ISBN: 978-0-345-51885-9
Publisher: Ballentine/Del Ray
One Dance with a Duke is the first novel in Tessa Dare’s second trilogy. This new trilogy – called the Stud Club Trilogy – center around a group of 10 men who own rights to the stud services of a retired champion race horse. One Dance with a Duke is about the story of Spencer Dumarque, the 4th Duke of Morland – one of the 
members of the Stud Club. Spencer is trying to find a wife, but is not comfortable in social situations. In his male mind, he has decided that he will show up at ton entertainments at midnight and select one lady to dance with and then leave before he becomes uncomfortable. Because of his actions, he is dubbed the “Duke of Midnight” by other members of the ton. There seems to be a great deal of speculation about him, and all the single ladies hope to be chosen to dance his one dance of the evening. The particular evening at the start of the book, Lady Amelia d’Orsay finds herself giving her brother the last of her money to pay a gambling debt and finding out he has lost a fortune to Spencer. She decides that she will be the “Duke of Midnight’s” one dance for the evening and makes it happen in a humorous scene. The conversation during the dance had me laughing out loud! At the end of the dance Spencer had panic attack – we find out later that he has claustrophobia- and he tucked Amelia under his arm and headed outside. This is the first in a series of unrealistic occurrences that create problems with the believability of this book.
Tessa Dare is a wonderful author. The dialogue leaps off the pages and the story flows along in a seamless fashion. Makes it difficult to imagine that she is a new writer! I didn’t become as attached to the characters in this book as I did in the previous set of books. Amelia seemed to be overly supportive of her family members. It takes her a long time to see through her brother’s lies and cons. She seems to spend most of the book putting her family first.
Spencer is a troubled hero. He seems way too infatuated with horses and the stud club horse in particular! It isn’t until almost the end of the book when we are offered a logical explanation for his obsession with the stud club horse. Because of this, he comes off as a bit batty! He is, however, more willing to share his life and love with Amelia than she is. I don’t have to like the characters to appreciate the writing, and this is the case for this book! I look forward to the next book so that I can enjoy Tessa Dare’s wonderful flowing writing style!
Tessa Dare continues to receive glowing reviews. Comments are made about how many wonderful books this new author has produced, and that all of them are of a high quality! Mandi from Smexy Books points out an interesting fact about Tessa Dare’s writing by saying: “Tessa Dare can write foreplay like no one’s business. She spends and entire page on just the act of Spencer removing his gloves so he can kiss Amelia properly. And then – the kiss.” I couldn’t say that any better. When you read one of Ms. Dare’s books you are so engrossed in the words that you forget the passage of time or how well she draws the reader in!
Romance Junkies gave One Dance With a Duke 4.5 out of 5 and said: “ONE DANCE WITH A DUKE starts off with just the right amount of shock and awe and grows into an utterly irresistible love story. Tessa Dare writes a truly energetic and refreshing love story. Amelia and Spencer will steal your heart!”
