New York Times and USA Today Bestseller
They call him the Duke of Ruin.
To an undaunted wallflower, he’s just the beast next door.
Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high society—and now he wants to get even.
Loyal and passionate, Lady Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldn’t take into her home and her heart.
Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldn’t take into her home and her heart.
When her imposing—and attractive—new neighbor demands she clear out the rescued animals, Penny sets him a challenge. She will part with her precious charges, if he can find them loving homes.
Done, Gabriel says. How hard can it be to find homes for a few kittens?
And a two-legged dog.
And a foul-mouthed parrot.
And a goat, an otter, a hedgehog . . .
Easier said than done, for a cold-blooded bastard who wouldn’t know a loving home from a workhouse. Soon he’s covered in cat hair, knee-deep in adorable, and bewitched by a shyly pretty spinster who defies his every attempt to resist. Now she’s set her mind and heart on saving him.
Not if he ruins her first.
more
5 ‘My beast in shinning armor’ Stars!
ARC provided by the author/publisher via Edelweiss+.
And Tessa Dare does it again, people! I am completely in love with this series and this new novel is absolutely no exception! Of course, since I adored the other two books, I had high expectations for this one and I was not disappointed. I mean, who does not get curious when you read words like “Duke of Ruin”? I did not even need to start the novel to want to dive right in the whole thing. I literally devoured it in just a few hours!
The Wallflower Wager is the third installment in Tessa Dare’s Girl Meets Duke series, which follows the love stories of a peculiar group of female friends. It was now time for Lady Penelope Campion, the loyal and passionate wallflower who cares deeply for her friends and her beloved animals. She happens to have a new neighbor, the wealthy and ruthless Duke of Ruin (Gabriel Duke), who wants to sell the house he renewed. But that happens to be a problem when you have an enticing pretty wallflower next door who lives with a very singular group of animals she does not want to let go..
He would not put his hands on Lady Penelope Campion again.
Absolutely not.
Definitely not.
Probably not.
Damn.
Gah! This book was so freaking good! My heart simply melted with Penny and Gabe’s love story. I laughed, I swooned, I cried and I loved every single second of it. Tessa Dare writes brilliant pieces of historical romance and I love them so much because they have a bit of everything: unique characters, lots of banter and sweetness, sexual tension, feelings and a couple with burning chemistry. It’s impossible not to fall in love with Penny and Gabe because together they just click. They are so different and they come from very different environments but their connection is so special and heartwarming. This book just melted my heart with the sweet, hilarious and sexy moments between this wonderful couple!
The past, the future… none of it mattered. There was only this moment, this man. This one heartbeat, and then the next, stringing together to make this life.
A life that belonged to her. At last.
Therefore, my rating for The Wallflower Wager is 5 STARS because, as you can see, I literally devoured this beautiful love story. I could not stop reading because Penny and Gabe just melted my heart with their connection and explosive chemistry. I love Tessa Dare’s historical romances and I cannot wait to read more from hers, especially the fourth book in this series (which sounds, of course, SO good!). Also, it was great to catch up with the rest of the group too since I adored the other two books too (especially The Duchess Deal). Guys, if you love this type of romance, I cannot recommend this series enough times!
They call him the Duke of Ruin. To an undaunted wallflower, he’s just the beast next door.
Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high society. Lady Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldn’t take into her home and her heart.
Penny’s brother Bradford is threatening to remove her to the country so she strikes a bargain with her Aunt Caroline & Gabriel. Gabriel will help her find homes for her menagerie but the more time they spend together the more their attraction grows.
There’s so much I adored about this book. I loved Gabriel & Penny from their first meeting until the epilogue they were both a joy, their banter & attraction had me chuckling & sighing. It was great to catch up with Alex & Emma, I also can’t wait for Nicola’s story, the book was very well written & flowed really well but it didn’t sell itself as a regency novel, it could have been an Georgian, Victorian or even Edwardian setting all that was needed was a few tweaks to clothing. Maybe I’m being picky as otherwise this is definitely a five star read but for me a Regency novel has to be true to the period
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Okay, so here we have a Historical Romance that certainly courts the scandalous side of things between the flirty banter and the stolen moments, but it was SO MUCH FUN! Really and truly, seeing our girl Penny take on the likes of Gabriel, exposing him to his well-hidden core through her random acts of…well, okay, they weren’t random acts, they were just her being HER…and I adore that! She didn’t change to suit him, nor did he truly change to suit her…they just made everything WORK for each other. His desperate desires…to see fortune in his accounts and tear down the ton that reminded him every day from whence he came. Her deepest held wants…to see all creatures, great and small, have a happy home, feel truly loved, and a family to call their own. They may seem at different ends of the spectrum, but in truth…they were looking for each other all along without ever knowing it.
**ARC received for review; opinions are my own
4.75*
Review originally published at Romancing Romances.
I received an eARC at no cost from the author, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.
Reading a book by Tessa Dare is always a pleasure. There are always funny, romantic moments with her books.
Penny is one of the most adorable characters ever. She’s an animal lover, and a vegetarian – in the 1800’s! She takes care of animals that were hurt, or that no one wanted. She’s one of the most lovable people, she’s caring, and sweet, and a great friend. She’s someone we would all love to have in our lives.
Gabe (Gabriel Duke) is fantastic. He’s ruthless, but, to be honest, it’s one of the things I like about him. Let’s face it, people take advantage of other people, and he just collects what they thought they could always owe. And the ton doesn’t like it. Too bad, if you ask me. Not his problem. Don’t like what he does? Then don’t give him the chance to do so, by not having debts everywhere!
Anyway. Penny lives next door to this handsome Duke of Ruin. And their first meeting is hilarious! Penny has a parrot, the parrot flies away to Gabe’s house, and she follows, and his… pretty much naked. And what a scene! Tessa Dare is one of the best writers for sexy scenes – mind, not necessarily sex scenes, but everything before, after and the sex scene itself. It makes us readers feel as good as the characters.
They strike an unusual friendship with attraction at first sight – not love, attraction. Loves comes later.
Penny has the best of friends, but lately they have their own families, and their free time is limited. And Gabriel decides to help her with her new predicament. Penny’s brother wanted her to leave London, and go back to her family’s estate in Cumberland, and Gabriel doesn’t want her to go, because her presence as a neighbour would help him sell his new house. And Penny doesn’t want to leave her house, and she has a past that she doesn’t want to re-live, which might have happened if she left for Cumberland.
Gabe helps Penny, and he’s ambitious, relentless, and he gets things done. Penny is so assertive about what she wants, she doesn’t leave things to chance. And when she wants Gabriel, and he wants her, things heat up! And wow! They have such sweet, romantic, sexy moments.
Like I mentioned before, there’s something in Penny’s past that could have made her a scared, sad person, but no. She’s such a happy, tender, devoted person. It’s handled beautifully, with the hero feeling angry about what she had to go through, but I really liked that the women got together, and Penny handled it on her own – she’s fierce!
So, read this book! You won’t regret it.
Tessa Dare
Gabriel Duke is as wealthy as he is ruthless. Having clawed his way up from the streets, he’s set about taking his revenge on the aristocracy by preying on their vulnerable finances and ruining them. When he purchased a new house in Mayfair, he knew the titled lady living next door will help him sell his investment at a tidy profit. He never counted on his new spinster neighbor turning his world upside down.
Lady Penelope Campion has been overlooked by basically everyone for years. Now considered a spinster, despite being an earl’s daughter with a healthy dowry, she spends her time showering love and care on an array of injured and abandoned animals. When her intimidating new neighbor demands she rid herself of all her animals so he can more easily sell his house, her first instinct is to refuse. But her brother has given her the same ultimatum: if she can’t impress her Aunt Caroline with some reason why she should remain in London by rejoining society and re-homing all her animals, she will be shipped back to her brother’s country estate. Permanently. Penny knows she can’t bear to go back there, so she take her aunt’s wager and agrees to part with her animals, if Gabriel will help her find them loving homes.
This task proves much more difficult than Gabe had imagined and he finds himself unwittingly charmed by Penelope. The harder Gabe tries to resist her, the harder Penny tries to save him. This tenuous situation may just ruin them both.
This book literally had me laughing aloud (glad the husband wasn’t home for that!). It was also delightfully romantic and quite deep. Penny, beyond finding another creature to love, found herself and learned to take control of her own life. Gabe, who came from nothing, grew to see that he is both worthy and capable of love. I’m a total sucker for these stories in which the hero doesn’t know love and has to learn to give and accept it and this one was exceedingly well done. I loved it.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.