The Duchess Deal

Since I am not usually a romance reader, I never imagined I would read a book like this until a friend and I did a fun book challenge where we chose books for each other. As it turns out, I came out on the winning end of the challenge because I had a ton of fun with this book. The plot line hardly mattered at all to me because the star quality of this book was the clever dialogue which was snappy, amusing and completely entertaining. The whole experience was further enhanced by the excellent audio I listened to. The narrator brought such life and personality to these characters. I finished it in a day and had a smile on my face the whole time. For the record - my friend is still struggling through her copy of Animal Farm which she hates :)

Fantastic start to the new series. This is a Beauty and the Beast type of story. Ash is terribly scarred physically on one side of his body from injuries received during the war, and emotionally because of the cruel words of his ex-fiancée. He is holed up in his house, seeing no one but the servants, and trying to figure out how to get the wife he needs, when Emma bursts in on him. Emma is a vicar's daughter turned seamstress who is at the end of her rope. She is the one who made his ex-fiancée's wedding gown, but with the wedding canceled she hasn't been paid for the dress, and she has rent due. Ash is taken with the brilliant idea that Emma is the perfect solution and proposes a marriage of convenience.

I loved Ash and Emma. I ached show more for him and the physical pain that he still endures, and for the emotional pain caused by his fiancée's rejection. But even though he believes that he will never have a normal life, he hasn't let it destroy his humanity. On his late night walks, he steps in to right several wrongs. His relationship with his butler is that of a friend as well as an employer. Plus, his sense of humor is still very much intact, though sometimes its very dryness makes one wonder. One of my favorite things was the advice he had gotten from his father, that an educated gentleman should not use vulgarities to express himself. Ash is very creative with his Shakespearean epithets.

I hurt for Emma also. All her life she had tried to earn the approval of her vicar father. Her search for approval led her to make a decision that caused her father to turn his back on her and kick her out of the house in the middle of winter. I was impressed by her strength and resilience as she made her way to London on her own and carved out a place for herself. Through it all, she still tends to see the good in people, which has on occasion come back to bite her. I also like the way that she has no trouble standing up for herself, hence her trip to get Ash to pay the bill for the wedding dress.

I loved the development of their relationship. The sparks between them are intense from the start, even though both try to resist. Ash does everything he can to keep Emma at an emotional distance but fails miserably. With each passing day (and night) the walls he has built around his heart begin to crumble. He doesn't go down easily, but the fall is inevitable. I loved seeing his confusion as the more he tried to push her away, the more trouble he had keeping her off his mind. It wasn't long before he felt an intense protectiveness toward her. I loved what he did when he found out about her father's actions. His tenderness and care after the confrontation with his ex at the opera were incredible. It was obvious by then that he was a goner.

Emma knows that Ash doesn't want any emotions between them. She's okay with that because she's had her own run-in with love and it didn't turn out well. But she can't deny that the man behind the scars pulls at her heartstrings. She sees a man capable of great caring who refuses to believe that there is any good left in him. I loved the way that she teased and bullied him into taking the first steps back out into society.

The heat between them was intense. In spite of his intention to bed Emma without emotion, he was completely unable to do so. I loved how he was so careful to make sure that he didn't hurt or frighten her. His surprise at how passionate she was made it even more difficult to maintain his distance. I ached for him and his fear of letting her see all his scars. Emma's ability to look past his scars was fantastic. She was curious but didn't make a big deal out them. They certainly didn't impact the way she burned for his touch, and how she slowly worked her way past his guard. But all that intensity also created a belief in them that it couldn't last. I ached for them both as secrets revealed hit both of them in their deepest fears. I liked Emma's strength of will that made her continue with what she felt was right in spite of Ash's reaction. I loved how it was Khan that made Ash see the error of his ways. I was on the edge of my seat as Ash was determined to make things right, but ended up being waylaid. His big moment at the end was incredible as he faced his biggest fears all because of his love for her.

I loved the secondary characters in the book. Khan was fantastic with his lifelong devotion to Ash. He was another person who would stand up to Ash when he was an idiot. I also loved the way that he and the other staff members could see that Ash and Emma belonged together. Their attempts to throw the pair together so that they would fall in love were funny and heartwarming. I really liked the three women who included Emma in their group. The scene with Emma and Alex as they were fixing all the timepieces in the house was hilarious. I loved their support of Emma and their suggestions for what Emma should call her "cat" was great. The cat was another grand addition to the story, from the way he became part of the family to his intrusion into their bedroom. Last but not least was Trevor, the "apprentice" to the Monster of Mayfair. I loved his complete devotion to Ash and his absolute refusal to be run off. show less

Dare's Regency romance novels aren't history-minded. They are contemporary stories in fancy dress and therein lies the charm. To be fair, the genre is always that way and always has been. Some writers do a tremendous amount of research and firmly tie their stories to a particular time and place. Some even center the conflict and travails in historical events, issues, social problems and I enjoy the depth it gives to those stories
But what I find particularly pleasing in Dare's work is using a contemporary reaction to an historical quandary for comic effect. It's great fun to see someone solve a problem using historical tools in a modern way. Sometimes I don't want to dwell on the gross inequities of the Regency Era.

Library copy

I don’t often read historicals, anymore. I tend to go for contemporary or paranormal, with small forays into scifi. But tumblr went crazy for the Duchess Deal, so I swooped it up from the library.

Wow.

Emotional, funny, well plotted and with deep characterization, this book was a joy to read. I found myself laughing, crying, and even swooning while reading it. Even when things got a little too cute, and the quirks just quirked a little too quirkly, I still enjoyed myself.

I really liked how put together and certain Emma was. Even when she had doubts and fears, she had an innate sense of self, an agency, that shone through. And Ash was actually damaged, in a very real way. Not broody for the sake of broodiness, but physically and show more emotionally damaged. The internal conflict packed an emotional punch that got me right in the feels. show less

This is the first book I've read by Tessa Dare and I'm happy to say that I love her writing style. She has a way of infusing emotions into her musings that don't leave an impersonal sort of aftertaste. You get to know exactly what a character is thinking and see them dynamically, which is a bit difficult to do with third person.

I'm a sucker for hurt/comfort. If you write a book with naturally funny characters, my favorite tropes, and a feel-good primary character arc without the annoying bits, you'll earn my soul. Ash and Emma were a top-tier, mutual pining couple and I lived for that.

Anyway, let me go give you my loyalty in spades because this was that good.

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

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

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

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

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

The Duchess Deal is my first Tessa Dare book, and it won't be the last for sure. Yes, this time, I followed the hype wave and picked up the book.
I was SO pleasantly surprised by the cheeky, often hysterical banter and quipped inside The Duchess Deal. At the surface, it reminded me of Beauty & the Beast meets Phantom of the Opera, but the hidden gems within this book were delightful to me. I hadn't expected the novel to crack me up -- which it did, early and often! -- nor did I expect the depth of its themes to sweep me away or knock me out. There were several lines from this book that actually jarred my heart!
If you are looking for a great read with a lot of laughs, emotion, and a soulmate type of love, look no further - this is that show more book, and it is a MUST READ KEEPER!!! show less