Although Regency Historical Romances are not normally my cup of tea, there’s a special place in my heart for Julia Quinn and now for newcomer Tessa Dare.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Dare at the recent Romance Writers of America convention in DC. A lot of hype surrounds her debut because she reportedly received a six figure book deal. Now that I’ve read Goddess of the Hunt, it’s my opinion that Tessa Dare earned every penny.

The heroine of Goddess of the Hunt is not your typical plucky Regency sweetheart. No, Tessa Dare’s heroine is just this side of being a harlot–and I quite adored her. The hero would otherwise be your garden variety dark-and-brooding-landed-gentry, but his grudging delight with the heroine’s quirky antics and unexpectedly lusty nature totally endeared him to me.

Goddess of the Hunt is funny and fun. It isn’t literary fiction and it won’t force you to ponder the secrets of the universe. There are also some slow moving bits (the intrusion of class politics in the latter half slammed the brakes on an otherwise quick read) and I had the distinct impression that I’d picked up a book in the middle of a series rather than the first of a series. But overall, this novel was a delight, start to finish.

In fact, Tessa Dare has an authorial voice of a much more experienced writer and I found it difficult to put the book down. If you’re looking for some sweet summer reading that will make you smirk, and smile, and occasionally feel scandalized, this may be the book for you.

Tags: historical, Regency, review, romance, tessa dare

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