They call him the Duke of Ruin.
To an undaunted wallflower, he's just the beast next door.
Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high society—and now he wants to get even.
Loyal and passionate, Lady Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldn’t take into her home and her heart.
When her imposing—and attractive—new neighbor demands she clear out the rescued animals, Penny sets him a challenge. She will part with her precious charges, if he can find them loving homes.
Done, Gabriel says. How hard can it be to find homes for a few kittens?
And a two-legged dog.
And a foul-mouthed parrot.
And a goat, an otter, a hedgehog . . .
Easier said than done, for a cold-blooded bastard who wouldn’t know a loving home from a workhouse. Soon he’s covered in cat hair, knee-deep in adorable, and bewitched by a shyly pretty spinster who defies his every attempt to resist. Now she’s set her mind and heart on saving him.
Not if he ruins her first.
Title: The Wallflower Wager
Author: Tessa Dare
Series: Girl Meets Duke
Pages: 368
Genre(s): Historical, Regency, England
Hot Buttons: heroine experienced childhood sexual abuse, confronts abuser (and family don't believe her) <-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)
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The wonderful people of Mills & Boon sent me some rather delightful packages in order to celebrate the release of The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare.
“Oh, and here’s my favorite.” Hammond shook open a letter and cleared his throat for dramatic effect. “‘Dear Mr. Hammond, if it is not too great an imposition, might I ask that your workers refrain from performing heavy labor between nine o’clock in the morning and half-three in the afternoon? Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals, and sensitive to loud noises. My dear Freya is losing quills. I feel certain this will concern you as much as it does me. Neighborly yours, Lady Penelope Campion.’” He tossed the folio of letters onto the table, where they landed with a smack.
“Her hedgehog. Really.”
“If you won’t protect yourself,” Ash warned, “we will have to take protective measures on your behalf.”
“What sort of protective measures?”
Nicola rushed into the room. Wisps of ginger hair floated about her head in an unkempt halo. In her hand, she carried a brown-paper packet. “I brought the poisoned biscuits,” she said, breath- less. “I’m still perfecting the spring-loaded trap for her door.”
Wonderful. Yet another addition to the “Protect Penny” brigade.
“That’s very kind of you, Nicola.” Penny took the packet of biscuits from her friend, tucked them behind her back, and while completing her circuit of the room, discreetly tossed them into the fire.
Gabe opened a strongbox hidden in a cabinet and withdrew a large, flat velvet box. He placed the box on the desk blotter, inordinately anxious. “Go on, then. Open it.”
She lifted the top and peered inside. “Oh, Gabriel.”
He moved behind the chair, looking over her shoulder at the sparkling array of rings. Diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald . . . every precious gem he could think to request at the jeweler’s, and a few he hadn’t known existed.
“I thought you’d prefer to be surprised, but I didn’t trust myself to choose one you liked. So I simply bought them all.”
“They’re exquisite.”
He waved off her praise. “None of them are fine enough for you.”
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