Review: When A Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare

Format: Mass market, also available in e
Pub Date: Sept 2015
Publisher: Avon
Length: 376 pages
FTC: Purchased myself

Although I normally love Tessa Dare's books, this one just didn't measure up to her normally high standards. It's not terrible. In the sea of fluffy historical romance, it will still stand out. It's just not as deeply emotional as usual, and her distinctive voice has been muted. House style was a little heavy handed this time, Avon. :(

There are some redeeming qualities, for sure. The best of which is the not-yet-mating lobsters. I guess I was hoping for a bit more along the lines of Ravished by Amanda Quick: an almost fanatical devotion to her "hobby." I wanted there to be some real emotional investment in her talent, but I just didn't really get that from the book.  Even the claustrophobia and anxiety around crowds that Madeline suffers from didn't have the same emotional depth that I usually get from Dare's writing.  The confrontation with a soldier experiencing mental problems also failed to have the suspense  I was hoping for.

Maybe it's me, but it feels like this would have been a different, but so much better book, if Dare weren't aiming for the Avon style of light romance.  The humor is here, but it's not balanced with the emotional gut-punch that Dare normally delivers. The genre needs those emotionally resonant books. Fingers crossed for Dare's next book, because she's more than capable of writing that kind of story.

My Grade B-


The Blurb:
On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shyly pretty and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart.

A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter … and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely.

Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He’s wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters… and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.

RT Convention: Day One

Having learned my lesson last year, I decided to skip a few sessions so I didn't wear myself out completely.  So I had time to get the photos off the ole camera card!

By far, my favorite panel today was the Romance Reader Family Feud hosted by Louisa Edwards, Vivian Arend, Tessa Dare, Zoe Archer and Nico Rosso. Based loosely on the old game show, teams had to guess which answers to questions were the most popular based on a survey sent around through Twitter.

 

 Survey Says...

Nico and Vivian

I also attended a writer's panel today. My first one at an RT convention. I'm not an author (published or aspiring), but I wanted a peek at what a panel was like. I attended the Love, Mythology and Monsters one with Stephanie Dray, Jackie Barbosa, Zoe Archer and Leeana Renee Hieber. Very cool to see how authors could incorporate mythological themes as a way to heighten emotion and tap into our deepest fears and beliefs.

The Ellora's Cave party this year had a hip hop theme, with tshirts, pants, sunglasses, hats and more as swag! Entertainment was a brief routine:

Maya Banks Book Video by Tessa Dare

As part of Operation Auction, Tessa Dare offered up a book video (in a similar style to those for her Stud Club trilogy). I laughed myself silly watching this. Congrats to Tessa on a fabulous job and to Maya Banks for an awesome book video. And I say that as someone who doesn't like book videos.

Waiting on Wednesday: A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted over at Breaking the Spine. It highlights books we just can't wait to get our greedy, book-loving hands on.

A Night to Surrender
August 30, 2011
Avon

Tessa Dare's writing never fails to wow me. I'm a little nervous, though, because this book is with Avon. Don't get me wrong; I like Avon. But not only did she lose her trademark cover style with this book, Avon has a pretty strict "feel" they seem to insist on. I'm hoping the new publishing house lets Tessa be Tessa. Because her writing and lengthy, tension filled scenes are unique.

*crossing fingers*

The (micro) Blurb: This is the Avon Debut of the immensely talented Tessa Dare! This is the first book in her new regency "Spindle Cove" series, set in a seaside resort town for ladies of good breeding and delicate constitution. 

For more information, Tessa has a page on her new series with Avon here.



Also coming out soon:

Guarding a Notorious Lady by Olivia Parker
May 31, 2011
Avon
384 pages

I really enjoyed the Bride Hunt Ball and its sequel To Wed a Wicked Earl. Her books always have the literary equivalent of a mischievous twinkle and are just plain fun.

Exquisite trouble . . .
A woman of pristine breeding, Lady Rosalind Devine is also an unrepentant meddler and snoop— which is why her brother refuses to leave her to her own devices while on his wedding trip. But Rosalind will not make things easy for any unseen, unwanted “nursemaid”—and vows to use her considerable wiles to expose her mystery guardian.

Nicholas Kincaid, the Marquess of Winterbourne, agreed to secretly guard his friend’s spoiled, stubborn sister, though her infuriating penchant for mischief is causing him to question his decision. Though bound by the rules of society—and friendship— Rosalind’s spirit and sensuality have sparked a fierce desire in Nicholas to play a very different role in her life, one that entails passion, ecstasy . . . and unavoidable scandal.

Review: Twice Tempted by a Rogue by Tessa Dare

Pub Date: June 2010
ISBN: 9780345518873
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Length: 363 pages

The second installment in the Stud Club trilogy by Tessa Dare takes place far from glitz and glamor of London. Twice Tempted by a Rogue opens with Rhys St. Maur (the hulking Lord Ashworth from the previous novel, One Dance with a Duke) journeying home to visit his ancestral estate--now in ruins.

Tessa Dare's writing is so expressive and rich. So many romances, both historical and contemporary, seem to take setting for granted. Tessa Dare doesn't use shortcuts. She uses language to totally immerse the reader in the world and the characters. It's so vivid, sometimes I feel as if I'm watching a movie rather than reading.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,  I will fear no evil... 

He’d been walking through this valley for a long, long time. Trod so far into death’s shadow he’d felt his feet turning to dust in his boots, the breath in his lungs burning acrid as sulfur. A living ghost, that’s what he was. He’d returned from war to a newly inherited barony, and his sole duty now was to haunt the English aristocracy.”

There's no question that Rhys has struggled with a death wish, tied to childhood trauma and abuse. And his journey home to visit the ruins of his ancestral estate is both an attempt to gain some form of closure with his past and an acknowledgment that no matter how much he would like to die, fate has other plans for him.

Smart Bitch Sarah's Summer Bookclub

Last night was the first book club meeting hosted by SmartBitch Sarah on the blog, Smartbitchestrashybooks.com  We had a great time discussing the first selection, One Dance with a Duke by Tessa Dare.

Did you miss it?

Sarah will be scheduling other chats to accommodate people in other time zones. You can also read an archive of the chat on her blog located here.

Surrender of a Siren by Tessa Dare

It's rare that I enjoy the first book by a new-to-me author. I don't like change, and I like knowing what to expect. What tone, what kinds of characters, the level of angst. Predictable and safe.

Two words that definitely do not apply to Tessa Dare's novel, Surrender of a Siren.

With this book, I am charting new territory. I read it based solely on recommendations from fellow Tweeters. It's a book (and an author) I discovered on Twitter.com . What makes that unusual is that it wasn't discovered on a blog or printed review. It wasn't discovered propped up on the new release shelves or as a loan from my fellow romance readers. A few mentions scattered in those 140 character bursts convinced me to give it a try despite the extremely unlovely cover.

In a word, it was glorious.

I'm a stickler for well developed characters. I loathe action-heavy books with wimpy two-dimensional characters. No danger of this book letting me down there. Every single character jumps off of the page with emotional intensity. Every single one. Even those you only see for a paragraph or two. It's amazing. And a little exhausting.

Even more amazing is that the tension levels in this book are off the chart. The reader experiences the excruciating hyper awareness between the two main characters in what feels like real time.

And Ms. Dare knows her stuff. Sophia, our heroine, is an artist. And having known more than my fair share of artists, I can honestly say she nailed the compulsive need to express oneself that most artists have.

This is the second book in a series, but I haven't read the preceding novel. Surrender stands alone wonderfully.

I highly recommend this book for anyone sick of cookie cutter characters and plots. This is by far the best historical romance I've read this year!

**edited Oct 1 to correct this as 2nd in series, not 3rd.