The Duchess Deal (Tessa Dare).

The description of the book *The Duchess Deal* by Tessa Dare

If this book seems unfamiliar to you, here is a generic description: What happens when a dashing, romantic duke wants a child and accidentally signs his soul up for a deal to never see the inside of his face? It begins with Emma, a wary seamstress in a peasant skirt who visits the home of the Duke to pay him a few favors he owes the (now) dead vicar’s daughter. Exhausted by war and scarred physically and mentally, the hero is faced with the task of recruiting a bride who can give him an heir.

Upon meeting the reluctant, introverted Emma, the duke makes a deal with her that only counts for the first time the two of them consummate their love: “The terms,” he says, “will always be the same. Come to my bed by nine at night. Tear off that awful peasants’ dress. Stay in my room until I wake up in the morning.” Quick to earn the nickname “the maid-loving adventuress,” Emma agrees, secretly planning her escape from the unwelcome engagement. But she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the solemn hero. And while their marriage is non-consensual, Emma must rely on him to help her and others survive the dangers ahead.

An exuberant new historical romance from Tessa Dare, the queen of standalone historical fiction, The Duchess Dea... explores consent, unconventional love, and Tom Cruise seduction in wartime England, written in the sparkling, playful voice readers have come to expect from the author.

“For Emma,” the Charles II of England decrees at a meeting of the right honorable Privy Council, “let me be married tomorrow.” There, sir, Your Grace, ladies and gentlemen, his Grace decrees. Thrice in that four syllable sentence: His Grace - beautiful. Sir, your Grace, Emma, ladies, gentlemen.