Historical Romance Month - Review & #Giveaway

Hi everyone, Natasha @ A Great Book is the Cheapest Vacation is hosting the 3rd annual Historical Romance Month this September! For this event, I'm reviewing A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare and hosting a small giveaway! I used to read a lot more historical romance, but not so much recently. Hopefully this will get me back in the historical romance genre! Be sure to go to Natasha's blog and check out all the awesome stops for this event! 

REVIEW:

Title: A Night to Surrender 

Author: Tessa Dare

Series: Spindle Cove #1

Publisher: Avon

Publication Date: August 30, 2011

Links: Goodreads | B&N | Amazon

Synopsis:
Welcome to Spindle Cove, where the ladies with delicate constitutions come for the sea air, and men in their prime are... nowhere to be found. Or are they?

Spindle Cove is the destination of choice for certain types of well-bred young ladies: the painfully shy, young wives disenchanted with matrimony, and young girls too enchanted with the wrong men; it is a haven for those who live there.

Victor Bramwell, the new Earl of Rycliff, knows he doesn't belong here. So far as he can tell, there's nothing in this place but spinsters... and sheep. But he has no choice, he has orders to gather a militia. It's a simple mission, made complicated by the spirited, exquisite Susanna Finch—a woman who is determined to save her personal utopia from the invasion of Bram's makeshift army.

Susanna has no use for aggravating men; Bram has sworn off interfering women. The scene is set for an epic battle... but who can be named the winner when both have so much to lose?

Review: This being my first book by Tessa Dare, I was not disappointed at all! Spindle Cove is a place of rest and refuge to women who don’t fit into the norm of society. Having made it her home, Susanna Finch makes it her mission in life to help other young ladies like her, ladies who are too intelligent and too independent as viewed by society.

I thought Susanna is a very well rounded character. She’s feisty, smart, independent, and very caring. She really cares about Spindle Cove and the ladies who come there to rest for the summer, but I also loved that sense of vulnerability in her, that she’s still afraid of something. Her motivation is very believable. However, I don’t feel like I connected with Bram as well as I did with Susanna, probably because I don’t completely understand his honor belief, but I really liked how he changed throughout the book. At first, he was very eager to head back into war, but as he slowly fell in love with Susanna, he fell in love with Spindle Cove too and finally understood that there is more than one way to fight the war.

My favorite parts are definitely Bram and Susanna together. They’re hilarious when they argue. One or two times I did feel like the argument was a bit forced just to move the story along, but not too much. I also love their chemistry! Oh man, sparks fly off everywhere whenever they’re together! They’re an adorable couple, especially at the end where I’m just like “aww”.

Also, it wouldn’t be as great a book without the minor characters. Susanna’s dad really surprised me. That’s all I’m going to say on that. Then there’s Colin, Bram’s good for nothing cousin! He cracked me up! Omg Colin! I’m so in love with him! I can’t wait to read his book! I’m also very curious about Corporal Thorne and his past. So Ms. Dare definitely got me hooked on these regency gentlemen that’ll appear in her future books!

Overall, A Night to Surrender is a historical romance with its clichés and tropes, but at the end of the day, I enjoyed the characters and loved the feel-good ending that made me all warm and fuzzy inside, so the book is definitely a winner! I’m definitely looking forward to reading historical romances by Tessa Dare.


GIVEAWAY a Rafflecopter giveaway