The Wallflower Wager
By Tessa Dare
Release Date: August 13, 2019
Ebook Available from WV Reads
4 Stars - This regency romance was so much fun! Tessa Dare is at her best here with the tale of supposedly ruthless Gabe meeting his match in his new neighbor, quirky animal-lover Penny. Somehow this one can be sweet without getting too sappy and even throwing in a bit of suspense. I think it's a must for period romance fans and an easy, delightful read even for a read who is not.
While not quite as excellent as the previous book in the series, I enjoyed just about every minute of Gabe and Penny's story. I won't say these are filled with super original content but that's part of what's so fun about this genre. Penny's got a mysterious history that keeps her from branching out from her wallflower life. And with her friends getting married and starting families, she's more on her own than ever. Gabe's basically sworn off relationships, romantic and friendship, and prefers to focus on business. But moving next to Penny throws his life into turbulance. He adapts quickly though and is almost immediately a caring and clever partner to her.
Of course, I loved the return of the previous couples, and a few times they honestly stole the scenes. This can be read as a standalone. But the first two stories are more than worth the read. Penny's secret back story keeps things extra interesting while we learn more about Gabe's. They bond over past hurts that are very different but none the less help to understand each other. Dare has a great way of pacing this story where as soon as one little adventure ends, something else picks up, and I was happy to keep turning pages. Things turned steamy around the halfway point but there was a lot more to this couple than their combustable chemisty. A few scenes did seem a bit overlong here and there. And I would have liked to see more focus on Penny's past and some of the story's villians toward the end rather than a bit of quickly cleared up relationship drama. Otherwise, this was a very fun read with good dialouge and great characters. Definitely worth picking up.
(NS)
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