Any Duchess Will Do (Spindle Cove Series #4)

by Tessa Dare

Overview

USA Today Bestseller

What's a duke to do, when the girl who's perfectly wrong becomes the woman he can't live without?

Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, has no desire to wed this season—or any season—but his diabolical mother abducts him to "Spinster Cove" and insists he select a bride from the ladies in residence. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.

Overworked and struggling, Pauline Simms doesn't dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop. That dream becomes a possibility when an arrogant, sinfully attractive duke offers her a small fortune for a week's employment. Her duties are simple: submit to his mother's "duchess training"… and fail miserably.

But in London, Pauline isn't a miserable failure. She's a brave, quick-witted, beguiling failure—a woman who ignites Griff's desire and soothes the darkness in his soul. Keeping Pauline by his side won't be easy. Even if Society could accept a serving girl duchess—can a roguish duke convince a serving girl to trust him with her heart?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062240125
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/28/2013
Series:	Spindle Cove Series , #4
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	93,134
Product dimensions:	4.38(w) x 6.64(h) x 1.08(d)

About the Author

Tessa Dare is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of more than a dozen historical romances. A librarian by training and a book-lover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she shares a cozy, cluttered bungalow with her husband, their two children, and a pair of cosmic kittens.

Editorial Reviews

Dare’s fourth Spindle Cove romance returns to Regency England’s eclectic seaside community, where young ladies seek refuge from society. Griffin York, the marriage-shy eighth Duke of Halford, is dragged to the town by his mother, who orders him to pick a bride. He brashly selects Pauline Simms, a proud tavern serving girl. Griff’s mother declares she can turn Pauline into duchess material; Griff retorts that if she fails, he’ll be off the hook. He offers Pauline £1,000 to go to London and fail the training, promising that he’ll return her to her home, and her mentally disabled sister, within a week. Pauline’s hasty bargain to ensure financial security for herself and her sister is complicated by her attraction to Griff and her ability to see the man inside the titled facade. Griff admires Pauline’s pluck as he reveals his deepest secrets and bares his soul. Though hints of Cinderella and Pygmalion aren’t enough to make the premise plausible, Dare more than makes up for that with romance, humor, and intense emotional drama. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Any Duchess Will Do is an equally beguiling blend of sparkling wit and simmering sensuality that is guaranteed to captivate fans of clever, sexy historical romances.

Booklist (starred review)

Romances based on fairy tales have enjoyed a new surge of popularity recently, but in her fourth Spindle Cove novel, Tessa Dare gives readers an anti-fairy tale romance in which hard work and self-respect are the route to happiness, and love is the only magic anyone needs.

Heroes and Heartbreakers

In Tessa Dare’s Any Duchess Will Do... social differences are realistically addressed, and the pair face additional hurdles reflective of the Regency era, helping root the story and give greater punch to their eventual happiness.

ALA Reading List Council

In Tessa Dare’s Any Duchess Will Do... social differences are realistically addressed, and the pair face additional hurdles reflective of the Regency era, helping root the story and give greater punch to their eventual happiness.” %COMM_CONTRIB%ALA Reading List Council

When his mother tries to force his hand in selecting a bride, Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, decides to teach her a lesson by choosing the nearest serving girl, then astounds them all by falling in love with her. Pauline Simms' desires are simple. She wants to work hard enough to get her and her developmentally challenged sister out of her abusive father's house and open a bookshop. For the working class, however, simple is not easy, and earning enough to follow her dreams is nigh impossible for a barmaid. So when a duke's mother issues her son an ultimatum in the tavern where Pauline works, demanding he pick a bride from the women present, and Griffin York, Duke of Halford, chooses Pauline, she makes a deal with the arrogant aristocrat. His mother will give Pauline "duchess lessons," at which she'll fail miserably, and he'll give her the astounding sum of £1,000. Seeing the gift for the miracle it is, Pauline agrees, leaving her tearful sister behind for a week, journeying to London to mingle with high society, while spending far too much time alone with Griffin, who clearly hides secrets that haunt him. Pauline chinks away at his emotional armor and grows dangerously attracted to him, while Griffin begins to wonder how he ever survived without her. Historical romance favorite Dare has penned a Cinderella-themed late-Regency romance with a working-class heroine who dares to dream beyond her station and a libertine determined to change his life. It's a fairly outlandish plot in historical terms, but readers will be willing to suspend disbelief for this couple who are so perfect for one another, despite being scandalously mismatched socially. Great writing and characterization will keep readers engaged and invested. Sly nods to classic and modern Cinderella favorites enhance an already fun, textured plot. Moments of laugh-out-loud humor, emotional intensity and sensual passion woven through an engaging plot and endearing characters make this a great read for romance fans.

Kirkus Reviews

There's nothing like being drugged and kidnapped by your own mother to get your attention, so when Griffin York, Duke of Halford, is thus captured by his marriage-minded mama and whisked off to the seacoast haven of Spindle Cove to choose a bride, he takes the dowager up on her promise that she can turn any girl into a flawless duchess. His choice? Country-bred barmaid Pauline Simms, a girl doomed to fail. But Pauline has no intention of becoming a duchess, and when she balks, Griff is forced to change his plans—and the results are totally, but delightfully, unexpected. VERDICT A duke determined to avoid marriage and a plain-speaking girl whose sights go no higher than owning her own bookstore strike an ill-fated but ultimately perfect bargain. This witty, wickedly funny romantic escapade infuses a Pygmalion plot with a touch of Cinderella magic and spins it into another perfect addition to Dare's "Spindle Cove" series (A Lady by Midnight). Dare lives in Southern California.

Library Journal