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?
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.
