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A review by unsweetener
Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare
4.25
This felt like a classic romance in the best way. Lucy is the little sister to a friend group and wants to get her girlhood crush's attention by making him jealous (fake dating type but everyone is in on it separately, basically). She's irreverent, a little petty, and her judgement is appropriately questionable for a 19-year-old; I thought she was great. Jeremy is your regular Type A aristocrat with Daddy issues; again, nothing groundbreaking here, but his tendency for self-torture never felt tedious, which is a testament to the characterization! It was really easy to understand how and why he made the mistakes he did.
Beyond that, the story is set in not one, but two, country estates. The end-of-book drama was appropriately low stakes (no 95% mark surprise kidnappings, thankfully), and I really liked how hunting and poaching tied into the story; it made for a really solid theme! There was a good bit of angst toward the end, which I always like when I'm really rooting for the couple. The side characters were also great; Toby is a Colin from Spindle Cove prototype, and Sophia was a treat; the development of her friendship with Lucy was a really nice touch. Henry was an imperfect brother, but his conversation with Jeremy and Lucy when they were preparing to leave won me over and set up the next phase of the book perfectly. All in all, 'Lovely,' as Aunt Matilda would say.
I had never heard of this early entry by Tessa Dare, but I consistently really enjoy her work. This was less quirky than a lot of her books (exception: Lucy herself is very quirky), but she tells a great story without it. The audiobook narrator was also solid.
Beyond that, the story is set in not one, but two, country estates. The end-of-book drama was appropriately low stakes (no 95% mark surprise kidnappings, thankfully), and I really liked how hunting and poaching tied into the story; it made for a really solid theme! There was a good bit of angst toward the end, which I always like when I'm really rooting for the couple. The side characters were also great; Toby is a Colin from Spindle Cove prototype, and Sophia was a treat; the development of her friendship with Lucy was a really nice touch. Henry was an imperfect brother, but his conversation with Jeremy and Lucy when they were preparing to leave won me over and set up the next phase of the book perfectly. All in all, 'Lovely,' as Aunt Matilda would say.
I had never heard of this early entry by Tessa Dare, but I consistently really enjoy her work. This was less quirky than a lot of her books (exception: Lucy herself is very quirky), but she tells a great story without it. The audiobook narrator was also solid.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
There is some rough sex that's consensual but ambiguous.