Twice Tempted by a Rogue - Tessa Dare

Luck is a double-edged sword for brooding war hero Rhys St. Maur. His death wish went unanswered on the battlefield, while fate allowed the murder of his good friend in the elite gentlemen's society known as the Stud Club. Out of options, Rhys returns to his ancestral home on the moors of Devonshire, expecting anything but a chance at redemption in the arms of a beautiful innkeeper who dares him to take on the demons of his past--and the sweet temptation of a woman's love. 

Meredith Maddox believes in hard work, not fate, and romance isn't part of her plan. But when Rhys returns, battle-scarred, world-weary, and more dangerously attractive than ever, the lovely widow is torn between determination and desire. As a deep mystery and dangerous smugglers threaten much more than their passionate reckoning, Meredith discovers that she must trust everything to a wager her heart placed long ago. 

My thoughts:

It's not often historical romance is only ok for me. I am not counting those ebooks I might have given up on. While this was print and I just had to try to finish it. Since it was ok after all, just lacking.

I got a lot of Dare books after having read her first one, but none have been as good as that first one.

In this one, well Rhys is a wounded blah blah Lord who shows up in the village of his youth. There he see Meredith, wants her, and like the next day tells her they should marry. Sorry? What? I think that was my issue. There was no real romance for me. I mean yes she starts to fall for him. BUT, I never felt it. He wanted her. She fell. But I was left wanting.

The drama is that dead guy from book 1 *yawns* and smugglers *yawns* That last part never had an ending, neither had the first.

And now I am out of Dare books, and eh, I do not mind. They just seems to get worse.

Cover

Right, and she works in an inn...right

Paperback, 363 pages
Published June 22nd 2010 by Ballantine Books
Stud Club #2
Historical romance
Own

Review: One dance with a Duke - Tessa Dare

A handsome and reclusive horse breeder, Spencer Dumarque, the fourth Duke of Morland, is a member of the exclusive Stud Club, an organization so select it has only ten members—yet membership is attainable to anyone with luck. And Spencer has plenty of it, along with an obsession with a prize horse, a dark secret, and, now, a reputation as the dashing “Duke of Midnight.” Each evening he selects one lady for a breathtaking midnight waltz. But none of the women catch his interest, and nobody ever bests the duke—until Lady Amelia d’Orsay tries her luck.

In a moment of desperation, the unconventional beauty claims the duke’s dance and unwittingly steals his heart. When Amelia demands that Spencer forgive her scapegrace brother’s debts, she never imagines that her game of wits and words will lead to breathless passion and a steamy proposal. Still, Spencer is a man of mystery, perhaps connected to the shocking murder of the Stud Club’s founder. Will Amelia lose her heart in this reckless wager or win everlasting love?

My thoughts:
Ok let's just do this some other way

Hero

He has hidden depths and when I understood them I liked him so much. But before that he seemed cold.

Heroine

Our spinster who also have hidden things and when I understood those I understood her. But before that...

Romance

They lust, but he wants her to want it. And when she does, fireworks.

Plot

First there is the whole them together which I liked. Then there is a murder and mystery and accusations (that did not get an ending in this book.) And last her brother Jack who is a scoundrel and in debt. Well Jack made his bed and must lie there.

I was not blown away as I was with her other book. But it was like any other HR book I read then instead. Romance, passion and struggle. Cute.

Cover

Ok

Paperback, 384 pages
Published May 25th 2010 by Ballantine Books (first published January 1st 2010)
Stud Club #1
Historical romance
Own