THE WALLFLOWER WAGER
Series: Girl Meets Duke #3
Author: Tessa Dare
Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: August 13th, 2019
They call him the Duke of Ruin.
To an undaunted wallflower, he’s just the beast next door.
Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high society—and now he wants to get even.
Loyal and passionate, Lady Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldn’t take into her home and her heart.
When her imposing—and attractive—new neighbor demands she clear out the rescued animals, Penny sets him a challenge. She will part with her precious charges, if he can find them loving homes.
Done, Gabriel says. How hard can it be to find homes for a few kittens?
And a two-legged dog.
And a foul-mouthed parrot.
And a goat, an otter, a hedgehog . . .
Easier said than done, for a cold-blooded bastard who wouldn’t know a loving home from a workhouse. Soon he’s covered in cat hair, knee-deep in adorable, and bewitched by a shyly pretty spinster who defies his every attempt to resist. Now she’s set her mind and heart on saving him.
Not if he ruins her first.
NOTE: Content advisories are available for this book at http://tessadare.com/content-advisories/
5 ‘I’d sell my soul for a Penny’ Stars
SWOOOOONNNN… I feel exactly like a lady of this time period with all the swoons this book gave me! Oh my world, THE WALLFLOWER WAGER is now my fav Tessa Dare – and that is saying a lot with how much I adored The Duchess Deal ! – with Gabe and Penny’s book being an absolute euphony to all my senses! The carnal and palpitating passion, the banter, the bromance and the pets… All was perfection from start to end!
This book was outstandingly executed, I just feel like telling everyone to just go grab it, because FOR ME, it was Historical Romance Perfection! Sure, there were some inconsistencies with the time period and other minor insignificant stuff, but you cares in the face of this richness of characters and EPIC love story?! I know I don’t, I’m all about the feelings and the happiness and emotion it gave me.
That anger had been his companion when he didn’t have a friend in the world.
But he wasn’t alone anymore.
With Penny in his life, everything was different. He had to be different. If she was in danger, she was his to guard. If she was hurting, she was his to protect.
Penny, I knew I loved already from the previous books and reading about her and her feelings, and her past just took my love to devotion level. She was such a brilliant and pure soul, my perfect HR type of female lead.
Gabriel, being the definition of self made man, Penny’s temporary next door neighbor, was a distrustful man, closed off and skeptic as they come. And Broody, did I say broody already, lol?! If that introduction I was scared he would taint Penny’s brilliance, but boy was I wrong, he was her PERFECT match! He cherished her pureness and tender heart and made her shine, gave her strength and cherished her so. He was absolutely the Heroes, beating even Ash – awww, Ash, how I adore the – such devotion, such love, such passion, he was completely smitten from the start and once he accept it, my lord, how he was the image of the ultimate romance hero. Straight to Best Book Boyfriend list! He truly made me swoon every time he declared his feelings and emotions, awww!
“It was sheer courage. I could have been a murderer.” Emma sipped her tea. “And it wasn’t only me. Nicola, Alexandra, Ash, Chase . . . You’re the paste that binds us all together. Reaching out takes courage, and holding on takes even more.”
Now on the secondary characters, I feel I need to stand out all the animals, because their role was of such significance I could not go without given them and all their ventures a word, they were fantastic!!! From Freya the hedgehog to little dog Bixby, to the goat Marigold, otter Hubert and Angus the steer, and most of all the foul mouthed and enormously entertaining Delilah, all this pets had a hand in bringing Penny and Gabe together, in the most amusing and endearing of manners, how I adored them all.
And still on the secondary characters theme, I was delighted beyond believe with the interaction of the previous couple, but the men, omg, I LOVED THEM here and first their quest to protect Penny but at the same time the Bromance going on and blooming between Ash, Chase and Gabe. The interactions and banter was amazing and oh so delicious. I can never get enough of all these couples!
“We are who we are.”
“We are who we are.”
God, he loved who she was. But what was more, he loved who they were together. He couldn’t lose that.
Ms. Dare truly is masterful in her historical romance, creating the most fantastic of settings, and adding the richest of characters that not only transports us to their time, but make us feel every once of their emotions, adding a bit of contemporary feel, and allowing us to relate and identify with their battles, doubts and fear. In The Wallflower Wager, the friendship is a priceless treasure, the passion is heart pumping and palpable, and the love is absolute in its purity and splendor. No wonder this has now become one of my all time fav HR series, and with that teasing by the end, I’m now dying for Nicola’s, the über smart and spirited redhead, very own HEA!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
“I have every luxury a man could desire. Hundreds of thousands of pounds in my accounts. I worked like hell to build a fortune, and yet . . .” His thumb met her cheek with a reverent caress. “Now I’d sell my soul for a Penny.”
“I love you,” he said. “You may never teach that damned parrot to say it, but you taught me. You’ll never hear the end of it now, pretty girl. I love you.” Kiss. “I love you.” Kiss. “I love you.”
ARC kindly provided by the author via Avon Books for an honest review
Tessa Dare is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fourteen historical romance novels and five novellas. Her books have won numerous accolades, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® award (twice) and the RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence. Booklist magazine named her one of the “new stars of historical romance,” and her books have been contracted for translation in more than a dozen languages.
Mixing wit, sensuality, and emotion, Tessa writes Regency-set romance novels that feel relatable to modern readers. With her bestselling “Spindle Cove” and “Castles Ever After” series, she has had great fun creating heroines who defy the conventions of their time—engaging in “unladylike” pursuits that range from paleontology to beer-making—and dreaming up the strong-willed, sexy heroes who find their hearts ensnared by them.
A librarian by training and a booklover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and a trio of cosmic kitties.