritises her studies above all else and is currently set in discovering evidence that “giant lizards” may have once roamed the earth. Kate Taylor of third book ‘A Lady by Midnight’ was an orphan now Spindle Cove music teacher, with a distinctive birthmark on her face. And I just love that Tessa Dare’s setting has allowed her to basically throw out the confines of traditional historical heroines, and also romance dynamics. With all the romances so far, I wouldn’t categorise the men as “pure alphas” because there’s so much back-and-forth between the heroes and heroines, and I don’t think I’ve ever read a series in which the men and women are on such an equal standing with one another.

Second book so far is my favourite, for the romance between Minerva Highwood and Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne. She’s the bookish wallflower, he’s the womanising militiaman – but though that’s a very typical trope in historical’s, there’s nothing typical about Minerva and Payne;

“Don’t you do that.” She turned away from the mirror, toward him. “Don’t you dare make a joke. It took a great deal of courage to say what I did. And you don’t have to speak a word in return, but I will insist you be man enough to take it. I won’t have you making light of my feelings, or making light of yourself—as if you’re not worthy of them. Because you are worthy, Colin. You’re a generous, good-hearted person, and you deserve to be loved. Deeply, truly, well, and often”

― Tessa Dare, A Week to Be Wicked

I am head-over-heels in love with this historical romance series. Tessa Dare is one of the best in this genre, and ‘Spindle Cove’ is the kind of series that could convert a romance naysayer, while making true fans squeal in delight.

5/5

'One Dance with a Duke' Stud Club #1 by Tessa DARE

From the BLURB:

A handsome and reclusive horse breeder, Spencer Dumarque, the fourth Duke of Morland, is a member of the exclusive Stud Club, an organization so select it has only ten members - yet membership is attainable to anyone with luck. And Spencer has plenty of it, along with an obsession with a prize horse, a dark secret, and, now, a reputation as the dashing 'Duke of Midnight.' Each evening he selects one lady for a breathtaking midnight waltz. But none of the women catch his interest, and nobody ever bests the duke - until Lady Amelia d'Orsay tries her luck.

In a moment of desperation, the unconventional beauty claims the duke's dance and unwittingly steals his heart. When Amelia demands that Spencer forgive her scapegrace brother's debts, she never imagines that her game of wits and words will lead to breathless passion and a steamy proposal. Still, Spencer is a man of mystery, perhaps connected to the shocking murder of the Stud Club's founder. Will Amelia lose her heart in this reckless wager or win everlasting love?

I measure all of Tessa Dare’s works against her first (brilliant) book ‘Goddess of the Hunt’. Maybe that’s unfair – but she set the bar so high with her debut, and sadly she hasn’t managed to reach those heights since.

‘One Dance with a Duke’ begins with a murder. A gentleman of the ton is killed and three of his acquaintances think that his death has to do with a ‘Stud Club’ he created. The club's purpose is to share tokens amongst men for breeding privileges between their mares and an elite horse stud (owned by the murdered man). The three men decide to conduct their own investigations into the murder. And for one of them, Spencer Morland, the death hits close to home and prompts him to take a wife and get an heir.
Enter Amelia d’Orsay – a past her prime wallflower who is too plump and too clever for most ton gentlemen. But Spencer is charmed and drawn to her, and promptly proposes.

I think my biggest problem with every Tessa Dare novel since ‘Goddess of the Hunt’ is convolution. The main reason I liked ‘Goddess’ was because it was a very simple story about boy likes girl, boy gets girl. Her subsequent novels involved high-seas drama and complex political dealings. And ‘One Dance with a Duke’ is complicated by a murder. I was a little frustrated by the ‘whodunnit’ sideline plot because it was just that – a sideline. Murder Mystery is clearly not Ms. Dare’s forte, and that plot thread was pretty quickly and carelessly tossed aside.

As far as the romance went – I did like it. Spencer and Amelia were wonderful, mostly because Amelia was fighting an uphill battle with Spencer’s guarded emotions. He was a real reclusive bachelor, more interested in horses than humans;

She stared at him in horror. “You want a broodmare!”
He said evenly, “When you draw that comparison, you demean us both. I have many fine mares in my stables, and yet there is not a one of them I would allow to mother my children or manage my household, much less introduce my cousin to society. No, I do not want a broodmare. I want a wife. A duchess.”

But once Spencer started opening up to Amelia he revealed himself to be a very compassionate and loyal romantic.

I didn’t like the conclusion. It was a rather layered ending, a lot of scene-changing and character monologues describing their actions and motivations... I think it was a rather weak ending. But overall I think the ‘Stud Club’ is shaping up to be a stronger trilogy than her previous and I will be reading subsequent books.

3/5

My favorite books of 2009

Thorn Queen ‘Dark Swan #2’ by Richelle Mead

I was very disappointed to read Mead’s announcement a few months ago that there would be no book #3 released in 2010. According to Mead, a decision had to be made and her publishers cast the final vote that the 5th ‘Georgina Kincaid’ and 5th ‘Vampire Academy’ would receive more publicity (and Mead would do more author tours to promote the books), which meant she wouldn’t have time to release 3 books in one year. To be honest, I would have been more upset by this news if ‘Thorn Queen’ hadn’t been so damn satisfying. So much happened in this second instalment – true, it finished on a serious cliff hanger that left readers dangling over the edge of a potentially explosive plot for ‘Iron Crowned’ – but there was so much Dorian/Eugenie smuttiness and such HUGE plot advances that I can forgive Mead’s decision to hold off on book 3 until she has more time to properly promote it.

Succubus Heat ‘Georgina Kincaid #4’ by Richelle Mead

She is clearly a favourite author of mine – but I have a love/hate relationship with this series. No doubt I absolutely *LOVE* ‘Georgina Kincaid’, but I *HATE* how emotionally invested I get. I don’t think I ever laugh or cry so hard when I read these books. One minute I’m chortling along after one of Georgina’s wise-cracks, the next I’m bawling my eyes out over Seth’s callous actions (or feeling furious and wanting to poke a fork through Maddie’s eye!). Never before has the emotional rollercoaster of Georgina’s life been so hellish and smutty as in ‘Succubus Heat’. It was a phenomenal read, even if the ending left me feeling a bit depressed. I went to Richelle Mead’s book signing for ‘Blood Promise’ – and I am really looking forward to book #5 ‘Succubus Shadows’ after hearing a few of her comments regarding character development.

‘Soulless’ by Gail Carriger

I LOVED this book! Thankyou to Mandi at Smexy for pushing me to read it. I was a little hesitant at first because of the whole ‘Steampunk’ genre being totally foreign to me – but Carriger has written such a brilliantly fanciful and lustful supernatural story that is impossible not to love. Parasols and vampires, dirigibles and werewolves – what’s not to be obsessed about? I loved leading lady Alexia Tarabotti and her beau Lord Maccon – they were such a hot couple, they put the ‘steam’ into ‘steampunk’ and I cannot wait to read more of their adventures in ‘Changeless’ (March 30th 2010).

‘Frostbitten’ by Kelley Armstrong

This was the 10th book in Armstrong’s ‘Women of the Otherworld’ series – and it went back to being about my favourite ‘Otherworld’ couple, Elena and Clay. So much has changed for these two since we last saw them in ‘Broken’, I kind of loved that while there have been books in between, Elena and Clay have been expanding their family and carrying on in their lives. ‘Frostbitten’ had a fantastic, edge-of-your-seat mystery at its centre, delved deeper into Elena’s past and included plenty of lovey-dovey scenes between Elena and Clay. But best of all, ‘Frostbitten’ revealed the depths and changes to Elena and Clay’s characters and relationship – making this my favourite ‘Otherworld’ book yet. It will be a bit of a wait until Elena and Clay take centre stage in Armstrong’s series again, but ‘Frostbitten’ well and truly tied me over until that book comes.

Hunting Ground ‘Alpha & Omega #2’ by Patricia Briggs

Patricia Briggs is one of my all-time favourite authors. My favourite thing about Ms. Briggs’ writing is her masterful character development. Briggs’s characters are flawed, damaged and just generally frayed around the edges – none more so than Charles Cornick and Anna Latham. Charles sees himself as a cold-blooded killer, and doesn’t believe he deserves his mate, Anna’s, love. Anna is a werewolf Omega still recovering from the abuse she suffered under her previous werewolf pack. Charles and Anna are mated werewolves – two slightly damaged individuals who are learning to heal with and because of each other. I love this series. To be sure it is a fantastic Urban Fantasy – and this series, more so than ‘Mercedes Thomspon’, delves into the fascinating world of werewolf politics – but at its core ‘Alpha & Omega’ is a love story. ‘Hunting Ground’ had a wonderful mystery as its central plot, but it was amazing because it delved further into Anna and Charles’s romance and explored the repair of their fractured psyches.

Bone Crossed ‘Mercedes Thompson #4’ by Patricia Briggs.

This is probably my all-time favourite Urban Fantasy series. I loved everything about ‘Bone Crossed’ – from the cover art (drool worthy by Daniel Dos Santos) to the development of Mercy and Adam’s relationship. Mercy and Adam have been in a ‘will they or won’t they?’ dance from book #1, and in ‘Bone Crossed’ their mateship was finally cemented in a fairly anti-climactic, but wonderfully romantic mating. ‘Silver Borne’ is probably my most anticipated book for 2010, mostly because I want to see how Mercy and Adam handle their newfound relationship.

Magic Strikes ‘Kate Daniels #3’ by Ilona Andrews

Oh. My. God.

That’s all I could think reading the last 2 chapters of this book. Such an amazing final battle – I was bawling my eyes out, and cheering Kate on. And that Kate/Curran tub scene – woah! It says a lot about this author-duo that their leading man and lady have still only gone as far as first base but readers are 100% hooked on their relationship. I am *dying* for book #4, the first teaser chapter has only whet my appetite and now I need May 25th to hurry the hell up.

‘Goddess of the Hunt’ by Tessa Dare

My favourite regency romance – possibly ever. I love, love, loved this book! Again, thanks to Mandi at Smexy for recommending. The romance between naïve tomboy Lucy Waltham and stiff-upper-lip Jeremy Trescott was heart meltingly romantic. These two are such sweethearts, and even though I didn’t like the other 2 books in Dare’s series, ‘Goddess’ has made her a ‘must buy’ for me. One of the best scenes in this book occurs in a wardrobe – a wardrobe! Any author that can make a wardrobe sexy deserves to be an automatic buy.

‘Jane Jameson’ series by Molly Harper

This debut series from Molly Haper is brilliant! A comedic Urban Fantasy with one of the best and funniest leading ladies I have ever read. Jane Jameson is my hero – I want to be her BFF. Book #3 ‘Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever’ came out December 29th, but I’m still waiting for my copy – though I am sure I will love that book as much as her first two. This series has made Harper an instant buy for me – so unbelievably good, I hope Molly Harper is contracted for many more books in the series.

‘The Forest of Hands & Teeth’ by Carrie Ryan

One of the best books I have ever read (with one of the best titles). It’s a very different post-apocalyptic zombie book – Ryan writes beautifully and vividly, and the story is edge-of-your-seat from the first page. I adored this book. It is very bleak, but Carrie Ryan is such a masterful storyteller, and the world she’s created is so fascinating you can’t help but be 100% sucked in. I could easily see this book being adapted into film – it has a very cinematic quality and an epic feel to it. Ryan has a second book (set in the same universe) called ‘The Dead-Tossed Waves’ coming out March 9th 2010 – I am definitely reading that one!

'Lady of Persuasion' by Tessa DARE

From the BLURB:

Only one thing could convince Sir Tobias Aldridge, an incorrigible libertine, to profess undying fidelity to a woman he's just met. Revenge. What better way to get back at an enemy than by stealing the scoundrel's sister? Not that Toby finds it a chore, seducing a beguiling, sultry beauty freshly arrived from the West Indies. When the prize is Isabel Grayson, vengeance is doubly rewarding.

Isabel is determined to marry a wealthy, powerful lord and become a lady of influence, using her rank and fortune to fight social injustice. Sir Toby, with his paltry title and infamous reputation, is unsuitable husband material-but he makes her blood race, her heart pound, and her long-buried passions come to the surface. If she can reform the charming devil, she'll get exactly what she craves: society's respect. But it's a dangerous gamble. For if Toby wins this battle of persuasion, Isabel could lose her heart.

The plot of Dare’s third novel totally surprised me. Reading the blurb I thought I had a fair idea of what to expect from the book. Toby Aldridge, jilted groom of Sophia Hathaway (now Grayson) would exact revenge on Gray by wooing his little sister. That is so far from the actual plot it’s not even funny!

As it turns out Toby is the one craving love and acceptance – after being abandoned by Sophia he’s feeling a little bit raw. Furthermore he’s a bit sick of his rakishnesss. His exploits have been monitored in society rag ‘The Prattler’ and by Toby’s estimation he is nothing more than a bit of frivolous fun for London’s debutantes. Toby even laments the loss of Lucy’s girlhood crush on him;

“And if I did offer for you,” he asked, “would it be so very horrible?”.

He hardly knew what murky pit of his soul that question had crawled out from, but he knew it wasn’t aimed at this girl. It was meant for Sophia, and Lucy, and every other young lady who’d grown out of loving him and married some other man.

Furthermore, Toby genuinely adores Isabel (‘Bel’) and it is a bizarre case of love at first sight. What a shame. I was actually looking forward to a thoroughly raked male protagonist. Jeremy in ‘Goddess of the Hunt’ was supposedly a real cad when in London, and of course when we meet Gray in ‘Surrender of a Siren’ he is a quasi-pirate with a lady at every port. But really we never witnessed Jeremy’s caddishness because he was on his best behaviour at his friend’s holiday house. Likewise, when we meet Gray he has reformed himself into a gentleman – and is putting his best foot forward, not least of all to impress Sophia. Toby is the one male character who really has every reason to be behaving badly and it turns out he’s more interested in finding happily ever.

Isabel ‘Bel’ Grayson is a bit of a drip. In contrast to pretty much every other female character in regency romances, Bel doesn’t want a love match. In fact, Bel thinks falling in love with her husband would be a huge inconvenience and get in the way of all her charity work. Bel is kind of like those students in High School who were on the Greenpeace/environmental committee – forever pestering you to sign petitions to save the one-legged Swedish mountain goats from over-bleating, and other such nonsense. She’s ‘holier-than-thou’, and happily perched on a pedestal of high-mindedness.

I just didn’t like her. The same way I didn’t ever really warm to the ethereally beautiful Sophia Hathaway, I couldn’t muster much sympathy for the exotically beautiful Isabel Grayson. She laments throughout the book that men appreciate her full body – large breasts, flared hips. I liked Lucy Waltham so much because she was an awkward tomboy on the cusp of womanhood – initially overlooked by Jeremy and Toby because of her reed-thin frame and oddly proportioned face she had yet to grow into. As for Bel; I can’t really muster a whole lot of concern for a female protagonist whose biggest hassle in life is dressing her Double-D’s.

Once again, the younger Grayson brother – Joss – steals what little limelight he is given. In ‘Persuasion’ Joss gets a love interest; Hetta Osborne was introduced in ‘Goddess’ as the daughter of the local doctor on the Kendall estate. A proficient surgeon herself, Hetta’s moral outrages about women’s liberation are far more interesting than all of Bel’s opinions combined. It’s just a shame that Dare seems to have decided to wrap up Joss’s story as a secondary plot in ‘Persuasion’. He’s an interesting enough character that he could have easily carried his own novel – and I for one would have loved 300+ pages detailing the sparky romance between him and Hetta. Their chemistry was my favourite part of ‘Persuasion’ – their scenes are full of heat and a genuine pleasure to read.

I did appreciate that Lucy & Jeremy made an appearance in ‘Persuasion’. I missed them in ‘Surrender’, but Dare makes up for their absence ten-fold. Lucy is a total scene-stealer, and her reappearance was fantastic… I even cried a little.

I do intend to read Dare’s ‘Stud Club’ trilogy (‘One dance with a duke’ comes out May 25, 2010) – but I have learnt my lesson to not go into her books with high expectations. Dare is still a very green author. Her trilogy books came out very quickly – ‘Goddess’ in June, ‘Surrender’ in August and ‘Persuasion’ in September this year. That’s not a whole lot of time between each book for Dare to gauge readers’ reactions. I can also appreciate that it is a tall order to capture lightening in a bottle twice. ‘Goddess’ was a superb read and a brilliant kick-off to Dare’s romance writing career, and she is no doubt still on a learning curve with her subsequent novels.

2.5/5

'Surrender of a Siren' by Tessa DARE

From the BLURB:

Desperate to escape a loveless marriage and society's constraints, pampered heiress Sophia Hathaway jilts her groom, packs up her paints and sketchbook, and assumes a new identity, posing as a governess to secure passage on the Aphrodite. She wants a life of her own: unsheltered, unconventional, uninhibited. But it's one thing to sketch her most wanton fantasies, and quite another to face the dangerously handsome libertine who would steal both her virtue and her gold.

To any well-bred lady, Benedict 'Gray' Grayson is trouble in snug-fitting boots. A conscienceless scoundrel who sails the seas for pleasure and profit, Gray lives for conquest-until Sophia's perception and artistry stir his heart. Suddenly he'll brave sharks, fire, storm, and sea just to keep her at his side. She's beautiful, refined, and ripe for seduction. Could this counterfeit governess be a rogue's redemption? Or will the runaway heiress's secrets destroy their only chance at love?

I have to admit I went into ‘Surrender of a Siren’ with very high expectations. I absolutely loved Tessa Dare’s debut romance, ‘Goddess of the Hunt’ – and therefore began reading her second novel with unmitigated enthusiasm, but ended up a little bit disappointed. It’s hard to pinpoint why I didn’t really like ‘Surrender’ without drawing comparisons to ‘Goddess’. Maybe it’s not fair to judge a book on its predecessor, but it couldn’t be helped.

One of the things I liked about ‘Goddess of the Hunt’ was its straightforwardness. It was a fairly simple romance, with a few emotional twists and turns for the female protagonist. In ‘Surrender of a Siren’ there’s a bit more at stake. For one thing, Sophia is travelling abroad under a false name and occupation – Miss. Jane Turner, governess. So from the get-go there’s a false identity to eventually be cleared up. Hazards of the sea mean there are also several spikes in the plot; including a shark attack, lightning strike and attempted mutiny. Such peaks in plot made for a lot of action, which was a stark contrast to the rather more sedate ‘Goddess of the Hunt’, which focussed solely on Lucy’s romantic conquest.

I also didn’t particularly like the leading man, Benedict “Gray” Grayson. He was a little bit too smooth, to the point of being even a little bit sleazy. And actually, I found his brother far more interesting. Gray is the Aphrodite’s owner, but his half-brother Joss is the ships’ captain. Joss had a fascinating background – he and Gray share the same father, but Joss’s mother was a black slave. The boys were raised together, but separated when Gray was sent to London for University. Dare made Joss into a real enigma – when we meet him Gray divulges very little information about his little brother, beyond saying he his still grieving for his wife, Mara, who died last year. Joss and Gray look very similar, except for Joss’s cocoa-coloured skin. I would love it if Tessa Dare wrote a book for Joss, because even though he has very few scenes his background was thoroughly intriguing. But it doesn’t bode well when I would rather read about the leading man’s brother than the leading man himself.

One of my favourite things about ‘Goddess’ was leading lady, Lucy. She was a clumsy, naïve, witty tomboy and a delight to read. Sophia is very different from Lucy - she’s a bit of a walking contradiction; a sensuous lady, novice temptress and above all else, a dreamer;

She’d been escaping for years now, thought clever lies and wicked fantasies. Surely Sophia was the only girl at school who kept a secret folio of naughty sketches buried beneath the obligatory watercolor landscapes. The only debutante at Almack’s who mentally undressed unsuspecting gentlemen between dainty sips of ratafia. Surely none of the other young ladies in the Champion of Charities Junior Auxiliary lay abed at night with their shifts hiked to their waists, dreaming of pirates and highwaymen with coarse manners and rough, skilful hands.

Sophia is determined to follow her passions, and on the one hand I really admired her courage. But she spends half the novel berating herself for her wicked thoughts, selfish actions and unladylike behaviour. In the end I got a little bit sick of hearing all of the contradictory shameful thoughts regarding herself.

Measuring ‘Surrender’ against ‘Goddess’ makes for harsh reviewing. ‘Surrender’ isn’t bad; it’s just not as good as ‘Goddess’. There are plenty of redeemable features in the book; Tessa Dare writes wonderfully sensuous love scenes, for instance, and her secondary characters are lively and compelling. I did like ‘Surrender’, I just didn’t love it and I was expecting a bit more than I got.

2.5/5

'Goddess of the Hunt' by Tessa DARE

Lucy Waltham has been in love with Sir Tobias Aldridge ever since he mistook her for a pheasant and shot at her (he missed) and bowed his apology. Lucy has known Tobias, ‘Toby’, and her brother Henry’s other two friends, Felix and Jeremy, ever since she was 12 and they started journeying to Waltham Manor once a year for holidaying. But things have been changing of late. Henry married Marianne five years ago and now has three children. Felix married Kitty Hathaway, and for this years holiday Kitty bought along her beautiful younger sister Sophia Hathaway, who has managed to charm Toby right out from under Lucy’s nose. But not without a fight! Rumor has it that Toby intends to propose to Ms. Hathaway before their holiday ends, and Lucy intends to seduce Toby away from the angelic Sophia. But to do that she needs practice in the art of seduction, and book reading will only get her so far. So Lucy decides to practice her feminine wiles on Jeremy Trescott, Early of Kendall, and the frostiest man she’s ever known. If she can thaw Jeremy out, surely seducing Toby will be a snap.

What Lucy hasn’t counted on is her game of seduction actually working on Jeremy…

I loved this book. LOVED! I always go into romance books with a slight sense of trepidation, especially romances not written by the authors I have come to trust whole-heartedly with the hit-or-miss genre (Lisa Kleypas and Julia Quinn).

I was so pleasantly surprised by this debut novel by Tessa Dare, that I am now adding Dare to my ‘must read’ list and have already ordered the next 2 books in this series from Amazon.

Above all else in this book I loved the female lead, Lucy, most of all. Female protagonists make or break a romance novel. I’m not a fan of reading about effortlessly beautiful women for whom men and relationships are in abundance and they’re wealthy to boot. Lucy is a fantastic leading lady; she’s a 19-year-old clumsy, spirited tomboy at the precipice of womanhood and utterly under qualified to deal with the seductive course she has set out for herself;

What was it about helplessness men found so attractive? She supposed they must enjoy the illusion of superiority. Well, Lucy did not feel the least bit helpless or inferior, and her pride rebelled against the notion of feigning either state.

Is this a feminist ahead of her time or what? Sometimes when regency romance authors set out to write a strong-willed female protagonist, they do so at the expense of believability. Often times a female lead’s fiery independence is utterly misplaced in an 18^th century setting, skewing the entire novel. But Lucy’s independent streak is explained by the setting. She is exerting her wanton liberty amongst friends – a group of men (including her brother) whom she has known since she was 12 years old and followed along on fishing expeditions and hunting trips.

Furthermore, her beguiling innocence is further explained by her brother’s lack of interest in exerting any real strictness with her, presenting her to the Ton or even letting her ‘come out’ in society balls. There is a level of obliviousness to Lucy that’s completely charming (for readers and Jeremy both) and also a little heart-rending. It’s gut-wrenching to read about the emotional blows she feels when she is forced to watch her childhood crush lavish another woman with his affections.

Aside from a fantastic female lead, ‘Goddess of the Hunt’ works so well because it’s so simple. There’s no convoluted plot revolving around matters of mistaken identity or life-and-death situations. It’s a refreshingly simple plot that is wholly focused on the romance between Lucy and Jeremy. There is a level of predictability (it is a romance after all) but the journey is so much fun you really don’t mind the inevitability of the destination.

The romance is steamy. What Lucy lacks in experience, she makes up for in enthusiasm - and her heated exchanges with Jeremy are sometimes funny, but definitely smoldering. There is a certain wardrobe-tryst that gave me tingles (in between my toes!) to read. Not since C.S. Lewis has a wardrobe held such fascination. There is only one 'but' and that is Jeremy's supposed rakish behavior back in London. It's not mentioned until further in the book that Jeremy has enjoyed quite a bit of female companionship in his time - but until that was explicitly stated I was sort of imagining Jeremy as a slightly more modest man. Not a monk or a virgin by any means, but I wasn't really getting the 'rake' vibe from him.

I also loved this book because the narrative is so clear. It happens a lot in romance novels, but I really hate it when there’s no ellipsis or chapter to cut up the narrative voice, and the POV changes halfway through a paragraph. In ‘Goddess of the Hunt’ the narrative voice swings between Jeremy and Lucy and they switch every few chapters or so. Dare has written two very strong characters in Jeremy and Lucy, so much so that I think the book could even have worked if we’d never had Jeremy’s insights, and just had his mannerisms, and veiled comments to go on. But Jeremy’s increasing infatuation is so much fun to read amidst Lucy’s naiveté.

My one complaint is that the ending is a little drawn-out. It borders on redundant and ridiculous when Lucy hosts a grand party for Jeremy’s tenants to win him the popularity vote… but it’s a small complaint on my part.

I have to say a big thank-you to Mandi of Smexy Books fame for reviewing this book, thereby prompting me to check it out.

5/5