Part of my But do They Bang read-along!

Tessa Dare’s writing gets better and better with each book. I’m of mixed opinion in regard to our hero, Rhys - he’s got a heart-wrenching backstory and is overall kind and interesting. I just wasn’t feeling his and Meredith’s romance lead-up. I adore Meredith! Also, the side character Cora stood out to me. Ultimately, I love the women in this series and I’m working on liking the men ☺️ ( )

Twice Tempted by a Rogue
2 Stars

The first installment in this series is wonderful, and I had high hopes for Rhys's story as dark, brooding, and tortured heroes are my favorite. Unfortunately, this book fails to live up to expectations and it took me three tries to finish it.

Meredith and Rhys have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever and their romance makes no sense. Rhy's interest in Meredith seems to stem solely from his guilt while her priority is finally having the man she has always wanted. Their connection feels forced and lacks the intimacy and emotion of Amelia and Spencer's story.

The mystery revolving around the death of Leo Chatwick, Rhys's partner in the Stud Club, has some compelling developments and is actually the only reason I kept reading.

In sum, definitely not one of Dare's better works, and I hope the final book focusing on Julian Bellamy and Lily Chatwick will be an improvement. ( )

Tessa Dare paints amazing pictures and always manages to make me love her characters, especially when they're broken. Ashworth is definitely broken, in so many ways, and while I'm normally not a big fan of the "love at first sight" trope, watching this big, gruff man tip straight over from the first chapter was pretty amazing. I also love that Merry is a strong, successful woman, on her own. The back story for both was well-fleshed out, with a few surprises along the way. Wonderfully, Dare doesn't broadcast those surprises ahead of time.

Additionally, the mystery started in the first book continues into the second as a minor but important subplot. The lack of resolution there (along with more questions than answers) definitely makes the third book appealing. Good thing I have it handy! ( )

3.5 Stars

I didn't like it nearly as much as the first in the series, and it took me a long time to read (which is odd for me) The characters were good, I had looked forward to Rhys' story. Not really sure what went wrong.. I am not really looking forward to Bellamy's story. He's not a character I really like. Haven't decided if I am going to read it or not.. might just try some other books from this author instead. ( )

Deja vu. A few lines into the second volume of the Stud Club trilogy, I realised that Ms Dare had picked one of the supporting cast of [b:One Dance with a Duke|6809488|One Dance with a Duke (Stud Club, #1)|Tessa Dare|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320399651s/6809488.jpg|7016868] -- not necessarily the most sympathetic -- and decided to make him the hero of Book Two.

Fortunately, she removes him physically from the focus of the first volume and provides brief but welcome respite from the continuing saga of the Stud Club. Sadly, 'brief' is the operative word. Two of the characters from [b:One Dance with a Duke|6809488|One Dance with a Duke (Stud Club, #1)|Tessa Dare|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320399651s/6809488.jpg|7016868] return to help resolve the mystery surrounding the murder of the founder of the Club, so [b:Twice Tempted by a Rogue|6950701|Twice Tempted by a Rogue (Stud Club, #2)|Tessa Dare|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320483029s/6950701.jpg|7185142] fails as a stand-alone read.

However, such weaknesses are more than balanced by two outstandingly original romantic leads: a male aristocrat traumatised by parental abuse and years of bloody soldiering, and a self-reliant and sexually confident female inn-keeper.

One or two of the characters were drawn with suspiciously subdued strokes -- probably an indication that they will star in the third volume of the trilogy.

The physical descriptions of bleak Devon moorland and the idyllic village that forms the setting for most of the story were particularly well done.

As with the first volume, the romantic climax slips into stereotyped dialogues and reunions. The saga of the Stud Club could easily have closed with [b:Twice Tempted by a Rogue|6950701|Twice Tempted by a Rogue (Stud Club, #2)|Tessa Dare|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320483029s/6950701.jpg|7185142], but a third volume remains to be read.
( )