2021: #22 – The Wallflower Wager (Tessa Dare)

If I had partial stars to work with, I would rate the first 3 books in this series as The Duchess Deal – 4.25 stars; The Governess Game – 4.5 stars, and this one – 4.0 stars. Penelope is a fun and unconventional character, which is entertaining to read, but Gabriel is kind of a rollercoaster who doesn’t have much depth beyond “used to be very poor, now wants

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2021: #20 – The Governess Game (Tessa Dare)

I actually liked this book slightly more than The Duchess Deal, perhaps because Alex is just a more interesting female lead. She has an unusual profession (clocksetter), despite that she isn’t actually doing that work during the timespan of the book, and an unusual background. The 2 young girls were also a nice addition to the story, and they reminded me of the older 2 sisters

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2021: #18 – The Duchess Deal (Tessa Dare)

Of course, this book starts with a ridiculous premise. The Duke of Ashbury, a man scarred inside (by rejection) and outside (by war), proposes marriage to the first acceptable woman who crosses his path. He really has no interest in marriage, but needs to produce an heir and believes that no woman of standing will have him. Emma, the seamstress who created his ex-fiancé’s wedding

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