Review: A Lady By Midnight (Spindle Cove series) - ENG

Author: Tessa Dare
Original Title: A Night To Surrender
Release Year: 2012
 
Literary Genre: Romance 
Setting: England (Spindle Cove), regency
Series: 3° of Spindle Cove series

Vote:  9/10

Miss Kate Taylor is an amazing musician, she plays the piano splendidly; once she left the orphanage where she grew up, she decided to move to Spindle Cove to teach music.

She is a really nice person, kind, cheerful and patient and that's why everyone loves her in the village, everyone except the ill-tempered and unfriendly Corporal Samuel Thorne.

Kate, who has no relative left, has never stopped to look for her parents' identity and one day, during her research, she decides to meet her orphanage teacher who lives in the nearby city hoping to collect some information; unfortunately the old woman treats Kate badly, insulting her and, as if that wasn't enough she also misses the last carriage of the day to come back to Spindle Cove.

With little money and no place to go she starts panicking but unexpectedly is the prompt intervention of the only person who seems to hate her to rescue her life: Samuel Thorne.

Review: A Week To Be Wicked (Spindle Cove series) - ENG

Author: Tessa Dare
Original Title: A Week To Be Wicked
Release Year: 2012
 
Literary Genre: Romance 
Setting: England (Spindle Cove) and Scotland, regency
Series: 2° of Spindle Cove series

Vote:  91/2/10

Minerva Highwood would do everything for her two sisters, Diana, the eldest, and the youngest Charlotte.

Diana (Beauty and the blacksmith) is the real beauty of the family, she’s sweet and unfortunately a bit dainty; there are rumours about the Viscount Payne's intention to court her but he, Colin Sundhurst, is not exactly the perfect man, he is a gambler with financial problems, he's a dissolute rake and he's a bit disturbed too. Minerva knows that and she decides that he definitely can't marry Diana.

Minerva is an extremely smart girl, her biggest passion is the geology; she spends the most of her time studying everything about the subject and during her research she finds out about some footprints that if demonstrate real might be considered one of the biggest discovery of the century. She wants to show the evidences of her study at the symposium settled in Edinburgh and hosted by the Royal Geological Society in a week time, but se needs an escort. To Achieve two things with one stroke, during a night she goes to the Viscount's home and, knowing that the man is in Spindle Cove against his will, Minerva makes him a proposal: five hundred guineas, so he could easly leave the place, in exchange of his promise to never marry Diana; but to gain the sum, Minerva has to win the symposium competition in Scotland and Colin should escort her through the journey.

Review: Any Duchess Will Do (Spindle Cove series) - ENG

Author: Tessa Dare

Original Title: Any Duchess Will Do

Release Year: 2013
 

Literary Genre: Romance 

Setting: England (Spindle Cove), regency

Series: 4° of Spindle Cove series

Vote:  10+/10

Wonderful.

Miss Pauline Simms is stubborn, proud, cheeky, conscientious and sometimes a bit rough and not exactly refined (I mean for XIX century English society; I doubt that nowadays words like “damn” or “blast” might be considered particularly vulgar...). Born and raised in Spindle Cove, she has worked really hard for all her life to provide a safe future for herself and her sister Daniela, unfortunately disabled. Her dream is to open a library and leave the parents' house, her father is a violent man, angry and disappointed for not having male sons instead of two daughters.
During a day, started badly and which promises to end worse, Paulina, covered with sugar and messy, stumbles upon the fascinating Duke of Halford.

Griffin Eliot York is a thirty-four-year-old dissolute and womaniser noble, but during the last year something has changed and Griffin isn't the same man anymore, he gets away from society, he doesn't take part in balls or any kind of fun, favouring a tranquil and private life. Behind this change there is a deep agony about which no one seems to know something.

Review: A Night To Surrender (Spindle Cove series) - ENG

 
Author: Tessa Dare
Original Title: A Night To Surrender
Release Year: 2011
 
Literary Genre: Romance 
Setting: England (Spindle Cove), regency
Series: 1° of Spindle Cove series

Vote:  7/10








Surely is not the best of the series, which by the way boasts very good “pieces”, see for example the splendid Any duchess will do or Once upon a winter's eve; also the others from Spindle Cove, even if they aren't exactly at the above mentioned level, are quite beautiful.

A night to surrender unfortunately lacks consistency, firstly isn't particularly remarkable, then it gets better, quite better actually, but some time later, again, it falls in a semi-anonymity status, and the story continues alternating really moving and touching moments to not exactly noteworthy parts.

It must be said that is the author's style that cheers up the whole romance, making the reading more thrilling; if A night to surrender had been supported by a more pronounced central thread, this Spindle Cove romance, probably would have been good as the others. The characters are beautiful, I enjoyed their personalities, their relationships and their fears, they aren't unashamedly common.

Commento: A Night To Surrender / Dolce Rifugio (serie Spindle Cove)

Autore: Tessa Dare
Titolo Originale: A Night To Surrender
Titolo Italiano: Dolce Rifugio 

Anno di Pubblicazione: 2011
 
Genere: Romance
Ambientazione: Inghilterra (Spindle Cove), regency
Serie: 1° della serie Spindle Cove


Giudizio:  7/10





(To read the review in English click here)


Di sicuro non è il migliore della serie, che peraltro vanta dei "pezzi" di tutto rispetto, vedi ad esempio lo splendido Any duchess will do o Once upon a winter's eve; anche gli altri di Spindle Cove, seppur non proprio all'altezza degli appena menzionati, sono comunque belli.

A night to surrender purtroppo manca di corposità, sulle prime è risultato ben poco d'impatto, si è poi ripreso, anche bene direi, per, tuttavia, ripiombare in uno stato di semi-anonimato, portando avanti la storia alternando momenti molto emozionanti a parti non esattamente degne di nota; c'è da dire che quello che risolleva tutto l'insieme è lo stile dell'autrice che rende la lettura appassionante ed accattivante, se in questo caso fosse stata sostenuta da un filo conduttore più marcato, anche questo capitolo di Spindle Cove, probabilmente, sarebbe stato al livello degli altri. I personaggi sono belli, mi sono piaciuti i loro caratteri, le loro reazioni e le loro paure, non sono soggetti spudoratamente visti e rivisti.

Commento: A Lady By Midnight (serie Spindle Cove)

Autore: Tessa Dare
Titolo Originale: A Lady By Midnight
Titolo Italiano:  inedito in italia  
Anno di Pubblicazione: 2012
 
Genere: Romance
Ambientazione: Inghilterra, regency
Serie: 3° della serie Spindle Cove


Giudizio:  9/10



(To read the review in English click here)

Miss Kate Taylor è una talentuosa musicista, soprattutto quando si parla di pianoforte; dopo essere uscita dall'orfanotrofio dove è stata cresciuta, decide di trasferirsi a Spindle Cove per insegnare musica.
Essendo una ragazza molto gentile, solare, paziente e disponibile, è molto benvoluta da tutti gli abitanti del paese, allieve comprese (tra le sue pupille vi sono anche Charlotte e Diana Highwood - Beauty and the blacksmith); l'unico con cui non riesce a stabilire un rapporto è l'arcigno, scostante e scontroso Caporale Samuel Thorne.

Commento: A Week To Be Wicked (serie Spindle Cove)

Autore: Tessa Dare
Titolo Originale: A Week To Be Wicked
Titolo Italiano:  inedito in italia  
Anno di Pubblicazione: 2012
 
Genere: Romance
Ambientazione: Inghilterra e Scozia, regency
Serie: 2° della serie Spindle Cove


Giudizio:  91/2/10




(To read the review in English, click here)

Minerva Highwood è la secondogenita della famiglia ed è molto affezionata alle sue due sorelle per le quali farebbe di tutto: Diana (Beauty and the blacksmith) è la più bella delle Highwood, ma è anche una ragazza molto dolce e delicata e rischia di finire sposata con il giocatore incallito (e per questo molto a corto di finanze), donnaiolo, dissoluto e anche un po' disturbato Colin Sundhurst, Visconte Payne e di certo questo non è il futuro che Minerva vuole per sua sorella.