ARC Review: The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare

Series:	Girl Meets Duke #3
Pub. Date:	Aug 13 2019
Publisher:	Avon
Length:	368 pgs
Source:	Edelweiss

I'm a bit behind on my Tessa Dare books, so I haven't read the first installment of Girl Meets Duke. A problem which I intend to rectify as soon as possible. I really liked Chase and Alexandra from The Governess Game, but I think that Ash and Emma are going to have quite interesting stories of their own in The Duchess Deal.

But our heroine of The Wallflower Wager is Lady Penelope Campion, the animal-loving daughter of an earl. Penny was a very relatable and likable heroine... and I totally loved her compassion and brood of animals. I totally understood Penny's preference for spending time with her animals instead of people, particularly those catty members of the bon ton. She was a bit of a tragic heroine, with some vulnerability related to her childhood. However, I liked that Penny was accepting of her eccentric self and didn't really care what others thought. I also liked that she wasn't a meek miss, particularly when dealing with her new beastly neighbor.

Speaking of the beastly neighbor, and our hero, he blows in like a wrecking ball to wreak the most wonderful havoc on our heroine. Gabriel Duke has clawed his way from the slums to become known as the ruthless Duke of Ruin. While it seems the ton looks down on the way he has made his fortune... by buying up and calling in the debts of society members... they all seem a bit hypocritcal to me. I do wish we could've had a few more peeks into the inner workings of his character as I found the idea of his backstory to be extremely interesting. But I enjoyed the way that he was managed by our heroine, and he let her do a bit of the bulldozing when it came to the budding relationship between them. He also got huge bonus points for becoming a softie about all the animals!

Overall this was a great story about two characters bearing past vulnerabilities... but ones that they have overcome to become somewhat happy healthy adults... or at least they seem to be headed that way. I thought the couple complemented each other nicely, and the relationship built at a nice pace. And I'm definitely interested to find out what is happening with Nicola in the next book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Avon.

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