Review + Giveaway: A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare

From the Back Cover:

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?

My Thoughts:

This may be my favorite historical romance of the year! Spindle Cove is a labor of love for Susanna Finch, who grew up on the neighboring estate. Susanna knows what it's like to be a misfit, and she's turned Spindle Cove into a seaside refuge for other women seeking freedom from illness, scandal, unwanted matrimony, and overbearing mothers. It's a place where unusual women are free to be themselves, and where they are relatively free of men. But the ladies' peaceful life of spinsterly solitude is turned upside down by the arrival of Lt. Colonel Victor Bramwell and his orders to recruit a militia to protect their coastline in the event of a French invasion.

The women of Spindle Cove, led by a feisty and determined Susanna, are prepared to fight for the peace and tranquility of their little haven. Susanna is prepared to do whatever it takes to remove this threat to her paradise, but she's about to meet her match. After a devastating battlefield injury, Bram needs this militia. His commission is on the line and he needs to prove to his superiors that he is capable and ready to return to command in the Napoleonic War. But he's about to find out that his biggest challenge is not building a fighting troop of men from the village's ragtag offering, but rather allowing himself to consider a future far different than what he thought he'd always wanted, and finding the courage to take it. And Susanna's about to discover exactly what kind of benefits there are to having a strong and handsome man in the village, in her arms, and in her heart.

This was my first time reading Tessa Dare, but it will not be my last! It's been a long time since I found a romance so genuinely humorous. I grinned my way through the entire first half of this charming novel. I loved everything about it. (Well, almost. My only little quibble is that I thought the sex scenes were a tad overdone.) The premise is refreshingly original and I loved Spindle Cove and all of its residents. The characters are great--no cliched, cardboard supporting characters here--and Bram is a fantastic hero, very authentic and convincing. The women of the village and the men of the militia go toe-to-toe with cutting wit, sparkling dialogue, and one outrageous scene after another. And though we all know how a romance is going to end, this one had a couple of surprises on the way there. The seeds have been planted for the next two books in the series and I can't wait to read them. This is just an all-around fun, charming, superbly-written little gem, and if you love historical romance, you need to add this one to your list!

My Rating:  4.5 Stars out of 5

I thought A Night to Surrender was so great,
I want to share it with one of you!

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*Please Note: This review references a review copy received through the Amazon Vine program. Though I received this book from the publisher, these are my honest and unbiased thoughts, and I was not compensated in any other way for reviewing this book.