In Which I Read a Book Yesterday (woot!)

In other words, it was a very good day, and I miraculously had time on my hands! Also, I stayed up until two in the morning.

One Dance with a Duke is the fourth book by Tessa Dare, and the first in a new trilogy that whose books will be released one right after another in May, June and July. I could write a whole entry about why I think this is an awesome plan to release books, but perhaps another time. The same thing was done with her previous trilogy, Goddess of the Hunt, Surrender of a Siren, and A Lady of Persuasion.

This newest book is rather quiet, with a story revolving around a murder, something called The Stud Club (yes, even the characters laugh at that), and some family issues that are making a new, delicate marriage even more fragile than it already is.

We begin when Amelia D'Orsay is at a ball, waiting with others for the elusive Duke of Midnight to show up and choose his dance partner for the evening. When Amelia finds out that her brother is in debt to the man, she chooses the Duke herself in order to persuade him to forgive the debt.

Things get complicated from there-- something about rings and the aforementioned Stud Club, and a horse who is pretty damn excellent. None of this really mattered to me beyond introducing the heroes and one of the heroines of the next two books.

The key, as with all Tessa Dare books I have experienced so far, is the romance itself. Amelia and the Duke, Spencer, are a great couple who fight, love, and communicate pretty damn well with one another. There is not really any Big Misunderstanding, though Spencer has to overcome Amelia's initial misgivings about his character (which turn out to be pretty close to accurate) and Amelia has to grow up and accept realities about certain members of her family.

This conflict is striking to me because while perfectly logical in the historical context, it is also an all-too relatable conflict for newly weds in "this day and age." The new marriage thing is rocky, and a new balance has to be established by everyone: the people in the marriage, as well as the members of their respective families.

In the end I am really looking forward to the next two books (Twice Tempted by a Rogue on deck), but especially the third one (that would be Three Nights with a Scoundrel) featuring the sister of the man murdered in this book and the low-born "scoundrel" member of the Stud Club (it's OK to keep snorting).

Tessa Dare is one of my favorite new authors, and is showing as much promise as Kresley Cole did in her early days (can you say "awesome first novel attempt"?), I just really, really hope she doesn't delve into paranormals. Really, really, a lot.