The Duchess Deal

I think the story may be a good one, probably a 4 *. But it's difficult to tell as the narration is terrible. Mary Jane Wells reads the MMC as if he's a bluff rotund country squire, rather than a brooding hero. When the writing suggests he should be intense, she reads him as brisk and hearty. The intended atmosphere and mood is completely ruined.

I always include major spoilers (hidden), to help with my memory  issues. Read them at your peril! 

Penniless seamstress,    cast-off daughter of a vicar , appears on a duke's doorstep in a wedding dress asking for payment for her it. He is a bitter and despondent recluse after being   cruelly scarred at Waterloo. He wants a marriage of convenience and an heir , and she agrees.

I really liked it. Though I was wondering ‘where is her lady's maid' every time she went to call on her friends, or went shopping with them. Come on! Also, DID SHE FINALLY BUY HERSELF A NEW WARDROBE? She should!

Maybe 3.5 - I don't know what to rate this. I might have to marinate for a while and come back. It was ok. I really struggle with the miscommunication trope. I get so irritated. However, the characters were cute and there were a few sexy scenes. Not much happens in this book. It's really just an easy breeze through, non thought provoking historical romance. This was my first Tessa Dare novel and I'll give another one of her novels a go for sure. 

Such a fun read! A little bit Beauty and the Beast, a little historical, very British, and more than a little bit of smut. This kind of book is out of my comfort zone, but came highly recommended from a coworker who I trust and loves this genre. A quick two hour or so light read for an evening with a big glass of wine.

Okay so I can safely say I am a historical romance reader now!

I just loved this from start to finish, loved the characters, loved the banter, loved it all!

Also the narrator for these books, Mary Jane Wells, is just brilliant, I think I'll her voice in my head whenever I read historicals now.

4.5 stars rounded up because I laughed so hard throughout the WHOLE thing not just the start.

Great historical romance!

4.5 star..

This is sweet...

There were moments where I laughed out loud and there were moments where I had to set the book down to keep from squealing. I found both, Ash and Emma, to be witty and charming. I loved their back-and-forth. I'm beginning to love the tortured-hero trope. This had mad Beauty and the Beast vibes (right down to the dinner on opposite sides of the room) The other Wallflowers made many appearances in this book and although I've only met Penny, I know I already love them all. But my favourite character probably had to be Khan. His love for both Ash and Emma was apparent, moreover, he was hilarious in every scene he was in.

I have the creators of Romanceopoly to thank for this because without this challenge I probably would have never read this book.

I don't tend to read a whole lot of historical anything so I was a little skeptical going into a historical romance book but I ended up enjoying this one more than I thought I would. Turns out historical romance is just like any other romance with a few key differences that for me doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the story.

This is my first historical romance and my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. It was funny and sexy. It's a quick and easy read to get through and it was just fun. I will definitely read more by this author and more historical romance books.

Updated Review Read April 20244.5 starsI'm part of the Devour You TBR Goodreads Group that is hosted by Destiny. For 2024 Destiny decided to add it to her Discord which has helped me to actually participate in the monthly challenges. For April the challenge is April Antiquities which means you read books with historical settings. Several people in the Discord group decided to buddy read this book and the rest of the series. I had already read the first book but I really wanted to continue the series so I decided to join in. Like I said this was a reread for me and I enjoyed it slightly more than I did the first time I read. This was the first historical romance I ever read when I first read it. I loved the banter between the characters. I laughed so much while reading this and it's definitely got some steamy scenes which I just ate up. 

3 ★

Sendo bem, bem sincera, esse não foi o melhor de Tessa Dare até o momento, porém para àquelxs que estão carentes de de uma série no estilo Wallflowers*, esse primeiro volume é uma boa promessa de algo que está por vir. Promessa sim, pois ela peca (no meu ponto de vista) em não criar, mesmo num primeiro volume, laços mais palpáveis entre as personagens que fazem parte desse quarteto de livros.

Emma uma protagonista adequada para a proposta do livro, bem como Ash e suas paranóias, dado o ocorrido durante a guerra e o reflexo desta em seu corpo - lembrando que poucos sobreviviam e que não havia as tecnologias de hoje para arrumar o pessoal.

Ri muito com varias cenas, varios diálogos entre Emma e Ash (sendo o sarcasmo o centro de qualquer bom dia entre eles, tudo ficou mais realista), Calças e temos que colocar uma menção mais que honrosa a Khan, o mordomo mais século XXI do século XIX.

Porém, mesmo vestida com minha capinha de amante de romance de época, houveram varios momentos que tive um reflexo “Não... (es)pera. Deixa ler de novo...” durante a leitura, pelo machismo, pelo imediatismo das coisas, pela “ingenuidade” vendida que ninguém contesta a situação e aceita as propostas como se fosse a coisa mais normal. Se coloque no lugar da Emma. Metade do que aconteceu com ela, em todas as fases de sua vida, são inadmissíveis. Mesmo, algumas posturas de Ash.

Também... acho que esse é o volume mais

Marriage of convenience! Although it didn't seem especially convenient for either of them really, other than the seamstress would be dumb not to marry a duke since she po', and he just needed someone to impregnate to carry on his family line so some stupid cousin wouldn't get the dukedom. I enjoyed these characters a lot, their banter was fun, though quite a lot of this was not really believable. Breeches the cat was funny, and so were the newspapers about the Monster of Mayfair. A lot of sex scenes. But ultimately, I liked the second book in the series, [b:The Governess Game 36111620 The Governess Game (Girl Meets Duke, #2) Tessa Dare https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1517431977l/36111620.SY75.jpg 57700166], better than I liked this one.TW: pregnancy (uneventful)

Actual rating: 4.7

I hardly ever read historical romances. I'm so ignorant of the genre that I don't think I can even name a couple of authors, so I'm pretty surprised at myself that I chose to read this book at the end of the year instead of trying to get to the many other books already on my TBR. But I'm moody as hell and everyone seems to love it, so I picked it up and gosh, it was so much fun to read. I felt thoroughly entertained and I couldn't have asked for anything different during the holidays.

Duke Ashbury is really grumpy, broody, angry at everyone and life in general because of what happened to him during and after the war. I could understand where he was coming from, especially when we realize the circumstances of his broken engagement, but he behaves quite badly towards people who do happen to care about him and I didn't always like that. However, he meets his match in Emma who is good and kindhearted, but also very fierce and sassy and never lets him get away with his bad behavior. I loved that despite her sad past, she decided to move on from it and make something of her life, which gives her the confidence to stand up for herself, fight for what she wants and never back down from expressing her thoughts and feelings.

There are so many wonderful side characters here and I loved every single one of them. All the servants who work in the house just want their beloved Duke to be happy again and all their shenanigans to make that happen, and their encouragement to Emma was very sweet. The unlikely friendship that Emma develops with a gang of women is so much fun to read, because it's female friendship done well. There is no gossip or backbiting between them, just genuine affection and I loved their dynamic. It's also cool that each of them have their own quirks, and I'm very excited to read all of their stories.

I'm not sure what I was exactly expecting from this book, but I didn't think it would be such a fun read. The author writes great banter between our two main protagonists and it was a delight to read the back and forth. The way that Ash tries to remain unaffected despite Emma's flirting and instead tries to fight back makes for a lot of fun conversations and I have highlighted so many of them. Even though both the characters have sad backstories, especially having to deal with the physical manifestation of what happened to him, I liked that the author didn't let the book go too dark and let the protagonists handle their pain through humor, but with empathy. There is also a whole hilarious subplot about the Monster of Mayfair and his sidekick Menace, and I just couldn't stop laughing at all their antics and way the legend grows. Another big surprise for me was the steaminess – I did not expect this book to be so sexy and hot but it really is and that was quite amusing.

If you like historical romances, then you might already know about this book and I really don't need to say anything more. However, I think this book is perfect for readers like me, who enjoy contemporary romances with sassy protagonists and want to give this genre a try. I won't speak for the authenticity of the time period, but as a romance novel, this book lived up to all my expectations and I'm sure you will enjoy it too.

This book was actually quite funny. In my current historical romance phase, this is actually a rare thing. So, this has become one of my favorites of the bunch.

I liked the characters and thought they fit well together. In fact, we get to read about them slowly liking each other and becoming partners. It is wonderful! Although, I was confused by them and their misunderstandings of why they couldn't be together at the end. Ugh, honestly, it was frustrating because I liked so much else about the book and then it went and did... well, what it did. I disliked it, but I can get over it because it seems to be so common.
I do want to mention that I liked the side characters too – the brothers. I'm hoping the next books will be about them :)

This is one historical romance I will probably recommend to others who like the genre.

(4.5, rounding up.) This was absolutely delightful and a perfect escape from ... gestures at everything. The supporting characters were fun, particularly the house staff trying to get Emma and Ash to fall in love - my half-star deduction here is for Emma's friends, who I couldn't tell apart and are pretty clear sequel-bait. Other than that, though, this was just what I needed in a romance right now and it reminds me why Tessa Dare is one of my favorite historical authors.

Well... It was okay? I am finding out that you arent going to love every book by authors you love. There are parts of this book I did enjoy, but I was hoping for more. I have high expectations for Tessa Dare books, and this one just came a little short.

There was definitely plenty of cheese, and there was some of that classic Tessa Dare wittiness, but I dont know. It wasnt my favorite. And I really wanted to like it, because whats not to love about that premise. And that cover! Although, where are his scars? HMMM??

Breeches. I think he was one of the best parts, because when Emma tells Ash where she got her cat at the end, it was kind of like, well duh. I also liked her circle of “not normal” friends.