Any Duchess Will Do (Spindle Cove Series #4)
4.4
122
5
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780062240125 |
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| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 05/28/2013 |
| Series: | Spindle Cove Series , #4 |
| Pages: | 384 |
| Sales rank: | 212,057 |
| Product dimensions: | 4.38(w) x 6.64(h) x 1.08(d) |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Any Duchess Will Do
4.4 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
122 reviews.
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Next to Lorraine Heath I have come to also count on Tessa Dare to write a historical book that leaves me immensely satisfied after reading it. This latest release left just such an impression with me. From start to finish this book completely won me over heart and soul and just thinking about the main characters puts a smile on my face! To put it plainly, Pauline and Griff have become my quintessential couple, the one by which all other couples will be measured. Their interactions crackled from the moment their eyes met. They were delightfully playful with one another and their scenes together teemed with sexual tension. Not only did they make good lovers, but they were truly good friends too. No matter their differences in social status they found much to connect them and found great comfort in their mutual understandings.
Pauline always wanted more in life but was held back by a father who couldn't stand to see her become better than him. She never stopped dreaming though and planned a future for her and her slow-thinking sister as a self-sufficient woman. Just when she gets a bit ahead financially something always happens to set her back. That's why Griff's offer is so appealing to her.....he'll give her a thousand pounds to prove she'll never become the duchess his mother promises she can turn Pauline into. After being called a disaster her whole life she knows that her failing is guaranteed and the money for her library within reach. Being around Griff brings out the best in her and before long she starts becoming his ideal duchess. Unfortunately society rears its ugly head and it will take all her courage to grab the HEA she's truly discovered she wants. Pauline is an amazing heroine! Protects her sister and works hard to provide for her family without complaint. She's honest and strong-willed, not afraid to be who she really is. Even as she learns to be a duchess she still does it in her own fashion. There's no artifice about her, just a refreshingly smart and loyal young woman who helps Griff to heal from a heartbreaking loss.
Griff was always thought of as a rake until a heartbreaking loss, that he's kept hidden from everyone, has him changing his way of living. He's now sworn off women and marriage and sets out to thwart his mother's plan for his future using Pauline as a pawn at first. He quickly comes to admire her and soon does everything in his power to protect her. They have an easy rapport with one another with a romance that evolves slowly and steadily. They start out as friends who share their hopes and dreams with one another and then as lovers they make those dreams come true. No matter how much Griff calls himself a rake and a scoundrel he can't help but be heroic and caring. No matter how hard he hid his heart, Pauline brought him back to life with her quiet support and understanding. His sadness was heartbreaking and being with Pauline was like a breath of fresh air and had me rooting for their HEA every step of the way.
Along with a wonderful main couple comes Griff's mother. She was a wonderfully cantankerous woman who appeared gruff but was a truly caring woman beneath her commanding exterior. Even as she was teaching Pauline you could see her learning too. She loosened up and showed a more loving and funny side as the story progressed. The sexual encounters between Pauline and Griff were hot and yet playful. You could sense their connection deepening every time they were toge
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Though I love the Spindle Cove series I felt that this story in particular felt a bit forced at timea. Though witty and charming at times the book seemed to lack the same endearing aspects of the previous 3 novels and even the novellas. Griff is not as likeable as the previous heroes and though Pauline was lovely I often felt myself cheering on her dream more than her relationship with Griff. Overall a decent story but it feels lacking compares to the other books in the series.
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In the fairy tale, Cinderella found her prince. In this book, a barmaid found her duke. Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, and his mother have a bet going. She is determined to find a wife for her son and takes him to Spindle Cove where numerous spinsters are found. She tells him to pick one and she will make them into a duchess. He sees Pauline Simms, the barmaid, and picks her. He tells her if she will put up with his mother and prove herself to be a catastrophe, he would pay her one thousand pounds. She goes to London and the more she is around Griff, she finds herself falling in love with him. He finds that she is more than just a barmaid and he is intrigued with her. Can she succeed as a duchess or will she be a failure?
I loved the characters of Griff and Pauline and their growing love story. She sees inside the stern facade he presents to everyone and sees the loneliness he keeps inside. He sees her need to better herself from her drab home life as an unwanted daughter and her desire to be independent.
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I loved it!!! This one is her best so far! I love the parts when his heart whispers to him. Touching love story with her normal brand of humor.
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First one of Tessa Dare's books that I've read and really enjoyed it. This is Pauline and Griff's story. I laughed and cried, it was just throughly enjoyable!
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a wonderful romance with humor. griffen, the duke of york is being nagged by his mother to get married, he doesn't want to. pauline is a barmaid/waitress that just wants to open a bookshop. grif and pauline make a pact to outwit his mother at her matchmaking game. i'll be reading this one over and over, i loved it!!
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I am not familiar with other works in this series, but this was entertaining.
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I can't say enough how much I enjoy Tessa Dares writing style. Even though the story is predictable, it's fun, funny, and a thoroughly good read
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Any Duchess Will Do is book four in the Spindle Cove series. I'm being bad and reading these out of order because I heard Pauline would be a character I'd love. Which was completely true, I loved this book! So far this is my second Historical Romance book in a very long time and I'm loving all things Tessa Dare it seems.
Pauline Simms is a serving girl in a place called "Spinster" Cove (aka Spindle Cove). It's pretty much what you think it is, a town that the "spinsters" go to for a holiday. It's pretty much full of ladies that don't have husbands, the occasional guy comes and gets a bride there that won't turn him down but it's pretty much all ladies. Enter Griffin York (aka Griff), the Duke of Halford. His mother is desperate to get him married off and having children so she drugs and kidnaps her son and whisks him off to Spindle Cove to find a bride. She makes a deal with him that he can pick any woman and she will train the woman in how to be a Duchess. Griff is hard headed and wants to prove a point so he chooses Pauline since he knows that his mother will fail in her duchess lessons. He tips the scales by offering Pauline money to be dreadful in her training from his mother. After a bit of thinking, she accepts the deal and plans on using the money to open a bookshop so her and her sister will be out from under her rude father's thumb. So Pauline and Griff are both basically going into this arrangement thinking she will do horribly and neither will fall for the other. Don't you know that's not how things will go, though. As always with books with plots like this, I like seeing who will crack and want a relationship first.
Any Duchess Will Do was a delight to listen to. The narrator handled Pauline's character well with her accent, and Griff's mother sounded fancy like you'd expect a duchess would sound like. I even enjoyed her male character voice for Griff. With each of the mother's lessons in diction, Pauline's pronunciation of words changed and it was very well done. I loved the story, plot, characters, and pretty much everything about this book. I'm starting to get addicted to TDare's books, so I will probably be listening/reading another one very soon. If you're a fan of Historical Romance and haven't read this book, I highly suggest it.
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I really enjoyed this one. Tessa Dare has a brillent way with dialogue and humor! Her books are always a hoot! Such a fun read! Excellent.
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Good
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Before we start the rp, may I just say how wonderful this book is. It was written by someone names Tessa!! Okay, fangirling over...
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I have been working through the “Spindle Cove” series, but besides the first book (A Night To Surrender), I’ve had problems with the lack of conflict/tension and pacing. A few times her couples get together and fall in love with 40% of the book left to go. Why should I keep on reading? If there’s no apparent internal/external conflict, the book should end.
Oh, gentle reader, “Any Duchess Will Do” is my favorite Dare so far because every page, EVERY LINE was soaked in conflict that made me wonder, “How are Pauline and Griffin going to find their HEA together?” When I’m reading, I want to understand why the hero is the heroine’s perfect match and why the heroine is the hero’s perfect match. In other words, is the emotional connection between the characters there and does it match the physical connection?
Pauline and Griffin have a light-hearted, yet serious multi-faceted depth that I find compelling: A heroine willing to sacrifice nearly a year’s savings to defend her sister? A hero kidnapped by his mother to find a bride? The emotional connects among the characters (Pauline & Griff’s mother, Pauline & Griff) were realistic and unique, building stronger ties as the story evolved. I was surprised by the reveals (there is some foreshadowing, but it is subtle and adds to the plot).
One of the things I loved about this book was the use of repetitive phrasing, (Griffin sees Pauline: “Her,” he said. “I’ll take her.”) to show the hero’s growth. At first, he means it quite literally – he is picking Pauline so his mother can make a Duchess out of her, but later he realizes he chooses Pauline because he loves her. He wants and needs her. Just masterful use throughout the novel and a great lesson on how to use repetition.
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Loved this book. Was lucky to find two great books to read this weekend and this was one. Characters were charming and the plot had great elements of fairytale themes with modern touches. Great imagery too. Love!!
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This may be my favorite Tessa Dare book yet. I always say that, and it's true...until I read the next one! I love storylines where the common girl catches the eye of the nobleman and then holds her own in his world and captures his heart.
There are plenty of Pretty Woman and Cinderella moments as Griffin and his interfering mother try to turn Pauline the serving girl into a duchess, but the reasons behind the mother's matchmaking and Griffin's refusal to marry are totally unique. The book is full of humor, but there are also some tear-jerker moments too. It totally satisfies in the romance department!
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I really enjoyed reading this book. It had humor and romance galore. I read it in one day.The whole spindle cove series is good but I truly was so very fond of the hero and hetoine, they were likable and the chemistry between them very good. I liked this spindle cove the best.
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I would consider this book to be quite the fairy tale mix, between Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast (with a touch of Pretty Woman). The differences mainly are that Pauline doesn't have evil stepsisters, Griff is far from an ugly beast, and well the lack of magical fantasy. However, the end result was wonderful! I loved this story!
Pauline is a barmaid at the Bull and Blossom in Spindle Cove. She is trying to make enough money to start her own library (quite the "Beauty" wouldn't you say?) so that she can support herself and her sister. Pauline is an absolute sweetheart who wears her heart on her sleeve (I LOVED that about her) and really cares for others.
Griff used to be quite the rake, as we learned in A Week to be Wicked. However, some hard events happened upon this poor fellow since then that have truly changed him. He is quite tortured, but he keeps it all to himself. He even has a secret room in his ducal mansion that he won't share with anyone (seems a little beastly to me). Deeply ingrained within him is quite a nice guy, though he doesn't own up to it.
Enter in the fairy godmother so to speak is Griff's mother. Since she lacks magical help, she drugs her son and whisks him of to Spindle Cove with quite a plan. He must choose one girl from all of the ladies in the town, and his mother will train her to become the perfect duchess. They agree that he'll marry the girl if she becomes a star of the ton, or his mother must stop hassling him about marriage if the girl doesn't wow society. Griff (thinking himself quite clever) chooses Pauline.
Upon meeting Pauline's horrible father, Griff strikes an arrangement with Pauline. He'll pay her a vast sum of money if she will prove to be a disaster and to distract his mother. Pauline agrees, but only for a week so she can get back to her sister.
And so begins a quite charming and funny tale of the two who are so very apart in their social standings. They fall so very much in love and I adored every word of it.
Ok I have to be honest though... There was a certain section that I did not care for. (Happily it really didn't have too much to do with our lead characters.) Minerva and Colin have a conversation in part of one chapter that was absolutely horrid. It was crazy cheesy and Colin just didn't sound at all like himself. I do however, choose to ignore this part of the book in my review rating because the rest of the book was great.
I know that Tessa Dare has started a new series, but I do hope someday that she'll return to Spindle Cove. I would want to see Charlotte and Sally find romance. They were a couple of my favorites.
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I really liked this story. Shows how people can and do fall in love even if they are from different classes or circumstances in their lives. Griff had many things to overcome and he did. Pauline was awesome. She was strong and brilliant and had a love for a handicap sister. Griff's mother had endured grief of the worst kind, and yearned for grandchildren. A beautifully written story about love and sacrifices. Didn't like Pauline's father, nor Griff's best friend, but then we needed those characters to make a good story. I liked that the author brought characters from her other Spindle Cove books into this one also.
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