Girls Who Dare – The exciting new series from Emma V Leech, the multi-award-winning, Amazon Top 10 romance writer behind the Rogues & Gentlemen series. Inside every wallflower is the beating heart of a lioness, a passionate individual willing to risk all for their dream, if only they can find the courage to begin. When these overlooked girls make a pact to change their lives, anything can … change their lives, anything can happen.
Ten girls – Ten dares in a hat. Who will dare to risk it all?
To Dare a Duke
Dreams of true love and happy ever afters
Dreams of love are all well and good, but all Prunella Chuffington-Smythe wants is to publish her novel. Marriage at the price of her independence is something she will not consider. Having tasted success writing under a false name in The Lady’s Weekly Review, her alter ego is attaining notoriety and fame and Prue rather likes it.
A Duty that must be endured
Robert Adolphus, The Duke of Bedwin, is in no hurry to marry, he’s done it once and repeating that disaster is the last thing he desires. Yet, an heir is a necessary evil for a duke and one he cannot shirk. A dark reputation precedes him though, his first wife may have died young, but the scandals the beautiful, vivacious and spiteful creature supplied the ton have not. A wife must be found. A wife who is neither beautiful or vivacious but sweet and dull, and certain to stay out of trouble.
Dared to do something drastic
The sudden interest of a certain dastardly duke is as bewildering as it is unwelcome. She’ll not throw her ambitions aside to marry a scoundrel just as her plans for self-sufficiency and freedom are coming to fruition. Surely showing the man she’s not actually the meek little wallflower he is looking for should be enough to put paid to his intentions? When Prue is dared by her friends to do something drastic, it seems the perfect opportunity to kill two birds.
However, Prue cannot help being intrigued by the rogue who has inspired so many of her romances. Ordinarily, he plays the part of handsome rake, set on destroying her plucky heroine. But is he really the villain of the piece this time, or could he be the hero?
Finding out will be dangerous, but it just might inspire her greatest story yet.
Happy reading! And please do leave a review if you can – it would mean the world to hear what you enjoyed most about the book.
**** Warning: This book contains a careful selection of quiet determination, resolute tight-lipped-ness and (almost) insurmountable levels of tension. Although coupled with the presence of occasionally descriptive sexual encounters, we are very pleased to highlight that this book – and series – is in no way verging on erotica. ****
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Good book. Couldn’t put it down.
I enjoyed the story; although I wouldn’t call it a year jerker, parts of it did pull at the heartstrings. I like stories with a little bit of angst, and especially stories where honesty is important to the characters.
I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and sense of humor. The character building was good and the plot kept me interested.
This book surprised me, not expecting much, but it was so enjoyable. Strong characters, great repartee between them, and the ending was perfect. Can’t wait for the next one. An author to keep a watch on.
love your novels!
I LOVE this story. It shines. Prue and Robert are both honest, witty, brave, and filled with intense emotions. Their amazing, fascinating conversations made me both laugh and cry— sometimes very funny and sometimes utterly heartbreaking. I loved the letter excerpts beginning each chapter. They give depth and dimension to Prue’s thoughts and feelings. Robert’s perseverance is heroic in itself as Prue goes above and beyond to thwart him. Each supporting character is lovingly woven in to the story, essential to our happy ending. This is a wonderful, very fun, story. I will read it again and again as time goes by. Very highly recommended. Did I mention that I LOVED it?
Miss Emma, you’ve done it again. Oh, the perils of listening to rumors, believing them, standing in judgement and righteousness – our heroine is guilty on all counts. Redemption is never easy to achieve.
The dialogue is memorable, and I even cried a few tears at all the doubts and misunderstandings. There’s a clever set up for remaining stories, but I feel certain they will each hold their own. Thank you for writing them.
Secrets, Dares and Destiny
Prunella Chuffington-Smythe (what a mouth full) has a secret so scandalous it could destroy her life. Which is why she plans to never marry. However, plans rarely turn out as expected.
Robert Adolphus, the Duke of Bedwin stopped caring long ago about what the gossips think or say…that is until some unknown writer began a thinly veiled series based on the lies about his life. Which is why he plans to never love again, even if he must marry and sire an heir. However, even a duke doesn’t always get what he wants.
Emma V. Leech is one of the authors in my top five favorites. I love how her characters come alive within her tightly woven plots. Her writing immediately yanks me in, and each page holds my attention. To Dare a Duke is just a very satisfying read, which holds real promise for her new series, Girls Who Dare. I can usually tell how much I’m going to like a book by how much I like the supporting characters. I really liked Prue’s friends in the Peculiar Ladies Book Club. I also really liked Robert’s sister. As for Prue and Robert, I loved the banter, humor and electricity that surrounded them. However, even though they’re meant to be together, the obstacles in their way made happily-ever-after rather iffy.
Content alert: This stand-alone novel contains a moderate amount of swearing and a few moderately described sexually intimate scenes.
FYI: I also posted this review with Amazon and Goodreads. As a 5-star read, it also made my Pinterest page; Rural Reader – My Favorite 5 Star Reads (https://www.pinterest.com/marthajane65/rural-reader-my-favorite-5-star-reads/).
I love the premise of this series. Ten girls, considered wall-flowers, put their dare’s in a hat in order to change their future. Our heroine thought she knew what she wanted, but fate has other ideas. Good fun – can’t wait to read about the others’
This is going to be such a fun series. Ten wallflowers find a group friendship & form a book club – these girls come to be wallflower from man situations; new money (trade business), scandals, bluestockings etc. but everyone of them vows to change the way their life is now & have their dreams come true.. They each write “dares”, place them in a hat and each of the 10 will draw a dare – will they succeed, anything will and does happen.
Prunella Chuffington-Smythe has only one goal her mind and that is to become a published author that would give her money and freedom to get away from her aunt and to rent a cottage of her own in the country. After growing up with a father who beat her mother, she wants nothing to do with marriage and becoming property owned by her husband. She has already had some success writing under a false name in The Lady’s Weekly Review.
Robert Adolphus, The Duke of Bedwin, really doesn’t want to marry but knows his responsibility of providing s heir to the dukedom. He had already been in a disastrous marriage that ended up in the death of his beautiful, scandalous, loose harlot wife and the dark reputation and scandal that followed her death has not been forgotten by the ton. Robert needs to find a sensible, sweet, dull wife who will not bring any scandal or trouble to the marriage.
This takes us to Robert and Prue finding common ground. Robert goes to his uncle for advise on finding a wife with the qualities he needs as his duchess. His uncle has just the lady – Prue (he and Prue live in the same small town in the country) – the only problem, as he explains to Robert, she has an aversion to marriage.
Prue does not understand the sudden interest from the dark, brooding, evil duke and has to find a way to be rid of him. Then the dare – Prue draws from the hat “dance in the garden at midnight”. Let the fun begin.
Wallflowers and bluestockings are part of my favorite tropes, why the blurb caught my eyes and I do preordered this book.
And I’m glad I did it.
I even had to hurry finishing the book I was reading so eager I was to jump in this one.
Even if there was no mystery about how the plot will progress, I had some hard time to stop and put this book aside today, I was even late as some of my rendezvous because I was so in need to read few more pages.
I loved both main characters, Prue and Robert are two people shaped by their past, he paies a harsh tribute to his mistakes some distorted by the gossip rags, while she designed her future upon the ugly sample she had from married life.
Prue to built her freedom uses her talent with words and writes stories as a secret livelihood, she even narrates stories with known peer as background characters for her work, she just never expected to meet the vilain of her actual serial nor catch his eyes. And worst, the more she get to know him, the more she sees she was misguided by said gossips. But how can she stop the clock or go back in time now she knows she was wrong.
Robert after a failed marriage and the death of his Scandalous has avoided the ton, preferring meddling with debauches and light-skirts than meet those who choose to believe the dirt told about him. But even if he is reluctant, he knows he must find a new wife for the usual heir and spare. But this time, she must be rather plain, dull, boring and scandal free, except the one woman fitting this portrait is not so dull nor boring, worse she utters nonsenses, dares him, intrigues him and even refuses him. The more she rejects him, the more he realizes she is the one woman he wants, really wants. She unsettles him and reawakens feelings he thought buried, but will it be enough to win her when she seems so reluctant to give up what she has carefully planned without a man in.
There are very few angsty moments, while the plot could have called for it, but it is more a story about guilt than anger, Robert was sentenced guilty by the Haute Monde because his wife died after an altercation and he feels it too as he never really did anything to stop the spreading of the gossips. While Prue in wanting to write about abusive men as her own father, she chose the wrong one for instance and her anger against vicious men turned to guilt to have fallen so easily prey to the hearsay and put all her resentment on the wrong character even if it was romanticized.
A great first book in a new series, so much I can’t wait for the next one.
Fun And Poignant
I read the first page describing the members of the Peculiar Ladies’ Book Club and was immediately drawn in. This is an eclectic group in various circumstances that embark on a friendship that is cemented by the ladies’ commitment to take a dare. We find out what Prunella’s dare is and how it leads her to a happy ending with Robert. Both Prue and Robert are likable characters, and although their conflict was a bit dragged out near the end, I enjoyed this book.
Each chapter in this book is uniquely started- I loved this way of introducing characters that are flawed and human just as you and me – this book was relatable and enjoyable ! I have already read the entire series and would definitely recommend this series for someone looking to start in the Historical Romance genre !
The story was very entertaining. I like the plot. It’s different and new. The lead characters, I really liked.
I voluntary reviewed this ARC after receiving a free gifted copy.
sex
In this book, we are introduced to a full cast of characters who will be come characters in future books in the series. A group of girls form somewhat unlikely friendships that will carry them through their hardships. I loved this duke!
This story did the impossible. It changed my option of the character with the ending. I did like her too much till the ending. Which she not only redeemed herself but made this story a very romantic one. Bravo.
I liked it. I prefer reading books from this era so there are very few that I don’t like.
Love is supposed to triumph. When the news is awful, I dash to Recency fantasy.
I love all of these Regency books Dukes Earls you name it they’re just stay just keep me so entertained