Author: Tessa Dare
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: August 30, 2011
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
From Goodreads
A peaceful resort by the sea, Spindle Cove is a retreat for Regency ladies—offering intelligent, often unconventional women a temporary escape from men and their madness. Unfortunately for Miss Susanna Finch, the seaside safe haven she has so painstakingly nurtured is no longer quite so safe. The Cove’s been invaded—not by Napoleon’s forces, but by battle-weary, barely civilized, dangerously handsome men.
Victor Bramwell, the new Earl of Rycliff, knows he doesn’t belong in Spindle Cove. So far as he can tell, there’s nothing in this godforsaken place but spinsters… and sheep. But he’s stuck here—with orders to gather a local militia. It’s a simple mission, made complicated by the spirited, exquisite Susanna. Not only has she driven all red-blooded men from the place with her "modern" notions, but her lively wit and tempting beauty are distractions Bram doesn’t need.
Bram fears he may have met his match, for Susanna won’t easily surrender.
The scene is set for an epic battle ... but who can be named the winner, when both have so much to lose?
My Thoughts:
This series, along with Maya Banks' Highlander series, has brought me back to loving (and seriously glomming on) historical and highlander books. I'd been in a bit of a book funk of late and everything I read was all the same. The contemporaries the PNRs, it was all just melding into one glob of sameness and nothing was holding my interest. I realized I needed variety in my reading genres. And I also realized I needed to space things out. Reading and reviewing contemporary after contemporary was wearing me out on hte genre. So I looked back, searching for historicals and highlanders, that caught my interest to give me a bit of distance. One of the authors I kept seeing come up was Tessa Dare so I grabbed the first in her Spindle Cove series and I fell in love with it, and the genre, all over again.
Bram and Susanna. Oh how I loved these two. Their story was so beautiful, funny, steamy, sexy and had me even tearing up in a few places. Susanna's independence and her reasons behind it both tugged at my heart strings and made me cheer for her. She was doing what she could to help others like her while at the same time resigned to her fate as a spinster. Or so she thought. When Bram and his friends blast into her life (literally) this sets of a chain of events that slowly allows Susanna to see she can be more than just a spinster. She can love and be loved, and still be independent. In fact, I think that's why Bram and Susanna fit so well together. As much as he (Bram) seemed to get exasperated by her need to do things on her own, he seemed to also respect her for it. But I gotta say, watching Bram break down her walls, slowly but surely, until they finally came together...*sighs* I admit, I might have swooned a bit.
The writing and plot were tight. The characters were well developed and had real issues they were dealing with. The end wasn't rushed and it came to a reasonable (and believable) conclusion. But what I think is most notable of this book is the world that Ms. Dare created. She has a whole slew of secondary characters in this community that she managed to make interesting and this is what made me want to read the next book, and the next, and then wait anxiously for the release of the third novel in the series. (Note: there are 2 novellas in this series as well. See the series page on Goodreads for the order).Not many others can make a whole town seem like a place I not only would want to visit, but a place I'd like to spend a considerable amount of time in, getting to know the residents and join in the often humorous situations the residents find themselves in. (I'm thinking of the tea shop incident here but I won't say more than that. It was both horrifying -for Susanna and the ladies- and humorous at the same time!)
I've read the other two novels in this series and will be reviewing those on the blog soon. But seriously, if you're looking to get into historicals with some seriously sexy, strong heroes and feisty, independent women (and the sexy times -and tension- that come along with all that) get thee to Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or wherever it is you purchase your books. Make haste people. Make haste!
*This book was a self-purchase and I was not in any way compensated for, or even asked, to review this book. All opinions are my own*
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