Say Yes to the Marquess: Castles Ever After

This book was everything I was hoping it would be and more. I read this within hours of buying the book and had a huge book hangover afterwards. Romancing the Duke is still my favorite (hello, Ransom <3 <3 <3 <3) but Say Yes to the Marquess came pretty close. Unlike the first book where the castle represented an escape for the main character, the castle given to Clio was her independence. This castle was Clio's way of breaking away from all of the things that tied her down and her way of finding love. It was also the way she put herself first.So as I said above, I loved Clio. She's head strong and independent and quite frankly, she's had enough. For eight years she's been waiting for Piers Brandon to come back from India and marry her but she's done by the beginning of the book. Once she learns that she's been given a castle, she realizes that this is her chance to do something for her. She's trying to find her place in a world without a husband in a time when women needed men to be considered important. She decides to start another business and make something for herself. Seeing her change throughout the book--she grows so much and really begins to stand up for herself--was so wonderful. Basically, this entire book had me fist bumbling the air because she's strong and independent and doesn't need a man. This quote is basically the epitome of this novel: Rafe to Clio:"I demand to know the truth. Is there someone else?"Clio to Rafe:"Yes. There is someone else. There's me."His eyes flashed with surprise.“There’s me,” she repeated. “I’ve spent a great deal of time alone these past eight years. I’ve come to know myself and my own capabilities. I’m resilient. I can withstand a little gossip. Or even a lot of it. I can inherit an estate and devote myself not only to its preservation, but its improvement. Because I’ve taken all those lessons and accomplishments that were supposed to make me the ideal diplomat’s wife—and I’ve made them my own. At some point, while you were roaming the globe, making treaties and dividing the spoils of war, I quietly declared my own independence. I am the sovereign nation of Clio now, and there will be no terms of surrender.”(page 271, ebook)Does that not make you super happy to read? I loved the feminist aspect of this novel and Clio was the shining star of this novel. That's one thing adult romances do well: they can have incredible feminist women leading the stories.Rafe, y'all, what can I say about him? He's exactly the kind of man I love reading about in adult historical romance novels: he's tall, dark, and sexy. He's the bad boy with a heart of gold and he stays as far away from any kind of romance as he can. But he's not a jerk, y'all, even though he's a bad boy so don't worry about that. He doesn't really care about his title and would rather fight for the reasons he's known for. I really loved seeing him open up and fall in love. Even if he didn't want to at first: “I'm not going to touch her," he said [Rafe] "She's not mine. She never will be.""Indeed." Bruiser rolled his eyes and dusted off his hat. "Definitely no years of pent-up lusting there. Glad we have that sorted.”But it's fair to point out that he's not really as original as I'd like but because I don't read a lot of adult romance, I was okay with the unoriginality. So, overall, I really enjoyed Say Yes to the Marquess. It's not my favorite read but still incredibly enjoyable and I can't wait for the next book in this series. But unlike other romance series, the only thing these books have in common is the castles the women receive SO you don't have to worry about reading them out of order! But if you like swoon worthy leading heroes, independent (feminist!) women, humor, and an adorable dog, this is the book for you!

Tessa Dare has become one of my favorite romance authors. I love everything about the three historical romances I have read and look forward to reading more.

It begs the question on why most if the five star reviewers are not Amazon verified buyers? The positive aspect was at least this one was an attempt to a h romance compared to the disaster of the first book in the series. When I accidentally first read Ms Dare's Seven ..... I was left reeling at how amazingly she wrote sensually visually I kindled most of her books and sat reading continuously , unfortunately i do not understand what has happened since then ? This book was lackluster with an H and h that left me quite unmoved almost slightly depressed between his self loathing and her belief that she is unlovable it slowly paced on and on in this gloom format !Spoilers....I felt sorry for his brother Piers he sounded genuinely nice and I cannot wait for his story if there is ever one but it just did not feel ok to be off fighting for your land while your brother steals your girl even if they did fall in love . It was also slightly unbelievable that they fancied each other for ever yet suddenly after 8 years decided to act on it , just not quite there?! Phoebe the sis sounds very promising too I just hope the Rain Man aspect is not overly done , it seems lately that to grab a concept and run repeatedly with it is the order of things , to fill pages.The modern aspects killed it too , drinking eggs as boxer , her obtaining interest in brewery and pubs him training like Rocky Balboa and wanting a wedding planner and best man and a toast for the wedding , plucking chin hairs yuck, these in my opinion kill a historical romance.Repetition that dragged on throughout , her blushing overly done it felt like the fact that he did not deserve her was drilled to us again and again as a page filler , a little tiring as was the fact that continuous surprises separated them ,quite repetitive and mostly unrealistic ,there are other ways to stop them from getting it on rather than interruptions ,too predictable there , you knew what was coming also prizefighter concept and words and everything about being champion overly used to death. Champion of England repeated to death mostly from him , ok we get it already we got it from the start of the book he almost sounded boastful as he mentioned it most of the time and immature wanting to run off and punch things.Did not like the plump factor no problem in real life but this is my escape time , we all get it people fall in love despite appearances but calling her a heavyweight, granted by idiot brother in law , and overly rounded is a mood killer in my escape i mean I do not care for stunningly gorgeous but I do not appreciate overweight issues in sensuality either! And if it is ok then why is there not a nice plump lady on the cover? Slightly hypocritical one would think! Because the book would not sell , would it? That is our cover when reading !Go on put a , what did they call her rounded belly ? heavyweight on the cover , I can choose to honestly read about her , get my point! It is ok to hide her in the pages behind the hero's adoration , who by the way is never fat , but put her on the cover is a no no to the offending eye!No excuse for his self loathing either or why anyone would not accept him ?! Fist cuffs were a hobby of the ton.Riddled with editing errors eg. " staring her in straight the face " come on you have to laugh at this error ,there were many others, unfortunately, this one was during a sex scene which sadly turned laugh out loud comical for me .Other elements that were uninspiring and tiring and repeated , her blushing overly done ! First kiss was a disappointment though other scenes yummy , Silly humor , the name Teddy too American , irrational fear about dog dying as was the reaction with the vigil. Her being an expert in beer just did not stick , she did not know she would inherit the castle to be so well informed , trainer jumping on his back and running it felt like an attempt at funny but fell flat right on to silly! Final peeve Epilogue immature and the name Clio I kept reading Cloy.I still hold out hope that Ms Dare will deliver the old wow factor this one left me on a downer at least it was an h romance albeit bland , hence 3 stars and I believe its generous.

I can’t say I cared for the story much. The whole boxing thing was a bit of a turn off. Nothing against the sport, but I really wanted the whole gentleman romance rather than a guy who’d rather be a fighter. The romance was steamy, which I liked, but I literally skipped through an nest all of the boom because it simply did not resonate or interest me. The other two books in the series were amazing though. Give this one a miss

Ok, if you are anything like me you have read the synopsis of this book before buying. That being the case it is spot on so you have two brothers, one a prize fighter, the other Marquess We have three sisters each with as they say a peculiarity a very old English Bulldog and an Esquire.These are the main characters and they are great. Their personalities are unbelievable they come to life you feel every emotion they feel. Laughter, tears, confusion, love. Great story well worth the read

I once said to a friend that romance novels had very little substance to them, she showed me this book to prove that they could. Although it does adhere to some of the classic and oft repeated romance formulas, each character is likeable but flawed, the plot is coherent and well written and the humour is sparkling. I was incredibly impressed to find characters coded as autistic, ADHD and having an eating disorder all in historical fiction and I love the way Tessa Dare brings modern issues into historical regency settings and reminds us as readers that these things are not as new as we thought.

Clio was adorable, Rafe was alright

I really enjoyed this book it was a lovely romantic story very touching in parts.. it would have had 5 stars from me but in my opinion the romance side of the story was ruined by the small parts that seemed a little too seedy for my taste...