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The Wallflower Wager

Girl Meets Duke

Audiobook
0 of 2 copies available
Wait time: Available soon
0 of 2 copies available
Wait time: Available soon

They call him the Duke of Ruin.

To an undaunted wallflower, he's just the beast next door.

Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high society—and now he wants to get even.

Loyal and passionate, Lady Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldn't take into her home and her heart.

When her imposing—and attractive—new neighbor demands she clear out the rescued animals, Penny sets him a challenge. She will part with her precious charges, if he can find them loving homes.

Done, Gabriel says. How hard can it be to find homes for a few kittens?

And a two-legged dog.

And a foul-mouthed parrot.

And a goat, an otter, a hedgehog . . .

Easier said than done, for a cold-blooded bastard who wouldn't know a loving home from a workhouse. Soon he's covered in cat hair, knee-deep in adorable, and bewitched by a shyly pretty spinster who defies his every attempt to resist. Now she's set her mind and heart on saving him.

Not if he ruins her first.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Mary Jane Wells thoroughly delights listeners as she narrates the third book in the Girl Meets Duke series. Lady Penelope Campion is a lover of all animals and beasts, even the human kind. Her neighbor, Gabriel Duke, sees her unique, beloved pets only as hindrances to selling the house next to hers. A deal is struck: Gabriel will help her avoid returning to the country if she gets rid of all her furry creatures. Neither of them counts on their undeniable attraction. Wells is so captivating that listeners will feel like they are attending a performance. Her crisp aristocratic diction and superb comedic timing enhance a wonderful story. A.L. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from July 1, 2019
      Dare outdoes herself with the scintillating third Girl Meets Duke Regency romance (after The Governess Game). Lady Penelope Campion would rather be at home with her rescued animals than out in society, but her Aunt Caroline instructs her to give up her pets and be a proper lady—or move in with her brother in Cumberland, a fate Penny dreads. Then Penny meets her neighbor, wealthy commoner Gabriel Duke, while retrieving her escaped parrot. Gabe wants to sell his residence for a profit and believes that having a lady reside next door to him will increase his property value, so he agrees to help find homes for her animals so she can stay in London. As Gabe and Penny spend more time together, she sees the kindness hidden below his drive for success and riches. The attraction between Penny and Gabe is magnetic even as their class difference threatens to destroy their relationship. Authentic characters, witticisms, profound emotion, and echoes of trauma are primary elements in this expertly crafted novel. This riveting romance may be Dare’s best yet. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from August 1, 2019

      Lady Penelope Campion loves nothing more than collecting and caring for the stray animals nobody else wants. And she's got her heart set on one particular dark, brooding, and lonely creature: her neighbor, the notorious Gabriel Duke. The notorious Duke of Ruin rose from the slums of London by sheer hard work, here and there causing the undoing of a few aristocrats. His plans for renovating and marketing his new house include using his neighbor's highborn status as a selling point, so he's less than pleased when Penelope's motley crew of animals begin wreaking havoc on his lawn. But his icy manner begins to thaw as he helps kindhearted Penelope rehome her menagerie so she can stay in the city. Their mutual attraction quickly flares into heated trysts that have Gabriel questioning whether he truly is incapable of love. VERDICT Dare (The Governess Game) has created a deliciously sexy take on Lady and the Tramp. Laugh-out-loud scenes involving a runaway otter, a foul-mouthed parrot, and a scene-stealing hedgehog balance out the darker, more introspective topics of the characters' childhood abuse and neglect.--Kathryn Howe, Saint John Free P.L., NB

      Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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