Review: The Wallflower Wager (Girl Meets Duke #3) by Tessa Dare

I do love reading historical romances, especially the funny ones! Tessa Dare wrote one of my all-time favourites, When a Scot Ties the Knot, but this one comes a close second!

The Wallflower Wager is the third in the Girl Meets Duke series but it can also be read as a stand-alone. While the heroes of the first two books were a duke and a duke's heir, the hero of this one has Duke as his surname (a neat twist!). Being a self-made man also made a nice change!

Lady Penelope lives alone in a large house in London, apart from her servants, her elderly companion, and a positive menagerie of rescued animals. The house next door has been bought by Gabriel Duke, who intends to renovate it and sell it at a vast profit. While one huge selling point is the aristocratic neighbour (Lady Penelope) an equally huge minus is her mini-zoo. But the only way Penny will agree to part with her pets is if Gabe promises to find new owners for them. How hard can that be?

The thing I enjoy most about Tessa Dare's books are her lovable, engaging characters and their funny banter. I also loved Delilah the parrot - her language is a running joke throughout the book - and I thought the ending was a nice twist on what usually happens in romantic novels (no spoilers!).

Recommended if you love your historical romances modern, funny and sexy, and enjoy reading authors such as Julia Quinn and Lisa Kleypas. I thoroughly enjoyed The Wallflower Wager and have no hesitation in giving it five stars.

Thank you to Tessa Dare and Mills & Boon for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Related Reviews:

The Duchess Deal (Girl Meets Duke #1) by Tessa Dare

The Governess Game (Girl Meets Duke #2) by Tessa Dare

Do You Want to Start a Scandal (Castles Ever After #4/Spindle Cove #5) by Tessa Dare

Review: The Governess Game (Girl Meets Duke #2) by Tessa Dare

Tessa Dare is one of my favourite authors, so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of The Governess Game. It's a historical romance, but written in the style of a modern romantic comedy, and is the second in the Girl Meets Duke series. Each book is effectively a stand alone, so you don't need to read them in order. The link between the stories is a group of female friends.

Chase Reynaud is in denial. He doesn't want to be the heir to a dukedom and he certainly doesn't want to be the guardian to two little orphaned girls, Rosamund and Daisy. The girls aren't thrilled to be dumped on him either and delight in making his life difficult. Their best time for frightening off a new governess currently stands at seventeen and a quarter hours. Which is why Chase offers Alexandra a fortune to take on the job - and is why she takes it!

Alexandra Mountbatten earns her living ensuring the clocks of the wealthy keep perfect time. How she ends up as the governess to the two young wards of Chase Reynaud is a little convoluted but didn't spoil my enjoyment of the story. Purists won't like the historical inaccuracies; although some of these, like the quote from The Titanic movie, are deliberate and add to the fun. But that's The Governess Game in a nutshell - a lighthearted romcom that's a whole lot of fun.

I loved the characters, their rapid-fire banter and all the one liners. Chase tries so hard to duck out of his responsibilities - there is a running joke throughout the story about his attempt to build himself a 'gentleman's retreat'. But the best part of the story is definitely the antics of the children - Daisy's doll 'funerals' had me in stitches and she reminded me of Tootie in Meet Me in St Louis.

Recommended, especially if you love light-hearted, funny historical romance, and authors such as Julia Quinn and Eloisa James.

The Governess Game is out in the UK on the 28th of August 2018.

Thank you to Tessa Dare and Mills & Boon for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Related Reviews:

The Duchess Deal (Girl Meets Duke #1) by Tessa Dare

Do You Want to Start a Scandal (Castles Ever After #4/Spindle Cove #5) by Tessa Dare

Review: The Duchess Deal (Girl Meets Duke #1) by Tessa Dare

I'm a huge fan of Tessa Dare. I've read most of her books and was really excited to get my hands on this. One of her earlier novels, When a Scot Ties the Knot, is one of my all-time favourites and this story is written in a similar style, with non-stop funny banter between the characters. Having said that, after reading several historical novels back-to-back I did have trouble getting into it at first. The way the protagonists talk to each other is very 21st century and not remotely the way a 19th century duke and seamstress would speak to anyone of their era, let each other - they would probably never even meet. However, once I'd got over that, I absolutely loved The Duchess Deal.

When the Duke of Ashbury returns from the war horribly scarred ("Faulty rocket at Waterloo. You have precisely three seconds to move past it. One. Two...") his fiancée can't bear to look at him and calls off their engagement. In dire need of a wife and heir (so his estate doesn't fall into the hands of his 'toad of a cousin'), when seamstress Emma Gladstone explodes into his study demanding payment for the bridal gown his fiancée has cancelled, he asks her to marry him instead. 

"If it's a wife you want, surely you could find many women - many well-bred ladies - who would be willing to marry you."

"Yes, but then I'd have to find them. This saves me so much effort."

Emma is not a fool and, although it takes her a couple of days (she's not entirely sure he's serious), she soon accepts. She thinks she might even grow to love the Duke, and is hoping for a real marriage, but the Duke has a few rules...

There are two things about this novel that make it outstanding: the cracking dialogue and the brilliant characters - particularly the hero, Ash. I was about halfway through the story when the penny dropped. Ash is basically Deadpool - manically cracking irreverent jokes to hide his pain, both mental and physical. Ash had once been an extremely handsome man, now he considers himself to be a monster who frightens small children. It's not the only superhero reference. Ash's relationship with his butler is very Bruce Wayne and Alfred ('Batman'), the encounter with Trevor (the teenage boy who wants to be the sidekick of the 'Monster of Mayfair') reminded me of 'The Incredibles', and then there's that very steamy kiss in the pouring rain ... 'Spiderman'?

So, if you love historical romances written in a very traditional Jane Austen/Georgette Heyer style, you're going to hate this. But it you love witty, warm-hearted romantic comedy, with characters that leap off the page demanding your attention, you'll love it.

This was definitely a five-star read for me. 

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of The Duchess Deal, which will be published on 22nd February 2018.

Thank you to Tessa Dare, Mills & Boon and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.