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The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy #1
Goddess of the Hunt
Every earl knows the one lady he shouldn't seduce is his best friend's little sister . . .
Lucy Waltham is hunting for a husband, but she needs some target practice. She turns to her brother's cold-as-ice best friend, Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall, to test her seductive wiles on him before setting her sights on another man. But her practice kisses spark a smoldering passion-one that could send all her plans up in smoke.
Jeremy has an influential title, a vast fortune, and a painful past full of secrets. He's always kept a safe distance from his own emotions—and from Lucy, who wears her heart on her sleeve. But to save his best friend's little sister from certain heartbreak, he can't stay at arm's length anymore. Their sensual battle of wills is as forbidden as it is delicious. The closer Jeremy gets to taming his temptress . . . the nearer he comes to losing all control.
Contains mature themes.
Lucy Waltham is hunting for a husband, but she needs some target practice. She turns to her brother's cold-as-ice best friend, Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall, to test her seductive wiles on him before setting her sights on another man. But her practice kisses spark a smoldering passion-one that could send all her plans up in smoke.
Jeremy has an influential title, a vast fortune, and a painful past full of secrets. He's always kept a safe distance from his own emotions—and from Lucy, who wears her heart on her sleeve. But to save his best friend's little sister from certain heartbreak, he can't stay at arm's length anymore. Their sensual battle of wills is as forbidden as it is delicious. The closer Jeremy gets to taming his temptress . . . the nearer he comes to losing all control.
Contains mature themes.
13 pages, Audible Audio
First published July 28, 2009
466 people are currently reading
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About the author
Tessa Dare
51 books15k followersSign up for Tessa's newsletter and be the first to hear about new books and hot deals! http://tessadare.com/newsletter-signup/
Tessa Dare is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fourteen historical romance novels and five novellas. Her books have won numerous accolades, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® award (twice!) and the RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence. Booklist magazine named her one of the “new stars of historical romance," and her books have been contracted for translation in more than a dozen languages.
A librarian by training and a booklover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and a trio of cosmic kitties.
Tessa Dare is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fourteen historical romance novels and five novellas. Her books have won numerous accolades, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® award (twice!) and the RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence. Booklist magazine named her one of the “new stars of historical romance," and her books have been contracted for translation in more than a dozen languages.
A librarian by training and a booklover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and a trio of cosmic kitties.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,081 reviews
August 27, 2020
dedicating your horniest book to your husband is quite the power move, ms. dare
i'm reading all of tessa dare's backlist for a video i'm doing and to be honest, if it weren't for that video i would not have picked this book up. dare's most recent series, Girl Meets Duke, is one of my favorite historical series but her others... um. not so much. so i didn't have high hopes going into this, her first published novel.
but i was very pleasantly surprised. this book has an originality that a lot of her other books lack. that's not to shit on her writing, it just seems to me that a lot of her books have predictable plots and VERY similar character pairings (grumpy/sunshine, damaged hero/strong heroine, rake/nerd). this one not so much. our heroine is young and a little foolish with a LOT of spirit. and our hero is not quite a rake or too overwrought with damage. he's just a dude who's seen some shit.
i also appreciated that the plot didn't end at just a marriage proposal. i think that's quite common in a lot of modern (like 2010-present published) historicals and i am finding i really appreciate when characters get married and then actually have shit to deal with. which this one had. i really liked the deeper level of intimacy the characters gained beyond fleeting attraction and sex.
overall i really liked this. i think if you like dare's latest books this might not be a hit for you, but it really worked for me.
i'm reading all of tessa dare's backlist for a video i'm doing and to be honest, if it weren't for that video i would not have picked this book up. dare's most recent series, Girl Meets Duke, is one of my favorite historical series but her others... um. not so much. so i didn't have high hopes going into this, her first published novel.
but i was very pleasantly surprised. this book has an originality that a lot of her other books lack. that's not to shit on her writing, it just seems to me that a lot of her books have predictable plots and VERY similar character pairings (grumpy/sunshine, damaged hero/strong heroine, rake/nerd). this one not so much. our heroine is young and a little foolish with a LOT of spirit. and our hero is not quite a rake or too overwrought with damage. he's just a dude who's seen some shit.
i also appreciated that the plot didn't end at just a marriage proposal. i think that's quite common in a lot of modern (like 2010-present published) historicals and i am finding i really appreciate when characters get married and then actually have shit to deal with. which this one had. i really liked the deeper level of intimacy the characters gained beyond fleeting attraction and sex.
overall i really liked this. i think if you like dare's latest books this might not be a hit for you, but it really worked for me.
February 2, 2022
Swerve to avoid the audio version!
This is a fun romance novel and what initially turned me on to Tessa Dare, but I almost quit after about 3 minutes of listening to this thing. I've had some bad experiences with audiobooks, and this one easily makes it into the worst of the worst pile.
I'm not sure what kind of an accent the narrator is claiming to have, but what we used to call it back in the day was a lisp.
Lucy = Luthy
Seduce = Seduth
Lips = Lipth
Staring = Stharing
I've listened to a lot of narrators and I've never in my life come across one that sounded like they were an adult who had "mostly" overcome a severe childhood speech impediment. I can only assume that this is some sort of affectation to her voice that the narrator put on to sound more something, but I can't imagine why because it was incredibly annoying. Every time I'd think I'd settled in and accepted it, she'd lisp a little harder and I'd want to throw my earbuds across the room.
Anyway.
Other than that this was such a good story.
Lucy is in love with her older brother's friend, Toby, and is 100% certain that they are meant to be together. Toby only thinks of her as his friend's cute little sister and is planning to propose to an entirely different woman while they are all at Lucy's family estate in the country. So, Lucy decides to seduce (or seduth, depending on how you say it) Toby so that he'll realize the error of his ways.
And that's how she comes to be knocking on the bedroom door of Jeremy, who is not only an earl but also her brother's other best friend, in an attempt to practice her seduction skills.
Jeremy, in an attempt to save her from humiliating herself, agrees to pretend to be courting her.
And then shit gets real.
Becauseof course he's going to realize that he loves her. And of course she's going to realize that she loves him right back.
I mean, it's a trashy romance novel, so it's going to take them a while to come to those conclusions, but we all know what the end result will be, don't we?
Now, if memory serves me correctly, the other two books in this Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy kind of suck.
But this one is excellent.
Recommended for fans of Tessa Dare.
This is a fun romance novel and what initially turned me on to Tessa Dare, but I almost quit after about 3 minutes of listening to this thing. I've had some bad experiences with audiobooks, and this one easily makes it into the worst of the worst pile.
I'm not sure what kind of an accent the narrator is claiming to have, but what we used to call it back in the day was a lisp.
Lucy = Luthy
Seduce = Seduth
Lips = Lipth
Staring = Stharing
I've listened to a lot of narrators and I've never in my life come across one that sounded like they were an adult who had "mostly" overcome a severe childhood speech impediment. I can only assume that this is some sort of affectation to her voice that the narrator put on to sound more something, but I can't imagine why because it was incredibly annoying. Every time I'd think I'd settled in and accepted it, she'd lisp a little harder and I'd want to throw my earbuds across the room.
Anyway.
Other than that this was such a good story.
Lucy is in love with her older brother's friend, Toby, and is 100% certain that they are meant to be together. Toby only thinks of her as his friend's cute little sister and is planning to propose to an entirely different woman while they are all at Lucy's family estate in the country. So, Lucy decides to seduce (or seduth, depending on how you say it) Toby so that he'll realize the error of his ways.
And that's how she comes to be knocking on the bedroom door of Jeremy, who is not only an earl but also her brother's other best friend, in an attempt to practice her seduction skills.
Jeremy, in an attempt to save her from humiliating herself, agrees to pretend to be courting her.
And then shit gets real.
Becauseof course he's going to realize that he loves her. And of course she's going to realize that she loves him right back.
I mean, it's a trashy romance novel, so it's going to take them a while to come to those conclusions, but we all know what the end result will be, don't we?
Now, if memory serves me correctly, the other two books in this Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy kind of suck.
But this one is excellent.
Recommended for fans of Tessa Dare.
August 8, 2022
I'm gonna need tessa dare to go back to this level of steam in her books please and thank you
December 5, 2013
I love finding new authors to add to my towering TBR/WL, and Tessa Dare is my latest addition. Goddess of the Hunt is her debut book, and what an excellent book it was!
Lucy Waltham has been in love with Sir Toby Aldridge, one of her older brother Henry's friends, since she was eleven years old - ah, what a precocious child she was! - but he's about to propose to another woman and she must take action before it's too late. So she sets a plan to seduce him and show him that she's the right woman for him, not this Miss Sophia Hathaway he seems smitten with. The problem is, Lucy's never even been kissed and everything she knows about the art of seduction is theoretical. She clearly needs to get some practice before putting her plan in motion, but who's going to be her "guinea pig"? Why, Jemmy is, of course!
Jeremy "Jemmy" Trescott, Earl of Kendall, has been friends with both Henry and Toby since their first year at Eton, and he's been visiting Waltham Manor each autumn since Cambridge. He's quite emotionally closed off because of his troubled relationship with his late parents, but Lucy has always been able to get past his armor. He's always tried to avoid her, regarding her as his "personal version of a biblical plague", and he knows disaster inevitably strikes when she's around. So when she knocks on his guest bedchamber door at Waltham Manor in the dead of the night, it can only mean disaster. He braces himself for the worst and...
"Then Lucy Waltham, the younger sister of his oldest friend, popped up on her toes and pressed her lips to his with such force, he stumbled against the doorjamb.
Good Lord. The girl was kissing him.
Well, he thought ironically, he’d been prepared for the worst. And of the many kisses Jeremy Trescott had experienced in his nine-and-twenty years, this was, undoubtedly, the worst."
After recovering from the shock, Jeremy demands an explanation for her outrageous behavior. When he learns about her crazy plan to seduce Toby, he bluntly tells her that Toby is all but engaged to Sophia and Lucy had better forget her silly crush on him. Obviously, Lucy refuses to listen to Jeremy so he has no other choice but to "distract" her from her plan. But this "diversion" gets complicated when the attraction between them escalates and they start falling in love with each other...
Oh my, I adored Jeremy! He was always there for Lucy, to protect her and to (figuratively) shake some sense into her whenever it was necessary. He was sensible, sensitive (against his will) and tortured enough to make me want to cuddle him. Not to mention wickedly sexy... Please lock me in the wardrobe with him and throw the key away! ;)
I really liked Lucy too, even though her single-minded pursuit of Toby in the beginning was a bit annoying. I wanted her to realize that Jeremy was the man for her sooner but, hey, better late than never. She made up for it when she came to her senses before marrying him, so it was all good in the end.
The chemistry between Jeremy and Lucy was fantastic, and there was no doubt in my mind that they belonged together. That's why I got a little frustrated right after they got married, as I didn't understand why they failed to communicate with each other. I understood Jeremy's fears and silence because he was a man used to isolate himself to avoid being hurt, but I couldn't understand Lucy's distance. After all, she was a woman who always went after what she wanted, and she most definitely wanted Jeremy! Anyway, that didn't last long and didn't really curb my overall enjoyment of this story. This was a great read, and I'm definitely going to pick up the next books in this trilogy.
Lucy Waltham has been in love with Sir Toby Aldridge, one of her older brother Henry's friends, since she was eleven years old - ah, what a precocious child she was! - but he's about to propose to another woman and she must take action before it's too late. So she sets a plan to seduce him and show him that she's the right woman for him, not this Miss Sophia Hathaway he seems smitten with. The problem is, Lucy's never even been kissed and everything she knows about the art of seduction is theoretical. She clearly needs to get some practice before putting her plan in motion, but who's going to be her "guinea pig"? Why, Jemmy is, of course!
Jeremy "Jemmy" Trescott, Earl of Kendall, has been friends with both Henry and Toby since their first year at Eton, and he's been visiting Waltham Manor each autumn since Cambridge. He's quite emotionally closed off because of his troubled relationship with his late parents, but Lucy has always been able to get past his armor. He's always tried to avoid her, regarding her as his "personal version of a biblical plague", and he knows disaster inevitably strikes when she's around. So when she knocks on his guest bedchamber door at Waltham Manor in the dead of the night, it can only mean disaster. He braces himself for the worst and...
"Then Lucy Waltham, the younger sister of his oldest friend, popped up on her toes and pressed her lips to his with such force, he stumbled against the doorjamb.
Good Lord. The girl was kissing him.
Well, he thought ironically, he’d been prepared for the worst. And of the many kisses Jeremy Trescott had experienced in his nine-and-twenty years, this was, undoubtedly, the worst."
After recovering from the shock, Jeremy demands an explanation for her outrageous behavior. When he learns about her crazy plan to seduce Toby, he bluntly tells her that Toby is all but engaged to Sophia and Lucy had better forget her silly crush on him. Obviously, Lucy refuses to listen to Jeremy so he has no other choice but to "distract" her from her plan. But this "diversion" gets complicated when the attraction between them escalates and they start falling in love with each other...
Oh my, I adored Jeremy! He was always there for Lucy, to protect her and to (figuratively) shake some sense into her whenever it was necessary. He was sensible, sensitive (against his will) and tortured enough to make me want to cuddle him. Not to mention wickedly sexy... Please lock me in the wardrobe with him and throw the key away! ;)
I really liked Lucy too, even though her single-minded pursuit of Toby in the beginning was a bit annoying. I wanted her to realize that Jeremy was the man for her sooner but, hey, better late than never. She made up for it when she came to her senses before marrying him, so it was all good in the end.
The chemistry between Jeremy and Lucy was fantastic, and there was no doubt in my mind that they belonged together. That's why I got a little frustrated right after they got married, as I didn't understand why they failed to communicate with each other. I understood Jeremy's fears and silence because he was a man used to isolate himself to avoid being hurt, but I couldn't understand Lucy's distance. After all, she was a woman who always went after what she wanted, and she most definitely wanted Jeremy! Anyway, that didn't last long and didn't really curb my overall enjoyment of this story. This was a great read, and I'm definitely going to pick up the next books in this trilogy.
May 25, 2011
4 ½ stars. If you looked up the word “minx” in the dictionary I’m sure there would be a picture of Lucy Waltham next to it. Sure, a lot of authors
say
their heroine is a minx, but Tessa Dare
shows
us she is; it’s delightful. Such a charming read, it kept me up most of the night.Lucy has been the bane of Jeremy Trescott’s existence since childhood. Now he’s going to turn her into a woman and his countess in spite of himself. I really felt his frustration in trying to fight his attraction to Lucy, LOL! This book is laugh-out-loud funny at times, tender and sweet others, and still the love scenes manage to sizzle.
August 20, 2018
4.5 stars!! Goddess of the Hunt was a fun and great historical romance book to read!
Tessa Dare has this excellent ability to write female characters well. Lucy Waltham will be up in the list for one of the best female characters that I've read in a historical romance book.
And I've read just a few. ;) haha
Lucy is funny, intelligent, gutsy and does not take any shit from the Earl of Kendall, aka Jeremy Trescott. Lucy has been growing up with her brother’s friends for years and she’s finally coming into her own.
She thinks she’s in love with Sir Toby Aldridge (another friend of her brothers) and decides to use Jeremy as a test subject to make Toby fall in love with her.
Boy is she going to be surprised when the emotionally closed off Earl of Kendall is not THAT closed off.
Both characters in this book were great! I loved the chemistry and the witty conversations between Lucy and Jeremy. Whew, I needed a cold shower from some of the scenes between these two.
I’m hoping the rest of the series will be just as good as Goddess of the Hunt! It was a fun and crack worthy book to read in a few days!
Tessa Dare has this excellent ability to write female characters well. Lucy Waltham will be up in the list for one of the best female characters that I've read in a historical romance book.
And I've read just a few. ;) haha
Lucy is funny, intelligent, gutsy and does not take any shit from the Earl of Kendall, aka Jeremy Trescott. Lucy has been growing up with her brother’s friends for years and she’s finally coming into her own.
She thinks she’s in love with Sir Toby Aldridge (another friend of her brothers) and decides to use Jeremy as a test subject to make Toby fall in love with her.
Boy is she going to be surprised when the emotionally closed off Earl of Kendall is not THAT closed off.
Both characters in this book were great! I loved the chemistry and the witty conversations between Lucy and Jeremy. Whew, I needed a cold shower from some of the scenes between these two.
I’m hoping the rest of the series will be just as good as Goddess of the Hunt! It was a fun and crack worthy book to read in a few days!
June 6, 2022
This was a fun historical romance that had the humor you come to expect from Tessa Dare. Lucy is in love with one of her brother's friends, so she turns to another one of his friends, Jeremy, to help her learn how to seduce the guy she wants. Jeremy is taken off guard when Lucy shows up and just kisses him, but he feels very protective of Lucy and is intrigued by the chemistry they have. I loved all of the antics Lucy found herself in. I smiled throughout a lot of these scenes, but the second half did take a more serious turn when this became a marriage of convenience once Lucy felt a bit trapped by marrying something with a higher title. But that just forced her and her husband to have a talk with one another and address what was happening between them. Overall I enjoyed reading Tessa's first historical romance!
October 27, 2018
[3.5]
Can always rely on Tessa Dare to write stories that make me happy.
Can always rely on Tessa Dare to write stories that make me happy.
April 28, 2023
Dang! Why aren't there more stars?
This book hit me right where I wanted it to right when I needed it. Funny, heart-wrenching, and incredibly romantic, I had a very hard time getting this story out of my head when I had to put it down to go do those tedious things that other humans expect of me.
As I said in my giddy post above, Tessa Dare does all those things I've been wanting authors to do. Yes, there's angst and some separation and misunderstanding, but neither of the characters had to be struck TSTL in order to achieve these plot points. Their misunderstanding was the most organic I've seen in a long, long time. I couldn't fault either of them for believing what they did, even though I knew they were dead wrong. It wasn't a frustration because it wasn't manipulated by the author to fulfill a template.
I do hope we get to see this couple more in the companion books. They're really delish.
I was drawn to this book by Dina's review, and then by others who started piping up -- HMS, Rane, Alexis, take a bow. So, I won't go into any more detail about the story because it's been covered nicely.
I'm looking forward to the next ones, but I might do some rereads in between so I don't get burnt out. Obviously I'm very enthusiastic and excited about this new author. :D
This book hit me right where I wanted it to right when I needed it. Funny, heart-wrenching, and incredibly romantic, I had a very hard time getting this story out of my head when I had to put it down to go do those tedious things that other humans expect of me.
As I said in my giddy post above, Tessa Dare does all those things I've been wanting authors to do. Yes, there's angst and some separation and misunderstanding, but neither of the characters had to be struck TSTL in order to achieve these plot points. Their misunderstanding was the most organic I've seen in a long, long time. I couldn't fault either of them for believing what they did, even though I knew they were dead wrong. It wasn't a frustration because it wasn't manipulated by the author to fulfill a template.
I do hope we get to see this couple more in the companion books. They're really delish.
I was drawn to this book by Dina's review, and then by others who started piping up -- HMS, Rane, Alexis, take a bow. So, I won't go into any more detail about the story because it's been covered nicely.
I'm looking forward to the next ones, but I might do some rereads in between so I don't get burnt out. Obviously I'm very enthusiastic and excited about this new author. :D
February 7, 2017
Kinda cute. Kinda blah. Lots of ups and downs.
Pros
--Highly entertaining and fun (with humor!), like all of Dare's other books
--The protagonist's character development
--Some cute scenes and bantering between Lucy and Jeremy. Second half of the book shows more maturity and adds a more realistic touch with them sorting things out after getting together.
--Lucy's developing relationship with her brother. They started out rough, but I really liked how things eventually developed between them. His protectiveness was sweet.
Cons
--The protagonist is more immature and weak compared to Tessa Dare's other protagonists. Lucy can get annoying - while trying to seduce Toby at all costs - and while initially being flippant about her duties and responsibilities as countess. (With that being said, in the pro section - I definitely do see some character development. I would have liked a bit more - but I do appreciate that she matures a bit.)
--Even though the 2nd half of the book is more mature and serious, it is also very irksome. Lots of thinking and fretting and not enough talking. Extended misunderstanding and miscommunication trope. I swear their problems would've been solved if they just outright said what they were thinking since Day 1 when they got married, or any day or week after that. Dragged out way too long.
--I am a bit uncomfortable with how Jeremy is so strict with the poaching laws. I mean I get that things worked differently back then. However, he saw the cruelty that his father displayed, and yet, he wasn't motivated at all to change things based on his own goodwill. It's disappointing that he was only ever willing to be kind to the poor, starving people around him when Lucy required it. I expected more from him, honestly. Also, the book didn't really show as much growth as I would have liked on this area.
Final thoughts
I'm giving this 2.5 stars because I didn't love it - I didn't hate it. I just have to compare this book, this protagonist, and this love interest with Tessa Dare's other series and characters from there - and so far, this has fallen short. Her protagonists are so strong and hilarious in her other books - and Lucy is a bit of those things, but just not enough. This book is still overall enjoyable though - it can be cute and it can be thoughtful at times. I'm looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how it goes~
Things that you might want to know (WARNING: Spoilers below)
Is there a happy/satisfying ending?
Love triangle? Cheating? Angst level?
Tears-worthy?
Humor?
What age level would be appropriate?
------------------
The Wanton...
Dairymaid???
I mean, why not? LOL.
Buddy read with Rose~ <3 Her first look into historical-fiction romance - whoohoo!
Pros
--Highly entertaining and fun (with humor!), like all of Dare's other books
--The protagonist's character development
--Some cute scenes and bantering between Lucy and Jeremy. Second half of the book shows more maturity and adds a more realistic touch with them sorting things out after getting together.
--Lucy's developing relationship with her brother. They started out rough, but I really liked how things eventually developed between them. His protectiveness was sweet.
Cons
--The protagonist is more immature and weak compared to Tessa Dare's other protagonists. Lucy can get annoying - while trying to seduce Toby at all costs - and while initially being flippant about her duties and responsibilities as countess. (With that being said, in the pro section - I definitely do see some character development. I would have liked a bit more - but I do appreciate that she matures a bit.)
--Even though the 2nd half of the book is more mature and serious, it is also very irksome. Lots of thinking and fretting and not enough talking. Extended misunderstanding and miscommunication trope. I swear their problems would've been solved if they just outright said what they were thinking since Day 1 when they got married, or any day or week after that. Dragged out way too long.
--I am a bit uncomfortable with how Jeremy is so strict with the poaching laws. I mean I get that things worked differently back then. However, he saw the cruelty that his father displayed, and yet, he wasn't motivated at all to change things based on his own goodwill. It's disappointing that he was only ever willing to be kind to the poor, starving people around him when Lucy required it. I expected more from him, honestly. Also, the book didn't really show as much growth as I would have liked on this area.
Final thoughts
I'm giving this 2.5 stars because I didn't love it - I didn't hate it. I just have to compare this book, this protagonist, and this love interest with Tessa Dare's other series and characters from there - and so far, this has fallen short. Her protagonists are so strong and hilarious in her other books - and Lucy is a bit of those things, but just not enough. This book is still overall enjoyable though - it can be cute and it can be thoughtful at times. I'm looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how it goes~
Things that you might want to know (WARNING: Spoilers below)
Is there a happy/satisfying ending?
Love triangle? Cheating? Angst level?
Tears-worthy?
Humor?
What age level would be appropriate?
------------------
The Wanton...
Dairymaid???
I mean, why not? LOL.
Buddy read with Rose~ <3 Her first look into historical-fiction romance - whoohoo!
June 29, 2010
4 stars – Historical/Regency Romance
This is my second read by Tessa Dare, and I’ll admit that I had pretty high expectations based on all the buzz and rave reviews for this book. Although I did enjoy this, I can’t quite say that I loved it or would consider it a favorite, mainly because I didn’t really care that strongly for the characters, which was the same way I felt about One Dance with a Duke.
The heroine’s relentless, childish pursuit of her brother’s friend Toby for the first part of the story was rather annoying, but I really liked how Jeremy responded and looked after her. Then they did a total character flip and for the later half I felt for Lucy and thought that Jeremy acted like a cold, insensitive jerk. There was only a brief time that I actually enjoyed them together as a couple, and then shortly after that the book came to an end. Overall, it’s a satisfying, steamy romance, and I’ll definitely read more by this author.
This is my second read by Tessa Dare, and I’ll admit that I had pretty high expectations based on all the buzz and rave reviews for this book. Although I did enjoy this, I can’t quite say that I loved it or would consider it a favorite, mainly because I didn’t really care that strongly for the characters, which was the same way I felt about One Dance with a Duke.
The heroine’s relentless, childish pursuit of her brother’s friend Toby for the first part of the story was rather annoying, but I really liked how Jeremy responded and looked after her. Then they did a total character flip and for the later half I felt for Lucy and thought that Jeremy acted like a cold, insensitive jerk. There was only a brief time that I actually enjoyed them together as a couple, and then shortly after that the book came to an end. Overall, it’s a satisfying, steamy romance, and I’ll definitely read more by this author.
March 20, 2011
*4.5 Stars*
Wow, this book was a complete surprise for me after the Stud Club trilogy. I wouldn't have tried this author again--having failed to connect to two of the three books in that trilogy--if a friend of mine hadn't praised this one so highly. Thank goodness I did, because this book was great! I enjoy falls-for-sibling's-friend storylines as is, so that predisposed me to enjoy the relationship setup, but Jeremy and Lucy and their dynamic are what made me continue to enjoy it.
I enjoyed watching Lucy confuse herself with her attraction to Jeremy. She believes herself in love with another friend of her brother's, but she can't resist Jeremy when they get in close quarters. At times I was irritated with Lucy for being so fixated on Toby, but most times I was just embarrassed for her. Plus, watching Jeremy try to protect Lucy from herself and watching him give her some hard truths really made me love him. I really liked that he didn't do it in the beginning from jealousy or attraction. He was just helping her because someone had to look out for her and clearly no one was taking the job.
I loved watching Jeremy stumble over his feelings for Lucy. He may not have been upfront with her, but he didn't try to lie to himself about wanting her and wishing he could have her for himself. I also like that he was honest with himself about how his friends were. He didn't flinch from the fact that they had created Lucy's behavior through their own actions.
Jeremy wasn't dark and dangerous--Lucy actually laughs when she hears that he's known as a rake in London--but he is incredibly compelling. He's distant and closed off, but he can't help himself around Lucy. He's always sticking his neck out to help her and more and more he can't deny that he wants her. His honesty and his reluctant care were incredibly endearing. It also helped that when Lucy and Jeremy got physical the book got very hot. The wardrobe scene and their inability to resist was an excellent example of how delicious they could be together.
I loved Sophia and was glad that she struck up a friendship with Lucy. How often does the heroine befriend the "other woman" even when she no longer desires the man? Sophia was so desperate for excitement and adventure that I can't wait to read about her next. I'm sure her fantastical stories will be a trip. And nothing but excitement can come from how her story ended in this book.
The only real disappointment for me was the misunderstandings that cropped up near the end. Both were so willing to believe that the other person didn't really want them that I got frustrated. I just wanted to stick them in a room and make them talk with each other. They weren't a deal breaker for me and they didn't last for a large chunk of the book, so they didn't drop my grade for the book much. Also, sometimes those misunderstandings could be hilarious--like when Jeremy was incredibly disappointed that there was no dessert for dinner.
The humor and the great characters have really made me eager to read the next book. Hopefully I'll like that one just as much.
Wow, this book was a complete surprise for me after the Stud Club trilogy. I wouldn't have tried this author again--having failed to connect to two of the three books in that trilogy--if a friend of mine hadn't praised this one so highly. Thank goodness I did, because this book was great! I enjoy falls-for-sibling's-friend storylines as is, so that predisposed me to enjoy the relationship setup, but Jeremy and Lucy and their dynamic are what made me continue to enjoy it.
I enjoyed watching Lucy confuse herself with her attraction to Jeremy. She believes herself in love with another friend of her brother's, but she can't resist Jeremy when they get in close quarters. At times I was irritated with Lucy for being so fixated on Toby, but most times I was just embarrassed for her. Plus, watching Jeremy try to protect Lucy from herself and watching him give her some hard truths really made me love him. I really liked that he didn't do it in the beginning from jealousy or attraction. He was just helping her because someone had to look out for her and clearly no one was taking the job.
I loved watching Jeremy stumble over his feelings for Lucy. He may not have been upfront with her, but he didn't try to lie to himself about wanting her and wishing he could have her for himself. I also like that he was honest with himself about how his friends were. He didn't flinch from the fact that they had created Lucy's behavior through their own actions.
Jeremy wasn't dark and dangerous--Lucy actually laughs when she hears that he's known as a rake in London--but he is incredibly compelling. He's distant and closed off, but he can't help himself around Lucy. He's always sticking his neck out to help her and more and more he can't deny that he wants her. His honesty and his reluctant care were incredibly endearing. It also helped that when Lucy and Jeremy got physical the book got very hot. The wardrobe scene and their inability to resist was an excellent example of how delicious they could be together.
I loved Sophia and was glad that she struck up a friendship with Lucy. How often does the heroine befriend the "other woman" even when she no longer desires the man? Sophia was so desperate for excitement and adventure that I can't wait to read about her next. I'm sure her fantastical stories will be a trip. And nothing but excitement can come from how her story ended in this book.
The only real disappointment for me was the misunderstandings that cropped up near the end. Both were so willing to believe that the other person didn't really want them that I got frustrated. I just wanted to stick them in a room and make them talk with each other. They weren't a deal breaker for me and they didn't last for a large chunk of the book, so they didn't drop my grade for the book much. Also, sometimes those misunderstandings could be hilarious--like when Jeremy was incredibly disappointed that there was no dessert for dinner.
The humor and the great characters have really made me eager to read the next book. Hopefully I'll like that one just as much.
October 4, 2009
The first half or so of this book is absolutely great. A very cute love story about a group of friends who gather every summer at once place and have some fun. Most of these friends have gotten married or had children recently though and only a few remain single. One of those is Lucy. Lucy is the sister of Henry. Henry is friends with Felix, Jeremy, and Toby. Lucy is in love with Toby, however he's brought a young lady with him to their retreat that everyone thinks he'll propose too. This simply will not do to Lucy. She's been in love with Toby since she was a girl and won't let him just slip by. Everyone though still treats her like a child and she has to find a way to make Toby see her as a woman. In the middle of the night she decides to whisk into Jeremy's room and ask that he practice kissing with her. She wants to test him as she figures if she can seduce him, she can certainly seduce Toby. Jeremy is suddenly in a precarious situation. He's always seen Lucy as a girl but once she starts kissing him he suddenly realizes that Lucy has turned into a lovely woman. This lovely woman also happens to be his best friend's sister as well so he's in double trouble. Lucy finds her own surprises in Jeremy's kiss as well. If she's so in love with Toby how come Jeremy's kiss felt so right?
It's all very cute and fun but then the second half it becomes all moody and morose. The usual cliche misunderstanding leads to another misunderstanding and the hero and heroine suddenly become blithering idiots for a while. Not to say it's terrible, I just have become really tired of plots where it's a big misunderstanding grown out of proportion or several of them accumulate without anyone actually bothering to talk to each other to set it right. But as I said it didn't become terrible, and it didn't completely ruin the book for me. I'm just hoping that doesn't happen in the next book.
It's all very cute and fun but then the second half it becomes all moody and morose. The usual cliche misunderstanding leads to another misunderstanding and the hero and heroine suddenly become blithering idiots for a while. Not to say it's terrible, I just have become really tired of plots where it's a big misunderstanding grown out of proportion or several of them accumulate without anyone actually bothering to talk to each other to set it right. But as I said it didn't become terrible, and it didn't completely ruin the book for me. I'm just hoping that doesn't happen in the next book.
dnf
January 5, 2022DNF 5%
Just no
Just no
October 9, 2021
Reread: 4 stars. The ending of this book left my heart feeling so happy! I’m not sure what prompted me to remember about this book, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I finally gave in to my weird subconscious mind and decided to do a reread. I stick by pretty much all that I wrote a year ago. It really is so good. 💕
First read: 4 stars... I really enjoyed this one, it was a fun and rather quick read. I loved the MC’s and side characters as well, even when they were all acting like idiots. I think that’s largely the charm of TD’s writing, she knows how to tow the line between being silly and totally ridiculous.
This story is about Jeremy and Lucy. Lucy is in love with an OM, Toby, but Toby has already decided to propose to an OW. She is very upset by this news but is determined to not allow the engagement to happen. She sets out to win Toby for herself, through any means necessary. She tells Jeremy of her plans to seduce Toby... by practicing with Jeremy. Of course, her plan backfired when Jeremy ends up being the one seduced. The first half of the story is mostly a comedy of errors. The second half is just a big misunderstanding caused by poor communication. Personally, this is usually one of my least favorite ways for an author to cause disagreement between the MCs. However, I think it worked ok in this book. They didn’t stay at odds for an overly long time, and when they did eventually get back together, it was pretty dang satisfying.
I’ve been sitting on this one for way too long, and now regret not reading it sooner. This is a funny, light, and highly enjoyable book.
Safe, the hero was a rake, but reformed by himself before the start of the story, heroine was a virgin. Heroine fancies herself in love with an OM, but that doesn’t last overly long. Low angst
First read: 4 stars... I really enjoyed this one, it was a fun and rather quick read. I loved the MC’s and side characters as well, even when they were all acting like idiots. I think that’s largely the charm of TD’s writing, she knows how to tow the line between being silly and totally ridiculous.
This story is about Jeremy and Lucy. Lucy is in love with an OM, Toby, but Toby has already decided to propose to an OW. She is very upset by this news but is determined to not allow the engagement to happen. She sets out to win Toby for herself, through any means necessary. She tells Jeremy of her plans to seduce Toby... by practicing with Jeremy. Of course, her plan backfired when Jeremy ends up being the one seduced. The first half of the story is mostly a comedy of errors. The second half is just a big misunderstanding caused by poor communication. Personally, this is usually one of my least favorite ways for an author to cause disagreement between the MCs. However, I think it worked ok in this book. They didn’t stay at odds for an overly long time, and when they did eventually get back together, it was pretty dang satisfying.
I’ve been sitting on this one for way too long, and now regret not reading it sooner. This is a funny, light, and highly enjoyable book.
Safe, the hero was a rake, but reformed by himself before the start of the story, heroine was a virgin. Heroine fancies herself in love with an OM, but that doesn’t last overly long. Low angst
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2009
Delightful, sweet and sexy are only a few words that come to mind when I finished reading Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare. This is Tessa’s first book and I applaud her for writing a lovely historical romance with the witty dialogue and lush descriptions of the setting and the character’s thoughts. I am not a big fan of long descriptive paragraphs, but with Goddess of the Hunt, all my senses were engaged. I wanted this book to go on and on because it was that good. Tessa Dare may possibly be my favorite debut author for 2009.
Goddess of the Hunt has one of the best openings I have read in awhile. A young man wakes up in the middle of the night because of a knock at his bedroom door. Thinking it is an emergency he opens it and is kissed by a female. The female is Lucy Waltham. Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall has known Lucy forever because he is friends with the family. He has been invited to stay at Waltham Manor for an annual sporting holiday. Jeremy is befuddled not only because he has been accosted in the middle of the night, but Lucy can’t kiss for anything. The reason Lucy is kissing Jeremy is because she needs practice. She wants to seduce Toby, another lord staying at the Manor who is friends with Jeremy and Lucy’s older brother Henry. Toby is practically engaged to a Miss Sophia Hathaway. Lucy has always had a bad crush on Toby and wants to stop the engagement. She thinks is she can seduce Toby he will jilt Miss Hathaway and marry her.
Jeremy finds Lucy to be a silly, immature girl. She has no sense of decorum and does whatever she wants. This belief is in part because Jeremy watched Lucy grow up. He feels like an older brother to her. Jeremy doesn’t want Lucy’s heart to get broken, but she is such a headstrong girl. Lucy can’t help but tease Jeremy and he gives Lucy a kiss that will change the dynamics of their relationship.
Lucy is very set on the course she has in order to gain Toby’s affections. But since Toby also has known her as Jeremy has, she has to change the way she does things. She will try to be a bit more like Miss Hathway so Toby can love the new Lucy. Jeremy can see what she is doing and for some reason he doesn’t like Lucy to pretend to be someone she’s not. His opinion of Lucy begins to change. Gone is the gangly hoyden and thorn in his side as he always thought her to be. Now Lucy has become an enigma to him. All he wants to do is kiss her and touch her even though she believes she is in love with another man. Jeremy is now on a mission to make Lucy see that Toby will never be hers and he will use his own seductive techniques to change her mind. Lucy will not be convinced with words, so Jeremy will have to use his mouth in other ways to make Lucy see reason.
Jeremy’s talented ways with his hands and mouth confuse Lucy. She enjoys these intimacies but she is so set on Toby. Things between Jeremy and Lucy are building to the point where Jeremy has no choice but to claim Lucy through marriage. They both realize this is a big mistake, but Lucy is the one who will try to make it work between them. Unfortunately something from Jeremy’s past makes him place up a wall between them. Jeremy should know that Lucy will not allow Jeremy to walk all over her and become cold to the point where she will reject him. First she was on the hunt for another man but now that she has Jeremy she will do whatever she can to make him see she is worthy of his love and he can trust her with his heart and all those imperfections he feels about himself that he keeps bottled up inside.
Goddess of the Hunt is a darling historical romance and quite the feat for Tessa Dare. She had me hooked from page one with the innocent Lucy practicing her kissing with Jeremy. I am more of a fan of the hero in the books I read, but with Goddess of the Hunt it was all about Lucy. She may seem innocent in her thinking but Lucy can be sly at times. Everything she does is in good faith. She is not cruel or heartless. Lucy is someone you would love to have over for tea and call your friend. Jeremy is a bit tortured, but his issues didn’t take away from the overall enjoyment in the story. His and Lucy’s interactions are nice and steamy. Remember when Stephanie Laurens would write those smoldering loves scenes that had us aching for more? Tessa has done that here. I was aching for more.
Count me as a Tessa Dare fan. She is the beginning of a great roster of historical authors to come and one with great promise.
Goddess of the Hunt has one of the best openings I have read in awhile. A young man wakes up in the middle of the night because of a knock at his bedroom door. Thinking it is an emergency he opens it and is kissed by a female. The female is Lucy Waltham. Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall has known Lucy forever because he is friends with the family. He has been invited to stay at Waltham Manor for an annual sporting holiday. Jeremy is befuddled not only because he has been accosted in the middle of the night, but Lucy can’t kiss for anything. The reason Lucy is kissing Jeremy is because she needs practice. She wants to seduce Toby, another lord staying at the Manor who is friends with Jeremy and Lucy’s older brother Henry. Toby is practically engaged to a Miss Sophia Hathaway. Lucy has always had a bad crush on Toby and wants to stop the engagement. She thinks is she can seduce Toby he will jilt Miss Hathaway and marry her.
Jeremy finds Lucy to be a silly, immature girl. She has no sense of decorum and does whatever she wants. This belief is in part because Jeremy watched Lucy grow up. He feels like an older brother to her. Jeremy doesn’t want Lucy’s heart to get broken, but she is such a headstrong girl. Lucy can’t help but tease Jeremy and he gives Lucy a kiss that will change the dynamics of their relationship.
Lucy is very set on the course she has in order to gain Toby’s affections. But since Toby also has known her as Jeremy has, she has to change the way she does things. She will try to be a bit more like Miss Hathway so Toby can love the new Lucy. Jeremy can see what she is doing and for some reason he doesn’t like Lucy to pretend to be someone she’s not. His opinion of Lucy begins to change. Gone is the gangly hoyden and thorn in his side as he always thought her to be. Now Lucy has become an enigma to him. All he wants to do is kiss her and touch her even though she believes she is in love with another man. Jeremy is now on a mission to make Lucy see that Toby will never be hers and he will use his own seductive techniques to change her mind. Lucy will not be convinced with words, so Jeremy will have to use his mouth in other ways to make Lucy see reason.
Jeremy’s talented ways with his hands and mouth confuse Lucy. She enjoys these intimacies but she is so set on Toby. Things between Jeremy and Lucy are building to the point where Jeremy has no choice but to claim Lucy through marriage. They both realize this is a big mistake, but Lucy is the one who will try to make it work between them. Unfortunately something from Jeremy’s past makes him place up a wall between them. Jeremy should know that Lucy will not allow Jeremy to walk all over her and become cold to the point where she will reject him. First she was on the hunt for another man but now that she has Jeremy she will do whatever she can to make him see she is worthy of his love and he can trust her with his heart and all those imperfections he feels about himself that he keeps bottled up inside.
Goddess of the Hunt is a darling historical romance and quite the feat for Tessa Dare. She had me hooked from page one with the innocent Lucy practicing her kissing with Jeremy. I am more of a fan of the hero in the books I read, but with Goddess of the Hunt it was all about Lucy. She may seem innocent in her thinking but Lucy can be sly at times. Everything she does is in good faith. She is not cruel or heartless. Lucy is someone you would love to have over for tea and call your friend. Jeremy is a bit tortured, but his issues didn’t take away from the overall enjoyment in the story. His and Lucy’s interactions are nice and steamy. Remember when Stephanie Laurens would write those smoldering loves scenes that had us aching for more? Tessa has done that here. I was aching for more.
Count me as a Tessa Dare fan. She is the beginning of a great roster of historical authors to come and one with great promise.
June 9, 2022
I really enjoyed this historical romance and I was surprised to hear that this was Tessa Dare's debut. In fact, aside from a novella, this may be the first book of Tessa Dare's that I have read.
I really enjoyed this story and I felt like it went in many different directions keeping it entertaining. It really captured my attention. I did LOVE Jeremy's character but I can understand why others may not. He seemed to have many different personalities and ended the novel being a much different character than who he started as.
In all fairness, Lucy also had her own imperfections and could be frustrating at times but I liked how fiercely stubborn her character was.
I can't wait to continue the series as the ending left me very surprised. Additionally, I look forward to reading about the futures of other characters while also hopefully having some cameos from the main characters in this book.
I really enjoyed this story and I felt like it went in many different directions keeping it entertaining. It really captured my attention. I did LOVE Jeremy's character but I can understand why others may not. He seemed to have many different personalities and ended the novel being a much different character than who he started as.
In all fairness, Lucy also had her own imperfections and could be frustrating at times but I liked how fiercely stubborn her character was.
I can't wait to continue the series as the ending left me very surprised. Additionally, I look forward to reading about the futures of other characters while also hopefully having some cameos from the main characters in this book.
June 23, 2024
stay away if miscommunication and misunderstandings aren’t your thing because this books is packed with it. But it’s mine and therefore this book was utterly delicious and I ate it up✨😋
October 9, 2014
At the beginning of the book I was mightily annoyed by Lucy and her obsessive "love" for Toby!
She convinced herself that she was in love with him and she stubbornly goes on and on! I wanted to shake her! I wanted to slap her! To shout at her: WAKE UP, YOU STUPID GIRL!!!!
But I read on and was pleasently surèprised when she woke up (finally!!!). When she started interacting with Sophia. when she realized that it was not love but infatuation and girlish mooning.
After that I started enjoying the book very much.
Ah, the same can be said for Jeremy, but he started acting like a fool in the second part. Then I wanted to shake, slap and shout at him! LOL
But still I enjoyed this book and the swoon worthy moments. I started understanding that Lacy is very young, but that she isn't a TSTL heroine. That was avoided nicely, even if she remained a naive and young until the end.
I also fogave Jeremy his stupid moments, because he was really so in love with Lucy that it was incredible; it was bordering on obsession! And because of that all his stupid mistakes, his wrong reactions were just showing how much he cares!
Also, the secondary charaters were nice. The distracted brother, Toby and Felix with their ramblings, Sophia with her fervid immagination (*wink*), aunt Matilda with her "timely" inerruptions (*wink*)...!!!
I just have one question: what the aristocrats were doing all the day besides having tea, changing gons, shopping, etc??? Weren't they bored? Some honest work would have made their days much more interesting! :)
She convinced herself that she was in love with him and she stubbornly goes on and on! I wanted to shake her! I wanted to slap her! To shout at her: WAKE UP, YOU STUPID GIRL!!!!
But I read on and was pleasently surèprised when she woke up (finally!!!). When she started interacting with Sophia. when she realized that it was not love but infatuation and girlish mooning.
After that I started enjoying the book very much.
Ah, the same can be said for Jeremy, but he started acting like a fool in the second part. Then I wanted to shake, slap and shout at him! LOL
But still I enjoyed this book and the swoon worthy moments. I started understanding that Lacy is very young, but that she isn't a TSTL heroine. That was avoided nicely, even if she remained a naive and young until the end.
I also fogave Jeremy his stupid moments, because he was really so in love with Lucy that it was incredible; it was bordering on obsession! And because of that all his stupid mistakes, his wrong reactions were just showing how much he cares!
Also, the secondary charaters were nice. The distracted brother, Toby and Felix with their ramblings, Sophia with her fervid immagination (*wink*), aunt Matilda with her "timely" inerruptions (*wink*)...!!!
I just have one question: what the aristocrats were doing all the day besides having tea, changing gons, shopping, etc??? Weren't they bored? Some honest work would have made their days much more interesting! :)
August 28, 2014
Not my kind of story. But many like this.
I read 130 pages and stopped. There was a lot of pondering one’s feelings, tempting each other with kisses, and descriptive writing. I just wasn’t interested in the characters or the set up. I was bored. Lucy loves Toby. Toby plans to marry Sophia. So Lucy wants to seduce Toby and convince him to marry her instead. Toby knows Lucy wants him but he doesn’t want to tell Lucy the truth. So Toby asks Jeremy to occupy and distract Lucy until Toby proposes to Sophia later. Toby wants to delay getting engaged because he’s enjoying his bachelor days. Lucy wants to make Toby jealous and asks Jeremy to help her. Jeremy reluctantly agrees to help each of them. When he kisses Lucy he feels lust.
This reminded me of Whitney, My Love and Gone With The Wind because the heroine has an obsessive love for a man who does not reciprocate but leads her on. The hero is aware of this. If you like this trope, consider Whitney, My Love. I gave 5 stars to the expanded version (not original version).
I’ve read five books by this author. She is not a winner for me, but I really enjoyed one of her books, a novella, The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 360 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual content: some. Setting: 1817 England. Copyright: 2009. Genre: regency romance.
I read 130 pages and stopped. There was a lot of pondering one’s feelings, tempting each other with kisses, and descriptive writing. I just wasn’t interested in the characters or the set up. I was bored. Lucy loves Toby. Toby plans to marry Sophia. So Lucy wants to seduce Toby and convince him to marry her instead. Toby knows Lucy wants him but he doesn’t want to tell Lucy the truth. So Toby asks Jeremy to occupy and distract Lucy until Toby proposes to Sophia later. Toby wants to delay getting engaged because he’s enjoying his bachelor days. Lucy wants to make Toby jealous and asks Jeremy to help her. Jeremy reluctantly agrees to help each of them. When he kisses Lucy he feels lust.
This reminded me of Whitney, My Love and Gone With The Wind because the heroine has an obsessive love for a man who does not reciprocate but leads her on. The hero is aware of this. If you like this trope, consider Whitney, My Love. I gave 5 stars to the expanded version (not original version).
I’ve read five books by this author. She is not a winner for me, but I really enjoyed one of her books, a novella, The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 360 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual content: some. Setting: 1817 England. Copyright: 2009. Genre: regency romance.
February 24, 2017
Every year Lucy Waltham enjoys the weeks that her brother invites his friends Toby, Jeremy, and Felix to their estate for hunting and fishing. Lucy has loved Toby from afar but he treats her like a child. Now Lucy plans to make him notice her by seducing him, but she's not sure how to go about it. She turns to her brother's best friend, Jeremy Trescott, for some practice seduction. Jeremy is shocked when Lucy kisses him. He is also fascinated to find this girl has grown into a beautiful woman and he never noticed it. He tries to distract Lucy from her plan, but starts to wonder if he will be caught in her trap himself.
I enjoyed this debut novel by Tessa Dare. The characters are fun and very likeable. I would have given it a higher rating if it didn't have the big misunderstanding in the last half of the book which would have been resolved in minutes if the couple had just talked to each other. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next book in the trilogy. My rating: 4 Stars.
I enjoyed this debut novel by Tessa Dare. The characters are fun and very likeable. I would have given it a higher rating if it didn't have the big misunderstanding in the last half of the book which would have been resolved in minutes if the couple had just talked to each other. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next book in the trilogy. My rating: 4 Stars.
May 30, 2022
This is 3.5 stars for me. This is Ms. Dare's first book and I decided that it wasn't that bad. The start was hard to get into because Lucy was hard to wrap around, but when the humor starts to kick in, I couldn't help myself but keep going. The miscommunication was a headache, and their issues were an eye roll. I could see why readers had a hard time with it, but I enjoyed it overall. I might read the next book.
July 12, 2022
Slightly angsty story with a much younger h. She's socially inexperienced and has known the grumpy H for years. He's her brother's friend, while he rarely talks with her suddenly he's sexually enthralled. She's a wonderful person. She grows up fast and helps him become a better man. Meanwhile her selfish brother basks in his happy family life. Great book.
December 11, 2019
El comienzo es bastante arrollador, los protagonistas luego tiene interacción y eso me encanta y eso es un patrón de algunos de los libros de Tessa Dare.
Pero yo sentí que después de la mitad el libro bajó bastante de intensidad y en algunos momentos se tornó medio aburrido.
La protagonista era muy intensa, cambiaba de opinión muy rápidamente y eso no me gustó de ella.
Jeremy en cambio si me gustó mucho.
No es el mejor libro de la autora pero entretiene
Pero yo sentí que después de la mitad el libro bajó bastante de intensidad y en algunos momentos se tornó medio aburrido.
La protagonista era muy intensa, cambiaba de opinión muy rápidamente y eso no me gustó de ella.
Jeremy en cambio si me gustó mucho.
No es el mejor libro de la autora pero entretiene
October 28, 2009
"Goddess of the Hunt" by Tessa Dare is one of the best historical romance books I have read in awhile. It is always exciting to find a new author that writes wonderful books! She reminds me of another favorite author of mine...Lisa Kleypas. I loved the chemistry between Lucy and Jeremy in this book and the dialogue was sowitty. I found myself laughing out loud at certain points and I don't usually do that with many books. Of course, there was a lot of passion in this story and it wasn't disappointing! I am so looking forward to the next two books in this trilogy because I want to find out what happens to poor Sophia and Toby! I have decided to "ration" those books out until Tessa Dare's next ones are released because they are that EXCELLENT!
March 13, 2019
Another favorite book of mine!
I just read this again and I still love it. The heroine is so different and she captured my heart. Same with Jeremy the hero. I love the way they come together and how she grew up without him knowing. From the minute she steals into his room in the opening scene until the very last page, she caught and kept my interest and fascination. And poor Jeremy never knew what hit him! Great love story. Loved the epilogue too. It is a kind of friends to lovers trope but so much more. It's safe and passionate and oh so wonderful. Totally adore this couple!
I just read this again and I still love it. The heroine is so different and she captured my heart. Same with Jeremy the hero. I love the way they come together and how she grew up without him knowing. From the minute she steals into his room in the opening scene until the very last page, she caught and kept my interest and fascination. And poor Jeremy never knew what hit him! Great love story. Loved the epilogue too. It is a kind of friends to lovers trope but so much more. It's safe and passionate and oh so wonderful. Totally adore this couple!
October 17, 2010
This book didn’t live up to all the hype buzzing around it for me. It’s alright but more of the ho-hum average kind of book than something great and wow that a lot of readers say it is.
It starts out fun enough with the heroine deciding to take matters into her own hands and get herself a husband she wants being that she’s 20 and her brother hasn’t done anything for her because he’s been busy with his own new family. Lucy sets her sights on Toby, a family friend, who she’s loved forever. Toby is a womanizer looking to settle down himself and he likes Lucy’s attentions but he doesn’t see her as anything more than a silly girl. In order to get Toby to notice her more like a woman Lucy decides to practice her seductress skills with another old family friend who’s staying at the house, Jeremy, one of those cold and jaded alpha kind of heroes. She tries to kiss him and succeeds but she treats it all like a learning experience. She lets him in on her little scheme and he reluctantly agrees to help her. Jeremy however starts to have feelings for Lucy and sees her more as a woman than the younger bratty sister of his good friend. So far so good and for a few pages it goes on with Lucy finding herself in more and more potentially compromising situations with Jeremy should they be discovered, but she sees it all in the name of making Toby jealous while ol’ Jeremy becomes more and more possessive of her.
Unfortunately as the story progresses Lucy’s headstrong character makes her look like more and more like a petulant child and your basic twit –the kind who jumps in head first without thinking so the independent minded heroine turns into a TSTL one. As for Jeremy, he’s forever apologizing to Lucy and you just wish he’d take the bull by the horns and stop being such a wuss. He says he wants her but doesn’t do anything to get her. Jeremy is an earl and Lucy is pretty much a nobody. He decides to marry her because he’s compromised her but then treats her like a nobody and acts all stupid and bossy around her. All that back and forth I’m-in-charge-you-can’t-see-your-family-anymore-because-of-your-new-responsibilities bugged me. It just didn’t work well with the story. It was like a problem was needed because it’s not the end of the story so let’s stick this in.
There is the odd emotional moment with Jeremy that may pull at the heartstrings but it wasn’t enough to keep me interested. A few other things I didn’t like:
-the always-in-way doddering old aunt who suddenly wanders off at the worst possible time. As soon as a steamy scene approached you could be sure that something happened to the aunt :-/ It’s similar to the annoying children in romances device that some authors like to use.
-the irritating caper that’s been shoved in at the end as filler
-too much boring narration that drags the book down
-the sappy “aw shucks” ending that I just don’t like in romances
This book reminded me of the average run of the mill stories by Sabrina Jeffries or Gaelen Foley. The kind of thing you’ve seen before but better. It was meh. Not a series I’ll be continuing.
It starts out fun enough with the heroine deciding to take matters into her own hands and get herself a husband she wants being that she’s 20 and her brother hasn’t done anything for her because he’s been busy with his own new family. Lucy sets her sights on Toby, a family friend, who she’s loved forever. Toby is a womanizer looking to settle down himself and he likes Lucy’s attentions but he doesn’t see her as anything more than a silly girl. In order to get Toby to notice her more like a woman Lucy decides to practice her seductress skills with another old family friend who’s staying at the house, Jeremy, one of those cold and jaded alpha kind of heroes. She tries to kiss him and succeeds but she treats it all like a learning experience. She lets him in on her little scheme and he reluctantly agrees to help her. Jeremy however starts to have feelings for Lucy and sees her more as a woman than the younger bratty sister of his good friend. So far so good and for a few pages it goes on with Lucy finding herself in more and more potentially compromising situations with Jeremy should they be discovered, but she sees it all in the name of making Toby jealous while ol’ Jeremy becomes more and more possessive of her.
Unfortunately as the story progresses Lucy’s headstrong character makes her look like more and more like a petulant child and your basic twit –the kind who jumps in head first without thinking so the independent minded heroine turns into a TSTL one. As for Jeremy, he’s forever apologizing to Lucy and you just wish he’d take the bull by the horns and stop being such a wuss. He says he wants her but doesn’t do anything to get her. Jeremy is an earl and Lucy is pretty much a nobody. He decides to marry her because he’s compromised her but then treats her like a nobody and acts all stupid and bossy around her. All that back and forth I’m-in-charge-you-can’t-see-your-family-anymore-because-of-your-new-responsibilities bugged me. It just didn’t work well with the story. It was like a problem was needed because it’s not the end of the story so let’s stick this in.
There is the odd emotional moment with Jeremy that may pull at the heartstrings but it wasn’t enough to keep me interested. A few other things I didn’t like:
-the always-in-way doddering old aunt who suddenly wanders off at the worst possible time. As soon as a steamy scene approached you could be sure that something happened to the aunt :-/ It’s similar to the annoying children in romances device that some authors like to use.
-the irritating caper that’s been shoved in at the end as filler
-too much boring narration that drags the book down
-the sappy “aw shucks” ending that I just don’t like in romances
This book reminded me of the average run of the mill stories by Sabrina Jeffries or Gaelen Foley. The kind of thing you’ve seen before but better. It was meh. Not a series I’ll be continuing.
June 27, 2016
This book started out delightful! I absolutely loved the first half, it was hilarious and very passionate, the banter between the hero and heroine was adorable, and I really couldn't wait to get to know the Jeremy that hid underneath the icy exterior that vexed Lucy so much she devoted her life to baiting him to finally see a true emotion on his face.
But then, halfway through, I wished the book had just finished with their agreeing to get married. The obligatory Big Misunderstanding happened and instead of talking about it was dragged out far too long for my taste. I didn't like the person Jeremy turned out to be at all, the way he ordered Lucy around, restricted her movements, and went all possessive set my teeth on edge. Not that Lucy reacted well to this. She went from fun bickering to spiteful name-calling, and I just wanted to lock them in a room and force them to have a conversation.
But then, halfway through, I wished the book had just finished with their agreeing to get married. The obligatory Big Misunderstanding happened and instead of talking about it was dragged out far too long for my taste. I didn't like the person Jeremy turned out to be at all, the way he ordered Lucy around, restricted her movements, and went all possessive set my teeth on edge. Not that Lucy reacted well to this. She went from fun bickering to spiteful name-calling, and I just wanted to lock them in a room and force them to have a conversation.
January 14, 2010
FIVE+++ BIG STARS!!***** What more can I say that others haven't about this book?! I LOVED it! I can't think of any unresolved issues I had with the characters and just REALLY enjoyed reading their love story (didn't want it to end). This author could become an auto buy (I've already bought books 2 and 3 in this series!), and all I can say is . . . I sure hope so. What a breath of fresh air! :)
K.
K.
March 19, 2012
3.5 stars. I'm torn whether to round this book up or down. The first half was such a great read. There was humor, sparring, angst, and wicked scheming to be had.
The second half dragged somewhat, although the ending was sweet. I found the humor was almost abruptly cut from the book in favor of forcing too much back-story. This book was written in a pretty traditional historical romance format, meaning that there wasn't anything unpredictable about the story, which was to be expected. HR is a bit watered down compared to Historical Fiction (I like both for different reasons). The historical details are quite often only used to describe the setting and clothing and not much else. The main reason why I do prefer HR to contemporary romance is because it allows me to indulge in my guilty pleasure men without having to feel like I need to write a long review about why the men should not be acting in such a horrible manner (as I would be forced to with contemporaries).
Jeremy, our lead, actually wasn't all that alpha in the traditional sense. Sure, he brooded and scowled and had a signature "look." He threatened and bullied and demanded his way at times. Underneath, he was just a big ole softy. I mean come on - he felt guilty that he bruised his woman after a romp outdoors. It's called "enthusiastic sex," buddy. I guess he wouldn't make a very good BDSM dom, that's for sure!
Jeremy's "look" :
He was most appealing during his moments of pursuit :
The shining star of the book was Lucy. She was free-spirited, a bit bratty, completely clueless toward men, and absolutely confused about what she wanted. I loved her for it. My favorite HR heroines are the ones who fly through life at a breakneck speed, while wanting to discover themselves and the world around them.
Lucy's plotting and scheming made her even that much more fun to read about :
All in all, Goddess of the Hunt was a pleasant read. I've become a bit jaded with historical romance, finding that if there isn't enough humor or something else to balance out the love story, I get bored and can't finish the book. There's only so much stalling and posturing I can take on the road to a couple finding out they were meant to be together. That's why I don't read much of it these days outside of Kleypas books. This author had a few stumbling points but I think I was satisfied enough that I might consider trying another one of her books at some point.
The second half dragged somewhat, although the ending was sweet. I found the humor was almost abruptly cut from the book in favor of forcing too much back-story. This book was written in a pretty traditional historical romance format, meaning that there wasn't anything unpredictable about the story, which was to be expected. HR is a bit watered down compared to Historical Fiction (I like both for different reasons). The historical details are quite often only used to describe the setting and clothing and not much else. The main reason why I do prefer HR to contemporary romance is because it allows me to indulge in my guilty pleasure men without having to feel like I need to write a long review about why the men should not be acting in such a horrible manner (as I would be forced to with contemporaries).
Jeremy, our lead, actually wasn't all that alpha in the traditional sense. Sure, he brooded and scowled and had a signature "look." He threatened and bullied and demanded his way at times. Underneath, he was just a big ole softy. I mean come on - he felt guilty that he bruised his woman after a romp outdoors. It's called "enthusiastic sex," buddy. I guess he wouldn't make a very good BDSM dom, that's for sure!
Jeremy's "look" :
The Look could mean different things at different times, depending on the recipient and the occasion. It could mean, "Hold your tongue." It could mean, "Lift your skirts." On one particularly memorable occasion, it had mean, "Put down the damned candlestick before you embarrass us both."
He was most appealing during his moments of pursuit :
He caught her hand in his. "Believe me," he whispered. "When I wish to be, I can be very convincing."
~
Call my name. Not God's, or the devil's, or any man's in between. Mine.
The shining star of the book was Lucy. She was free-spirited, a bit bratty, completely clueless toward men, and absolutely confused about what she wanted. I loved her for it. My favorite HR heroines are the ones who fly through life at a breakneck speed, while wanting to discover themselves and the world around them.
Lucy's plotting and scheming made her even that much more fun to read about :
What was it about helplessness men found so attractive? She supposed they must enjoy the illusion of superiority. Well, Lucy did not feel the least bit helpless or inferior, and her pride rebelled against the notion of feigning either state.
Oh, but she was going to do it anyway.
All in all, Goddess of the Hunt was a pleasant read. I've become a bit jaded with historical romance, finding that if there isn't enough humor or something else to balance out the love story, I get bored and can't finish the book. There's only so much stalling and posturing I can take on the road to a couple finding out they were meant to be together. That's why I don't read much of it these days outside of Kleypas books. This author had a few stumbling points but I think I was satisfied enough that I might consider trying another one of her books at some point.
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