“In One Dance with a Duke – the
first novel in Tessa Dare’s delightful new trilogy – secrets and scandals tempt
the irresistible rogues of the Stud Club to gamble everything for love.
“A handsome and reclusive horse breeder,
Spencer Dumarque, the fourth Duke of Morland, is a member of the exclusive Stud
Club, an organization to select it has only ten members – yet membership is
attainable to anyone with luck. And Spencer has plenty of it, along with
an obsession with a prize horse, a dark secret, and, now, a reputation as the
dashing ‘Duke of Midnight.’ Each evening he selects one lady for
breathtaking midnight waltz. But none of the women catch his interest,
and nobody every bests the duke – until Lady Amelia d’Orsay tries her luck.
“In a moment of desperation, the
unconventional beauty claims the duke’s dance and unwittingly steals his
heart. When Amelia demands that Spencer forgive her scapegrace brother’s
debts, she never imagines that her game of wits and words will lead to
breathless passion and a steamy proposal. Still, Spencer is a man of
mystery, perhaps connected to the shocking murder of the Stud Club’s
founder. Will Amelia lose her heart in this reckless wager or win everlasting
love?”
I was extremely excited to start another
series by Tessa Dare after I so enjoyed her Spindle Cove series (which, I just
happily discovered, just had another installment published!), and this book did
not disappoint. The book was fun, very self-aware of the quirkiness of
its own plot (the Stud Club) and the serious undertone (Leo’s murder) helped
keep the silliness level down quite a bit. The characters were extremely
relatable and, while moments here there felt a bit unrealistic, I enjoyed the
overall premise. This book (as well as the series) did not take itself
too seriously – which is something I appreciate – yet, it was not derailed by
this fact.
I felt like Morland eventually developed
into a better male lead than the one he started off as. I love how Dare
always seems to throw in little details and personality traits that make her
characters so relatable, alive, and interesting – she definitely did this with
Morland, though I won’t give the secret away! The wittiness of the banter
between Amelia and Morland was quick and captivating. This was due, I
believe, to the strength with which Dare developed Amelia as a character.
She felt fully-realized and well-thought-out. I enjoyed her backstory,
though the depth of her story only seemed to underscore the way in which
Morland’s own past felt a little bit glossed over. Sure, his backstory
was touched on, but not nearly as much as Amelia’s. I’m sure the intent
was to add to his “dark and brooding” character, but I don’t know if it was as
successful as intended; in my humble opinion, I think it made him feel a bit
less-developed. As far as supporting characters go, I far preferred Rhys
to Julian (though I’m a bit more torn now that I’ve finished the series and
seen things from the eyes of those characters). Julian felt way
too dramatic and over-the-top – more like a bad actor in a play than a
fully-realized character. In fact, I rather disliked him for much of this
book. He annoyed me. He was moody and childish. I did not
care for the way in which he was presented, though part of that may be that
half of the book is from Morland’s perspective and there’s certainly no love
lost between the men.
Overall, I liked the premise of the
series and was very much looking forward to reading the next books in the
trilogy (and I have already done so at the time of this review). It was
another example of Dare’s fun, intelligent, captivating writing and I do
definitely recommend this book, as well as the series of which it is a part.
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