I swear, I'm taking a romance novel break after this. Too much!Titles: One Dance with a Duke, Twice Tempted by a Rogue, Three Nights with a Scoundrel
Author: Tessa Dare
Read: NYC (9/10 - 10/10)
Format: Mass market paperback, kindle
After I was disappointed in my first romance novel excursion (Nora Robert's Honest Illusions), someone suggested I read the first book of this trilogy. She had read about it on Jezebel and said it would be more like a 'traditional' romance novel and that it might be a better representation of The Genre. I'm glad to say it was.
The ridiculously named Stud Club consists of three guys who haggle over breeding with a fancy old racehorse: Spencer (Duke), Rhys (Rogue), and Julian (Scoundrel).
In the excellent One Dance with a Duke, the agoraphobic and stern Spencer falls in love with Amelia (headstrong, individualistic, approaching spinsterhood). After whisking her out of a ball, they spend an entire night trying to find out what happened to the just-murdered Leo (also of the stud club). Spencer and Amelia are both way into each other and proud. After some ups and downs and intrigue they finally figure it out and commence with the unbridled passion and whatnot.
Rhys St. Maur returns to his ancestral home in Twice Tempted by a Rogue. Racked with guilt over a childhood mishap, Rhys spends the better part of his life (and the war) trying to meet his own demise. When he goes back home he falls in love-at-first-sight with the widowed local innkeeper. It turns out they knew each other as children and that she's carried a torch for him for decades. He wants to prove to her that he loves her and that it's not just guilt and a sense of duty that keep him nearby. They both eventually come clean about their fears and motivations and have a bunch of sex.
Three Nights with a Scoundrel focuses on Julian Bellamy who (a) is obsessed with uncovering what happened the night of his BFF Leo Chatwick's murder, (b) is in love with Leo's deaf twin sister Lily, and (c) is LEADING A DOUBLE LIFE. Unlike Rhys and Spencer, Julian is lowborn and thinks himself unworthy of Lily. Of course, she loves him anyway, but is turned off by the danger he constantly puts himself through (trying to solve her brother's murder). When the truth behind Leo's murder comes out, it was genuinely surprising, even if it wasn't so artfully executed. Eventually, everyone ends up knowing the whole truth about every possible thing and lots of love and thrusting and - eventually - children result.
In order of goodness, I'd say the Stud Trilogy goes Duke, Scoundrel, Rogue. But, like Dare's other trilogy (you remember, the Sirens), you can probably stop after the gripping first installment. One Dance with a Duke had a familiar story - sort of a saucy revision of Pride and Prejudice, but with horses. The romance element was very sweet and I was genuinely interested in how these two characters would end up together. Maybe by the time I got to the other two novels I was desensitized to overblown romance, but they really just weren't as engrossing.
I did learn two interesting things from the Stud Club:
- Hessians are boots and all fancy men wear them
- Stays and corsets are basically the same
All in all, excellent reading if you have a kindle (or no shame) and a wide expanse of beach.
One Dance with a Duke:
4 out of 5 stars
Twice Tempted by a Rogue:
3 out of 5 stars
Three Nights with a Scoundrel:
3 out of 5 stars
This concludes the great romance novel trial of 2010. Final verdict: I get the appeal and - clearly - how one book can snowball into a whole series/author obsession. But I think I'll probably read them sparingly from now on. And only when the main characters don't like each other at first as that always proves more entertaining.
Until next year, ripped bodices!
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