Historical Studs

One Dance With a Duke (Stud Club, #1)
Tessa Dare

Release Date: May 25, 2010
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: 9/10
Source: Purchased
Buy the Book: Borders ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Books-A-Million
Content Warning: Explicit Sex, Cursing

True temptation begins at midnight…

A handsome and reclusive horse breeder, Spencer Dumarque, the fourth Duke of Morland, is a member of the exclusive Stud Club, an organization so select it has only ten members — yet membership is attainable to anyone with luck. And Spencer has plenty of it, along with an obsession with a prize horse, a dark secret, and, now, a reputation as the dashing “Duke of Midnight.” Each evening he selects one lady for a breathtaking midnight waltz. But none of the women catch his interest, and nobody ever bests the duke — until Lady Amelia d’Orsay tries her luck.

In a moment of desperation, the unconventional beauty claims the duke’s dance and unwittingly steals his heart. When Amelia demands that Spencer forgive her scapegrace brother’s debts, she never imagines that her game of wits and words will lead to breathless passion and a steamy proposal. Still, Spencer is a man of mystery, perhaps connected to the shocking murder of the Stud Club’s founder. Will Amelia lose her heart in this reckless wager or win everlasting love?

Twice Tempted by a Rogue (Stud Club, #2)
Tessa Dare

Release Date: June 22, 2010
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: 10/10
Source: Purchased
Buy the Book: Borders ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Books-A-Million
Content Warning: Explicit Sex, Cursing

How long could she resist him?

Luck is a double-edged sword for brooding war hero Rhys St. Maur. His death wish went unanswered on the battlefield, while fate allowed the murder of his friend in the elite gentlemen’s society known as the Stud Club. Out of options, Rhys returns to his ancestral home on the moors of Devonshire, expecting anything but a chance at redemption in the arms of a beautiful innkeeper, who dares him to take on the demons of his past — and the sweet temptation of a woman’s love.

Meredith Maddox believes in hard work, not fate, and romance isn’t part of her plan. But when Rhys returns, battle-scarred, world-weary, and more dangerously attractive than ever, the lovely widow is torn between determination and desire. As a deep mystery and dangerous smugglers threaten much more than their passionate reckoning, Meredith discovers that she must trust everything to a wager her heart placed long ago.

(Both blurbs from author website.)

Since reading the ARC of Goddess of the Hunt (Miss Tessa's first print novel), I have bought each of her books as they released. I have never been disappointed.

Unlike her first trilogy, the Stud Club trilogy contains elements of intrigue. Not enough that I consider it romantic suspense, but a bit anyway. I love mystery and suspense almost as much as I love romance, so this is a definite plus for me.

Amelia and Meredith are both strong women, doing well enough on their own, thank you very much. Until each meets (or in Meredith's care, re-meets) the man who makes her long for hearth and home.

Spencer and Rhys made wonderful heroes. Each had a bit of the 'dark and dangerous' in him, but could be redeemed by love. Neither wanted to admit to his attraction - and attachment - to his lady until circumstances demanded.

These are just generalities, mind you. Each book is quite different from the other. Both are well worth reading. All of her books are, actually.

The third and final book in the Stud Club trilogy, Three Nights With a Scoundrel, releases tomorrow, July 27th! I'll hopefully get it soon.