Avon Books The Duchess Deal: Girl Meets Duke

Oh my ...I really really loved this book! I've read other books by Tessa Dare before and really enjoyed reading them as well but The Duchess Deal, well, that one went straight on my list of "most beloved books" because of its wit and its charm and its wonderful and absolutely amazing characters.I giggled and chuckled and maybe even swooned and laughed out loud and I loved every single page of this book. Two wonderful people finding love and happiness under the most singular circumstances is always a nice story, at least when it is as beautifully written as this one but its wit makes it so much more. This is one of those books that you turn to when you feel a bit blue and need something sunny and warm. One of those books that draw you in, make you feel with the characters and that with each time you read it, get even more special and more precious and that never fail to make you feel right.With all the teasing going on between the two, you feel them getting closer and falling a bit more for each other with each dumpling, cherub and whatever pet name Emma uses while their servants are plotting and scheming and trying to help, you can't help but fall in love with all of them. I finished this book yesterday but it has been lying next to my place and I found myself reading and rereading some passages and once again giggling and smiling all the time.I was curious and had to read this book because everytime this book was mentioned somewhere, people started to tell how funny it is and how wonderful and amazing and...well, they were right. It is that good and it is that amazing and I am so looking forward to the next book in this series!

Creo que esta es la reseña que más tiempo me ha llevado escribir hasta el momento ¿El motivo? Cuando terminé The Duchess Deal sufrí tal resaca literaria que a día de hoy todavía no he terminado ninguno de los libros que empecé después de este (y fueron más de seis), así que se podría decir que he tardado casi un mes en digerir esta delicia de novela que nos ofrece Tessa Dare. Me ha parecido una maravilla de novela romántica histórica y eso que mis expectativas eran altas.En The Duchess Deal, Tessa nos narra la historia de Emma Gladstone, la hija de un vicario que tras un terrible incidente huyó de su hogar viajando hasta Londres donde, actualmente, malvive trabajando como costurera. En cambio nuestro protagonista, el duque de Ashbury, lo tenía todo: dinero, posición, amigos, una preciosa prometida,... Hasta que la explosión de un cohete mientras luchaba en la guerra le desfigura los rasgos y le destroza la mitad del cuerpo. Cuando se reincorpora a la sociedad solo encuentra desprecio y repugnancia por parte de sus pares, forzándolo a una desdichada reclusión en su propia casa. Y ahora os estaréis preguntando ¿Acaso hay manera de que dos vidas tan distantes se crucen? Un vestido de novia es la respuesta. Emma, casualmente, trabaja para la modista de la ex-prometida de Ash, la cual tras anular el compromiso no se ha molestado en pagar el vestido. Ese dinero significa la supervivencia para Emma, así que se arma de valor, se enfunda en el vestido de novia y se planta en la casa del duque dispuesta a conseguir su merecido dinero. Lo que sin duda no espera conseguir es una propuesta por parte del duque:" -Usted elige, señorita Gladstone. Puedo pagarle las dos libras y tres peniques o...Puedo hacerla una duquesa."Estas novelas son las que me dan esperanzas tras observar durante todo este año la escasa oferta de novela romántica histórica (y la escasa calidad de la misma) que se ha publicado en España. Me da pena por un lado pensar que voy a tener que empezar a comprar más a editoriales extranjeras que a las nacionales porque aunque no me desagrade leer en inglés, siempre apoyaré que el español es un idioma mucho más rico y el cual disfruto mucho más leyendo. Por el otro lado en cambio me alegra muchísimo saber que "no todo esta perdido", que en América e Inglaterra se siguen publicando grandes novelas de este subgénero que aunque no lleguen a traducirse están ahí y puedo disfrutarlas si así lo quiero.Hablando de nuevo más concretamente de The Duchess Deal. La novela esta llena de humor, emoción, pasión y romance que te derriten y te dejan pegada a sus páginas. Tiene el alma de las grandes novelas de este subgénero, con personajes perfectamente construidos, secundarios entrañables, escenas para marcar con rotulador permanente en la memoria y en general una novela para releer a lo largo del tiempo. Vais a amar a Ashbury, vais a querer a Emma como amiga y vais a estar deseando tener el siguiente libro porque la serie Girl Meets Duke y todos sus protagonistas promete ser de las imprescindibles en toda buena estantería de romántica. La trama es muy equilibrada y la acción no decae en ningún momento, con leves pinceladas de La Bella y La Bestia por si alguno sois fan de los "lisiaditos", os gustará.A las que tengáis dudas con lanzaros a leer en inglés os digo que The Duchess Deal tiene una narrativa muy sencilla y fácil de entender para cualquier persona con un nivel de inglés de Bachillerato ¡Animaos!P.D.: Breeches (el gato de Emma) es un personaje MUY top.

One of the best books i have ever read, he is the PERFECT man, and she is just a WONDERFUL woman. I just loved this book.

I only discovered Tessa Dare this year and instantly went on a huge binge read. I love her quirky approach, her gorgeous heroes, her atypical heroines and the way she often uses marriage of convenience/fake engagements which are utter regency catnip for me in such a new, refreshing way. In When a Scot ties the Knot (that title!) the heroine gets a real shock when her fiance turns up at her castle - because she made him up years ago. What a premise AND Dare pulls it off with complete aplomb. She has a shopgirl duchess, a blacksmith hero and, for UK audiences, manages to make us accept - no, welcome! - a Colin not just as a convincing hero, but as the sexiest hero possible. In fact Colin's book A Week to be Wicked is probably the best post-Heyer regency I have ever read, an absolute delight from start to finish. So yes, I love Tessa Dare and shamelessly begged M&B for an advance copy of her newest book.Lord Ashbury has been horribly scarred in war, so scarred that he terrifies small children and his fiance turned from him in revulsion. All he wants is to hide away forever - but he has no heir and so he must marry because despite his curmudgeonly, embittered manner he is also a good landlord and knows the livelihoods of many people depend on the dukedom. So, he needs a wife. Enter a young woman clad in a wedding dress. What are the odds...Seamstress Sophie needs paying for the monstrosity of a wedding dress she created for Ashbury's ex-fiancee, but gets more than she bargained for when the Duke offers her marriage instead. There are conditions. He needs an heir so they need to sleep together every night - but no kissing, no affection and as soon as she is pregnant she moves away to a house in the country and they don't need to interact again. Sophie is pragmatic, she knows he's offering her a much better life, and she can help out a friend as well if she has a home of her own and so she accepts. What she doesn't expect is to fall in love with her own husband.This is a joy of a book. It tackles some really weighty issues - PTSD for both protagonists, pain and rehabilitation but with such care and so much humour! It's really very, very funny and very, very sexy. Dare's humour resounds through the book '"Well, I'm afraid my schedule is quite booked for the rest of the week." He flipped through the pages of an agenda. "Brooding, drinking, indoor badminton tournament..."' and both Emma and Ashbury are vivid characters who jump off the page.Highly recommend.

amei este livro e chegou bem rapido