Book Review: The Wallflower Wager

Title: THE WALLFLOWER WAGER

Author: Tessa Dare

ISBN: 9780062672162

Price: $7.99

On-Sale Date: 8/13/19

Cover Copy:

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.

Author Bio:

Tessa Dare is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty historical romances. Her books have won numerous accolades, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® award (twice) and the RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence. Booklist magazine named her one of the “new stars of historical romance,” and her books have been contracted for translation in more than a dozen languages.

A librarian by training and a booklover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and a trio of cosmic kitties.

Excerpt:

She circled back, standing before him. “There now. Better?”

He gave a reluctant nod.

“Can you move your arm in all directions?”

He rolled his shoulder to prove it. “Yes.”

“What about your grip?

“My grip is strong.”

“Perhaps I should wrap the arm in a sling.”

“I do not need a sling.”

“Wait here. I’ll dash upstairs to fetch some linen and—”

“For the love of God, woman. My shoulder is fine.” He took her by the waist and lifted her straight off the floor, until they were eye to eye. “There. Believe me now?”

She nodded, wide-eyed.

“Good.”

In his hands, she was delicate, breakable. Her hair was a golden treasure he should never, ever touch. And oh, how he hungered for those soft, pink lips.

The familiar voice echoed in his ears.

Don’t touch, boy. She’s not for the likes of you.

Put. Her. Down.

But before Gabe could lower those beribboned pink slippers to the floor, she captured his sooty, sweaty face in her hands—

And kissed him on the lips.

Review: Tessa Dare's The Wallflower Wager is the kind of book you read when you need a pick me up and maybe a little dose of "the feels"

You will laugh with Penny and Gabe and you will probably shed a tear or two with them. Such an unlikely pair but a very fun pair.

Gabe is a rags to riches sort who made his fortune ruining the aristocracy buying up their land and debts.

Penny is a spinster with a love for animals that is getting her in trouble, from the very beginning of the book. In fact, her "meet cute" with Gabe is the result of one of her wayward animals.

Penny and Gabe had a wonderful relationship. You will love them. It is absolutely hard not to. There's so much hilarity with the animals Penny has rescued.

However, I spent the whole book wondering what time period it was set in. I also wondered at the language, because well...I read a lot of historical fiction and I pay a lot of attention to detail. The hot water heater was invented in 1889 and that so didn't feel like the time period that this book was set in.

Then there was Penny's secret which you didn't learn about until the book was nearly over. Penny couldn't just be an adorably cute eccentric spinster. No, there had to be this big dark secret hanging over her, that explains why she is the way she is.

Grrr.

Gabe could be damaged. It was kind of expected as you learn about him, but I also wished we could have learned more about him and some of the people in his life. In fact, most of the men in the book felt a bit like shadows.

This was a real "Girl power" historical romance.

The book definitely had some great moments and I loved the main characters, but the setting and some of the aspects of the story didn't sit well with me at all.

This is more a book for a person just wants a fun story without the detail. If you can get past that, its a pretty enjoyable read.

Rating: 3 flowers