Series Name: Castles Ever After, # 1
Oh, Lord. The bottom dropped out of her stomach. He was going to leave her here. Alone. In this tiny room, up thirty-four steps, in the miserable, moving blackness. And that would teach her, wouldn’t it.
But he didn’t leave her. Instead, he took her in his arms.
And pulled her close.
Izzy didn’t know how to resist, Those strong hands… they were her only anchor in the spinning dark. She was reeling with surprise, so very frightened.
Then suddenly…
She was so very kissed.
Romancing The Duke is a fun and sultry start to a new Regency romance series.
As the daughter of a famed author, Isolde Ophelia Goodnight grew up on tales of brave knights and fair maidens. She never doubted romance would be in her future, too. The storybooks offered endless possibilities.
And as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. One by one by one.
Ugly duckling turned swan?
Abducted by handsome highwayman?
Rescued from drudgery by charming prince?
No, no, and… Heh.
Now Izzy’s given up yearning for romance. She’ll settle for a roof over her head. What fairy tales are left over for an impoverished twenty-six year-old woman who’s never even been kissed?
This one.
Goodness, I adored this book. This is the first book in the Castle Ever After series, and even though it’s not my favourite, it’s still a solid read. Tessa is a master at her craft, and she continues to amaze me with her delightful and swoony stories. She knows what romance readers want to read and crafts a story with characters that will charm you, a story you won’t forget, and will leave you with this urge to buy more of her books. She is brilliant! Romancing the Duke has slight Beauty and the Beast vibes to it (very slight). The parallel between the classic tale and this book would be around Ransom (our hero) and the fact that he is this broody, standoffish Duke who has isolated himself in this rundown castle. He really comes across as this beastly character who feels that he could never be loved because of his injuries.
The story is a lot of fun. Tessa combines those swoony Regency romance feelings with wit and humour. Her characters and writing style are similar to Julie Garwood’s books, which is probably why I love Tessa’s books. This book is set in this abandoned castle (or what Izzy thought was abandoned). For romance reasons, Izzy has just inherited a castle, but much to her surprise, she realizes that the castle’s previous owner is still living there. The gruff and very broody Ransom has been living as a recluse because of his injuries, which have left him mostly blind. He has stepped away from the world and realized that those taking care of his assets and fortune have been slowly liquidating his assets. Ransom wants Izzy gone, and Izzy wants Ransom gone. But the two decide to work together to determine what is going on and who truly owns this rundown castle.
There isn’t a lot of movement in this book, and what I mean by that is that the whole book takes place at this castle. The castle becomes a character in its own right. It was a lot of fun exploring this castle with Izzy, and Ransom does his best to try and use the castle’s haunted feel to scare Izzy off. I loved how Tessa worked the castle’s setting into the plot and used it to create so many cute, swoony, and hilarious moments between the two MCs. This is an easy story to fall into. The plot moves steadily, and as I mentioned, a lot of humour is woven throughout it. I just really found myself enjoying every moment of this story.
Izzy and Ransom are fabulous Regency characters. Izzy is that typical Tessa heroine. Very capable, likeable, and charming. There is something real about her heroines, which makes it so easy to fall in love with them. Izzy has her own secrets and insecurities, and I couldn’t help but want to know her better. Everyone in society has forced her into this mould of being the sweet little girl from her father’s stories, and she feels like no one really truly sees her. The only person that doesn’t put her into that mould is Ransom. Her interactions with Ransom were delightful. When she realizes that Ransom hasn’t read her father’s stories, it allows her to be who she truly wants to be, which is a woman who wants to be loved. Ransom is brooooody. He can be a little hard to love at the beginning of this book. But underneath that gruff exterior is a man who has been hurt and truly is afraid to put himself back out in the world again. It was pure joy watching as Izzy destroyed that careful world he built to protect himself.
The romance is delightful and addictive. You will love this book if you love grumpy/sunshine, roommates to lovers, damaged/hurt heroes, and heroines with a big secret. The romance in this story is very typical of a Tessa Dare romance. You have two characters that have no intentions of falling in love, especially with each other, but the more time they spend with each other, the more they realize that they are feeling some pretty big emotions. The heroine always runs circles around the hero, which often leaves him feeling befuddled and amused. Izzy really rocked Ransom’s world to its core. She destroys every carefully built wall, system, and rule that he had created. She is chaos, and as much as he grumbles out loud, he hates her and wants her gone, we all know that he doesn’t. I really enjoyed the romantic journey these two characters went on. There was just something so delicious and entertaining about their relationship. I found myself craving those moments when they would spend time together, and thankfully, because they really are the only ones living at this castle, there are plenty of one-on-one moments between these two. And the ending of this story is completely satisfying and left a smile on my face.
Romancing the Duke proves that Tessa Dare knows what her readers want in a romance and delivers it every single time.
