Castles Ever After/Spindle Cove – Cannonball Read 17

“No one had warned her it would be like this. Love was supposed to feel good. Wasn’t it? Not terrifying. Perhaps this wasn’t love after all, but malaria.”

Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare

August 4, 2024 by faintingviolet 10 Comments

Last month when I was reading What I Did for a Duke I kept waiting for a particular scene to happen, and it never did. That is because I had superimposed the bathtub scene from Do You Want to Start a Scandal onto that book, which was all the excuse I needed to read it as well. Like with What I Did for a Duke this one is a reread of a book I only read a couple years ago. It deliciously fits into what […]

first up for Tessa Dare, but wasn’t the last!

Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare

March 12, 2022 by wicherwill 2 Comments

Someone’s review says: “Charlotte unravels the mystery of Piers while he just unravels” and while I cannot remember this book very well, having read it almost two months ago I remember even at that time reading that line and thinking that it tracked very well. What can I say about this book? THIS IS WHY I NEED TO WRITE REVIEWS AS I FINISH BOOKS. But also, we’re being kind to myself, and so it’s okay that I got behind. A thing that makes me giggle: […]

“Here, tell me which scent you prefer. Lilies and whale vomit, or lemon balm and beaver’s arse.”

January 11, 2018 by alwaysanswerb 2 Comments

I like Tessa Dare. I know her books are derisively considered by many to be HINO (Historical In Name Only) but that’s something that’s never bothered me, personally. I like that her characters have modern sensibilities, because I don’t want to read about a hero with traditional Regency-era attitudes toward women. I like that her books each tend to have a designated Element of Silliness (see: Romancing the Duke‘s cosplayers, Any Duchess Will Do‘s terrible knitting) and in this one it’s the recurring joke of […]

Scandalous mystery tuppers and double cannonball!

December 29, 2017 by Mikki Blu 5 Comments

On the night of the Parkhurst ball, someone had a scandalous tryst in the library. • Was it Lord Canby, with the maid, on the divan? • Or Miss Fairchild, with a rake, against the wall? • Perhaps the butler did it. All Charlotte Highwood knows is this: it wasn’t her. But rumors to the contrary are buzzing. I was a little reluctant to read this book by Ms Dare, after thoroughly disliking the previous one, but reviews were good so when I saw it […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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