Any Duchess Will Do (Spindle Cove, #4)

by Tessa Dare

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?

• ISBN10: 0062240129
• ISBN13: 9780062240125
• Publish Date: 3 June 2013 (first published 28 May 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Avon Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Caitiebelle]

This is the first book I have read in the highly recommended "Spindler's Cove" series.
I have this thing about Dukes...haha, and I already knew Tessa Dare well.

This wasn't my favourite Tessa Dare book, but it was still a good book.
It pulled at my heartstrings often and I highly enjoyed it, but it never quite reached its apex like some of her other books.

“There are thirty-three ranks of precedence between a serving girl and a duchess,” she said quietly. “Did you know that? The chart takes up three pages in Mrs. Worthington’s Wisdom. I have it all in my head."
Tessa Dare. Any Duchess Will Do (Kindle Locations 3754-3756). Avon. Kindle Edition.

It's a book with good humour and teary moments, but I guess I didn't quite connect with this particular book as well as I do with some of her other books. :)

[readingwithbecs]

I adored this book, it was amazing!

I loved Pauline, she was so snarky and sassy. I enjoyed that she was a peasant woman, who was thrown into the upper class, but still she remained true to herself.

I loved the Dukes attitude toward Pauline changing troughout the book. He started out not really thinking too much of her, but the more time he spends with her, he slowly gets more and more infatuated with her

The Dukes reason for not wanting to get a wife and wanting the family line to die with him was heartbreaking. I felt so much for him, and I loved this depth to him.

[nitzan_schwarz]

My favorite of the bunch. So glad I bought it!

[Amanda]

I'm an idiot. I foolishly thought that, since we hadn't really had any back story with either character (save a little with Griffin), Any Duchess Will Do would be my least favorite book of the series. Wrong. I also thought I'd hate the duchess (because really, who abducts their son like that?). Wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

And leave it to Tessa Dare to turn me into an emotional mess.

But that's not a complaint. No. On the contrary, I love being pulled down into the depths of a wonderfully written romance. And Any Duchess Will Do, like its predecessors, is exactly that. My only complaint is that I have to wait for the next Tessa Dare book.

Never fear, my friends. I shall persevere.

This book. THIS BOOK. I adored Pauline. She knows where she comes from, but she doesn't let it stop her. And she loves books. What's not to love about that? And Griffin, who wasn't so... favorable... in A Week to Be Wicked, was delightfully layered and complex. But I didn't really expect anything less.

And really. The humor. You can't help the giggles. Though from an author who has a series called Stud Club and another called Wanton Dairymaids, it's not unexpected. It is, however, completely appreciated. As are the ejaculations.

[Rowena]

I am really loving the Spindle Cove series. The characters, the stories, the romance, it’s all been such a fantastic reading experience that I kind of don’t want it to end. Tessa Dare has done an incredible job of bringing these characters to life that every time I see a new book coming out, I do a little happy dance.

This story follows Pauline Simms, the barmaid from the Bull and Blossom. Pauline is a hardworking young woman who dreams of opening up her own rotating library for the women that come to Spindle Cove on vacation. She wants to be able to provide for her sister and when an offer comes in the form of a handsome Duke, she’s hard pressed to not accept.

The Duke of Halford’s mother is in the business of matchmaking. She wants grandchildren and since he’s not showing any kind of interest in finding himself a wife to give her those grandchildren, she takes things into her own hands. She kidnaps him and takes him to Spindle Cove where there are many women who will take him. All he has to do is pick one. Well, Griff chooses Pauline. The barmaid. If his mother can turn the sugar speckled woman into a Duchess in one weeks time then he’ll marry her. Not even a little bit disgusted at his choice, the Duchess knows that she’s got her work cut out for her.

Pauline goes along with the whole scheme because the Duke of Halford has promised her 1,000 pounds to do everything she can to put a wrench in his mother’s plans. The duke tells his mother that she has one week to turn Pauline into a raving success and if she’s acceptable, he’ll marry her.

I thought this was a great addition to an already fantastic series of books. I really enjoyed getting to know Pauline and I thought that Griff was a great match for her. I loved seeing him fall in love with Pauline and seeing the two of them battle their separate issues and come together in the end. I kept wondering how the heck Dare was going to bring these two together since he’s a Duke and she’s a freaking barmaid but the way that she wrote it made sense to me and I enjoyed it. The majority of this book took place in London, away from Spindle Cove so I missed a lot of the charm that can only be found in Spindle Cove but still, this was a great story.

I enjoyed getting to know Pauline outside of the Bull and Blossom and I really came to love Griff. He was pictured as cold and unfeeling when he was anything but. Both of their stories made my heart hurt. Hurt for Griff with his Mary and hurt for Pauline because of her home life. I’m already looking forward to the next Spindle Cove book, I so love these characters.

[stacey_is_sassy]

I absolutely loved this book!!!

Definitely my favourite of the series. I almost wished I'd done a re-read of all the Spindle Cove books before starting this one. I wanted to have Min's recollections fresh in my mind instead of vaguely remembering the scenes.

The characters were funny and sweet. The Duchess cracked me up in nearly every one of here scenes. Griff's sadness nearly broke my heart. Pauline's determination to do right by Daniela was beautiful.

When I came to the end of the story and Ms Dare wrote about the medical reasons for why the Duchess had lost so many babies, it hit very close to home. My family has the same blood condition (can't really call it a condition, just that our blood type is different) and my mother lost a baby between my older sister and myself because the drug given to people like us was given to another woman at the hospital with the same initial and surname...what's the chances? It brought home how much we have learnt medically throughout the years.

Great work Ms Dare...you are a legend in Historical Romance.