Do You Want to Start a Scandal (Castles Ever After) by Tessa Dare

Charlotte Highwood is blessed with a mother who loves her very much, but that same mother is also determined to see her married well, throwing her into one awkward situation after another. Charlotte is determined that her mother’s newest prospect will not end up being forced to marry her because her mother has maneuvered a “situation”. When Charlotte sneaks away to have a word with Piers Brandon, Lord Granville, and warn him, I and Piers are immediately charmed by her efforts. Charlotte, in her haste to make him aware that she is not trying to trap him, tells him she’d never find him attractive and he’s not her type. He’s intrigued and I’m laughing at the clever dialog and scene that Tessa Dare has written. The scene is not unusual, but she imbues Charlotte with a naive exuberance that you can’t help but find charming, and Piers definitely does.

As I was reading this novel, I realized that I had actually read Say Yes to the Marquess, the sequel to this one where Rafe, Piers’ brother, falls in love with Piers’ fiancee of many years. Say Yes.. was my first Tessa Dare novel in quite awhile and I think it’s fate that another blogger recommended I read Do You Want to Start a Scandal, the next in the series. That moment of recognition, when Piers’ identity is revealed along with the fact that his brother stole his last fiancee, made Piers immediately interesting. Tying those two histories together made his rather cool demeanor have meaning. That demeanor was a mask for his activities, and the fact that he dropped that mask for Charlotte made me like him for her.

This was a fun novel, and the fact that I fell into the plot so easily showed Tessa Dare’s talent for weaving a charming romantic tale. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Do You Want Click this link to purchase! Do You Want to Start a Scandal (Castles Ever After) Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

This Chick Read: The Duchess Deal (Girl Meets Duke #1) by Tessa Dare

The Duke of Ashbury was disfigured in the war by a bomb blast. Hiding away from the world, he glowers at his staff from the safety of his library only venturing out at night to vent his temper on the miscreants of London. Emma Gladstone, a vicar’s daughter, now seamstress living on her own in London, dares to brave the Duke in order to gain payment for the wedding gown she tailored for his ex fiancee. Although he is scarred, she isn’t frightened by his appearance, and bravely negotiates payment. The Duke, not one to look a gift seamstress, er horse in the mouth, decides that she will do as a wife and strikes a deal. After all, he must see that his line continues since he doesn’t want his idiot relative to inherit his estate.

This tale takes on the beauty and the beast theme but crosses it with a more modern wounded warrior trope that is now popular in more contemporary novels. I liked the novelty of a historical romance novel exploring the wounded warrior theme. Tessa Dare did not scrimp on the adjectives used to describe this Duke. He was burned down one side with patches of hair on his head. His looks were not romanticized and yet Emma was not frightened, nor turned off by his looks. In fact, she still viewed him as strong, intelligent and Duke-ish, despite those scars. I really liked Emma’s attitude!  She flirted, teased, and yes vamped it up for this Duke. She made him love her, despite viewing himself as a “monster”. Just as the beast in the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”, he braved showing himself off to the world and in his mind facing ridicule and worse in order to make sure she was safe from harm. This is a hero I can get behind!

I loved these two as a couple. Their verbal sparring was fun, and the heat factor, oh my!  These two burned up the pages!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

The Duchess Deal

Click this link to purchase! The Duchess Deal: Girl Meets Duke

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

This Chick Read: Say Yes to the Marquess (Castles Ever After) by Tessa Dare

Ah, the age old problem of being engaged to a Marquess, while secretly having feelings for his brother. Truthfully, I don’t blame her. The Marquess has been MIA for eight years! Talk about a long engagement. Rafe, brother to the missing Marquess, has a problem. Clio wants out of the engagement, and he has to sign the papers. Rafe refuses, because while he does lust after his brother’s fiancée, he doesn’t want to be the person who tears them apart, even if it’s just with a signature on paper.  Continue reading “This Chick Read: Say Yes to the Marquess (Castles Ever After) by Tessa Dare”