Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

whoever said you can’t go home (to spindle cove) might be right

A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare

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I think I read this because I was despairing of coming to the end of the books that are universally acclaimed in Dare’s oeuvre, and because I missed the ladies of Spindle Cove (and, to be honest, the idea of Spindle Cove in general. There is something hilarious about a town in which copies of a hated etiquette manual are used for all manner of papier mache crafts, building projects, and bulk volume needs). However, this book is a solid three star for me, without […]

bit of a power disparity at play here, ymmv

The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare

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In comparison to the last Girl Meets Duke (gag on that name) book, The Wallflower Wager (chronologically after this one, though), this book has a number more logistical loops one must jump over in order to get invested in the characters, along with a variant of a trope that I do not enjoy. And that is why this one gets three stars whereas that one got four. So to get it away with in the beginning: – the number of steps between Emma, vicar’s daughter turned seamstress, […]

your tolerance for quirk will be tested (but rewarded!)

The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare

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Here we have a different series by Dare, as I was basically trying to skip around and find all of her best reviewed works. In these, as the name suggests, a female lead (seriously, do we need to call adult women girls) meets someone who is a “duke” either literally or not. In this case, we have a male lead named Gabriel Duke. It’s somewhat refreshing from time to time to read a book that doesn’t involve so much of a social leap as to […]

another castle, another lord

When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare

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Clearly I am taken with this idea of inheriting a large foreboding house far away from society that is mine without a mortgage or property taxes (and, since we’re in fantasy territory, also comes with a healthy, symbiotic relationship with the people who work the land). As noted in the prior review for Romancing the Duke, the common thread is the aforementioned inheritance of a castle, sort of unbidden, and the appearance of an Aristocrat with a Painful Secret who wants said castle…by any means necessary. […]

here starts the Tessa Dare run

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare

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WOOT the Tessa Dare run, here we gooo–definitely another #BlameMalin one here 😉 So the Castles Ever After series is tied together by the silliest and slimmest of plot threads: each of the main female protagonists are gifted a castle in some way or another, or are in possession of one despite being female, and there is a Duke or Lord or Laird or something or another who is either in the castle, thinks he should be in the castle, or flat out wants a castle and […]

And now, jump back hundreds and hundreds of years…

A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare

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I read this, along with what feels like every other Tessa Dare book that people (Malin!) recommended, in a short span of time when I was sitting in India, where I had ended up after a very confusing day when we all thought my grandmother was going to pass away (she wasn’t! she is all fine! it was a hilarious expensive miscommunication!). What better way to spend an unexpected week away slash impromptu family reunion other than with a series of historical romances? The conceit […]



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