Book Review #3: The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare (Spoiler Alert)

This is my first review of a historical romance here in Steemit and my first read for this author.This book has 264 ebook pages. It tells a story of the Duke of Ashbury who was severely scarred as a result of being an army in the battle of Waterloo. He returned to London and lived a secluded life because of his hideous scars. However, being a responsible Duke who knew that he has to take care of his estate and his people, he needed an heir to continue his legacy.

One day, Emma who is a seamstress and wearing a bridal gown that she made for the Duke's ex-fiancee, went to his study and insisted on collecting the fee for her labor in making the uncollected gown. The Duke came up with a sudden idea and propositioned Emma to marry him with given conditions that the marriage will be just a marriage of convenience with the main goal of just impregnating Emma so she can produce an heir for him. These conditions also include that there should be no affection and more importantly there should be no acts of love or any actions that would lead to them falling in love with each other.

But, like all romantic stories, the Duke and the seamstress turned Duchess fall in love. The story also tackles the sensationalized story of the monster of Mayfair who is actually the Duke himself with his very useful and charming sidekick, Trevor. Of course, there is the ex-fiancee causing trouble and wanting to bring down Emma. There are also other characters like the Duke's butler - Khan, Emma's vicar father, Emma's friend Ms. Palmer and many others who completed this story.

This story manifests that falling in love is not based on looks, love is felt when there is genuine caring and when it comes from within. And, when two people complement each other's strength and weaknesses together they can create a great pair that can overcome any obstacles.

Though the story is not an extraordinarily great romantic read, it is quite enjoyable and a light-read. The writing style is also very historical and I think it is done in a believable way as if it is actually written in that era. I think I can actually consider reading other books from Tessa Dare for my future reads.

My next review would be on Sex Not Love by Vi Keeland. Thank you for reading my review.

*photo is a screencap of the book's cover from my mobile's ebook reader