Thanks to Samantha Bryant for giving me the numbers 28:4 and choosing this week’s TBR Roulette book. :)
What I am reading this week
This week I am reading the debut novel from Tessa Dare. Goddess of the Hunt is book 1 in the Wanton Dairy Maid trilogy. Click the book cover above to visit the author’s book page and check out the gorgeous covers of the international editions. So pretty!
Rating
Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥
Loveability: 💗💗💗💗
Heartbreakability: 💔💔💔
About the book
Lucy Waltham has been in love with her Toby Aldridge for ages. When she hears a rumor that he is about to propose to someone else during the annual house party, Lucy decides to make her move and seduce him before he gets a chance. But growing up under her brother’s care, she is decidedly inexperienced in the field of seduction. So she does what any young woman in her position would do. She practices on none other than her brother’s closest friend, the cool, aloof Jeremy, Lord Kendall.
Prompted by her brother, Jeremy Trescott pretends to court Lucy to keep her from attempting to seduce Toby. But with each attempt at distraction, Jeremy finds drawn to Lucy, seemingly against his will. After each heated encounter–including one super steamy scene in a wardrobe–Jeremy is more helpless against Lucy’s charms than ever. When her brother’s innocent teasing threatens to expose her to scandal, Jeremy does the only thing he can think of: he marries Lucy himself.
But Lucy’s headstrong, hoyden ways clash with Jeremy’s insistence on her becoming a proper countess, and their marriage teeters on the brink. After a disastrous dinner party brings up a tragedy from the past, they are pushed over the edge. Now weeks after marrying they are two strangers living in the same house, not sure if they’ll be able to recover from the things left unsaid.
What I enjoyed about it
If this is a debut book from an author, I have my work cut out for me!
I love the dual nature of this story. It’s not just a story about two people meeting, falling in love and marrying. They’ve known each other for years, are professed antagonists, and marry due to a scandal–and that’s only in the first half!
They marry in such haste, they never really get to know each other. Only after the wedding do they get to know each other. They don’t have a courtship in the general sense, but the more they uncover about each other, the more they try to change–both each other and themselves.
I really like Lucy in this book. She may be young, only 19, but she knows exactly what shes wants and is not afraid to get it. She’s not your conventional Regency miss. She doesn’t paint, or flirt, or take part in any of the other traditional pursuits. Instead she fishes, and rides, and treks across her brother’s estate to climb trees.
Ah… a hoyden after my own heart. :)
I did really enjoy the bits with Sophia Hathaway. She was responsible, both directly and indirectly, for many of Lucy and Jeremy’s encounters…including their hasty marriage. She’s the exact opposite of Lucy and was so perfect in Lucy’s eyes that she had to try to be a proper lady. Which backfired each and every time.
Is this an author I’ve read before?
This was one of the first Tessa Dare books I read. I enjoyed Lucy and Jeremy’s story the first time I read it. But it wasn’t until the second time I read it that I truly did fall in love with it. While not my favorite Tessa Dare book (that spot is reserved for Amelia and Spencer in One Dance With A Duke), it is in my top 3.
The fact that I have a Top 3 of any author should tell you how much I adore Tessa Dare’s books.
What keeps me coming back for more?
I love the fact that Tessa Dare’s books are full of spunky Heroine’s and unconventional stories.
There’s always a twist in there, something that pushes the story to it’s start, and it never turns out the way you think it will. It makes for late nights and eagerly turned pages. I never know what to expect, but it’s sure to be fun!