Incredibly entertaining

The Duchess Deal is classic beauty and the beast. The beast is an arrogant Duke but he has physical flaws too: battle scars. Suffering a broken engagement, and no prospect of securing am heir, he offers marriage to a local seamstress. The couple find that they only manage to infuriate each other with their cutting insults and witty remarks. Will they survive the ordeal?

This book was a pleasure to read- I love re-tellings of the Beauty and the Beast classic. I was reminded of a more modern/ technological version: Ensnared by Rita Stradling. With every chapter, I was glad for the pace and the direction the story was taking. The book practically read itself!

There is some mature content which I felt the book could have done without but I understand that this addition allowed the book to appeal to a greater audience. For me, however, the highlight of this delightful book was the witty dialogue- it really was the making of the characters, and the story.

I received this book through NetGalley.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed The Duchess Deal and with each turn of the page Tessa Dare’s words drew me in bringing her characters to life.

“…you’ll either be the making of him, or he’ll be the ruin of you.”

This story was made for me by the witty, sharp dialogue between two fantastic lead characters—the Duke of Ashbury and seamstress, Emma Gladstone. Cynical, blunt, grumpy and angry, Ash meets his match in Emma and with a smart mind of her own and a tendency to say what is on it, she infuriates him, challenges him and brings out the very best in him.

“If I choose to make a darling of you, there is nothing you can do about it.”
“Of course there’s something I can do about it. I can have you sent to an institution for the feebleminded and insane.”
“If you say so, cherub”

This story lacked nothing for me, bringing everything from passion to hilarity, romance to fight, and as Emma and Ash’s marriage begins to develop into more than simply convenience, my heart sighed and I fell hard for a man who was so imperfectly perfect.

“I’ll keep you warm and safe. I’ll keep you always.”

Tessa Dare has catapulted herself onto my auto-read list and having been introduced to a group of fun, quirky single ladies, I am so looking forward to seeing which Girl Meets Duke next. Historical reader or not, this is one you don’t want to to miss.

“There. I made you a fire. You may now admire my manliness.”

Tessa Dare’s The Duchess Deal is a thoroughly enjoyable read that takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions as the characters set out on journeys to discover themselves as well as who they can be together, if they only give one another the chance, with plenty of occasion for laughter and tears along the way, and a daring red dress or two.
The story of Emma and Ash made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions, and there is a whole host of secondary characters that you simply hope will get their own story and will pop up again and again as more stories are written in this Regency world. Emma is in a bit of a fix due to someone not paying a dress bill, and Ash is in need of a wife because he does not want distant relatives to inherit. Lo and behold, a woman shows up in his study in a wedding dress. Must be fate, right? Both Ash and Emma have so much love to give, but have been hurt and rejected by people they thought they love, and are more than just hesitant to place themselves out there again. But when you have their kind of chemistry, and constant well-meaning friends and staff interfering, our protagonists are not given much of a choice in actually getting to know one another! A difficulty in communication and a lack of honesty about certain aspects of previous life cause some obstacles that almost signal the end, but luckily their love is too strong to be overcome, even before they realise what it is, or choose to believe it is the real deal.
I really enjoyed this novel. I just need Tessa Dare’s name on a cover and I’m ready to buy it without even checking the synopsis, because even if I am not sure about a storyline, I know that the way that she’ll write the story, I’ll fall in love over and over. In The Duchess Deal, we have relatable characters, characters that I want to be friends with, characters that I want to comfort, characters that I admire. Resilience and perseverance are character traits that I adore, and Emma and Ash do it with such aplomb! When you next get the chance, be sure to pick up this novel, you will not regret it!

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.

I've been looking forward to Tessa Dare's new book for ages and The Duchess Deal did not disappoint. The writing was engaging and the prose was light and flowing. The relationship between Ash and Emma was interesting and involving and its development was believable in the context of the genre. It was refreshing that there was no huge crisis as part of the plot but rather a series of tricky situations to be negotiated. All in all this was a highly enjoyable novel and one that I'd have no hesitation in recommending.