What do you think?
Rate this book
368 pages, ebook
First published August 13, 2019
She was a fool. A naïve, trusting, sheltered fool. And Gabe wanted to corrupt her so damned badly, his bones ached.
Dear Mr. Duke,
As requested, here is an inventory of the animals in my care: Bixby, a two-legged terrier. Marigold, a nanny goat of unimpeachable character, who is definitely not breeding. Angus, a three-year-old Highland steer. Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia—laying hens. Delilah, a parrot. Hubert, an otter. Freya, a hedgehog. Thirteen kittens of varying colors and dispositions.
Three things, however, never altered. He always woke with the dawn. He always woke hungry. And he always woke up alone. He had a set of rules when it came to sexual congress—he didn’t pay for it, he wouldn’t beg for it, and he damned well wasn’t going to wed for it.
Every time I speak three words, you look as though you’re going to swoon into my arms.”
“I do not,” Penny objected, knowing very well that she probably did.
“You sigh like a fool, blush like a beet. Your eyes are the worst of it. They turn into these . . . these pools. Glassy blue pools with man-eating sharks beneath the surface.”
“I hope you’re not planning a career in poetry.”
“For the good of us both, you have to cease gazing at me.”
I’ll look. I’m not afraid. I intend to be there for every moment of the miracle of my own child’s birth.” He crouched and squinted. “And . . . I’ve changed my mind.” Chase retreated to the far corner of the stall and sat on a crate, his pallor having turned a pale, sickly green.
“Fine,” Ashbury said. “I’ll do it. If I could stomach my own injuries from that rocket blast, I can stomach this.” He went to look, then reeled a step backward. “Oh, God. Something’s coming out.”
“Of course something’s coming out,” Gabe said. “A baby goat.”
“No,” Ash said grimly. “No.”
“If it’s not a goat, then what is it?”
“It’s a punishment for all my earthly sins, is what it is.”
Dear Mr. Duke,
As requested, here is an inventory of the animals in my care:
Bixby, a two-legged terrier.
Marigold, a nanny goat of unimpeachable character, who is definitely not breeding.
Angus, a three-year-old Highland steer.
Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia—laying hens.
Delilah, a parrot.
Hubert, an otter.
Freya, a hedgehog.
Thirteen kittens of varying colors and dispositions.
'No one pays much attention to me.’
The injustice in that statement confounded him. How could no one be paying attention to her? Over the past few days, he’d been unable to concentrate on anyone or anything but her.
Audio book source: Hoopla (library borrow)
Story Rating: 4.5 stars
Narrator: Mary Jane Wells
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Historical Romance
Length: 7 hours and 8 minutes
-'No one pays much attention to me.’
The injustice in that statement confounded him. How could no one be paying attention to her? Over the past few days, he’d been unable to concentrate on anyone or anything but her."
"She was a fool. A naive, trusting, sheltered fool. And Gabe wanted to corrupt her so damned badly, his bones ached.
"Lord but he was a big, beautiful beast of a man. There was just so much of him. Tall, broad, powerfully muscled. And utterly bare, save for that thin bit of toweling and his thick, dark hair. My, he had a great deal of hair. Not only plastered in damp curls on his head but defining the hard line of his jaw. And lightly furring his chest."
"—You are so maddedning. You have a way of provoking me, unlike anyone I’ve ever known. It’s as though I become a different person when I'm around you, and I’m not certain I like her.
—He pulled her to him. ‘Ilike her’."
"— If I were to lose my virtue, some would deem me worthless.
— You could never be worthless.
— Gabriel Duke. You are priceless."
"I know a hidden treasure when I see one."Tessa Dare never fails to make me laugh! The Wallflower Wager was sweet, romantic and so amusing.
As a person who wanted to like everyone, it hurt to know that not everyone liked her in return.And of course so funny.
Good Lord, Penny. He's a person. Not merely a collection of muscles with an intriguing distribution of hair.Gabriel was also wonderful - not an aristocrat this time! - with his dark past making him deliciously mercenary and giving the story its impetus.
Her curves yielded beneath him, welcoming all his hard edges and giving them a place to rest.Now for the bad news . . .
Though her features were exquisite, and her lips the pinkish hue of rose petals, her most beautiful feature by far was her heart.. . . would mean so much more if their initial connection hadn't been so flimsy.
Like the rest of him, his heart was strong, defiant, loyal. Capable of lasting love. He might revel in denying it, but she knew the truth. If he ever permitted himself to love, he would love fiercely and without reserve. Only the most stubborn of women would be able to bear it.
It was trust at first sight. I felt safe with you. All those firsts that I believed had been stolen from me . . . With you, I got them all back. I took them back, on my own terms. I only wish I could go back and help recover all the firsts you missed, too.”
“I don’t know why this so difficult. It’s not as though I can change the contents by waiting. What’s printed is printed. I am either a scandal or a spinster already, depending on what’s inside.”
“Actually,”Nicola mused, “while the paper remains closed, you’re both.”
“Both?”
“Right now, you’re both a scandal and a spinster.”
“I’m so sorry. I’m afraid I don’t follow you.”Penny frequently had difficulty following the twists and turns of Nicola’s mind. Everyone did. Nicola’s eyes went unfocused, as though she were staring at distant horizon. One that only she could see.
“Imagine you took a cat,”she said slowly, “and sealed it in a box.”
“Seal a cat inside a box?”Penny was horrified. “I’d never do such a thing.”
“Of course you wouldn’t actually do it. I’m only trying to illustrate a philosophical conundrum.”
Penny wasn’t unused to men, but there was a difference between friendly acquaintance and a close-range confrontation with sheer masculine physicality. It felt like someone had taken a mallet to a gong of femininity hidden deep in her belly, and now the vibrations traveled through her bones, summoning an ancient, primal force. Penny could think of only one name for it: lust.
“Listen to me,” he said sternly. “My motives are never kind. Neither are they generous or charitable or good. They’re money-driven and entirely selfish. You’d do well to remember that.”
I’ll look. I’m not afraid. I intend to be there for every moment of the miracle of my own child’s birth.” He crouched and squinted. “And . . . I’ve changed my mind.” Chase retreated to the far corner of the stall and sat on a crate, his pallor having turned a pale, sickly green.
“Fine,” Ashbury said. “I’ll do it. If I could stomach my own injuries from that rocket blast, I can stomach this.” He went to look, then reeled a step backward. “Oh, God. Something’s coming out.”
“Of course something’s coming out,” Gabe said. “A baby goat.”
“No,” Ash said grimly. “No.”
“If it’s not a goat, then what is it?”
“It’s a punishment for all my earthly sins, is what it is.”
“Your Ladyship, you are anything but calming.”
“You’re not particularly cuddly yourself,” she said. “Luckily, I have some experience soothing prickly beasts.”