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Spindle Cove #4
Any Duchess Will Do
What’s a duke to do, when the girl who’s perfectly wrong becomes the woman he can’t live without?
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?
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?
375 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 28, 2013
About the author
Tessa Dare
49 books14.5k followersSign up for Tessa's newsletter and be the first to hear about new books and hot deals! http://tessadare.com/newsletter-signup/
Tessa Dare is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fourteen historical romance novels and five novellas. Her books have won numerous accolades, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® award (twice!) and the RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence. Booklist magazine named her one of the “new stars of historical romance," and her books have been contracted for translation in more than a dozen languages.
A librarian by training and a booklover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and a trio of cosmic kitties.
Tessa Dare is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fourteen historical romance novels and five novellas. Her books have won numerous accolades, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® award (twice!) and the RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence. Booklist magazine named her one of the “new stars of historical romance," and her books have been contracted for translation in more than a dozen languages.
A librarian by training and a booklover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and a trio of cosmic kitties.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,851 reviews
August 31, 2020
surprisingly, this worked for me
surprising, because i'm blue in the face with shouting about how tessa dare's damaged heroes don't work for me. but i guess there is an exception to every rule.
this story was pretty unique to the tessa dare brand. you have an untitled lady, who is probably the most working class of any of the heroines i've read in historical, being selected by a duke as his future duchess. Griffin is brought to spindle cove by his mother to select a wife and to piss his mom off he picks not one of the many eligible ladies but the daughter of a farmer.
then comes some My Fair Lady moments mixed with some moments of tenderness. our heroine Pauline is trained to understand what it means to be a duchess, and in fighting his attraction to her, Griffin starts to question his own life and what he wants from it. and it worked very well.
i think the difference here was that Griffin, while "damaged," wasn't really an asshole. he didn't want to get married or fall in love but his reason for doing so came from a place of grief and tenderness. and on top of that, in contrast to the 3rd book in this series, our heroine had a hell of a lot of self respect. she refused to feel less than because of her upbringing. and the two of them together... made sense.
if you're looking for a fun but sweet historical, i highly recommend.
surprising, because i'm blue in the face with shouting about how tessa dare's damaged heroes don't work for me. but i guess there is an exception to every rule.
this story was pretty unique to the tessa dare brand. you have an untitled lady, who is probably the most working class of any of the heroines i've read in historical, being selected by a duke as his future duchess. Griffin is brought to spindle cove by his mother to select a wife and to piss his mom off he picks not one of the many eligible ladies but the daughter of a farmer.
then comes some My Fair Lady moments mixed with some moments of tenderness. our heroine Pauline is trained to understand what it means to be a duchess, and in fighting his attraction to her, Griffin starts to question his own life and what he wants from it. and it worked very well.
i think the difference here was that Griffin, while "damaged," wasn't really an asshole. he didn't want to get married or fall in love but his reason for doing so came from a place of grief and tenderness. and on top of that, in contrast to the 3rd book in this series, our heroine had a hell of a lot of self respect. she refused to feel less than because of her upbringing. and the two of them together... made sense.
if you're looking for a fun but sweet historical, i highly recommend.
July 19, 2014
5 OUTSTANDING AND 'AWWWW' STARS.
This book made my heart melt, weep, and gave it a little meltdown/panic attack towards the end.
Any Duchess Will Do is the 4th and i believe the final book in the Spindle Cove series. I am madly, and deeply in love with this series and the author. I don't even want to think about this being the last book because then i might cry and never stop.
Pauline Simms is an overworked and struggling 23 year old serving girl. All she wants is to open up her own little bookshop. When an arrogant and sinfully attractive duke offers her a small fortune for a week's employment, her dreams might finally come true. After all, all he wants is to submit to his mother's duchess training...and fail miserably.
It's impossible to fail at failing...right?
Griffin York, duke of Halford has no desire to wed, like, at all. But when his mother literally abducts him and insists he select a bride, Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.
But in London, Pauline isn't a miserable failure. She's a brave, quick-witted and beguiling failure that soothes the darkness in Griffs soul.
Geez people! All the books in this series are an emotional ride, this one was no exception. It hooked me from the very beginning. It was a very bad idea for me to read this on workdays. I knew it would happen. That i wouldn't be able stop reading after i picked it up.
Why i loved Pauline?: I adored Pauline. She has a little self esteem and confidence, but she still has a feisty little attitude and potty mouth. She's a hardworking girl who earns everything she has. Pauline is also a pretty clumpy character, but her clumsiness is as amusing as hell and i wouldn't change anything about it.
Why i loved Griff?:
Now here's a male who is worth breaking my 'no guys in my life' motto. He is so right for me and i would snatch him from Pauline without blinking. Griff is dominant, protective and definitely swoon worthy. He didn't care that Pauline was a serving girl, he loves her because of who she is. He fought for her, and became a better man for her.
The sex scenes were passionate, hot and because Griff is dominant, they were dominant too! I loved it when afterwards Griff held and cuddled Pauline in his arms.
I also loved all the secondary characters. Especially Griff's mother. She might be hard to like at first, but throughout the book you begin to like her more and more. She was such an amusing lady and had me cracking up most of the time.
I liked everyone expect Griff's best friend. WHAT.A.TOTAL.JACKASS!
Even though i guessed Griff's secret i didn't care. That shows how much i loved this book!
The ending still gave me butterflies all over. It must have been one of the most adorable and cutest endings EVER!!!Awwww ! I was, like, terrified out of my mind that the book won't have a HEA. But it did!!
Overall Any Duchess Will Do was a fantastic, amazing, brilliant, funny, suspenseful read that (if i had enough time) would inhale in one sitting. It was gripping and had me swooning and hooked to the very end. It made me wish and daydream i was a Duchess!!! Oh, how i wish!
This book made my heart melt, weep, and gave it a little meltdown/panic attack towards the end.
Any Duchess Will Do is the 4th and i believe the final book in the Spindle Cove series. I am madly, and deeply in love with this series and the author. I don't even want to think about this being the last book because then i might cry and never stop.
Pauline Simms is an overworked and struggling 23 year old serving girl. All she wants is to open up her own little bookshop. When an arrogant and sinfully attractive duke offers her a small fortune for a week's employment, her dreams might finally come true. After all, all he wants is to submit to his mother's duchess training...and fail miserably.
It's impossible to fail at failing...right?
"You choose a girl - any girl - and I'll polish her myself. Who could better prepare the future Duchess of Halford than the current Duchess of Halford?"
Griffin York, duke of Halford has no desire to wed, like, at all. But when his mother literally abducts him and insists he select a bride, Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.
"Her," he said. "I'll take her."
But in London, Pauline isn't a miserable failure. She's a brave, quick-witted and beguiling failure that soothes the darkness in Griffs soul.
“I’m the Duke of Halford,” he said, plunging deep.
She shut her eyes, trying not to cry. It was all too much—the emotion, the pleasure. The hopelessness.
“I’m the Marquess of Westmore.”
Thrust.
“I’m also the Earl of Ridingham. Viscount Newthorpe. Lord Hartford-on-Trent.”
Thrust. Thrust. Thrust.
“And I am your slave, Pauline.”
Oh, mercy.
Geez people! All the books in this series are an emotional ride, this one was no exception. It hooked me from the very beginning. It was a very bad idea for me to read this on workdays. I knew it would happen. That i wouldn't be able stop reading after i picked it up.
Why i loved Pauline?: I adored Pauline. She has a little self esteem and confidence, but she still has a feisty little attitude and potty mouth. She's a hardworking girl who earns everything she has. Pauline is also a pretty clumpy character, but her clumsiness is as amusing as hell and i wouldn't change anything about it.
"Oh. I see. So your grace never curses."
"I do not"
"Words like cor...bollocks... damn...devil...blast...bloody hell..." She pronouced the words with relish, warming to her task.
Why i loved Griff?:
Now here's a male who is worth breaking my 'no guys in my life' motto. He is so right for me and i would snatch him from Pauline without blinking. Griff is dominant, protective and definitely swoon worthy. He didn't care that Pauline was a serving girl, he loves her because of who she is. He fought for her, and became a better man for her.
The sex scenes were passionate, hot and because Griff is dominant, they were dominant too! I loved it when afterwards Griff held and cuddled Pauline in his arms.
"Pauline." His voice was a dark murmur against her lips. "My heart. My dearest love. We are done with this cab. To do every wicked, delicious thing i mean to do to you, i need a bed. And hours."
I also loved all the secondary characters. Especially Griff's mother. She might be hard to like at first, but throughout the book you begin to like her more and more. She was such an amusing lady and had me cracking up most of the time.
I liked everyone expect Griff's best friend. WHAT.A.TOTAL.JACKASS!
Even though i guessed Griff's secret i didn't care. That shows how much i loved this book!
The ending still gave me butterflies all over. It must have been one of the most adorable and cutest endings EVER!!!Awwww ! I was, like, terrified out of my mind that the book won't have a HEA. But it did!!
Overall Any Duchess Will Do was a fantastic, amazing, brilliant, funny, suspenseful read that (if i had enough time) would inhale in one sitting. It was gripping and had me swooning and hooked to the very end. It made me wish and daydream i was a Duchess!!! Oh, how i wish!
"I think we've done enough," She whispered. "I'm a confirmed disaster."
"Oh, yes. A comprehensive catastrophe. A beautiful, perfect failure." He pulled back to regard her. "And i could not be more proud."
August 30, 2021
3.75 stars
Ahhh this was such a fun unique Tessa Dare book! I really loved these two so freakin much.
I liked these two from the start. They’re just so fun and they fit so well. I loved Pauline, a heroine with self respect and determination. And Griff was such a sweetheart. Together their romance was so adorable and so steamy. I also really liked the middeling mother and the whole my fair lady plot line. Overall this was such a fun time.
“I’m the Duke of Halford,” he said,
“I’m the Marquess of Westmore.”
“I’m also the Earl of Ridingham. Viscount Newthorpe. Lord Hartford-on-Trent.”
“And I am your slave, Pauline.”
Ahhh this was such a fun unique Tessa Dare book! I really loved these two so freakin much.
A duke who is determined to teach his mother a lesson, who desperately wants her son to get a wife and is sure she could turn any girl into a perfect duchess. He ends up picking a serving girl who is supposed to be a huge failure.
I liked these two from the start. They’re just so fun and they fit so well. I loved Pauline, a heroine with self respect and determination. And Griff was such a sweetheart. Together their romance was so adorable and so steamy. I also really liked the middeling mother and the whole my fair lady plot line. Overall this was such a fun time.
February 11, 2024
They fell in love within a week and I was here for all of the shenanigans.
This reread is exactly what I needed. It was such a delight and so heartwarming. Tessa Dare just gets it.
4.5 ⭐️
CW: loss of a child and abusive parent.
———————————————
My heart. 🥹
Tessa Dare just can’t do no wrong for me. She writes the most infectious of stories.
I love the writing. I love the characters. Her female characters in particular always have this individuality about them that makes them so relatable and has me rooting for them always. I admire them so much!
Her men. Don’t even get me started on the men. 🥲
And the romance... 🫠
This reread is exactly what I needed. It was such a delight and so heartwarming. Tessa Dare just gets it.
4.5 ⭐️
CW: loss of a child and abusive parent.
———————————————
My heart. 🥹
Tessa Dare just can’t do no wrong for me. She writes the most infectious of stories.
I love the writing. I love the characters. Her female characters in particular always have this individuality about them that makes them so relatable and has me rooting for them always. I admire them so much!
Her men. Don’t even get me started on the men. 🥲
And the romance... 🫠
November 24, 2018
This is one of my all time favorite historical romance novels. From the first page to the last, I love the heroine to pieces. Her spark, her spirit, sassiness, optimism, can-do-attitude, loyalty and sense of fairness. She really wants to help the Duke achieve his goals. She loves his mother too, who's a great character in her own right. I just loved every single character in this book! Rather than repeat the blurb, I'll talk about my fav scenes, in no particular ranking order:
#1: Where the Duke awakens to realize that he's been abducted by his own mother, and that the feminine ankle he gropes is actually not that of his mistress.
#2: Where the h gets sugar powder all over her hair and literally sparkles in front of the Duke when they first meet and mesmerizes him...with the mystery of why her hair is sparkling.
sorry, that's what sparkling brings to mind :P
#3: Where the h is mesmerized by the Duke right back and ogles his scrumptious rear end.
This image should be OK for Goodreads. I mean, this is art. Michaelangelo's David's ass. And so too, should the H's ass be a work of art, if the h's impression of him is any indication.
And all this happened within the first two chapters or thereabouts! I mean, need I go on???
So, all this is to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and never hesitate to reread and recommend.
#1: Where the Duke awakens to realize that he's been abducted by his own mother, and that the feminine ankle he gropes is actually not that of his mistress.
#2: Where the h gets sugar powder all over her hair and literally sparkles in front of the Duke when they first meet and mesmerizes him...with the mystery of why her hair is sparkling.
sorry, that's what sparkling brings to mind :P
#3: Where the h is mesmerized by the Duke right back and ogles his scrumptious rear end.
This image should be OK for Goodreads. I mean, this is art. Michaelangelo's David's ass. And so too, should the H's ass be a work of art, if the h's impression of him is any indication.
And all this happened within the first two chapters or thereabouts! I mean, need I go on???
So, all this is to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and never hesitate to reread and recommend.
November 16, 2016
Alrighty.
So Tessa dare once again made me like a book (like, not love) with a plot I could not have been less interested in!
Yes, cute Ryan Gosling gif, I enjoyed it despite the fact that I don't care for the Wealthy Duke Falls for the Poor Commoner storyline. I know plenty of you guys love that one, but for me? Eh. Not so much.
So. Yeah, the characters just won me over!
Oh, and I loved the Duke's meddling mother!
When I grow up, I want to be her. Seriously.
Here's a woman who drugs her adult son, drags him out to the middle of nowhere, and then tries to force him to hurry up and get married...because GRANDBABIES!
I mean, how could I not love her?!
If you're looking for a good fluffy historical romance, this one will fit the bill.
So Tessa dare once again made me like a book (like, not love) with a plot I could not have been less interested in!
Yes, cute Ryan Gosling gif, I enjoyed it despite the fact that I don't care for the Wealthy Duke Falls for the Poor Commoner storyline. I know plenty of you guys love that one, but for me? Eh. Not so much.
So. Yeah, the characters just won me over!
Oh, and I loved the Duke's meddling mother!
When I grow up, I want to be her. Seriously.
Here's a woman who drugs her adult son, drags him out to the middle of nowhere, and then tries to force him to hurry up and get married...because GRANDBABIES!
I mean, how could I not love her?!
If you're looking for a good fluffy historical romance, this one will fit the bill.
September 30, 2020
There are just not enough superlatives to describe this book. ANY DUCHESS WILL DO has edged A WEEK TO BE WICKED into second place as my choice for the best book in this series. A ginormous feat considering how much I love Colin and Minerva!
There are so many things I love about this book, it's difficult to know where to start but I'll try.
The story blends all the magic of …
Pygmalion
My Fair Lady
and
Cinderella
The book is rich in humour and the sparkling dialogue provides so many memorable laugh-out-loud moments…
“Cor”. She unleashed her broadest country accent as she tipped her head to admire the curve of his tight, aristocratic arse. “I’ll have great fun with you on the wedding night.”
I love how Ms Dare tempers the lighter moments with moments that are so heart-rending…
When he tried to stand, he couldn’t. Grief seized like a savage, crippling pain. Like an auger drilling on his heart. It hollowed him out, left a round aching hole – one he knew would never be filled.
I adore Griff and Pauline. These two are worlds apart but you know they are so right for each other. They are two parts of a whole and proof that true love will always find a way.
Pauline on Griff… The intruder was life-shattering, heart-muddling, oft-maddening Griff.
Griff on Pauline… Lord above. She had him enraptured to the point of drooling incoherence, and she had absolutely no idea.
This book has the most wickedly delicious, sizzlingly sexy, toe-curling love scenes ever! Chapter 21 should definitely come with a warning – READ AT YOUR PERIL! HIGHLY COMBUSTIBLE MATERIAL!
I started out disliking Griff’s mother, the Duchess of Halford. After all, what kind of mother drugs and kidnaps her own son! But her weakness for knitting misshapen items totally swayed my opinion but you’ll have to read the book to discover why!
I shed tears along the way; I hooted with laughter plenty of times; I sighed at the dreamy romantic moments; I nearly had to dowse myself with cold water at one point and finally I cheered for Griff and Pauline’s dreamy Happy Ever After.
She turned away burying her face in her apron. Griffin Eliot York, the eighth Duke Of Halford, was here, on his knees. For her. Ring in hand, with the whole village watching.
What else can I say about this book other than - FABULOUS! AMAZING! FANTASTIC!
VERDICT: AWESOME! IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN!
RATING: STELLAR 5/5 STARS
SENSUALITY RATING: HOT!!
The Spindle Cove Series (click on cover for more details):
This review is also posted on my blog:
http://rakesandrascals.wordpress.com/...
There are so many things I love about this book, it's difficult to know where to start but I'll try.
The story blends all the magic of …
Pygmalion
My Fair Ladyand
CinderellaThe book is rich in humour and the sparkling dialogue provides so many memorable laugh-out-loud moments…
“Cor”. She unleashed her broadest country accent as she tipped her head to admire the curve of his tight, aristocratic arse. “I’ll have great fun with you on the wedding night.”
I love how Ms Dare tempers the lighter moments with moments that are so heart-rending…
When he tried to stand, he couldn’t. Grief seized like a savage, crippling pain. Like an auger drilling on his heart. It hollowed him out, left a round aching hole – one he knew would never be filled.
I adore Griff and Pauline. These two are worlds apart but you know they are so right for each other. They are two parts of a whole and proof that true love will always find a way.
Pauline on Griff… The intruder was life-shattering, heart-muddling, oft-maddening Griff.
Griff on Pauline… Lord above. She had him enraptured to the point of drooling incoherence, and she had absolutely no idea.
This book has the most wickedly delicious, sizzlingly sexy, toe-curling love scenes ever! Chapter 21 should definitely come with a warning – READ AT YOUR PERIL! HIGHLY COMBUSTIBLE MATERIAL!
I started out disliking Griff’s mother, the Duchess of Halford. After all, what kind of mother drugs and kidnaps her own son! But her weakness for knitting misshapen items totally swayed my opinion but you’ll have to read the book to discover why!
I shed tears along the way; I hooted with laughter plenty of times; I sighed at the dreamy romantic moments; I nearly had to dowse myself with cold water at one point and finally I cheered for Griff and Pauline’s dreamy Happy Ever After.
She turned away burying her face in her apron. Griffin Eliot York, the eighth Duke Of Halford, was here, on his knees. For her. Ring in hand, with the whole village watching.
What else can I say about this book other than - FABULOUS! AMAZING! FANTASTIC!
VERDICT: AWESOME! IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN!
RATING: STELLAR 5/5 STARS
SENSUALITY RATING: HOT!!
The Spindle Cove Series (click on cover for more details):
This review is also posted on my blog:
http://rakesandrascals.wordpress.com/...
September 24, 2022
I think historical fiction might be one of the greatest things ever
“Farewell, she thought wistfully. Farewell, finest arse in Creation.”
Short novel gets short *but happy* review
Meet Griffen: the arrogant EX.playboy who refuses to wed until his mother...kidnaps him and forces him to choose from a room of options.
“He’d thought himself so damned clever, picking the serving girl out of the spinster crowd."
Just a silly little trick in this mindgame with his mother. But Pauline became a player too, and she knew the rules even if she didn't know proper etiquette
“She put her thumb and forefinger in her mouth and whistled loud. “Gerry!” she called. “Gerald Willett, look! It’s me, Pauline! I’m going to be a duchess, Ger!”
I honestly loved Pauline as a character more than i loved some heroines that had an epic adventure. Pauline had a shitty life and instead of letting that make her cruel, she used it as lessons to become better and to do better.
“To say “I’m sorry you were offended” was not the same as apologizing for the offense”
Plus she knew her shit so I mean how could Griffen not end up falling in love with her. Hell I fell for her by the third chapter!
“He gazed at her as though she were the most wonderful, terrible, puzzling, perfect thing he’d ever beheld”
And damn Griff can you look at me like that please?
“Because I fell desperately in love with this barmaid and now cannot imagine happiness without her.” He looked up and shrugged. “Whoops”
God i laughed so hard at this most poetic declaration at love...that had the friggen word whoops in it!
It was a cute little novel that honestly opened my eyes about the historical fiction genre so now I think I'm ready to branch out a little more. Plus these two characters were hilarious to read about. I mean who doesn't just love a good spectacle? ;)
“Farewell, she thought wistfully. Farewell, finest arse in Creation.”
Short novel gets short *but happy* review
Meet Griffen: the arrogant EX.playboy who refuses to wed until his mother...kidnaps him and forces him to choose from a room of options.
“He’d thought himself so damned clever, picking the serving girl out of the spinster crowd."
Just a silly little trick in this mindgame with his mother. But Pauline became a player too, and she knew the rules even if she didn't know proper etiquette
“She put her thumb and forefinger in her mouth and whistled loud. “Gerry!” she called. “Gerald Willett, look! It’s me, Pauline! I’m going to be a duchess, Ger!”
I honestly loved Pauline as a character more than i loved some heroines that had an epic adventure. Pauline had a shitty life and instead of letting that make her cruel, she used it as lessons to become better and to do better.
“To say “I’m sorry you were offended” was not the same as apologizing for the offense”
Plus she knew her shit so I mean how could Griffen not end up falling in love with her. Hell I fell for her by the third chapter!
“He gazed at her as though she were the most wonderful, terrible, puzzling, perfect thing he’d ever beheld”
And damn Griff can you look at me like that please?
“Because I fell desperately in love with this barmaid and now cannot imagine happiness without her.” He looked up and shrugged. “Whoops”
God i laughed so hard at this most poetic declaration at love...that had the friggen word whoops in it!
It was a cute little novel that honestly opened my eyes about the historical fiction genre so now I think I'm ready to branch out a little more. Plus these two characters were hilarious to read about. I mean who doesn't just love a good spectacle? ;)
June 23, 2018
I’m kicking myself in the nuts. Why did I ever wait to dig into a Tessa Dare book. 🤨 Hands down, one of the best-written and funniest and equally romantic regency romance books I’ve ever read/listened. It was really REALLY good. Funny story, a while ago, I travelled to Spain and I actually met with Tessa Dare in person. We were both attendants of a summit there. But the thing is although I knew her books, I never knew she wrote them. In my defense, I haven’t read any MF in a couple years and I only do some MF regency romance on audio sometimes. 😂 But it’s quite rare for me to read MF these days. LOL, I didn’t realize it was her until we parted. But luckily, I took some pics with her. 😁 Anyhow, she has so many books that are highly raved by all my book buddies so it was a real challenge for me to decide which one to pop my TD cherry. 😂 I went on to audible and listened the samples of all her books out there and Spindle Cove series attracted me the most. And this book, this book called to me, like a siren would to a desperate sailor. 😌 2 minutes into listening this book and I was already laughing like crazy. What an entertaining and enthralling listen! And now, let’s get onto reviewing. 😉
Griffin York, the Duke of Halford is the fourth richest man in England and needless to say the most eligible bachelor that all women chase through a season. And our Griff was blessed not only with many properties and enormous wealth but also with a wicked, diabolical, headstrong mother. 🤣 Griff is determined to not marry now or ever and his mother is equally determined to get him married off soon and have cute, little, adorable grandchildren whom she can spoil rotten. When Griff realized that he was kidnapped by his own devilish mother to the notorious Spindle Cove where wallflowers of England gather and recuperate, he knew it’s time to teach a lesson to his mother once and for all. 😏 She wanted her to choose a bride on spot while standing in a pub full of England’s aristocratic spinsters and he chose a barmaid that walked into the pub that very moment. Talk about a destiny, huh? 😁 But who knew, she really was his destiny at that moment. 😌
Pauline Simms, the barmaid of Bulls and Blossoms café in Spindle Cove and the elder daughter of the Simms family is not having a good day. 😬 And to top her misery, she was humiliated by the arrogant Duke of Halford when he chose her out of all women in the café because she was the most ineligible spouse possible for him. But Pauline isn’t anything if not determined, brave and optimistic. If the Duke of Halford and his mother wanted a disaster coming to their way, they are surely going to get that. As one unexpected events after another turned out, Pauline found herself riding in the most luxurious coach she has ever ridden on her way to London to be taught how to be a duchess by none other than the current Duchess of Halford. The plan was simple, stay in London for a week, cause the most disastrous ruckus she can ever manage to cause, break the hopes of Duchess’ wish for grandchildren, take a thousand pounds and return to Spindle Cove to have an amazing life with her younger sister. The plan certainly didn’t include to fall in love in a week and that’s what she managed to accomplish during her stay in London. ����
To say Pauline and Griff isn’t compatible with each other would be an understatement. 😁 They are the polar opposite of each other. But despite their differences, Griff is inexplicably attracted to feisty, sassy-mouthed and determined Pauline. The Duke of Halford doesn’t have all happiness and cherry in his heart, he has been carrying a dark dark secret for more than a year and seems like no one but Pauline seems to get him. And Pauline knows better than to fall for an aristocratic rake like Duke of Halford. She’s only here in London for a week so that Griff can teach a lesson to his mother. She knows that she can be a mistress of Griff at best and a forgotten fling at worst. 😭 But the heart wants what it wants. Under the façade of an uncaring, rakish and charming duke, she knows there’s a man with a broken heart and dark secrets no one knows. 😌 And Pauline is determined to heal Griff’s shattered heart before she has to return to Spindle Cove for good.
Oh my God! Eva Kaminsky narrated the hell out of this book! This is my first ever listen of hear narration and I’m head over heels in love with her voice and performance. 😍 I even bought a few other books that she narrated right away. She really captured the essence of this story with her stellar performance. 👏 I’m not going to lie, I went into this story thinking this is going to be a hilarious, fluffy and low-angst romance. After all, the funny aspect of this story is what compelled me to listen in the very beginning and boy, was I wrong. 😌 This was so much more than Tessa Dare’s superbly written entertaining banters and a damsel in distress romance. This story has a depth, that bittersweet angst and most of all, old yet true principle of all time, that “love can conquer anything” in the end. ❤️😌 And talk about the balance of love, smut, funny banters and interesting characters. I was truly truly hooked. I binge listened this story in 2 days. 😁 And boy, I know this is going to sound ridiculous to most people but as I’m a dedicated lover of MM romance and straight sex weirds me out whenever I read MF these days. 🤣😂 But it’s not the case in this story. It was sizzling! 🔥 My my, the palpable sexual tension of our protagonists and that sweet moment when they finally consummated their love? Hot, hotter and hottest! 🔥🌋🔥 Tessa Dare made it to my favorite authors list with my very first read of hers. 👏 And yes, she really is the queen of funny and tasteful banters! 👍 Yes, this story is not perfection and everything since there are some a bit unrealistic moments and their love was a bit too insta. But despite everything, I really loved this book and it was a perfect ending for our two beloved MCs. Heartwarming, sweet, hot and so swoon-worthy! An baby made in heaven by talented Tessa Dare’s amazing writing and equally talented Eva Kaminsky’s performance. 😍 Couldn’t recommend this book enough. 👏
Favorite excerpts from the novel: 💗💜💗
“You would. A true kiss would stir you in your deepest places. It would keep you lying awake in your bed all night long. Restless, and beset by . . .” He paused, grasping for the female equivalent of an aching cockstand. “ . . . flutterings.”
“She’d never felt like this, not in all her life. So wanted, so desired. So needed, and by a man who shouldn’t need anything”
“Apparently, after years of seducing every worldly, sophisticated woman in London, an impertinent minx of a serving girl was exactly what he wanted.
But Griff vowed to himself then and there . . .
This was one woman he would never have.”
“You’re lovely. You’re clever. You’re turning me inside out, and I don’t like it. I don’t want to care for you. I’ve suffered enough over females who crawled inside my heart and deserted it after one week. But if I don’t say these words right now, I’m the lowest of the low. So here it is. You’re remarkable.”
“Don’t fight fair. Life isn’t fair, especially not life in a place like this. If you have a shot, take it. There’s no call to be sporting about it, not with bullies.”
“There’s always a pecking order. The big will torment the small, and the small will torment the smaller, and on down the line. It’s the nature of chicks, and it’s the nature of children, too. Don’t dream it will change. You’ll never be able to pummel every bully, and no amount of prayer or patience will convince them to change their ways. Just keep your head up and get what’s yours.”
“There were few things that gave him more satisfaction in life than bringing a woman pleasure. In so many ways, it was like solving a puzzle. Each woman had the same anatomy. But the crucial bits came in all shapes and sizes, fit together in different ways, and each responded to a unique set of strokes and caresses. The same techniques might not work from one woman to the next. The process of discovery was humbling and intoxicating.”
“The surge of emotion he felt—it wasn’t just the usual triumph of bringing a woman pleasure. An unbearable font of tenderness welled in his chest. Mingled with protectiveness, fondness. The impulse to not just pleasure her, but cherish her, guard her. He pressed kiss after kiss to the crown of her head, as if he could expel this painful excess of emotion.”
“Griff had never been the fanciful sort, even as a boy. When he was with Pauline, the world was different. She forced him to see things through fresh eyes. Suddenly his library was the eighth wonder of the world, and Corinthian columns merited blasphemy. A ferry across the Thames was an epic journey, and a kiss . . . a kiss was everything.”
“He just stared down at her, the same way he had that first day in Spindle Cove—as though she were the most wonderful, terrible, puzzling, perfect thing he’d ever beheld.”
“When I heard you cry out . . . it was like a saber to the gut. I wanted to die.”
“I said no such thing. You ran off before I could finish.” He ran a hand down her body. “I said I didn’t need ‘someone.’ Because you’re not just someone to me. You’re remarkable and stubborn and lovely and too damn brave for your own good.”
“How long has it been since you last made love?”
She bit her lip. “Twenty minutes?”
“Right. Same for me. Give or take thirty seconds.”
“Tighter, sleeker, hotter, wetter, sweeter. Not dreamlike or perfect, just more real.” 🔥
“When we’re alone together, we might be able to forget it. But no one else will.”
“Forget it? You think I forget who you are when we’re together?”
“Do you believe that I worship every inch of this lithe, delectable body? Do you understand that I would take a saber to the kidneys before letting you come to harm?”
“I don’t forget who you are,” he whispered. “And it’s you I want. So . . . damned . . . much.”
“I can’t pretend to understand how love works.” Pauline sifted her fingers through his hair, smoothing a touch over his brow. “How many days have I known you? Not many more. And I doubt I’ll ever go a day without thinking of you, even if I should live to see ninety. I . . .” She couldn’t help it. “I love you so.”
“And his arse . . . Lord above. The world had not seen such a perfectly formed arse since the sixth day of Creation. His buttocks were taut, rounded domes of pure muscle. As he walked, tantalizing hollows appeared on each cheek, alternating with every step.
Right, left, right . . “
“I’d die for her,” he said. “And I’d kill for her. The rest doesn’t concern you right now.”
“Devil take me. You do love her.”
“Radiant. Just as you were that first day.”
She laughed. “I am sure I look nothing like I did that first day.”
“You do. You sparkled.”
“That was the sugar.”
“I’m not convinced. I think it was just you.” His voice softened to a caress. “It was always you.”
“It’s too much. You’re being too perfect. Quickly, say something horrid so I know this isn’t a dream.”
“Very well. I have a creeping skin condition, and I hoot like a barn owl when I reach orgasm.”
“I love you, Pauline Simms. I’ve loved you since the day we met. In fact, I suspect some part of my heart loved you long before then. There was no woman for me before you, and if you refuse me, there’ll be no one after. I know I’m no prize, but—”
5 You are all spangled with sugar stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The rating for audio
5 stars for the story ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5 stars for the narration ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5 stars for the performance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Over all 10 big stars of eargasms stars from me
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Griffin York, the Duke of Halford is the fourth richest man in England and needless to say the most eligible bachelor that all women chase through a season. And our Griff was blessed not only with many properties and enormous wealth but also with a wicked, diabolical, headstrong mother. 🤣 Griff is determined to not marry now or ever and his mother is equally determined to get him married off soon and have cute, little, adorable grandchildren whom she can spoil rotten. When Griff realized that he was kidnapped by his own devilish mother to the notorious Spindle Cove where wallflowers of England gather and recuperate, he knew it’s time to teach a lesson to his mother once and for all. 😏 She wanted her to choose a bride on spot while standing in a pub full of England’s aristocratic spinsters and he chose a barmaid that walked into the pub that very moment. Talk about a destiny, huh? 😁 But who knew, she really was his destiny at that moment. 😌
Pauline Simms, the barmaid of Bulls and Blossoms café in Spindle Cove and the elder daughter of the Simms family is not having a good day. 😬 And to top her misery, she was humiliated by the arrogant Duke of Halford when he chose her out of all women in the café because she was the most ineligible spouse possible for him. But Pauline isn’t anything if not determined, brave and optimistic. If the Duke of Halford and his mother wanted a disaster coming to their way, they are surely going to get that. As one unexpected events after another turned out, Pauline found herself riding in the most luxurious coach she has ever ridden on her way to London to be taught how to be a duchess by none other than the current Duchess of Halford. The plan was simple, stay in London for a week, cause the most disastrous ruckus she can ever manage to cause, break the hopes of Duchess’ wish for grandchildren, take a thousand pounds and return to Spindle Cove to have an amazing life with her younger sister. The plan certainly didn’t include to fall in love in a week and that’s what she managed to accomplish during her stay in London. ����
To say Pauline and Griff isn’t compatible with each other would be an understatement. 😁 They are the polar opposite of each other. But despite their differences, Griff is inexplicably attracted to feisty, sassy-mouthed and determined Pauline. The Duke of Halford doesn’t have all happiness and cherry in his heart, he has been carrying a dark dark secret for more than a year and seems like no one but Pauline seems to get him. And Pauline knows better than to fall for an aristocratic rake like Duke of Halford. She’s only here in London for a week so that Griff can teach a lesson to his mother. She knows that she can be a mistress of Griff at best and a forgotten fling at worst. 😭 But the heart wants what it wants. Under the façade of an uncaring, rakish and charming duke, she knows there’s a man with a broken heart and dark secrets no one knows. 😌 And Pauline is determined to heal Griff’s shattered heart before she has to return to Spindle Cove for good.
Oh my God! Eva Kaminsky narrated the hell out of this book! This is my first ever listen of hear narration and I’m head over heels in love with her voice and performance. 😍 I even bought a few other books that she narrated right away. She really captured the essence of this story with her stellar performance. 👏 I’m not going to lie, I went into this story thinking this is going to be a hilarious, fluffy and low-angst romance. After all, the funny aspect of this story is what compelled me to listen in the very beginning and boy, was I wrong. 😌 This was so much more than Tessa Dare’s superbly written entertaining banters and a damsel in distress romance. This story has a depth, that bittersweet angst and most of all, old yet true principle of all time, that “love can conquer anything” in the end. ❤️😌 And talk about the balance of love, smut, funny banters and interesting characters. I was truly truly hooked. I binge listened this story in 2 days. 😁 And boy, I know this is going to sound ridiculous to most people but as I’m a dedicated lover of MM romance and straight sex weirds me out whenever I read MF these days. 🤣😂 But it’s not the case in this story. It was sizzling! 🔥 My my, the palpable sexual tension of our protagonists and that sweet moment when they finally consummated their love? Hot, hotter and hottest! 🔥🌋🔥 Tessa Dare made it to my favorite authors list with my very first read of hers. 👏 And yes, she really is the queen of funny and tasteful banters! 👍 Yes, this story is not perfection and everything since there are some a bit unrealistic moments and their love was a bit too insta. But despite everything, I really loved this book and it was a perfect ending for our two beloved MCs. Heartwarming, sweet, hot and so swoon-worthy! An baby made in heaven by talented Tessa Dare’s amazing writing and equally talented Eva Kaminsky’s performance. 😍 Couldn’t recommend this book enough. 👏
Favorite excerpts from the novel: 💗💜💗
“You would. A true kiss would stir you in your deepest places. It would keep you lying awake in your bed all night long. Restless, and beset by . . .” He paused, grasping for the female equivalent of an aching cockstand. “ . . . flutterings.”
“She’d never felt like this, not in all her life. So wanted, so desired. So needed, and by a man who shouldn’t need anything”
“Apparently, after years of seducing every worldly, sophisticated woman in London, an impertinent minx of a serving girl was exactly what he wanted.
But Griff vowed to himself then and there . . .
This was one woman he would never have.”
“You’re lovely. You’re clever. You’re turning me inside out, and I don’t like it. I don’t want to care for you. I’ve suffered enough over females who crawled inside my heart and deserted it after one week. But if I don’t say these words right now, I’m the lowest of the low. So here it is. You’re remarkable.”
“Don’t fight fair. Life isn’t fair, especially not life in a place like this. If you have a shot, take it. There’s no call to be sporting about it, not with bullies.”
“There’s always a pecking order. The big will torment the small, and the small will torment the smaller, and on down the line. It’s the nature of chicks, and it’s the nature of children, too. Don’t dream it will change. You’ll never be able to pummel every bully, and no amount of prayer or patience will convince them to change their ways. Just keep your head up and get what’s yours.”
“There were few things that gave him more satisfaction in life than bringing a woman pleasure. In so many ways, it was like solving a puzzle. Each woman had the same anatomy. But the crucial bits came in all shapes and sizes, fit together in different ways, and each responded to a unique set of strokes and caresses. The same techniques might not work from one woman to the next. The process of discovery was humbling and intoxicating.”
“The surge of emotion he felt—it wasn’t just the usual triumph of bringing a woman pleasure. An unbearable font of tenderness welled in his chest. Mingled with protectiveness, fondness. The impulse to not just pleasure her, but cherish her, guard her. He pressed kiss after kiss to the crown of her head, as if he could expel this painful excess of emotion.”
“Griff had never been the fanciful sort, even as a boy. When he was with Pauline, the world was different. She forced him to see things through fresh eyes. Suddenly his library was the eighth wonder of the world, and Corinthian columns merited blasphemy. A ferry across the Thames was an epic journey, and a kiss . . . a kiss was everything.”
“He just stared down at her, the same way he had that first day in Spindle Cove—as though she were the most wonderful, terrible, puzzling, perfect thing he’d ever beheld.”
“When I heard you cry out . . . it was like a saber to the gut. I wanted to die.”
“I said no such thing. You ran off before I could finish.” He ran a hand down her body. “I said I didn’t need ‘someone.’ Because you’re not just someone to me. You’re remarkable and stubborn and lovely and too damn brave for your own good.”
“How long has it been since you last made love?”
She bit her lip. “Twenty minutes?”
“Right. Same for me. Give or take thirty seconds.”
“Tighter, sleeker, hotter, wetter, sweeter. Not dreamlike or perfect, just more real.” 🔥
“When we’re alone together, we might be able to forget it. But no one else will.”
“Forget it? You think I forget who you are when we’re together?”
“Do you believe that I worship every inch of this lithe, delectable body? Do you understand that I would take a saber to the kidneys before letting you come to harm?”
“I don’t forget who you are,” he whispered. “And it’s you I want. So . . . damned . . . much.”
“I can’t pretend to understand how love works.” Pauline sifted her fingers through his hair, smoothing a touch over his brow. “How many days have I known you? Not many more. And I doubt I’ll ever go a day without thinking of you, even if I should live to see ninety. I . . .” She couldn’t help it. “I love you so.”
“And his arse . . . Lord above. The world had not seen such a perfectly formed arse since the sixth day of Creation. His buttocks were taut, rounded domes of pure muscle. As he walked, tantalizing hollows appeared on each cheek, alternating with every step.
Right, left, right . . “
“I’d die for her,” he said. “And I’d kill for her. The rest doesn’t concern you right now.”
“Devil take me. You do love her.”
“Radiant. Just as you were that first day.”
She laughed. “I am sure I look nothing like I did that first day.”
“You do. You sparkled.”
“That was the sugar.”
“I’m not convinced. I think it was just you.” His voice softened to a caress. “It was always you.”
“It’s too much. You’re being too perfect. Quickly, say something horrid so I know this isn’t a dream.”
“Very well. I have a creeping skin condition, and I hoot like a barn owl when I reach orgasm.”
“I love you, Pauline Simms. I’ve loved you since the day we met. In fact, I suspect some part of my heart loved you long before then. There was no woman for me before you, and if you refuse me, there’ll be no one after. I know I’m no prize, but—”
5 You are all spangled with sugar stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The rating for audio
5 stars for the story ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5 stars for the narration ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5 stars for the performance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Over all 10 big stars of eargasms stars from me
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
May 27, 2021
TW for loss of a child
FINALLYYYY. This series has been hit or miss for me, and I'm happy to say that this one was a hit! This is a class difference romance and it checked all the boxes for me. Griffin's mom forces him to go to Spindle Cover to choose a bride. Fed up with her, he chooses the barmaid, Pauline, in order to pay her to fail miserably at being a duchess and get his mom off his back once and for all. Pauline only agrees so that she can have money to bring home to take care of her sister. Pauline is whisked away for a week to train to be the perfect duchess, even though Griffin and Pauline have no plans of actually going through with the betrothal. This romance was so adorable and I loved how feisty Pauline was. She was so headstrong and wasn't going to let Griffin push her around. Her love for books was adorable and I loved how she wanted to open up her own lending library. She was self-conscious about where she came from, but she tried not to show how much that bothered her when surrounded by the upper class. Things got very emotional and deep near the end when Griffin finally let Pauline in and let him know why he was not in a good place. Pauline had to make some hard decisions for the good of his family and I just loved how real and complex those relationships got at the end. While the series as a whole isn't my favorite, you HAVE to pick up books 2 and 4 in the Spindle Cove series!
FINALLYYYY. This series has been hit or miss for me, and I'm happy to say that this one was a hit! This is a class difference romance and it checked all the boxes for me. Griffin's mom forces him to go to Spindle Cover to choose a bride. Fed up with her, he chooses the barmaid, Pauline, in order to pay her to fail miserably at being a duchess and get his mom off his back once and for all. Pauline only agrees so that she can have money to bring home to take care of her sister. Pauline is whisked away for a week to train to be the perfect duchess, even though Griffin and Pauline have no plans of actually going through with the betrothal. This romance was so adorable and I loved how feisty Pauline was. She was so headstrong and wasn't going to let Griffin push her around. Her love for books was adorable and I loved how she wanted to open up her own lending library. She was self-conscious about where she came from, but she tried not to show how much that bothered her when surrounded by the upper class. Things got very emotional and deep near the end when Griffin finally let Pauline in and let him know why he was not in a good place. Pauline had to make some hard decisions for the good of his family and I just loved how real and complex those relationships got at the end. While the series as a whole isn't my favorite, you HAVE to pick up books 2 and 4 in the Spindle Cove series!
September 1, 2016
Tessa Dare has been my most surprising wild card of 2014.
I went into this year convinced that I could never love historical romance, especially M/F historical romance. Then Tessa Dare smacked me upside the face with her Spindle Cove series and sent me reeling.
I loved them.
I've been listening to the series in audiobook format, so I was devastated when saw that the supremely talented narrator from the first three books, Carolyn Morris, was replaced by Eva Kaminsky. However, I shouldn't have worried. Eva Kaminsky was absolutely fabulous in this role. She narrated the crap out of this story, and I didn't want to stop listening for a moment. She had a few qualities that I find absolutely essential in a female narrator: A wide range of distinct voices, believable, sexy male voices, and excellent timing.
I think most readers will complain that the story is so improbable, so impractical, that it is ridiculous. I mean, a duke and a servant falling in love and getting hitched? And while I logically knew all of that, I honestly didn't care one iota. I bought the fantasy, and isn't that what romance is all about?
This book was less funny and more moving than the previous books, though it was just as enjoyable. Tessa Dare manages to give a book tension and emotion without resorting to misunderstandings or silly plot devices. I could honestly sing Tessa Dare's praises all day. This book was sexy, had a strong female MC, a male MC that I could fall in love with, and a great cast of supporting characters.
Book hangover, engaged.
February 6, 2017
This is a really cute story about a duke falling for a serving girl, and they were adorable and it was hot and swoony sometimes, but the true star of this book is the duke's mother - the current duchess. She is dry, sarcastic, bossy, controlling, and has a propensity to knit horrible little things in the hope of someday having a grandchild.
knitting kitteh is producing better projects than duchess no-grandma..
Since her son, Griffin, is a total skeezebag in a previous book and doesn't look like he's getting anywhere in her quest for these grandchildren who will be wearing horrible monstrosities of yarn, the duchess takes matters into her own hands. By doing the most reasonable and logical thing to get her son to get married, of course. She drugs him and hauls his unconscious body into a carriage where he awakens in "Spinster Cove". She tells him that he will have to pick a bride from there and she will shape the girl into a duchess. He retaliates by picking a barmaid who is filthy and swears.
The barmaid IS his exit strategy
Griffin takes the barmaid, Pauline, aside and promises to pay her if she completely fails at all of the "duchess lessons" and shows his mother, and everyone else, how completely inappropriate she is for his wife.
Oh, but you know how these stories go. Of course she turns out to be a "breath of fresh air". Of course they find themselves hopelessly attracted to each other. Of course, everything backfires!
All to prove that mother DOES know best. Now, I need to go find a village of men to drive my daughter to after she eats the brownies I made her.
These guys look like fun. I wonder where they live..
knitting kitteh is producing better projects than duchess no-grandma..
Since her son, Griffin, is a total skeezebag in a previous book and doesn't look like he's getting anywhere in her quest for these grandchildren who will be wearing horrible monstrosities of yarn, the duchess takes matters into her own hands. By doing the most reasonable and logical thing to get her son to get married, of course. She drugs him and hauls his unconscious body into a carriage where he awakens in "Spinster Cove". She tells him that he will have to pick a bride from there and she will shape the girl into a duchess. He retaliates by picking a barmaid who is filthy and swears.
The barmaid IS his exit strategy
Griffin takes the barmaid, Pauline, aside and promises to pay her if she completely fails at all of the "duchess lessons" and shows his mother, and everyone else, how completely inappropriate she is for his wife.
Oh, but you know how these stories go. Of course she turns out to be a "breath of fresh air". Of course they find themselves hopelessly attracted to each other. Of course, everything backfires!
All to prove that mother DOES know best. Now, I need to go find a village of men to drive my daughter to after she eats the brownies I made her.
These guys look like fun. I wonder where they live..
May 11, 2024
She was perfect. Coarse, uneducated, utterly graceless.
I looooved this book until the end. I’m also glad I spaced this series out, because the hero was an ASS in the previous books.
A little bit like Eliza Doolittle meets manwhore
Hilarious banter and dialogue
Mother and son relationship was perfect
I am fifty-eight. I need grandchildren before my decline. It’s not right for two generations of the family to be drooling at the same time.”
I looooved this book until the end. I’m also glad I spaced this series out, because the hero was an ASS in the previous books.
A little bit like Eliza Doolittle meets manwhore
Hilarious banter and dialogue
Mother and son relationship was perfect
I am fifty-eight. I need grandchildren before my decline. It’s not right for two generations of the family to be drooling at the same time.”
August 24, 2020
3.5 Stars
Overall Opinion: This was a cute, fun read. I am really liking this author's characters and the banter we get with them! But for some reason I didn't feel like we got as deep of a connection with these two as I have in the other books I've read from Ms. Dare. I'm not even sure why I feel that way exactly...so even though it was enjoyable, I didn't quite like it as much as the The Duchess Deal or A Week to Be Wicked 🤷🏻♀️
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Pauline and Griff's story. Griff is known as a womanizing duke and his mother has had enough, so she kidnaps him and takes him to Spindle Cove where there are single ladies that she makes him choose from. As a way to get back at his mother he picks a barmaid, Pauline. They make a wager that if his mother can make her acceptable in public as a potential duchess he will marry her in a week's time. Griff also makes a deal with Pauline that if she fails at his mothers duchess training he will pay her handsomely. There are some funny moments, some past hurts revealed, some sexy times...and they get a HEA ending.
POV: This alternated between focusing on Pauline and Griff in 3rd person narrative.
Overall Pace of Story: Good. I never skimmed and I thought it flowed well.
Instalove: No, they take a while to develop stronger feelings (but it is over the course of a week, so in the grand scheme of things it could be considered instalove 🤔)
H rating: 4 stars. Griff. I liked him. I appreciated how he wasn't judgmental, and how he grew to care for the h.
h rating: 4 stars. Pauline. I liked her. I appreciated how she didn't let things get her down and how she cared for her sister.
Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.
Descriptive sex: Yes
OW/OM drama: No
Sex scene with OW or OM: No
Cheating: No
Separation: Yes
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This had okay closure, but I would've liked more time with them in the future. I would call it a HEA .
Safety: This one should be Safe for most safety gang readers
Overall Opinion: This was a cute, fun read. I am really liking this author's characters and the banter we get with them! But for some reason I didn't feel like we got as deep of a connection with these two as I have in the other books I've read from Ms. Dare. I'm not even sure why I feel that way exactly...so even though it was enjoyable, I didn't quite like it as much as the The Duchess Deal or A Week to Be Wicked 🤷🏻♀️
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Pauline and Griff's story. Griff is known as a womanizing duke and his mother has had enough, so she kidnaps him and takes him to Spindle Cove where there are single ladies that she makes him choose from. As a way to get back at his mother he picks a barmaid, Pauline. They make a wager that if his mother can make her acceptable in public as a potential duchess he will marry her in a week's time. Griff also makes a deal with Pauline that if she fails at his mothers duchess training he will pay her handsomely. There are some funny moments, some past hurts revealed, some sexy times...and they get a HEA ending.
POV: This alternated between focusing on Pauline and Griff in 3rd person narrative.
Overall Pace of Story: Good. I never skimmed and I thought it flowed well.
Instalove: No, they take a while to develop stronger feelings (but it is over the course of a week, so in the grand scheme of things it could be considered instalove 🤔)
H rating: 4 stars. Griff. I liked him. I appreciated how he wasn't judgmental, and how he grew to care for the h.
h rating: 4 stars. Pauline. I liked her. I appreciated how she didn't let things get her down and how she cared for her sister.
Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.
Descriptive sex: Yes
OW/OM drama: No
Sex scene with OW or OM: No
Cheating: No
Separation: Yes
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This had okay closure, but I would've liked more time with them in the future. I would call it a HEA .
Safety: This one should be Safe for most safety gang readers
May 24, 2022
"Any Duchess Will Do" are the fourth book in the "Spindle Cove" series.Tessa Dare has her own romance to make us fall for..she made me fall in love all over again!
The hero,Griffin York gets kidnapped by his own mother (LOL as hell,haha) where she takes him to Spindle Cove to choose a wife.In a splendid moment of madness he gets entranced by the pride-ful serving girl Pauline Simms who hade glittering sugar all over her.Her bold attitude and banter with the hero made me laugh and i just knew that Tessa Dare would take me into yet another crazy but very delightful ride.
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I remember that Pauline gets presented for the first time in the Spindle Cove Novella "Beauty and the Blacksmith",so i was curious about her knowing that she will be the heroine in this book.It was also a surprise to know that she isn`t a virgin,i liked that.Her deal with the irresistible and arrogant duke Griffin was hilarious..that she would work for a week to be a failure for his mother so that his mother would give up on finding a wife for him.But little did they know that they are destined soulmates..
The attraction between Griffin and Pauline are instant and sizzling-and the sex-scenes raw and steamy..just WOW Tessa Dare`s heroes are really pro at pleasuring their heroines.I also suspected the reason Griffin was against marriage and more..the man was in torment and even Pauline saw that.The reason for it made me smile with tears on my eyes,Griffin has such a great heart that i simply suffered for him together with Pauline.Their love for each other was something they couldn`t deny,even if they tried.It was a honest love..passionate,alluring in a way that they simply can`t be happy without each other.Griff knew her to the deepest, most hidden places of her soul. He respected her as a person, with thoughts and dreams and desires.That is what love is about.That`s true love.
They are everything for each other,everything they never even dared to dream of.Griff`s marriage proposal at the end made me jump up with happiness,he proposed in his own Griff-Way and i just L.O.V.E it!The epiluge was the best too,where we could meet Minerva and Colin who are one of my fav couple (their book are in "A Week to be Wicked") and they have got an baby-daughter now,so cute!I really love the world of Spindle Cove,seems to me a very delightful place to visit,and these characters makes it even more wonderful with their color-strong personalities.
“And I am your slave, Pauline.”
-Griffin
The hero,Griffin York gets kidnapped by his own mother (LOL as hell,haha) where she takes him to Spindle Cove to choose a wife.In a splendid moment of madness he gets entranced by the pride-ful serving girl Pauline Simms who hade glittering sugar all over her.Her bold attitude and banter with the hero made me laugh and i just knew that Tessa Dare would take me into yet another crazy but very delightful ride.
[image error]
I remember that Pauline gets presented for the first time in the Spindle Cove Novella "Beauty and the Blacksmith",so i was curious about her knowing that she will be the heroine in this book.It was also a surprise to know that she isn`t a virgin,i liked that.Her deal with the irresistible and arrogant duke Griffin was hilarious..that she would work for a week to be a failure for his mother so that his mother would give up on finding a wife for him.But little did they know that they are destined soulmates..
The attraction between Griffin and Pauline are instant and sizzling-and the sex-scenes raw and steamy..just WOW Tessa Dare`s heroes are really pro at pleasuring their heroines.I also suspected the reason Griffin was against marriage and more..the man was in torment and even Pauline saw that.The reason for it made me smile with tears on my eyes,Griffin has such a great heart that i simply suffered for him together with Pauline.Their love for each other was something they couldn`t deny,even if they tried.It was a honest love..passionate,alluring in a way that they simply can`t be happy without each other.Griff knew her to the deepest, most hidden places of her soul. He respected her as a person, with thoughts and dreams and desires.That is what love is about.That`s true love.
They are everything for each other,everything they never even dared to dream of.Griff`s marriage proposal at the end made me jump up with happiness,he proposed in his own Griff-Way and i just L.O.V.E it!The epiluge was the best too,where we could meet Minerva and Colin who are one of my fav couple (their book are in "A Week to be Wicked") and they have got an baby-daughter now,so cute!I really love the world of Spindle Cove,seems to me a very delightful place to visit,and these characters makes it even more wonderful with their color-strong personalities.
“And I am your slave, Pauline.”
-Griffin
August 20, 2014
5+ stars – Historical/Regency Romance
Wow! I loved this! I haven’t relished a historical romance this much in quite some time. I adored everything about this book. Here’s a quick summary of what I enjoyed most about it.
*Endearing, unique, lovable heroine – Pauline is caring, funny, cheeky, brave, honest, spunky, loyal, and strong yet vulnerable. I absolutely adored her!
*Sigh-worthy hero
*Heartwarming, swoonalicious romance – This has some of the sweetest, most memorable, delightful romantic moments/scenes that I’ve read in a long time and the H/h are truly magnificent together!
*Reminiscent of “My Fair Lady”, “Cinderella”, and “Pretty Woman” – (The heroine isn’t a prostitute like in “Pretty Woman” but some other aspects of the story reminded me of it.)
*Snappy, refreshing dialogue and dazzlingly witty banter
*Clever humor and laugh-out-loud moments
*Touching emotional, dramatic elements – I was moved to tears more than once.
*Steamy, creative love scenes
Wow! I loved this! I haven’t relished a historical romance this much in quite some time. I adored everything about this book. Here’s a quick summary of what I enjoyed most about it.
*Endearing, unique, lovable heroine – Pauline is caring, funny, cheeky, brave, honest, spunky, loyal, and strong yet vulnerable. I absolutely adored her!
*Sigh-worthy hero
*Heartwarming, swoonalicious romance – This has some of the sweetest, most memorable, delightful romantic moments/scenes that I’ve read in a long time and the H/h are truly magnificent together!
*Reminiscent of “My Fair Lady”, “Cinderella”, and “Pretty Woman” – (The heroine isn’t a prostitute like in “Pretty Woman” but some other aspects of the story reminded me of it.)
*Snappy, refreshing dialogue and dazzlingly witty banter
*Clever humor and laugh-out-loud moments
*Touching emotional, dramatic elements – I was moved to tears more than once.
*Steamy, creative love scenes
June 21, 2017
“Miss Simms,” his mother said, “if you think you can trick me into repeating your vulgarities, you will be disappointed. Suffice it to say, slang, blasphemy, and cursing have no place in a lady’s vocabulary. Much less a duchess’s.”
“Oh. I see. So your grace never curses.”
“I do not.”
“Words like cor . . . bollocks . . . damn . . . devil . . . blast . . . bloody hell . . .” She pronounced the words with relish, warming to her task. “They don’t cross a duchess’s lips?”
“No.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
Miss Simms’s fair brow creased in thought. “What if a duchess steps on a tack? What if a gust of wind steals a duchess’s best powdered wig? Not even then?”
“Not even when an impertinent farm girl provokes a duchess to a simmering rage,” she replied evenly. “A duchess might contemplate all manner of cutting remarks and frustrated oaths. But even in the face of extreme annoyance, she stifles any such ejaculations.”
“My,” Miss Simms said, wide-eyed. “I do hope dukes aren’t held to the same standard. Can’t be healthy for a man, always stifling his ejaculations.”
I was commuting and I just burst out laughing after reading this!!! All the people around me were looking at me like I was crazy! LMAO
This book is full of moments like this, but it’s also full of very touching moments that brought tears in my eyes!
“You see,” he said, “I brought Miss Simms to London to thwart my mother’s matchmaking schemes. She was supposed to be a laughable failure. A hilarious joke.”
One of the Misses Haughfells began to giggle. Her mother smacked her wrist with a folded fan.
“No, no,” Griff said. “Do laugh, please. It’s most amusing. A barmaid, receiving duchess lessons. Can you imagine? The best part was the diction training. My mother was forever drilling Miss Simms on her H’ s.”
“Is that so?” Lady Haughfell arched a brow. “I don’t suppose she made much progress.”
“Oh, but she did. Show them, Miss Simms.”
Pauline smiled. “Hideous. Ham-faced. Hag.” She looked to Griff. “There. How was that?”
“Brilliant.” He beamed at her.
“Write it down?”
“Of course.” As he scribbled the epithets on Miss Haughfell’s dance card, he went on talking. “But you haven’t heard the funniest bit, Lady Haughfell. See, I thought I was playing a trick on my mother —and all London—but it turns out, the joke was on me.”
The matron stiffened. “Because you have lost what remained of your family’s honor and society’s good opinion?”
“No. Because I fell desperately in love with this barmaid and now cannot imagine happiness without her.” He looked up and shrugged. “Whoops.”
All three Haughfells stared at him in mute, slack-jawed horror. Pauline wished she could have a miniature of their expressions to keep in a drawer forever and pull out on dull, rainy days.
Griff sharpened the pencil stub with his thumbnail. “Let’s make sure to have that down. It’s important.” He spoke the words slowly as he inscribed them. “Desperately . . . in . . . love.”
“Don’t forget the ‘whoops,’ ” Pauline said, looking over his shoulder. “That was the best part.”
I loved both Griff and Pauline. Both are very special persons. Griff has been living his life as a rake until a very tragic death hasn’t woke him up. Pauline has been awake since she was a little girl while trying to protect her sister.
They are just perfect for each other!
Pauline is a very unusual heroine. She’s a lower class (I hate this definition, but I suppose in that period it was an important issue with people…), but very intelligent and very straightforward. I loved how she handled the Duchess! She had wit and she had heart. It was wonderful to have insight in her feelings!
Griff is wonderful in his own right. But his being wonderful does not come out until later in the story. And it comes out thanks to Pauline. Great!!!
The secondary character of the (future) dowager Duchess with her knitting problems were endearing and very touching too. Her love for Griff, her only living child, was evident since the beginning, but it was masked by phlegm … LOL
“Lastly,” the duchess continued, “the most important quality any Duchess of Halford needs is this: phlegm.”
“Phlegm?” Pauline echoed, choking down her food. “It’s forbidden to speak of hunger at the dinner table, but it’s fine to talk about phlegm?” She poked at a bit of ham. “If it’s phlegm you want, I can give you that. I learned how to spit with the farm boys. The trick is to start far back in your throat and –“
The duchess halted, just as she was about to spoon some asparagus soup into her mouth. She looked at the rich green broth, then set down her spoon.
“Not that kind of phlegm, Miss Simms. I refer to self-assurance. Unflappability. Aplomb. The ability to remain calm, no matter what occurs. Never underestimate the power of phlegm.”
I really hope Ms. Dare will continue with this series – it’s just that WONDERFUL that it would be a shame if this were the last book!!!
“Oh. I see. So your grace never curses.”
“I do not.”
“Words like cor . . . bollocks . . . damn . . . devil . . . blast . . . bloody hell . . .” She pronounced the words with relish, warming to her task. “They don’t cross a duchess’s lips?”
“No.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
Miss Simms’s fair brow creased in thought. “What if a duchess steps on a tack? What if a gust of wind steals a duchess’s best powdered wig? Not even then?”
“Not even when an impertinent farm girl provokes a duchess to a simmering rage,” she replied evenly. “A duchess might contemplate all manner of cutting remarks and frustrated oaths. But even in the face of extreme annoyance, she stifles any such ejaculations.”
“My,” Miss Simms said, wide-eyed. “I do hope dukes aren’t held to the same standard. Can’t be healthy for a man, always stifling his ejaculations.”
I was commuting and I just burst out laughing after reading this!!! All the people around me were looking at me like I was crazy! LMAO
This book is full of moments like this, but it’s also full of very touching moments that brought tears in my eyes!
“You see,” he said, “I brought Miss Simms to London to thwart my mother’s matchmaking schemes. She was supposed to be a laughable failure. A hilarious joke.”
One of the Misses Haughfells began to giggle. Her mother smacked her wrist with a folded fan.
“No, no,” Griff said. “Do laugh, please. It’s most amusing. A barmaid, receiving duchess lessons. Can you imagine? The best part was the diction training. My mother was forever drilling Miss Simms on her H’ s.”
“Is that so?” Lady Haughfell arched a brow. “I don’t suppose she made much progress.”
“Oh, but she did. Show them, Miss Simms.”
Pauline smiled. “Hideous. Ham-faced. Hag.” She looked to Griff. “There. How was that?”
“Brilliant.” He beamed at her.
“Write it down?”
“Of course.” As he scribbled the epithets on Miss Haughfell’s dance card, he went on talking. “But you haven’t heard the funniest bit, Lady Haughfell. See, I thought I was playing a trick on my mother —and all London—but it turns out, the joke was on me.”
The matron stiffened. “Because you have lost what remained of your family’s honor and society’s good opinion?”
“No. Because I fell desperately in love with this barmaid and now cannot imagine happiness without her.” He looked up and shrugged. “Whoops.”
All three Haughfells stared at him in mute, slack-jawed horror. Pauline wished she could have a miniature of their expressions to keep in a drawer forever and pull out on dull, rainy days.
Griff sharpened the pencil stub with his thumbnail. “Let’s make sure to have that down. It’s important.” He spoke the words slowly as he inscribed them. “Desperately . . . in . . . love.”
“Don’t forget the ‘whoops,’ ” Pauline said, looking over his shoulder. “That was the best part.”
I loved both Griff and Pauline. Both are very special persons. Griff has been living his life as a rake until a very tragic death hasn’t woke him up. Pauline has been awake since she was a little girl while trying to protect her sister.
They are just perfect for each other!
Pauline is a very unusual heroine. She’s a lower class (I hate this definition, but I suppose in that period it was an important issue with people…), but very intelligent and very straightforward. I loved how she handled the Duchess! She had wit and she had heart. It was wonderful to have insight in her feelings!
Griff is wonderful in his own right. But his being wonderful does not come out until later in the story. And it comes out thanks to Pauline. Great!!!
The secondary character of the (future) dowager Duchess with her knitting problems were endearing and very touching too. Her love for Griff, her only living child, was evident since the beginning, but it was masked by phlegm … LOL
“Lastly,” the duchess continued, “the most important quality any Duchess of Halford needs is this: phlegm.”
“Phlegm?” Pauline echoed, choking down her food. “It’s forbidden to speak of hunger at the dinner table, but it’s fine to talk about phlegm?” She poked at a bit of ham. “If it’s phlegm you want, I can give you that. I learned how to spit with the farm boys. The trick is to start far back in your throat and –“
The duchess halted, just as she was about to spoon some asparagus soup into her mouth. She looked at the rich green broth, then set down her spoon.
“Not that kind of phlegm, Miss Simms. I refer to self-assurance. Unflappability. Aplomb. The ability to remain calm, no matter what occurs. Never underestimate the power of phlegm.”
I really hope Ms. Dare will continue with this series – it’s just that WONDERFUL that it would be a shame if this were the last book!!!
September 16, 2019
Audio: 5+ STARS!!
Story: 5 STARS!!
We all know that Tessa Dare's sense of humor is wonderful, but she truly outdid herself with the premise and execution of Any Duchess Will Do!
I don't think I've ever laughed so hard while listening a book. Huge kudos to Eva Kaminsky for her incredible performance.
Plot: In an attempt to thwart his meddling mother's claim that she can turn any woman in Spindle Cove into marriageable Duchess material, Griffin, the Duke of Halford, chooses the serving girl at the local tavern.
Except this particular serving girl. . .
So there are a million reviews for this book. I'll just say that I adored Pauline and Griff and their forced proximity.
Story: 5 STARS!!
"I'll take her."AAAAHHHH! So glorious!
We all know that Tessa Dare's sense of humor is wonderful, but she truly outdid herself with the premise and execution of Any Duchess Will Do!
I don't think I've ever laughed so hard while listening a book. Huge kudos to Eva Kaminsky for her incredible performance.
Plot: In an attempt to thwart his meddling mother's claim that she can turn any woman in Spindle Cove into marriageable Duchess material, Griffin, the Duke of Halford, chooses the serving girl at the local tavern.
Except this particular serving girl. . .
...had just enough pride to trump etiquette and good sense.Which made for some highly entertaining moments from beginning to end, and resulted in a fairy tale of epic proportions.
So there are a million reviews for this book. I'll just say that I adored Pauline and Griff and their forced proximity.
"My impertinence is the reason I'm here, remember? It's why you chose me from a room of well-bred ladies. Because I'm perfectly wrong. Everything you'd never want in a woman."There were just so many great moments, including this one that had me laughing my butt off:
He raked a gaze down her body. "I wouldn't say that."
"Very well. You have questions? Here are some answers. 'Yes,' 'No,' and 'Only with ample lubrication.' Apply them to your questions as you like."Unfortunately, I'm a bit pouty that I was robbed of this book being a 5+ star read for me by the hugely disappointing run of events from about 90%-95%, but I'll survive, lol. Overall, it was awesome!
June 3, 2013
Rating: A ... Heat: Hot
-- A Romantic Book Affairs Review.
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Well, it’s officially official: If I want a good cry, I’ll pick up one of my favorite Tessa Dare books. Each and every time she creates heroes and heroines who worm their way into my heart and tug on those heartstrings. Kate and Thorne? Made me bawl my ever-loving eyes out. Minerva and Colin? When they weren’t making me laugh, they put tears in my eyes. Pauline and Griff? Yeah, those two got the water works going pretty good and pretty often. I love the ladies and gents of Spindle Cove, and Pauline and Griff are no exception.
Pauline Simms, serving girl at the Bull and Blossom, is a hard worker. As a poor farmer’s daughter, no one expects great things from Pauline. Her hands have calluses and her dresses often have mud at the hem. Her hair coiffure is the least of her concerns. And, in a town full of women, genteel ladies at that, Pauline is often overlooked. Not that she minds really. She has dreams but none of them revolve around a prince charming or a fairy tale Cinderella ending.
Until Griffin York, the Eighth Duke of Halford, comes strolling (or, well, stumbling) into the Bull and Blossom. Yes, that Griffin York—the debauched and hedonistic sometimes friend of Colin Sandhurst (A Week to Be Wicked). Or, that’s who Griff was... but no longer is. Griff’s changed, things have changed, and no one seems to notice. Not even his mother, who in her quest for grandchildren, has drugged and kidnapped her son to take him to Spindle Cove.
Where he's forced to pick a lady, any lady, from the Bull and Blossom. His mother, the current Duchess, will teach whatever lady he picks to be a duchess. In one week, no less, or she forfeits her rights to ever bother him with matrimony talk ever again. And who does Griff set his sights on? Pauline. Because if anyone will fail his mother’s duchess training, he believes it will be poor Pauline.
Pauline’s family may be poor but they’re well fed thanks to her. Not that her awful father appreciates all she does, but it’s not him that Pauline works so hard for. No, everything Pauline does is with her sister Daniela in mind. Pauline will do anything for her sister, who some rude town’s people would call simple or feeble-minded. Pauline is the only one who cares for Daniela. And the money Griff offers, to go along with the sham engagement, is all going toward a better future for Pauline and Daniela.
I’ll be honest, Griffin nearly broke me. The way he first treats Pauline, the way he's so careless with his words and actions, had me fuming. An arrogant duke to the core, or so he pretends to be. But Griff’s a smart man, thankfully, and it doesn't take long for him to be set straight. To start actually seeing Pauline as the bright and beautiful woman she is. Honest and open. Caring and thoughtful… and exactly what Griff needed. The only person who could see him, just as he can see her. I loved Pauline for never backing down or cowering to him. For forcing him to let go of the darkness inside him. A sadness that’s been eating away at him for so long.
Any Duchess Will Do is an enchanting tale of unlikely love. A depressed duke known for his philandering, libertine ways meets his match in a courageous serving girl who curses like a sailor and wobbles in high heeled slippers. Pauline and Griff’s difference in class, how it made Pauline feel and the difficulties it caused, broke my heart over and over. A duke's world is no easy place to be but, in the end, it’s exactly where Pauline was meant to be. Griff and his prickly seduction is impossible to resist.
-- A Romantic Book Affairs Review.
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June 18, 2013
This is a Regency version of My Fair Lady, and not a very convincing one. It exceeded my expectations, and was more convincing than I had expected considering the preposterousness of the premise, but then again, my expectations were extremely low and my dubiousness not entirely misguided. Come on, people, this is the Regency era. Liaisons between commoners and dukes are highly uncommon, and that of a barmaid and a duke? Even more ludicrous. Still, this book carried it off the dubious premise better than I expected, and I really enjoyed the characters. However, the relationship between the main characters never did ring true to me, and ultimately I didn't find myself completely sold on the premise.
The dowager Duchess of Halford is at her wit's end. Her disreputable son refuses to do her duty, and unlike the many previous dowager whatevers in numerous other Regency novels who merely complain about it, she actually does something about her problem. She drugs her son and drags him to Spindle Cove, AKA Spinster Cove, and demands that he select a bride from the multitude of available young women there. He just has to choose a woman, any woman, and the Dowager Duchess will make her a success in society within a week. To spite his mother, Griff, the Duke of Halford chooses the most unsuitable woman in the room. Pauline Simms, a barmaid who has made a grand entrance, cursing, burning with fury, and completely covered in sugar due to a rather unfortunate event right before the Duke's arrival. To Griff, "she was perfect. Coarse, uneducated, utterly graceless...A mud-spattered, sugar-dusted, smart-mouthed serving girl in drab linsey-woolsey."
So Griff, that dissolute rake (are there any other kind?), is setting Pauline up for failure before they even start, but this is a Regency romance after all, so let's not delude ourselves as to the outcome. They shockingly fall in love. Blah blah blah. It's all predictable and boring, I didn't buy the story much, and her transformation---the basis for the story, is just not well done at all. Pauline---and I'm not kidding about this---magically begins to pronounce words correctly (nothing instead of nothin'...etc) due to kissing him, due to his limbering of her tongue. I'm speechless. No pun intended.
By themselves, the characters were very well-built and sympathetic. I did not like Pauline's character initially, however hard-knock her life was as we first see her. We know that she has been abused at home and pitied in town, but in the beginning, her character is so annoying. She is deliberately provocative, she acts like someone from the gutter, like the foul-mouth barmaid she is supposed to be instead of the strong, educated young woman of poor background as she actually is. I know that Pauline is having fun at the dowager's expense, but it didn't endear me to her in the least. Here is this surprisingly open-minded dowager duchess, and she is a likeable one, accepting of a barmaid as her future daughter in law, trying to instruct her so she doesn't disgrace herself in town and all Pauline does is deliberately try to aggravate her. For the first 1/3 of the book, I would have been happy for that foul-mouthed, graceless fishwife Pauline to be sent back to Spindle Cove and have the book end right there inconclusively. She is determined to be difficult and defiant so it took me a long time to warm up to her.
"'So your grace never curses.'
'I do not.'
'Words like cor...bollocks...damn...devil...blast...bloody hell...” She pronounced the words with relish, warming to her task. “They don’t cross a duchess’s lips?”
I feel like a bit of an asshole disparaging her character, because she did have it pretty hard growing up. Her father is widely looked upon with pity in the village due to the fact that he only had two daughters, Pauline and Daniela, and Daniela is mentally challenged. He abuses her, physically and mentally, belittles her, and destroys her hopes and dreams. When she has aspirations to a better life, when she reads a book that gives her hope, her father takes the book and beats her with it.
Pauline has had to be strong, she hangs on to her hopes of building a book shop despite everything, and she's had to defend her sister against all the hate and pitying glares and cruel comments that others have made. Pauline accepts Griff's offer against her will because he offers her a thousand pound if she is successful at thwarting his mother, and even at the cost of her pride, she needs it to get a better life for herself and her sister. I do love her character.
"'There's always a pecking order. The big will torment the small, and the small will torment the smaller, and on down the line. It's the nature of chicks, and it's the nature of children, too. Don't dream it will change...Just keep your head up and get what's yours. Your food, your schooling. Whatever they give you, don't squander it. All bread goes straight in your belly, and all the learning you can gather goes here.' She tapped a fingertip against her temple. 'Stash it away. Because once it's in you, it's yours. No one can take it from you."
Griff is your typical Regency duke. Wealthy, successful, but resolutely dissolute and adamantly against settling down. He is a likeable character, not altogether depraved as reputation would have it, and what we see of him initially is a man who's unwilling to get married. There are hints of something in his past, and we do get some glimpses of a shadowy grief; I will not spoil it, but it turned out to be unexpected and believable, and I completely commisserate with his sorrow when we finally found out what it was. He is completely truthful with Pauline from the start, about his character and his expectations of her, he's not promising her the moon nor a fairy tale, just a week's worth of paid companionship to dissuade his mother from her single-minded mission. Griff does make some nice speeches about Pauline too, proclaiming his hardened-heart, and they're rather convincing:
"'You don’t want to hear that you're their equal. You want to hear that you're their better...I'm supposed to deem your little water-goblet tune more enchanting than any Italian aria. Proclaim your wholesome country manners a breath of fresh air in my sin-clouded life.' He laughed. 'What else? Perhaps you're hoping to hear that your purity is the most intoxicating and rare of perfumes. Your hair smells like hedgerows and your eyes are like chips of wide-open sky, and God above, you make me feel things. Things I haven't felt in years. Or ever.' With his free hand, he clutched his chest dramatically. 'What is this strange stirring in my breast? Could it possibly be...love?'"
Those big words would be a lot more convincing if he weren't already inexplicably heads over heels in love at that point and merely talking big for his ego's sake. I really found their attraction and growing relationship unconvincing. Their banter is funny, the book is hilarious at times, but I never felt like their relationship is a plausible one. One character I unexpectedly loved was the dowager duchess. She is your typical steel-tough dowager, but she has her soft spot, and an unexpected problem with knitting: "Is it a cap for a two-headed snake? A mitten for a three-fingered arthritic? Even I don't know, and I made the thing."
The characters and the writing are the best things about this book, because I found the plot not terribly well-done and her transformation from serving girl to society girl was barely brushed upon. She is given a boatload of books to read, given clothes, but other than that, Pauline seems already capable. Her status as a barmaid is rather misleading because instead of than an uneducated barmaid whose transformation would be realistic and considerably more difficult, we are given Pauline who is already educated and cultured, in fact, rather too educated to be believable country girl of poor stock. Overall, this was a good book, but read it for the characters and the hilarity of the banter, not the thinly contrived tale.
The dowager Duchess of Halford is at her wit's end. Her disreputable son refuses to do her duty, and unlike the many previous dowager whatevers in numerous other Regency novels who merely complain about it, she actually does something about her problem. She drugs her son and drags him to Spindle Cove, AKA Spinster Cove, and demands that he select a bride from the multitude of available young women there. He just has to choose a woman, any woman, and the Dowager Duchess will make her a success in society within a week. To spite his mother, Griff, the Duke of Halford chooses the most unsuitable woman in the room. Pauline Simms, a barmaid who has made a grand entrance, cursing, burning with fury, and completely covered in sugar due to a rather unfortunate event right before the Duke's arrival. To Griff, "she was perfect. Coarse, uneducated, utterly graceless...A mud-spattered, sugar-dusted, smart-mouthed serving girl in drab linsey-woolsey."
So Griff, that dissolute rake (are there any other kind?), is setting Pauline up for failure before they even start, but this is a Regency romance after all, so let's not delude ourselves as to the outcome. They shockingly fall in love. Blah blah blah. It's all predictable and boring, I didn't buy the story much, and her transformation---the basis for the story, is just not well done at all. Pauline---and I'm not kidding about this---magically begins to pronounce words correctly (nothing instead of nothin'...etc) due to kissing him, due to his limbering of her tongue. I'm speechless. No pun intended.
By themselves, the characters were very well-built and sympathetic. I did not like Pauline's character initially, however hard-knock her life was as we first see her. We know that she has been abused at home and pitied in town, but in the beginning, her character is so annoying. She is deliberately provocative, she acts like someone from the gutter, like the foul-mouth barmaid she is supposed to be instead of the strong, educated young woman of poor background as she actually is. I know that Pauline is having fun at the dowager's expense, but it didn't endear me to her in the least. Here is this surprisingly open-minded dowager duchess, and she is a likeable one, accepting of a barmaid as her future daughter in law, trying to instruct her so she doesn't disgrace herself in town and all Pauline does is deliberately try to aggravate her. For the first 1/3 of the book, I would have been happy for that foul-mouthed, graceless fishwife Pauline to be sent back to Spindle Cove and have the book end right there inconclusively. She is determined to be difficult and defiant so it took me a long time to warm up to her.
"'So your grace never curses.'
'I do not.'
'Words like cor...bollocks...damn...devil...blast...bloody hell...” She pronounced the words with relish, warming to her task. “They don’t cross a duchess’s lips?”
I feel like a bit of an asshole disparaging her character, because she did have it pretty hard growing up. Her father is widely looked upon with pity in the village due to the fact that he only had two daughters, Pauline and Daniela, and Daniela is mentally challenged. He abuses her, physically and mentally, belittles her, and destroys her hopes and dreams. When she has aspirations to a better life, when she reads a book that gives her hope, her father takes the book and beats her with it.
Pauline has had to be strong, she hangs on to her hopes of building a book shop despite everything, and she's had to defend her sister against all the hate and pitying glares and cruel comments that others have made. Pauline accepts Griff's offer against her will because he offers her a thousand pound if she is successful at thwarting his mother, and even at the cost of her pride, she needs it to get a better life for herself and her sister. I do love her character.
"'There's always a pecking order. The big will torment the small, and the small will torment the smaller, and on down the line. It's the nature of chicks, and it's the nature of children, too. Don't dream it will change...Just keep your head up and get what's yours. Your food, your schooling. Whatever they give you, don't squander it. All bread goes straight in your belly, and all the learning you can gather goes here.' She tapped a fingertip against her temple. 'Stash it away. Because once it's in you, it's yours. No one can take it from you."
Griff is your typical Regency duke. Wealthy, successful, but resolutely dissolute and adamantly against settling down. He is a likeable character, not altogether depraved as reputation would have it, and what we see of him initially is a man who's unwilling to get married. There are hints of something in his past, and we do get some glimpses of a shadowy grief; I will not spoil it, but it turned out to be unexpected and believable, and I completely commisserate with his sorrow when we finally found out what it was. He is completely truthful with Pauline from the start, about his character and his expectations of her, he's not promising her the moon nor a fairy tale, just a week's worth of paid companionship to dissuade his mother from her single-minded mission. Griff does make some nice speeches about Pauline too, proclaiming his hardened-heart, and they're rather convincing:
"'You don’t want to hear that you're their equal. You want to hear that you're their better...I'm supposed to deem your little water-goblet tune more enchanting than any Italian aria. Proclaim your wholesome country manners a breath of fresh air in my sin-clouded life.' He laughed. 'What else? Perhaps you're hoping to hear that your purity is the most intoxicating and rare of perfumes. Your hair smells like hedgerows and your eyes are like chips of wide-open sky, and God above, you make me feel things. Things I haven't felt in years. Or ever.' With his free hand, he clutched his chest dramatically. 'What is this strange stirring in my breast? Could it possibly be...love?'"
Those big words would be a lot more convincing if he weren't already inexplicably heads over heels in love at that point and merely talking big for his ego's sake. I really found their attraction and growing relationship unconvincing. Their banter is funny, the book is hilarious at times, but I never felt like their relationship is a plausible one. One character I unexpectedly loved was the dowager duchess. She is your typical steel-tough dowager, but she has her soft spot, and an unexpected problem with knitting: "Is it a cap for a two-headed snake? A mitten for a three-fingered arthritic? Even I don't know, and I made the thing."
The characters and the writing are the best things about this book, because I found the plot not terribly well-done and her transformation from serving girl to society girl was barely brushed upon. She is given a boatload of books to read, given clothes, but other than that, Pauline seems already capable. Her status as a barmaid is rather misleading because instead of than an uneducated barmaid whose transformation would be realistic and considerably more difficult, we are given Pauline who is already educated and cultured, in fact, rather too educated to be believable country girl of poor stock. Overall, this was a good book, but read it for the characters and the hilarity of the banter, not the thinly contrived tale.
December 15, 2016
Wow, these people are awful. Griff is weak, dissolute and a jerk. Getting back at his mother by using a serving girl he's never met before? Really? His mother is worse. Who kidnaps her son and tries to force him to marry a random girl? These people make zero sense. And that applies to Pauline as well. A serving girl planning on opening a bookstore of her own? In the Regency era? With nothing but her wages at a tavern and a plan to live just her and her sister? Dare never really cares terribly for the conventions of the era, but this is extreme even for her. This on top of Griff being so intolerable I just can't.
I wanted to put it down in the middle of the first chapter that's how bad it is. I made it to the middle of the second where Griff is using Pauline's entire family to embarrass his mother further. Holy crap is this guy an insensitive jerk. A selfish, using, pompous jerk.
I wanted to put it down in the middle of the first chapter that's how bad it is. I made it to the middle of the second where Griff is using Pauline's entire family to embarrass his mother further. Holy crap is this guy an insensitive jerk. A selfish, using, pompous jerk.
February 3, 2014
5 poignant, romantic, sexy, glorious, wonderful, brilliant stars! A truly beautiful series finale!
September 4, 2013
“Her,” he said. “I’ll take her.”
Tessa Dare has crafted one of the most pleasurable books I’ve read. If you’re looking for a fun, sexy Historical Romance, then you’ll not want to miss this! I thought it perfect escapism.
Oozing humor, it’s filled with witty dialogue and the banter is ever flowing. It also has very sensual love scenes and offers a story that flows faultlessly from beginning to end. There’s no wading in; from the get-go it grabs you and will have you laughing out loud and anxious for more. This talented author touches on one of the most devastating losses anyone could experience, and yet the tone and mood is perfectly balanced carrying the reader forward. I loved it all!
Thirty four year old Griffin Eliot York, eighth Duke of Halford, better known as Griff to his friends and family, is determined to stop his interfering mother’s plans to see him wed. In her latest scheme of kidnapping and spiriting him away to Spindle Cove, he finds the perfect solution. When told to choose any of the ladies with a promise issued that she’ll have them shaped into “Duchess” material within a few weeks, He turns the table. Instead of a proper lady visiting this quaint sea side town, he chooses instead a local; twenty-two year old Pauline Simms. She’s the daughter of a farmer, serves as barmaid at the tavern and her first impression left much to be desired.
While shocked, his mother’s determination shines through, making the best of the situation. Duchess Halford plays a strong secondary role and I adored her. The addition of her character added even more delight to an already wonderful read.
It doesn’t take long before Griff and his mother learn there’s much more to Pauline Simms than her untidy first impression. This is a very lovable heroine. It’s rare to find a hero and heroine that add equally to the enjoyment of a romance. When that happens, it’s like finding gold. She’s smart, gutsy, feisty, determined and has a dream for better. Life hasn’t been easy for Pauline and with the secret deal Griff offers, she finally can envision a future of brightness for not only herself, but her special and much loved younger sister.
There’s also much more than just witty delight here. There’s a reason Griff refuses to marry and when he confides his past, it is heart breaking. He’s sexy, gorgeous, a swoon-worthy hero and he and Pauline are perfect together. Not only did she fall hard for the man, she kinda liked his physique as well:))
… “As he covered the distance in easy strides, she admired the long, lean muscles of his calves and the sculpted tone of his shoulders and back. And his arse…..Lord above. The world had not seen such a perfectly formed arse since the sixth day of Creation. His buttocks were taunt, rounded domes of pure muscle. As he walked, tantalizing hollows appeared on each cheek, alternating with every step…… Then he turned around ----praise be----and began the walk back. If he was arousing to view from behind, he was devastating in the approach.”
And ladies, you’re going to love Griff for much more than his beautifulness too!
The writing is superb and there were some really great sexy times throughout. The epilogue gives updates on some of the other characters we’ve come to love in this series as well as giving a look into the future for Griff and Pauline.
This book offers the perfect mix and I was totally captivated from beginning to end! It now sits on my favorites shelf and sure to be a future re-read. It’s uplifting, poignant, fun and sexy! A fabulous read and one that I highly recommend.
Tessa Dare has crafted one of the most pleasurable books I’ve read. If you’re looking for a fun, sexy Historical Romance, then you’ll not want to miss this! I thought it perfect escapism.
Oozing humor, it’s filled with witty dialogue and the banter is ever flowing. It also has very sensual love scenes and offers a story that flows faultlessly from beginning to end. There’s no wading in; from the get-go it grabs you and will have you laughing out loud and anxious for more. This talented author touches on one of the most devastating losses anyone could experience, and yet the tone and mood is perfectly balanced carrying the reader forward. I loved it all!
Thirty four year old Griffin Eliot York, eighth Duke of Halford, better known as Griff to his friends and family, is determined to stop his interfering mother’s plans to see him wed. In her latest scheme of kidnapping and spiriting him away to Spindle Cove, he finds the perfect solution. When told to choose any of the ladies with a promise issued that she’ll have them shaped into “Duchess” material within a few weeks, He turns the table. Instead of a proper lady visiting this quaint sea side town, he chooses instead a local; twenty-two year old Pauline Simms. She’s the daughter of a farmer, serves as barmaid at the tavern and her first impression left much to be desired.
While shocked, his mother’s determination shines through, making the best of the situation. Duchess Halford plays a strong secondary role and I adored her. The addition of her character added even more delight to an already wonderful read.
It doesn’t take long before Griff and his mother learn there’s much more to Pauline Simms than her untidy first impression. This is a very lovable heroine. It’s rare to find a hero and heroine that add equally to the enjoyment of a romance. When that happens, it’s like finding gold. She’s smart, gutsy, feisty, determined and has a dream for better. Life hasn’t been easy for Pauline and with the secret deal Griff offers, she finally can envision a future of brightness for not only herself, but her special and much loved younger sister.
There’s also much more than just witty delight here. There’s a reason Griff refuses to marry and when he confides his past, it is heart breaking. He’s sexy, gorgeous, a swoon-worthy hero and he and Pauline are perfect together. Not only did she fall hard for the man, she kinda liked his physique as well:))
… “As he covered the distance in easy strides, she admired the long, lean muscles of his calves and the sculpted tone of his shoulders and back. And his arse…..Lord above. The world had not seen such a perfectly formed arse since the sixth day of Creation. His buttocks were taunt, rounded domes of pure muscle. As he walked, tantalizing hollows appeared on each cheek, alternating with every step…… Then he turned around ----praise be----and began the walk back. If he was arousing to view from behind, he was devastating in the approach.”
And ladies, you’re going to love Griff for much more than his beautifulness too!
The writing is superb and there were some really great sexy times throughout. The epilogue gives updates on some of the other characters we’ve come to love in this series as well as giving a look into the future for Griff and Pauline.
This book offers the perfect mix and I was totally captivated from beginning to end! It now sits on my favorites shelf and sure to be a future re-read. It’s uplifting, poignant, fun and sexy! A fabulous read and one that I highly recommend.
January 27, 2015
4.5 Stars
Tessa Dare and the Spindle Cove series are just a lot of fun. I love her slightly unconventional heroines and all the mishaps they get into. At times this series is ridiculously funny and I find myself just grinning along stupid smile on my face growing larger line by line.
The premise is simple the Duke Griff after leading a life of debauchery and scandal suffered a tragedy that changed him. His mother knowing something was wrong and wanting Griff to marry so she can have grandchildren does what any good mother would do…She drugs and kidnaps him off to Spindle Cove so he can pick a bride.
And to this end Griff picks Pauline the servering girl in the room thinking that will derail his mothers plan to make any girl into a Duchess. Whatever he thought Pauline was going to be like he was wrong on all counts. She has fire and will not cow to him just because he is a duke.
I thoroughly enjoyed Pauline playing with Griff and his Mother to teach them a lesson of sorts she was smart and funny and I loved all the trouble she got herself into.
And of coarse she gets under Griff’s skin to the point he wonders how he will ever let her go. He is a better man with her and loves seeing the world through her eyes. They form a type of quick friendship that grows to a burning lust/love rather quickly but that is sorta the point of a book like this I did enjoy everything that each brought to the other.
Seeing Minerva and Collin again in cameo’s just rounded it all out for me. Definitely a fun, flirty and romantic story.
This is the 4th book in a series but could be read without reading the others first
“Her,” he said. “I’ll take her.”
Tessa Dare and the Spindle Cove series are just a lot of fun. I love her slightly unconventional heroines and all the mishaps they get into. At times this series is ridiculously funny and I find myself just grinning along stupid smile on my face growing larger line by line.
The premise is simple the Duke Griff after leading a life of debauchery and scandal suffered a tragedy that changed him. His mother knowing something was wrong and wanting Griff to marry so she can have grandchildren does what any good mother would do…She drugs and kidnaps him off to Spindle Cove so he can pick a bride.
“More to the point, I am fifty-eight. I need grandchildren before my decline. It’s not right for two generations of the family to be drooling at the same time.”
And to this end Griff picks Pauline the servering girl in the room thinking that will derail his mothers plan to make any girl into a Duchess. Whatever he thought Pauline was going to be like he was wrong on all counts. She has fire and will not cow to him just because he is a duke.
I thoroughly enjoyed Pauline playing with Griff and his Mother to teach them a lesson of sorts she was smart and funny and I loved all the trouble she got herself into.
“A duchess might contemplate all manner of cutting remarks and frustrated oaths. But even in the face of extreme annoyance, she stifles any such ejaculations.”
“My,” Miss Simms said, wide-eyed.
“I do hope dukes aren’t held to the same standard. Can’t be healthy for a man, always stifling his ejaculations.”
And of coarse she gets under Griff’s skin to the point he wonders how he will ever let her go. He is a better man with her and loves seeing the world through her eyes. They form a type of quick friendship that grows to a burning lust/love rather quickly but that is sorta the point of a book like this I did enjoy everything that each brought to the other.
Seeing Minerva and Collin again in cameo’s just rounded it all out for me. Definitely a fun, flirty and romantic story.
This is the 4th book in a series but could be read without reading the others first
June 12, 2022
Absolutely loved this book!
November 2, 2014
Sometimes, when I’m reading a new book, I just know that I’ll have to write a review the minute I finish. Usually, that happens when a book is either remarkably good, or stupendously bad. As I was reading Any Duchess Will Do, I realized that I would write a review as soon as I had read the last page, because this book is remarkably, stupendously wonderful –- perhaps the best of the Spindle Cove series.
In truth, I had this feeling up until I hit the 75% mark on my Kindle, after which I became annoyed. I had been thinking to myself, “there is absolutely nothing to criticize here,” but then all of a sudden there was. And the thing is I can’t really explain it without completely spoiling the plot. So I won’t; I’ll just say that I found Griff’s rationale for never marrying unconvincing. Nevertheless, this book overall is 5+++ stars, so even if I deducted points for annoying plot turns it wouldn’t matter.
The outline of the story is best explained in the blurb, but that doesn’t communicate what wonderful, multi-faceted, fully-realized characters Dare has created – Griffin, the Duke of Halford, his mother the Duchess, and Pauline Simms, a serving girl at the Bull and Blossom in Spindle Cove. Griff is a rake, but not really, while Pauline is an ignorant barmaid, but not really. And while I generally find cross-class Regency novels to be unconvincing, Dare comes up with some clever and credible reasons to explain why Pauline is actually a diamond in the rough.
The love/hate, but not really, relationship between Griff and his mother is funny and touching. She is longing so for grandchildren, but her efforts to marry off Griff have been unavailing:
The plot is clever; surprising events occur, and while I knew there would be an HEA I wasn’t certain how it would occur until the last page. The pacing is excellent; there was never a moment I wanted to put the book down and do something else. The trademark Tessa Dare humor is present on almost every page, but then there are also beautiful, serious passages, such as when Griff tells Pauline she’s beautiful:
In truth, I had this feeling up until I hit the 75% mark on my Kindle, after which I became annoyed. I had been thinking to myself, “there is absolutely nothing to criticize here,” but then all of a sudden there was. And the thing is I can’t really explain it without completely spoiling the plot. So I won’t; I’ll just say that I found Griff’s rationale for never marrying unconvincing. Nevertheless, this book overall is 5+++ stars, so even if I deducted points for annoying plot turns it wouldn’t matter.
The outline of the story is best explained in the blurb, but that doesn’t communicate what wonderful, multi-faceted, fully-realized characters Dare has created – Griffin, the Duke of Halford, his mother the Duchess, and Pauline Simms, a serving girl at the Bull and Blossom in Spindle Cove. Griff is a rake, but not really, while Pauline is an ignorant barmaid, but not really. And while I generally find cross-class Regency novels to be unconvincing, Dare comes up with some clever and credible reasons to explain why Pauline is actually a diamond in the rough.
The love/hate, but not really, relationship between Griff and his mother is funny and touching. She is longing so for grandchildren, but her efforts to marry off Griff have been unavailing:
I’ve tried to find the most accomplished young beauties in England to tempt you. And I did, but you ignored them. I finally realized the answer is not quality. It’s quantity.”Later, when the duchess feigns illness in order to throw Griff and Pauline together alone, Griff sees through her:
“Quantity? Are you taking me to some free-love utopian commune where men are permitted as many wives as they please?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I was being hopeful.”
Her lip curled in a delicate scowl. “You’re terrible.”
On his way out of the bedchamber he addressed the vigilant butler. “Higgs,” he said, “see that my mother does not move from that bed. And summon the doctor. Not the gentle-mannered one, either. The one with the leeches.”Indeed, the duchess is so desperate for grandchildren that she vows to make Pauline the toast of the ton in one week. (Nod to Pygmalion) Griff comes to admire Pauline and fiercely defends her against anyone who disrespects her. (Nod to Pretty Woman) And although Pauline attends a grand ball at Carlton House, waltzes with Griff, and loses a shoe after fleeing the ballroom (nod to Cinderella), Griff does not become a handsome prince who sweeps her off to his castle. This book is not that simple.
The plot is clever; surprising events occur, and while I knew there would be an HEA I wasn’t certain how it would occur until the last page. The pacing is excellent; there was never a moment I wanted to put the book down and do something else. The trademark Tessa Dare humor is present on almost every page, but then there are also beautiful, serious passages, such as when Griff tells Pauline she’s beautiful:
“I have seen myself. That’s the snag, you see.”If you’ve enjoyed Spindle Cove thus far, you’ll love this installment. It isn’t necessary to have read the previous books, but I think it’s more enjoyable that way. And if you have read the earlier ones, you’ll appreciate this exchange between Colin and Minerva (now Lord and Lady Payne) when they fear that Pauline has been abducted by the wicked duke (Colin’s former pal in debauchery):
He shook his head. “No, no. Not in a mirror. I know how mirrors work. They’re all in league with the cosmetics trade. They tell a woman lies. Drawing her gaze from one imagined flaw to another, until all she sees is a constellation of imperfections. If you could get outside yourself, borrow my eyes for just an instant . . . There’s only beauty.”
[Colin]“And if our little fact-finding investigations turn up nothing, we’ll perform an experiment. We’ll call at Halford House tomorrow.”
She nodded. Her eyes misted with tears.
“Darling Min.” He stroked her cheek. “Are you truly that concerned?”
“No,” she said. “Oh, Colin. I’m just so proud.” She squeezed his hand. “You’re using the scientific method.”
March 1, 2016
A duke selects the girl most likely to fail to be his future bride. As much as I love the set-up for this book, any Tessa Dare book is a delight.
May 31, 2013
After reading this book, I feel like I temporarily turned into Golum from 'Lord of the Rings'.
Here's a short example of what I mean:
* * *
Me 1: We loves it!
Me 2: No, wait... it was too weird and unrealistic. He fell too hard, so fast. Same with her. And it was one fucking week, for seriousness' sake! It was beyond improbable. Also, their stations were too different. And the guy was too accepting. No way we could even fool ourselves into believing this could happen, or was happening. And also, the blah blah blah.
Me 1: Shut up, my love! It is our precious. It was so cute that our rib-cage almost exploded from the overwhelming weight of 'squeeeeeeeeeee'!!
Me 2: Look, when we really think about it--
Me 1: Stop the thinking! It was fucking amazing! Let us love it! Griff was so bloody sweet and lovely and romantic. And Pauline was awesome.
Me 2: But--
Me 1: Remember the funniness! The 'Alpine. Princess Assassin.'
Me 2: LOL.
Me 1: Was that not funny?
Me 2: *still laughing*.
Me 1: Yes! And remember Griff's past? When Pauline comforted him in the carriage?
Me 2: *sobs hysterically*
Me 1: Was that not the most heartbreaking thing in the whole of fucking ever?
Me 2: *still crying*
Me 1: And we're still going to tell us that we didn't enjoy the hell out of this book?!
Me 2: We can't help it. When we really start to think about it--
Me 1: Fine. I've got something that will shut us up: think about... The Desk Sex.
Me 2: Oh god.
Me 1: Was that not the most amazing Desk Sex EVER? Did it not make us breathless? Did it not give us a new appreciation for all desks everywhere?
Me 2: Mm. Yeah.
Me 1: Sooo?
Me 2: Look, the ending was so cheesy---
Me 1: BITCH, ARE WE HEARING US WHEN WE SAY:
FUCKING. DESK. SEX.
??
Me 2: Fine, OK. It was great. Seriously. Loved it.
Me 1: All of it?
Me 2: Most of it.
Me 1: We can take that. Now, let us proceed to preach to the internet jsut how hopelessly and incurably looney we truly are, all the while thinking of desk sex and its new found awesomeness.
Me 2: Yeeeeeees.
* * * *
And here we are. Four stars and jolly big smile from me. It had its flaws, but darn it, I enjoyed it all the same.
Tessa Dare. You GO girl.
May 11, 2020
Reread 5/10/2020 for once of my favorite mothers in romance. Honestly, 99% of the reason I reread it.
----original review-----
This book had a lot of sparkly shiny fairytale.
I enjoyed it. I liked-really adored-all the characters but Griff's mother can be my devious mother-in-law anytime.
...I was shocked that one scene actually made me tear up...
I have not much more to say here...
----original review-----
This book had a lot of sparkly shiny fairytale.
I enjoyed it. I liked-really adored-all the characters but Griff's mother can be my devious mother-in-law anytime.
...I was shocked that one scene actually made me tear up...
I have not much more to say here...
December 20, 2014
Written December 3, 2014
4 stars - Enchanting, delightful, charming and so on. Hearthwarming good!
I must start to say I enjoyed this nearly 11 hrs audiobook listening, very well narrated by Eva Kaminsky, so very much. 'Any Duchess Will Do' was my first historical by Tessa Dare as well.
My title describes well what I felt a few days ago..
Good story and funny cheeky intrigue. It was both right amount of romance and heat (for this genre), as an good plot. As the icing on the cake was this audiobook excellent narrated by a very enjoyable (young beautiful...) voice from Ms. Kaminsky. I want to hear more audios by her.
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Griffin York, the Duke of Halford is forced by his mother to select a bride from the ladies in residence in Spindle Cove. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.
Pauline Simms Is a girl who doesn't dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop.
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Approved by check mark!
Contains a pretty hot HR a heroine with "thick skin" and a sexy depraved, slightly prominent and indolent nobleman, it can't be all wrong. Here, in this book, everything was in place. Good and interesting main characters which were easy to like. To this also really sympathetic second-characters (like the hero's mother) which enhanced the splendor of it all. Giggling parts and some heartbreaking tender moments.
Charming and well-made, in other words!
Ms. Dare convinced me, her style of historical romances are to my taste and want. There will be more. (Next up in this Spindle Cove will be probably be the first part A Night to Surrender, an old nice paperback I bought a long time ago.)
What!? Really!? Any (mature) romances loving girl here who recognizes herself? Hhmm... I do! **smiling**
I LIKE - always - when it's this nicely served
4 stars - Enchanting, delightful, charming and so on. Hearthwarming good!
I must start to say I enjoyed this nearly 11 hrs audiobook listening, very well narrated by Eva Kaminsky, so very much. 'Any Duchess Will Do' was my first historical by Tessa Dare as well.
My title describes well what I felt a few days ago..
Good story and funny cheeky intrigue. It was both right amount of romance and heat (for this genre), as an good plot. As the icing on the cake was this audiobook excellent narrated by a very enjoyable (young beautiful...) voice from Ms. Kaminsky. I want to hear more audios by her.
***********************************************************
“It seemed any young woman at odds with her place in life—be she a genteel lady or a serving girl—might find a happier home within the pages of a book.”
Griffin York, the Duke of Halford is forced by his mother to select a bride from the ladies in residence in Spindle Cove. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.
Pauline Simms Is a girl who doesn't dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop.
***********************************************************
Approved by check mark!
Contains a pretty hot HR a heroine with "thick skin" and a sexy depraved, slightly prominent and indolent nobleman, it can't be all wrong. Here, in this book, everything was in place. Good and interesting main characters which were easy to like. To this also really sympathetic second-characters (like the hero's mother) which enhanced the splendor of it all. Giggling parts and some heartbreaking tender moments.
Charming and well-made, in other words!
“Cleverness is like rouge - liberal application makes a woman look common and desperate. Wit is knowing how to apply it.”
Ms. Dare convinced me, her style of historical romances are to my taste and want. There will be more. (Next up in this Spindle Cove will be probably be the first part A Night to Surrender, an old nice paperback I bought a long time ago.)
From 'UrbanDict'
“Spinster: A woman who kept on believing in fairytale-like love stories for too long.”
What!? Really!? Any (mature) romances loving girl here who recognizes herself? Hhmm... I do! **smiling**
I LIKE - always - when it's this nicely served
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