A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare

Setting: Regency

Summary:

Welcome to Spindle Cove, where ladies with delicate constitutions come for the sea air, and men in their prime are…nowhere to be found.

Or are they?

Spindle Cove is the destination of choice for certain types of well-bred young ladies: the painfully shy, young wives disenchanted with matrimony, and young girls too enchanted with the wrong men. It is a haven for those who live there.

Victor Bramwell, the new Earl of Rycliff, knows he doesn’t belong here. So far as he can tell, there’s nothing in this place but spinsters…and sheep. But he has no choice, he has orders to gather a militia. It’s a simple mission, made complicated by the spirited, exquisite Susanna Finch—a woman who is determined to save her personal utopia from the invasion of Bram’s makeshift army.

Susanna has no use for aggravating men; Bram has sworn off interfering women. The scene is set for an epic battle…but who can be named the winner when both have so much to lose?

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Review:

I’ve always loved Tessa Dare’s poetic way of writing. As someone who enjoys writing herself, it’s a joy reading her lyrical prose. Tessa never fails to disappoint and I had so much faith in her writing, I had to get this book. Sadly, it didn’t quite meet my expectations and I found myself wondering what went wrong with her usually brilliant 5 star plots.

The premise itself was great. A secret village full of independent women which is invaded by a bunch of military men which cause things to get turned upside down. Such a great fresh idea! My problem in this book though, lay with the hero and the heroine and their lackluster romance.

Bram is your typical alpha male hero, though a leg battle wound has left him with a few scars. Susanna is your feisty, strong independent women but she’s also got some scars (caused mainly by a horrible bloodletting experience she had as a girl). The thing was the romance failed to impress mainly because there was no struggle. The back of the book was misleading, suggesting an epic battle of wits and a love-hate relationship ala Pride and Prejudice. What we get instead are a few fights and the hero and heroine are in love and pretty much together already halfway through the book! So much for romantic tension!

I also had to sometimes roll my eyes at the cheesiness and some of the love scenes which were a bit and over the top and happened too soon especially given how the heroine was supposed to be a leader of this man-hating community.

On the plus side, the characters were fleshed out, the dialogue was witty and entertaining, a lot of the scenes between the men and women fighting over Spindle Cove were hilarious and the plot was very engaging. I just wish the romance could have been better written.

Still, this was a very good start to a very interesting series and I’m looking forward to reading book 2.

Sensuality Rating: HOT!

Verdict: Not amazing but still a good read!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Spotlight on Tessa Dare-SUMMER READS

It’s summer timeeeee! 😀 😀 😀

And for most people that means sun, beaches, tanning, hot shirtless men… 😀

Alas, for me, that means packing and moving to Malaysia to prepare for my first year of university. The romance addict will be around, she will have just changed her mailbox address!

And I suppose it’s rather exciting going to be able to leave on my own and get a part time job and study things I actually like for once! (Sorry my dear math teacher-I did appreciate your efforts to infuse a love for the subject into me)

One thing that won’t change however, is my love of romance novels. In fact, I already have a huge pile waiting to be shipped off to Malaysia with me and a few novels I’m going to be looking out for once I’m there.

The first ones on my list?

Tessa Dare’s new back-to-back trilogy-The Stud Club.

In Tessa’s words—

“An all-new historical romance back-to-back series, The Stud Club Trilogy. The heroes—a duke, a war hero, and a low-born scoundrel—hold shares in a priceless racehorse. When the club’s founder is tragically murdered, these three unlikely associates are united by chance, divided by suspicion, and brought to their knees by love.”

Source: http://tessadare.com/bookshelf/

This is a series of three books one after another with one already out in May and two more out this June and July. Now that’s a great way to spend a summer! And it gets better-Her covers are super delicious. Check them out below…

ONE DANCE WITH A DUKE—May 25th 2010

True temptation begins at midnight…

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

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

TWICE TEMPTED BY A ROGUE—June 22nd 2010

How long could she resist him?

Luck is a double-edged sword for brooding war hero Rhys St. Maur. His death wish went unanswered on the battlefield, while fate allowed the murder of his friend in the elite gentlemen’s society known as the Stud Club. Out of options, Rhys returns to his ancestral home on the moors of Devonshire, expecting anything but a chance at redemption in the arms of a beautiful innkeeper, who dares him to take on the demons of his past — and the sweet temptation of a woman’s love.

Meredith Maddox believes in hard work, not fate, and romance isn’t part of her plan. But when Rhys returns, battle-scarred, world-weary, and more dangerously attractive than ever, the lovely widow is torn between determination and desire. As a deep mystery and dangerous smugglers threaten much more than their passionate reckoning, Meredith discovers that she must trust everything to a wager her heart placed long ago.

THREE NIGHTS WITH A SCOUNDREL—July 27th 2010

The third time is the charm.

The bastard son of a nobleman, Julian Bellamy is now polished to perfection, enthralling the ton with wit and charm while clandestinely plotting to ruin the lords, ravish the ladies, and have the last laugh on a society that once spurned him. But meeting Leo Chatwick, a decent man and founder of the exclusive Stud Club, and Lily, Leo’s enchanting sister, made Julian reconsider his wild ways. When Leo’s tragic murder demands that Julian hunt for justice, he vows to see the woman he secretly loves married to a man of her own class.

Lily, however, has a very different husband in mind. She’s adored Julian forever, loves the man beneath the rakish facade, and wants to savor the delicious attraction they share — as his wife. His insistence on marrying her off only reinforces her intent to prove he is the only man for her. Obsessed with catching a killer, Julian sinks back to the gutters of his youth, forcing Lily to reach out with a sweet, reckless passion Julian can’t resist. Can her desire for a scoundrel save them both–or will dangerous secrets threaten more than their tender love?

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The first one being out and summer already underway, it’s great to know that there are another two books to look forward too! I will be getting my copies and posting my reviews on here ASAP!

For more information on the books (as well as excerpts), please visit-

http://tessadare.com/