The Duchess Deal
Series: Girl Meets Duke #1
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Release date: February 22nd 2018
Genres: Adult, Historical, Romance
Pages: 389
Format: eBook
Source: Amazon
Add to TBR: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US | The Book Depository | Kobo | Audible
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Star rating:Heat rating:
‘I am a Duke. I’m not asking you to marry me. I am offering to marry you. It’s a different thing entirely.’
When the Duke of Ashbury returns from war scarred, he realises he needs an heir – which means he needs a wife! When Emma Gladstone, a vicar's daughter turned seamstress visits wearing a wedding dress, he decides on the spot that she'll do.
His terms are simple:
- They will be husband and wife by night only.
- No lights, no kissing.
- No questions about his battle scars.
- Last, and most importantly… Once she's pregnant with his heir, they need never share a bed again.But Emma is no pushover. She has secrets and some rules of her own:
- They will have dinner together every evening.
- With conversation.
- And teasing.
- Last, and most importantly… Once she's seen the man beneath the scars, he can't stop her from falling in love…
The Faerie Queen’s review
Charming princes weren’t always what they seemed. Shining armor went out of fashion with the Crusades. And if fairy godmothers existed, hers was running several years late.
Most of the time, a girl needed to rescue herself.
How you feel about books is often dictated by what you’re going through at the time of reading them. And I read this one while heartbroken. You see, the evening before I opened this up, my boyfriend and I made the horrible decision to break up. In so many ways, we were perfect for each other, but there was one thing that just kept coming back up. You’d think, after having my own heart destroyed, I wouldn’t be able to read a romance. I didn’t think I would be able to.
And yet, I did read this. In fact, it was the only thing that could take my mind off of how much I miss him for more than a few minutes at a time.
This book was like a warm hug, a soothing balm, a much-needed respite. It showed me that love existed, and that a man would do anything to be with the woman he loved, even if just in fiction.
“You’re mine,” he said hoarsely, lifting his head and staring deep into her eyes, willing her to believe. “If you leave, I will follow. Do you hear me? I will follow and find you and cart you home.”
It also showed a heroine who, despite being a seamstress, could stand up to a grumpy duke. It had a varied group of female friends, each wonderfully interesting in their own right. It made me smile and laugh out loud several times, despite how much I was hurting. It had passion and demonstrated female sexuality in a positive light. It even had a bodice-ripping scene, then went and flipped it on its head with the heroine ripping the hero’s shirt.
So basically, this book was magic. I’m going straight on to 
Quotes to get you in the mood
“Miss Gladstone, you don’t seem to understand how this whole intruding-on-a-duke’s-solitude business works. You should be intimidated, if not terrified. Yet there’s an appalling lack of hand-wringing in your demeanor, and no trembling whatsoever. Are you certain you’re merely a seamstress?”
What was being a duke, if not arching a sardonic eyebrow?
“I still don’t understand how it could have happened. I took every precaution against conceiving.”
Emma lowered her voice. “Do you mean the gentlemen withdrew, before he . . . finished the act?”
“No.”
“A sponge, then.”
“A sponge? What would I do with a sponge?”
“So he wore a French letter?”
Davina gave her a blank look. “What’s that?”
Emma was nonplussed. “Precisely what precautions did you take?”
“All the usual ones. After it was done, I jumped up and down for ten minutes. Sniffed pepper to make myself sneeze three times, and drank a full teacup of vinegar. I did everything right.”
Emma pressed her lips together. If this was Davina’s idea of contraception, perhaps the girl was just a little bit of an idiot.
“There.” He stood back, chest heaving with exertion. “I made you a fire. You may now admire my manliness.”
About Tessa Dare
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.
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.
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