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    A Night to Surrender
    A Night to Surrender
    A Night to Surrender
    Audiobook11 hours

    A Night to Surrender

    Written by Tessa Dare

    Narrated by Carolyn Morris

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    “An engaging love story with strong, believable characters. I can’t wait to read the sequels!”
    —Mary Balogh

    “Prepare to fall in love.”
    —Julia Quinn

    Presenting the winner of the Avon FanLit contest, the immensely talented Tessa Dare! Tessa’s first Avon historical romance, A Night to Surrender, is a love story to remember—kicking off her wonderfully inventive Spindle Cove series, set in England’s Regency Era in a small seaside resort town that caters specifically to ladies “of good breeding and delicate constitution.” Fans of Lisa Kleypas, Christina Dodd, and Liz Carlyle will delight in the passionate chaos that ensues when a dashing British officer, under orders, “invades” this community of strong-willed “spinsters,” only to discover he’s met his match in Miss Susannah Finch!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateDec 17, 2013
    ISBN9780062323224
    A Night to Surrender
    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 A Night to Surrender

    4/5

    410 ratings33 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Engaging story, beautifully written, fun and interesting characters, steamy scenes are well written and just the right amount, and the narrator is pretty good.
    • 3/5
      2.5 (I have an excuse)
      I can't move past I like it. I don't want to rate a book lower because I am really not sure whether I would like it more if I read it where I didn't have to watch over other people. It could be that since I've read the whole book on the bus full of fifteen to seventeen-year-olds, my attention was divided. Maybe they are too loud, I don't know. So I'll blame this on them and read it again later.

      I loved the humour. The beginning surprised me so much that I laughed aloud.

      In Julia Quinn's Bridgertons you get humour too and I loved those characters. For some reason I couldn't connect with any of the characters here. One of the reasons for that could be that I found Suzanna too much (of everything). If she didn't have those scars, she would be perfect. She is beautiful, she knows what's best for every person she meets, she can do anything, she has her own potion for asthma, she can shoot and so on.

      Still, for anyone who wants to read a historical romance with a bit of humour, without that obligatory misunderstanding, without the things that prevent them to be together and the two characters who don't fight their attraction throughout the book only to 'see the light' in the end, then this is definitely a good story.

    • 5/5
      Audiobook: Narrator - Carolyn Morris

      Great job of giving voice to these lively characters!

      I read book 3 long ago and have since come back to read/listen to the series. I didn’t think I would enjoy this one as much as I did A Week to be Wicked but I absolutely did. There is just as much fun, steam and hijinx here as there was in #3. I adored Victor and Susannah as well as the organic manner that their relationship developed. This series is definitely going to be on my re read shelf for years to come!

    • 3/5
      really 2 1/2 stars. some annoying male chauvinist and stupid girl moments.
    • 4/5
      Wrote some notes about this one, too...

      4 stars. Spindle cove is going to be great!

      Bram and Susanna are super cute together. She basically runs the town of spinsters, so she needs a strong man to balance her strong nature... someone who isn't just a pushover, you know?

      Her past was rocky after her mom died. She was sent off to live with relatives who essentially abused her with "modern" medicine to try to make her less melancholy. (HELLO! Her MOTHER just died!) Bleeding her and giving her horrible tonics and crap. She was really really weakened... and it was kinda surprising she lived! Her dad was aloof... not very affectionate, but I guess I pictured them as Belle and her father from Disney's Beauty and the Beast, so when we find out just how strained their relationship is at the end, it was a surprise, and not in a good way. I was like, "Whoa! What? Where did THAT come from?"

      And I didn't get why she was so reluctant to fall in love and get married. I still don't know why that was. So when she's willing to sleep with Bram a few times along the way with no intention of marrying him... Willing to give him her virginity but not her heart... that just didn't make sense to me. And I didn't like that.

      I really thought his past wasn't explored enough. I thought that his need to be in the military made sense, but I'm surprised no one ever said anything to the effect of: "Don't you think your dad would be proud of you settling down, protecting the home turf, and being marvelously happy with his daughter-in-law and grandkids?" I mean, it's not like his NOT being in the military suddenly turned him into a foppish ne'er-do-well, you know?

      So yeah, their issues didn't make complete sense to me, and I though their emotional baggage could have been explored more.

      I'm excited for the sequels though! :)
    • 5/5
      New series for me--love it so far!
    • 4/5
      I really enjoy getting a peek into the lives of the people of spindle cove. I've read a different book and came back to this first one to see how it all started.
    • 4/5
      Has one of the best meet cute
    • 4/5
      Spindle Cove is a haven for women. A haven which is led by Susanna Finch with the goal of providing a safe place for those with delicate constitutions, overbearing family members, scandalous secrets or outlandish hobbies. There are few year round residents and even fewer male ones. Until Bram and his men turn up and are tasked with starting a militia. I enjoyed this. It was a well written feel good romance with a decent plot, fun setting and swoon worthy relationship. There's nothing overly original but what's there is done well. I loved the schedule the women had. Mondays are country walks, Tuesdays are sea bathing, Wednesdays they work in the garden, Thursdays are for shooting! And Fridays they climb to the castle and picnic, chat, plot, scheme etc. The town is charming and the residents are hilarious. I really liked Susanna. She was intelligent and fierce and I loved her take charge attitude. I felt sorry for her, losing her mother and then, basically, losing her father, being left with strangers and told off for not being happy and then being bled for getting unhappier. I mean jeez. A weaker person would've broke. Considering she's basically a fully function adult, that's impressive. Mental illness is barely discussed or understood now. And her father is an ass. At least he took her somewhere she could recuperate, but he should've offloaded her in the first place. But different times and all that. I would've liked to see Susanna interact with the females more, it's discussed but not really shown and I would've liked to see a few more scenes with her confiding in them or something.Bram was interesting. I liked his determination to recover from his leg injury and his reasons for wanting to get back to the front lines of the war. (The last letter he received from his father sympathised how hard it was to write condolence letters to families of the men under his command. His father died a week before he received the letter. Bram is worried that if he is no longer on the front line, his dad will no longer understand and accept him.) I liked his consideration of Susanna, although his outburst when Finn was injured and he dismisses her medical knowledge was pretty rough. Susanna totally should've made him grovel a hell of a lot more. I adored his relationship with the lamb named Dinner! It cracked me up that the lamb kept turning up everywhere. The relationship between Susanna and Bram was good. I liked that Bram appreciated her intellect and didn't want her to be quiet when she had an opinion. Even if he doesn't agree with it. I loved that Susanna was willing to put him in his place but that she was also willing to let down her guard and let Bram take charge as well. They were both hilarious and they made a great team when they decided to work together and compromise for the best of the town. I liked Thorne and Finn and Rufus were sweet. Colin was amusing. Minerva was brutal with her rocks. I can't wait to read Colin and Minerva's story. Strong beginning to an interesting series. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
    • 3/5
      I have quite enjoyed Tessa Dare's historical romances previously, and I'm thankful I read those first. If this had been my introduction to her work I likely would have shied away from further novels by her. I don't know if this was an early manuscript, or a less experienced editor, or what, but it was significantly worse in my opinion. Almost like elaborate fan fiction inspired by her other work. Up until near the end I was expecting to give this 2 stars actually (and I know I've given at least one of her previous books 5!). The characters weren't as dimensional and leaned heavier on tropes (even for the genre =P) the woman is headstrong but inexperienced, the man is all macho manliness. Battle of the sexes and all that... yadda, yadda. It also seemed to be missing most of the 'historical' angle of a historical romance. The characters embraced very few of the social tenets of the time. At one point a community of women discover that an unmarried, gently bred woman has been having physical liaisons with a man, and instead of judgement or concern for what would have been considered a highly scandalous, ruined, woman likely to bring dishonor to her family and be shunned from society, they practically break out in that "tell me more, tell me more" song from Grease! It just wouldn't even be on the spectrum of potential reactions for the time! Situations like that would have been at least a little bit more conceivable if it were passed as a modern-day story of some slightly old-fashioned small coastal town. But then I just wouldn't have bothered with it to begin with, had that been the case. I'll perhaps try the next novella novel (it appears the novellas are all rated below this one and all the rest of the novels rated significantly higher) and see how that goes before determining whether or not to ignore this series. Hopefully, they improve as they go, or this was just a poor anomaly or something. I want to like them.
    • 5/5
      I was certain this was gonna be a 4 for me... and then Bram decided he was going to marry Susanna so... yeah I fell in love just a bit.
    • 3/5
      I found the first act boring, but it picked up a good deal after the first third or so.
    • 2/5
      Meh.... 2.5? Is this an unpopular opinion? Could be my timing and attitude right now, but it was just a bit of a miss for me.

      I found this book amusing and light-hearted, a little slow and a little annoying.

      -Bram felt like he was kind of traditional, yet accepts that Susanna has all these hidden talents and "manly pursuits"
      -I felt like the sex was kind of taking up too much of the plot, as nice as some of that was
      -The set up was just...silly. And the tension didn't really make me keep coming back.

      The lamb, Dinner.
      The wit
      Great heroine personality, refusing to settle
    • 5/5
      I loved this first book in the Spindle Cove series. The H/h are wonderful. I love their banter and the growth of their relationship. I'd like to smack Susanna's father, but that's a testament to the strength of all the secondary characters. Again, Tessa Dare gives her readers a heartwarming story with steamy scenes and plenty of just fun, laugh out loud moments.
    • 3/5
      My least favorite of the series though I very much liked Bram and Susannah. There was a clunkiness to the storytelling that is not there in later books. Still a very fun read.
    • 3/5
      This was cute, and I really liked the characters. I think I was in the mood for something a wee bit more angsty, but still, I'm adding the rest to my to-read list!
    • 5/5
      Pure adorable-ness. I could kiss this book, I loved it so much.
    • 4/5
      A Night to Surrender
      4 Stars

      Battle of the sexes in Regency England - the romance is engaging and the characters likeable but the plot lacks substance.

      The small town setting is quaint and the notion of a safe haven for society's wallflowers is charming. However, neither is sufficiently developed and the dynamic between the women is missing the closeness and intimacy that is expected in these circumstances (Kleypas's Wallflowers has this in spades). Similarly, the relationships among the men lack comradeship.

      The witty banter and sizzling chemistry between Bram and Susanna make it all worthwhile though. Bram is an injured war hero intent on returning to his regiment but cannot keep his hands of Susanna long enough to fulfill his mission of forming a militia. Susanna is intelligent, independent and fiercely proud of helping the young women who don't fit into society's image of perfection. She is a lovely heroine but does have a tendency to submit to Bram when he becomes overbearing, which is contrary to her characterization. Moreover, Bram can be sexist and tends to dismiss Susanna's concerns and wishes, which it irritating at times.

      Overall, an entertaining read despite its shortcomings and the romances developing among the secondary characters have definite potential.
    • 3/5
      Susanna Finch has worked to make her home village of Spindle Cove a safe haven for those ladies who don't quite fit into society. Of course, one of the many selling points for those ladies is that there are very few men in Spindle Cove. Until the arrival of Lieutenant Colonel Bramwell who has come to convince Susanna's father to use his influence to have Bram sent back to the war against Napoleon after taking a bullet to the knee. When Susanna's father tasks Bram with setting up a local militia everyone is dismayed. Particularly when Bram and Susanna discover that beneath all their verbal sparring lies a deep attraction.While there were definitely some very cute moments in this one, the novel was a bit of a dud for me as Bram is a super duper alpha male personality. I kept hoping that at some point during the novel he would learn that being a man didn't require being such a domineering personality all the time but it never happened. While this type of hero might have an appeal for some readers, he didn't work for me. That said, Susanna was lovely and almost as strong a personality but some of their interactions left me a bit squidgy. Not a Tessa Dare I'd recommend, but there are several others I would so don't skip this author based on this title.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars I can't remember the last time I really fell for a historical romance series...but this one has me hooked!
    • 5/5
      Just the sort of book I needed right now. I gave up sleep to finish this one, and I have no regrets. The author made me ache for the characters, and not because they were being stupid. They were very honest with each other (all though sometimes not with themselves). Fun, refreshing, emotional, but with enough silliness to keep the novel lively and a little enchanting.
    • 3/5
      Some excellent moments overshadowed by some moments where the characters and situations were a bit too obvious or the attitudes just a little too modern for my taste. Also the heroine seems too willing to give up her life for the hero. Also the boundary ignoring of the hero was a bit annoying. Still overall not a bad read, it just had moments.

      Susanna Finch has a life created for herself. After her mother died she ended up in the hands of well-meaning relatives who subjected her to all sorts of treatments to help her get over it, none of which really worked, now she's dealing with her father and his eccentricities and she has built a haven for girls who don't fit, or who have health issues that have seen them seen as ineligible by many. She has worked on finding less damaging ways of helping people, some will never rejoin proper society but many others will.

      Victor Bramwell comes to the village with an assignment to gather a militia, however the men are few on the ground, partially because of Susanna's idlyic haven.

      The village is a characture, and in some ways an irritating one, granted there were instances where the Peninsula war did decimate some villages, but this was a coastal Cornwall space, people rebuilt harbours all the time and moved the villages to follow them. Also with big houses come men, Gardeners, potboys, grooms, footmen etc and if the Finch house was only even moderately large there would be at least some of those men.


      Yes I enjoyed the read but it left a bit of a bad aftertaste.
    • 4/5
      Read from August 14 to 16, 2014 My first Tessa Dare read was a wonderful escape. If only I could take a real vacation to a coastal English village. Susanna is a sparkling leading lady, but I found Bram a little too manly. There was a fight for power between these two and I don't necessarily feel like Susanna won (you know, yay girl power and all). Despite that, I did enjoy it and just might take another trip to Spindle Cove soon.
    • 3/5
      Many people love this book but I read better ones. I didn't really care about Bram and Susanna. I definitely prefer stories with a city setting than countryside. I'm more interested in the story of Colin and Minerva in the second book so I will probably read it.
    • 4/5
      I read the second and third Spindle Cove books before I read this one, the first. It was actually fun doing it that way, as it lent a 'prequel' air to the book. Knowing what I did about the future romances of the other characters made it so that I grinned at seeing how Dare set them up for those relationships.

      I would say this was my least favorite of the three, but still a very good book with some touching parts and lovable characters. After reading the three books practically back to back, I feel like Spindle Cove is familiar and a place I'd love to visit. I love how Dare's trilogy centers on imperfect characters (Bram's wound, Minerva's geology fixation, and Kate's port wine birthmark).

      Tessa Dare is now a go-to author of historical romance for me!
    • 5/5
      New series for me--love it so far!
    • 5/5
      It's easy to see why A Night to Surrender is a 2012 RITA finalist.

      I thoroughly enjoyed this battle-of-the-sexes/fish-out-of-water comedy romance. It has lots of plot and a likeable hero and heroine, but oh, the dialogue -- not just between the lovers but also among other characters -- is just fabulous.

      Truly, you'll laugh out loud and sigh with desire watching Bram and Susanna fall in love. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      This book does a fantastic job balancing a lighter tone with meaningful character development. The conflict in A NIGHT TO SURRENDER is one part physical mayhem and two parts personal growth. I really enjoyed how Dare handled the interplay between Bram, Susanna, and Susanna's father.
    • 4/5
      So here's a romance that gets it. Recently I've read a string of romances where the female character is portrayed as "independent" but actually is a mite too submissive and wishy washy. This is a good sort of enemies to friends without either leads coming off as douchey which can be the case sometimes. Also was genuinely funny at times and introduced what I assume will be characters in the rest of the series that I actually want to read about.
    • 4/5
      A NIGHT TO SURRENDER combines gorgeous, gorgeous writing with a very silly plot. When I say silly, I don’t just mean that I, personally, find it silly – I mean it’s self-consciously ridiculous. This is a book, after all, that starts off with the hero and his boon companions setting off a small explosion to clear a herd of sheep away from a small country road – a sheep-bombing, as the incident is later titled.

      The sheep-bombing leads to a host of similarly absurd events. Our hero, Bram, is given the task of whipping Spindle Cove’s small handful of civilian men into a reserve militia. Our heroine, Susanna, protests Bram’s military incursions with a host of uppity spinsters. Cue the inevitable cross-dressing escapades and pratfalls. Almost every single turn of the plot here is more joke than story.

      Well. Jokes with a point. Bram and Susanna start off at loggerheads. They’re both likable, competent, virtuous, utterly commendable people. But Susanna is devoted to her retreat, and she isn’t sure it will survive Bram’s interference. Bram doesn’t care; he has a job to do and if that means injecting a little testosterone into Spindle Cove, so much the better. But through all their silly clashes they learn to like and respect one another, and eventually they work together and find out they’re stronger together than they were individually.

      It’s a nice message. It’s a charming, whimsical book. And, like I said at the beginning, the writing is gorgeous. At one point Dare describes Susanna as a “temptress in a teapot” and her sensual scenes are amazing – like when Susanna lies chest to chest with Bram and enthuses about their “dueling heartbeats pounding both sides of the same drum.” Gorgeous, right? It’s an unforgettable image.

      I think someone who likes their historical romances fluffy would love this book. Someone who likes their heroes and heroines to be relatable rather than dramatic, nice rather than intense, pleasantly compatible. Personally, I find nice, likable, relatable Susanna and Bram boring. I like my historicals with more angst and intensity. But that’s personal taste; A NIGHT TO SURRENDER is beautifully executed.