The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare is a Beauty and the Beast historical romance that stands out for its witty and stunning dialogue.
The Duchess Deal
Seamstress Emma Gladstone arrives in the Duke of Ashbury’s library dressed in his former fiancée’s wedding gown, which she stitched herself, demanding payment now that the wedding has been called off and the fiancée, Annabelle Worthing, has not collected the gown.
Ash gives her the money she’s owed and a proposal of marriage. He needs a wife and an heir, and after a faulty rocket at Waterloo has left him horribly scarred, it’s not as if he’s going into society to find the wife he needs. Emma will be just perfect for this duchess deal.
The Characters
I love Tessa Dare’s prowess with character development, and The Duchess Deal is right on track with what readers can expect from her historical romance novels. From the butler, Khan, to the boy Ash unexpectedly befriends in the streets, the characters are ripe with humor, flavor, and spice.
If you’re familiar with this blog, you’ll know I prefer character-driven historical romance, and The Duchess Deal takes it to the nth degree, especially with Ash.
Holy grumpy, my friends!
Let’s talk about our hero and heroine.
To Deal with a Duchess
I mentioned above the witty banter found in this Beauty and the Beast historical romance, but it goes far deeper with our two main characters, Emma and Ash.
Emma takes zero crap from Ash, and Ash is happy to keep dealing it out. You just want to give Ash a giant hug for all the emotional scars the past few years of his life have rendered. This butting of heads resulted in some of the most exquisite dialogue I have witnessed in a historical romance.
This was so much more than back and forth banter. It reminded me a lot of the meet cute between Malcolm and Sera in Sarah MacLean’s The Day of the Duchess. Deep issues in both characters are put on display through the relentless wordplay, and I loved it.
Sex, Sex, Sex
There’s a lot of sex in this historical romance. More than I remember being in past Tessa Dare books. I am not a big fan of explicit, on the page, super detailed sex. However, the vibrant sex in this historical romance plays a key part in the character arcs of both Emma and Ash. For this, the on page sex scenes were beautiful.
Yes, the sex scenes are graphic. However, when you understand the motivation of the characters, you see why such explicit sex scenes were necessary. It just showcases the amazing talent of Tessa Dare.
Final Thoughts
This is the first book in the Girl Meets Dukes series of historical romance novels. I’ve already purchased more books in the series. I love when the first book in a new romance series really hooks me like this did. I encourage you to check it out and see if you can make a deal with a duchess.
If you like Beauty and the Beast historical romance, you might enjoy this historical romance book.
