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    Any Duchess Will Do
    Any Duchess Will Do
    Any Duchess Will Do
    Audiobook10 hours

    Any Duchess Will Do

    Written by Tessa Dare

    Narrated by Eva Kaminsky

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    USA Today Bestseller

    What's a duke to do, when the girl who's perfectly wrong becomes the woman he can't live without?

    Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, has no desire to wed this season—or any season—but his diabolical mother abducts him to ""Spinster Cove"" and insists he select a bride from the ladies in residence. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.

    Overworked and struggling, Pauline Simms doesn't dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop. That dream becomes a possibility when an arrogant, sinfully attractive duke offers her a small fortune for a week's employment. Her duties are simple: submit to his mother's ""duchess training""… and fail miserably.

    But in London, Pauline isn't a miserable failure. She's a brave, quick-witted, beguiling failure—a woman who ignites Griff's desire and soothes the darkness in his soul. Keeping Pauline by his side won't be easy. Even if Society could accept a serving girl duchess—can a roguish duke convince a serving girl to trust him with her heart?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 6, 2014
    ISBN9780062351197
    Any Duchess Will Do
    Author

    Tessa Dare

    Tessa Dare is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of more than a dozen historical romances. A librarian by training and a book-lover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she shares a cozy, cluttered bungalow with her husband, their two children, and a pair of cosmic kittens.

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    Reviews for Any Duchess Will Do

    4/5

    394 ratings38 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Loved the story, it was a My Fair Lady type of story, very sweet but nice and steamy.
      Didnt like the narrator much, she was American with a very false strained English accent. She pronounced some words sometimes in an American accent and sometimes in a weird English accent, like soft was pronounced sorft and any words with an A were sometimes pronounced Arh when they shouldn't be and sometimes A when they should be Arh. But apart from that she was good.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      really 2 1/2 stars. some annoying male chauvinist and stupid girl moments.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Honestly, this one was a masterpiece. It near broke my heart ?
    • 5/5
      Funny, witty, entertaining, a book worth reading when in need for some good vibes.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful story and narrator. I really enjoyed it. I totally recommend this series.
    • 4/5
      Audiobook: Narrator -

      This is the first time I’ve listened to this narrator. It wasn’t necessarily stupendous but it wasn’t drab and dreary either. It was all rather okay...so-so, acceptable.


      Not long after the beginning of this one I was worried I might end up throwing my Kindle at the wall. However, it didn’t take too long after that point that I realized I absolutely LOVED Pauline and I was so ready for her to show Griffin what’s what. Then before I knew it, I was in love with Griffin. This couple were just so helpless when it came to falling in love and I adored every moment of them doing so.
    • 4/5
      chapter 25 made me cry my eyes out in the middle of the night & that's all you need to know
    • 5/5
      Griff, the 8th Duke of Halford, has vowed never to marry. In fact, he has vowed to give up all sensual desires in entirety. Unfortunately, his mother wants grandchildren ASAP. So she drugs and kidnaps him, taking him to Spindle Cove (also known as Spinster Cove) where she challenges him to choose any girl in the room to marry as she could make a duchess out of any of them. Having no intentions of marry while also not wanting to back down from the challenge, Griff chooses the serving girl Pauline. Pauline sees this as a way out of her horrible life. She strikes an agreement with Griff: one week of being a complete and utter failure of a duchess-in-training in exchange for a thousand pounds. It was just the chance Pauline needed to start her own business and gain independence from her father for both herself and her mentally challenged younger sister. Unfortunately for both Pauline and Griff, the attraction between them is undeniable. It takes every bit of Griff's self-restraint to stay away from her and though the feelings are there, Pauline realizes a mere serving girl can't actually marry a duke. I absolutely adored this book. Griff was an absolute sweetheart. Everything about him was just so perfect. Though he used to be a libertine, he's recently reformed (due to reasons I cannot disclose, as it would be a HUGE spoiler. However, I will say the reason made both mine and heroine Pauline's hearts melt!). He never once treats Pauline as if she was inferior due to her class and seemed to deeply care about her from the moment he realized what an abusive jerk her father was. For her part, Pauline had a lot of grit. She was no wilting flower, waiting for the right man to pluck her out of her situation. She had plans and dreams of her own, plans that delightfully did come to fruition once she returned home. Pauline was the perfect match for Griff because they both needed each other. She stood up to both him and the duchess in a way that was quite impressive.The relationship was downright steamy. There was one scene in particular involving a desk that left me whispering "oh, my" practically on repeat. And when Griff wanted to duel over the names his alleged friend had called Pauline, I couldn't help but sigh. This is what romance novels should be like and it's definitely one of the better star crossed lovers themed historicals I've read.
    • 5/5
      My favourite from Tessa so far. Delightful...very sweet and funny all the way.
    • 3/5
      Any Duchess Will Do has a poor uneducated girl rises above her station theme. Also, I know it is beyond unrealistic and in the case of this series often historically inaccurate (this book is a great example), but honestly I don't care. Spindle Cove series is known for its inaccuracies so I will not complain about that. I knew exactly what type of story would be from the blurb.
      I just didn't expect to like Griff this much. Or that his conversations with his mother would be as entertaining. “You’ll be five-and-thirty this year, Griffy.” “Yes. Which makes me much too old to be called ‘Griffy.’ ” “More to the point, I am fifty-eight. I need grandchildren before my decline. It’s not right for two generations of the family to be drooling at the same time.” **** “To be sure, you’re good-looking enough. But there are handsomer.” “Are you sure you’re my mother?” In any case, a must read for those who like this type of romantic fairy tale. I only wish Pauline's father was punished more and that there was some kind of resolution regarding Griff's friends. A 'five years later' epilogue doesn't really work.
    • 5/5
      The Spindle Cove series is undoubtedly one of the best Regency Romance series I have had the joy of reading. This is yet another wonderful addition to the series. Only in Spindle Cove could an unknown lord walk into a tea shop/tavern and walk out with fiancé, a fiancé well below him in station nonetheless. Only Tessa Dare could make such an implausible scenario work. The characters and the writing make the reader more than willing to look past the hard to swallow situation to enjoy a charming, humorous story.
    • 4/5
      Griff has no desire to ever marry, he hides a secret that changed his life forever. Despite his mother's will to see him married, he knows it will never happen and plans on the Dukedom to die with him. But then the most unexpected happens, his own mother drugs him and kidnaps him and takes him to Spindle Cove. Her intent is that he will marry any woman there, no matter who she is and his mother plans on turning her into a Duchess. So Griff picks the one woman that would be the least likely to be turned into a duchess...serving girl, Pauline Simms. Pauline has worked hard trying to protect herself and her younger sister, saving every penny so that one day she can open a library, that is her dream. But when the Duke of Halford makes a deal with her. For one week she comes to London, to be tutored as a duchess and if she fails he will give her a thousand pounds-which is a huge fortune to Pauline. Where she will open the doors to her dreams and to live a comfortable and content life in Spindle Cove. However as the week goes by, there is a certain chemistry that builds between Griff and Pauline. Griff knows that if he were to ever pick a woman to love it would be Pauline, but he vowed a lifetime ago to never marry, but will he be able to trust Pauline with his secret...and his heart?Any Duchess Will Do is the fourth installment in the Spindle Cove series. Now I have just fallen in love with this author and this series. Spindle Cove is a place set in regency England, where spinster ladies come to find friends and husbands if possible. In this book, we start off with a Duke being taken hostage by his mother..now to say this story starts off with a hitch is a understatement. I love bold and daring stories, and this one beats them all. I found Griff to be stubborn yet sexy and utterly irresistibly charming, if a bit spoiled and arrogant at times. Then you look at Pauline who has had to work for everything which is very little so far, but she still has dreams and desires, in spite of her circumstances. I loved how even though her sister is everything, she is willing to sacrifice a week, to gain a fortune that could save them both. There is some serious tension between Griff and Pauline, and their interactions between each other are priceless. There is enough sizzling chemistry that it will blow your mind. I enjoyed seeing Griff's mom, she was just so fun to see her meddling in her son's affairs, I was SO on her team. All she wants is grandchildren and for her son to find love and happiness. It was such a treat to see Griff almost being double teamed toward the end. There was such a sense of passion and a full range of emotions that can't be helped to be felt by the reader. Its almost like falling in love for the first time, Memorable and breathtaking! A classic tale of how opposite attract in the most perfect way when you least expect it. It will have you hooked until the end.
    • 5/5
      Love this book. Capture your attention from the beginning and had me laughing out loud many times. Thank you for your beautiful story. Can't wait to read more.
    • 5/5
      One of my absolute favorites. The book is enchanting, the characters are lovable, there heroine is unusual, the libertine rake of a hero is unusual and wonderfully flawed and wounded, and the narrator is stellar, which is unusual.
    • 4/5
      I consider this a fun twist on Taming of the Shrew. (I've never much cared for that story typically, but this was changed enough I enjoyed it). The characters were interesting and developed.
    • 5/5
      The Duke of Halford doesn't ever want to marry but his mother has other plans. So he makes a deal with her: if she can turn the woman of his choosing into a lady in one week, he'll relent and marry her. Of course he then tries to pick the most unlikely of candidates, a barmaid with no polish at all, and then proceeds to make a deal with her as well: do the worst possible job of learning how to become a lady and earn a thousand pounds. Well, you can guess what happens. And it's a delight. Part Cinderella, part Pygmalion, with a healthy pinch of comedy and some nicely drawn characters.
    • 4/5
      Reread 5/10/2020 for once of my favorite mothers in romance. Honestly, 99% of the reason I reread it.

      ----original review-----
      This book had a lot of sparkly shiny fairytale.

      I enjoyed it. I liked-really adored-all the characters but Griff's mother can be my devious mother-in-law anytime.

      ...I was shocked that one scene actually made me tear up...
      In the nursery, when Griff's mom wrapped her knitting around him. I don't know why, but it hit me as just perfectly funny and sad at that moment. It showed how perfectly she was attempting to care for her son and give him what he needed. Somehow, that's one that will stay with me.

      I have not much more to say here...
    • 5/5
      Lovely. This may have been a 5 star if not for a scene with groveling I found unbecoming a duke, and wholly unmerited by earlier behavior. Gratuitous humility doesn't work for me. Otherwise I really liked this installment. Such a great series!
    • 5/5
      The ending was a little...jumbled, and rushed. This was, however, overshadowed by the perfect mix of funny drama that is Tessa Dare's writing.
    • 5/5
      Any Duchess Will Do
      4.5 Stars

      Lovely and original retelling of Cinderella with a smidgeon of Pygmalion thrown in for good measure.

      Griff and Pauline have amazing chemistry and their romance sizzles on the pages. Griff is dark, broody and tortured - the epitome of my favorite hero type. His personal tale of tragedy pulls at the heartstrings and makes it impossible not to love him, which is interesting considering that he is the despicable Halford from A Week To Be Wicked and his character undergoes a complete transformation.

      Pauline is an engaging heroine. She has admirable internal strength and her take no prisoners attitude with Griff and his mother is priceless. Speaking of Griff's mother, the Duchess and her dynamic with Pauline is one of the highlights of the story and anyone familiar with Julia Quinn's Lady Danbury will absolutely adore her character.

      Although the story is delightful with numerous laugh-out-loud moments, it is rather far-fetched and requires the reader to suspend their disbelief 100% as there is absolutely NO way a duke would marry a serving girl in Regency England. Nevertheless, Any Duchess Will Do is an emotional and entertaining addition to the Spindle Cove series.
    • 5/5
      Another winner

      Ms Dare expertly and adeptly unravels ways to buck society, to allow the underdog her due and, when all hope has been abandoned to convention, she brings the hero and heroine together in their perfect happily ever after
    • 4/5
      Pauline Simms has a hard but predictable life in Spindle Cove where she works as a barmaid in the local tavern and dreams of one day earning enough to get her sister and herself out from under her father's roof. Griffin York, the Duke of Hanford is desperately trying to get his mother to stop setting him up with eligible women she wants him to wed. When the Duchess drags her son to Spindle Cove to choose a young woman to turn into a duchess, Griff chooses Pauline in the hopes that his mother will finally give up. What neither Griff nor Pauline imagine is that two such different people might be a perfect match.This book won me over from the opening page where Griff accidentally feels up his own mother's ankle. Griff is a complex hero with a delightful, meddling mother. Pauline is a strong, bright young woman who never loses sight of reality as difficult as it sometimes is. Funny, sweet, and tied up with a thoroughly happy ending, I highly recommend this historical romance to anyone who enjoys the genre.
    • 5/5
      This is a solid story; one that I would normally rate 3 stars.However, it is definitely a 4-1/2 when adding [Eva Kaminsky] the narrator into the mix. She absolutely enhances the telling of this tale. She seamlessly moves between different English accents (i.e., proper vs. cockney, etc.), paces the story very well, expresses appropriate emotion, and... wow! Too bad more authors/agents/companies (whomever makes the decision) don't realize how important the narrator is, to the popularity of a story. This audiobook should be listened to by anyone who thinks they are good at all the skills I named, as 95% would find out how it really should be done. The story, like I said before, is a solid tale. The only, but fairly major issue I had, was with parts of story written as though it was occurring in the 20th or 21st century, not the 19th. The story's saving grace is the real emotions her H/H and the Duke's mother emit throughout. They are well written, if not a bit too "current."Definitely worth checking out.
    • 4/5
      Definitely enjoyable and laugh out loud funny, while at the same time capturing a lovely romance between two equally stubborn yet so right for each other characters. And the duchess, Griffin's mother, is a wonderful character in her own right. Oh, the knitting! :-)
    • 5/5
      Tessa Dare has done it again! Yet another amazing book in the Spindle Cove series. Absolutely loved it!
    • 5/5
      This is my favorite Spindle Cove book so far. Tessa Dare never fails to impress. If she's not on your auto-buy list, you don't know what you're missing!
    • 5/5
      Another unconventional pairing. I honestly thought the ending would be different. I kind of hope we revisit this series later because there are still some characters to be written...
    • 4/5
      Number 4 in the Spindle Cove series. Hardworking serving girl Pauline Simms dreams about opening a bookshop. Duke of Halford, Griffin York, is kidnapped by his mother and brought to Spindle Cove to pick a potential bride. Frustrated with her match-making and trying to teach his mother a lesson, Griff choses Pauline. But will society accept her? And will she be able to mend his broken heart? This is Dare's best book yet.
    • 5/5
      This was my favorite of the Spindle Cove series! I loved the humor, the spunkiness of the heroine, and the swooniness (Is that even a word? Well, I guess it is now) of the hero. This is going on my keeper shelf, which is high praise since very few books make it there.

      Another hit for Tessa Dare. Keep 'em coming!
    • 4/5
      I was hooked from chapter one. This book was a delightful, funny and romantic read. Highly recommend it.I am definitely going to pick up other books in the Spindle Cove series.