Friday, February 10, 2017

Review: Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare

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Series: Spindle Cove Book #4
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 373
Rating: 4 Stars
How I Got It: Purchased
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Avon

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, has no desire to wed this season—or any season—but his diabolical mother abducts him to “Spinster Cove” and insists he select a bride from the ladies in residence. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.

Overworked and struggling, Pauline Simms doesn’t dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop. That dream becomes a possibility when an arrogant, sinfully attractive duke offers her a small fortune for a week’s employment. Her duties are simple: submit to his mother’s “duchess training"... and fail miserably.

But in London, Pauline isn’t a miserable failure. She’s a brave, quick-witted, beguiling failure—a woman who ignites Griff’s desire and soothes the darkness in his soul. Keeping Pauline by his side won’t be easy. Even if Society could accept a serving girl duchess—can a roguish duke convince a serving girl to trust him with her heart?


Review

I thought this would be a re-read, but I quickly released I had never read this one before. And I really enjoyed it. Like it's right there with book two as the favorite of the series.

A lot of historical romances address social differences. Which I've said before I'm a fan of. But Tessa Dare really went for it on this one. Pauline is a straight up commoner/peasant. Is it historically accurate for a barmaid to marry a duke? No. But I love it and not everything was gumdrops and rainbows for them.

The characters were so great. Pauline is a wonderful woman. She's realistic and doesn't take crap from anyone-even when she probably should. And she wants to run a library so she's a girl after my heart. Griff definitely leans toward the angsty side which makes sense considering hes past. He's kind of a reformed rake character, but his reformation happens before Pauline which is a little different. Then, there's Griff's mom. I often read about cold and bitter moms, so she was a nice change. I just loved her.

The romance was cute and they complement each other well. There were some Pretty Women moments which I  thought were funny.

I do wish Pauline's sister had more of a presence, but this is still a fantastic book. This series is definitely staying strong.

Thanks for reading!
Holly

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