Review: Say Yes to the Marquess

SAY YES TO THE MARQUESS
Castles Ever After #2
Tessa Dare
Historical Romance
384 pages
Avon
Available December 30th
Source: eARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
After eight years of waiting for Piers Brandon, the wandering Marquess of Granville, to set a wedding date, Clio Whitmore has had enough. She's inherited a castle, scraped together some pride, and made plans to break her engagement.

Not if Rafe Brandon can help it. A ruthless prizefighter and notorious rake, Rafe is determined that Clio will marry his brother—even if he has to plan the dratted wedding himself.

So how does a hardened fighter cure a reluctant bride's cold feet?

● He starts with flowers. A wedding can't have too many flowers. Or harps. Or cakes.

● He lets her know she'll make a beautiful, desirable bride—and tries not to picture her as his.

● He doesn't kiss her.

● If he kisses her, he definitely doesn't kiss her again.

● When all else fails, he puts her in a stunning gown. And vows not to be nearby when the gown comes off.

● And no matter what—he doesn't fall in disastrous, hopeless love with the one woman he can never call his own.

MY THOUGHTS
Say Yes to the Marquess is yet another winner from Ms. Dare, her sense of humor one of the main reasons we rush to crack the spine, knowing we’ll find ourselves laughing at the antics and banter between perfectly imperfect individuals. While Ms. Dare’s romances are undoubtedly full of substance–richly nuanced characters giving the explorer in us plenty to sift through–they’re also light and fluffy (in the best possible way), leaving us free of worry that we’re going to reach a point where one or two of the characters make the mistake that’s going to bring their world crashing down around them. Instead, we read cocooned in the warmth of a safety blanket known as communication, reveling in our lead couple's ability to talk things out with one another rather than keep everything bottled up.

Though light and fluffy is an accurate description of the overall tone of this romance, it’s not without tension, things between Rafe and Clio ripe with that very thing given her engagement to his older brother. Majority of this tale is build-up, the beautiful dance between them moving a few steps forward before the swell of the music turns, shifting them with it and forcing them several steps back. Both are battling severe self-esteem issues thanks to the fact that they’ve only ever seen themselves through the lens of their families’ distorted perception, but we as readers have the pleasure of seeing each of them through the eyes of the other, and we can’t help but smile at what we find there. So very slowly over the course of the book the weight of expectation on each of them drops away, removed as a result of fierce determination and a desire to see the other person find the happiness they so rightly deserve.

Overall, Say Yes to the Marquess is everything there is to love about the romance genre, darker moments tempered by humor to ensure we have a giddy smile on our faces the entire way through. Ms. Dare is a go-to author for me, someone who never fails to delight and entertain, and who writes stories that end up on the shelf of favorites waiting to be read again and again.

Rating: 4/5

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.