THE WALLFLOWER WAGER
Series: Girl Meets Duke #3
Genre: Historical Romance
Author: Tessa Dare
Release Date: August 13, 2019

They call him the Duke of Ruin.

To an undaunted wallflower, he’s just the beast next door.

Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high society—and now he wants to get even.

Loyal and passionate, Lady Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldn’t take into her home and her heart.

When her imposing—and attractive—new neighbor demands she clear out the rescued animals, Penny sets him a challenge. She will part with her precious charges, if he can find them loving homes.

Done, Gabriel says. How hard can it be to find homes for a few kittens?

And a two-legged dog.

And a foul-mouthed parrot.

And a goat, an otter, a hedgehog . . .

Easier said than done, for a cold-blooded bastard who wouldn’t know a loving home from a workhouse. Soon he’s covered in cat hair, knee-deep in adorable, and bewitched by a shyly pretty spinster who defies his every attempt to resist. Now she’s set her mind and heart on saving him.

Not if he ruins her first.

AMAZON

She was a fool. A naïve, trusting, sheltered fool. And Gabe wanted to corrupt her so damned badly, his bones ached.

See that pile of satisfied reader goo in the corner? The one clutching her kindle to her chest and making moon eyes at the sky? That, my friends, is this girl after downright binging on the absolute perfection that was this story.

I don’t know how it’s possible for Tessa Dare to outdo herself with each book in this series, but my GOD does she. I loved the first book and thought nothing can top it, then I felt the same about the second book. And now reading the third, I’m convinced that this author is a mythical unicorn that farts rainbows and creates pure swoony magic with her stories. Yes, I realize most likely it’s immense skill and talent, but just go with me here. I’m still on cloud nine after finishing this phenomenal romance.

Now let’s talk about this story and everything that it had.

First, the third wallflower that gives the word eccentric a whole new meaning. A spinster by choice and an animal lover by nature, Penelope has an innate ability to find the weak and wounded and nurse them back to health. And over the years, she’s developed quite the collection of animals.

Dear Mr. Duke,
As requested, here is an inventory of the animals in my care: Bixby, a two-legged terrier. Marigold, a nanny goat of unimpeachable character, who is definitely not breeding. Angus, a three-year-old Highland steer. Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia—laying hens. Delilah, a parrot. Hubert, an otter. Freya, a hedgehog. Thirteen kittens of varying colors and dispositions.

But Penny’s skill of attracting the wounded and lost doesn’t just stop with animals. Enter Gabriel Duke, or the Duke of Ruin as he’s known to the lot.

Three things, however, never altered. He always woke with the dawn. He always woke hungry. And he always woke up alone. He had a set of rules when it came to sexual congress—he didn’t pay for it, he wouldn’t beg for it, and he damned well wasn’t going to wed for it.

I say this every time I read a book from this series, but I swear Gabe was my favorite hero to date. Broody, tortured, and hiding a heart of gold, this man absolutely stole mine. There’s something so vulnerable to his intensity. Beyond the ruthless and cold demeanor there’s a boyish charm to him that you can’t help but gravitate towards.

Then there’s Tessa’s signature brand of banter that will leave a goofy smile on your face and completely incapable to set the book down.

Every time I speak three words, you look as though you’re going to swoon into my arms.”
“I do not,” Penny objected, knowing very well that she probably did.
“You sigh like a fool, blush like a beet. Your eyes are the worst of it. They turn into these . . . these pools. Glassy blue pools with man-eating sharks beneath the surface.”
“I hope you’re not planning a career in poetry.”
“For the good of us both, you have to cease gazing at me.”

Penelope has made a deal with the devil when she agrees to allow the Duke of Ruin to help her meet the terms she’s promised to her aunt in order to not be forced to go back to her brother and eventually be forced to marry. Those terms? Finding a loving home for her beloved animals while letting the Duke introduce her back to the ton as something more than the quirky spinster.

The story is full of lovable secondary characters, including past favorites, and some of the most memorable and funny animals to grace the pages of a book. I couldn’t get enough of this!

Did I also mention the cameos?

I’ll look. I’m not afraid. I intend to be there for every moment of the miracle of my own child’s birth.” He crouched and squinted. “And . . . I’ve changed my mind.” Chase retreated to the far corner of the stall and sat on a crate, his pallor having turned a pale, sickly green.
“Fine,” Ashbury said. “I’ll do it. If I could stomach my own injuries from that rocket blast, I can stomach this.” He went to look, then reeled a step backward. “Oh, God. Something’s coming out.”
“Of course something’s coming out,” Gabe said. “A baby goat.”
“No,” Ash said grimly. “No.”
“If it’s not a goat, then what is it?”
“It’s a punishment for all my earthly sins, is what it is.”

This book was everything I’ve come to expect from the amazing Tessa Dare and so much more. It was romantic and heart warming. It had a tortured and protective hero. It had a quirky heroine with an understated inner strength that you can’t help but connect to. And it had the most swoony romance full of laughs that you never want to end. In a word? PERFECTION. An absolute must read for any historical romance fans out there!