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    A Night to Surrender
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    A Night to Surrender
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    A Night to Surrender
    Ebook427 pages6 hours

    A Night to Surrender

    By Tessa Dare

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Welcome to Spindle Cove, where the ladies with delicate constitutions come for the sea air, and men in their prime are . . . nowhere to be found.

    Or are they?

    Spindle Cove is the destination of choice for certain types of well-bred young ladies: the painfully shy, young wives disenchanted with matrimony, and young girls too enchanted with the wrong men; it is a haven for those who live there.

    Victor Bramwell, the new Earl of Rycliff, knows he doesn’t belong here. So far as he can tell, there’s nothing in this place but spinsters . . .and sheep. But he has no choice, he has orders to gather a militia. It’s a simple mission, made complicated by the spirited, exquisite Susanna Finch—a woman who is determined to save her personal utopia from the invasion of Bram’s makeshift army.

    Susanna has no use for aggravating men; Bram has sworn off interfering women. The scene is set for an epic battle…but who can be named the winner when both have so much to lose?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 30, 2011
    ISBN9780062049841
    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

    3.5/5

    322 ratings28 reviews

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    • 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.
    • 2/5
      Maybe I shouldn't rate this, since I only got 20% of the way in before I gave up, but it seems about right. It's competently written, in the sense that the spelling and grammar are correct, the dialog sounds like speech and the characters are at least a bit compelling, and nothing about the story really offends me. That much generally earns at least two stars, even if the rest of the book is a lazy, cliched, big dumb mess. It's a bad book, but it's a harmless one, so two stars it is.

      Despite what Avon says, this is not a historical romance. This is actually a time-travel fantasy. What this story does, rather than offer a window to the past, is confirm the contemporary reader's biases that People Back Then Were Stupid and that if they, the contemporary reader, had been born back then, They Would Have Known Better. It also features a cameo appearance of the perennial favorite Women Can Only Be Happy If They Adhere To Contemporary Values And Behavior. So, unlike a historical romance or historical fiction that has an actual relationship with history, this isn't about visiting the past. This isn't about women carving out spheres of influence or exercising agency from within the different rules of their time. This is about feeling good about living in the present day.

      Our heroine just knows that bleeding is bad medicine despite it being the accepted science of the time. She is of course completely informed on the details of the wars with Napoleon and the United States, even arguing with the hero about tactics, despite living in a rural village. Naturally she and all her spinster friends in their Disney musical town are perfectly happy to be single. I guess they must all be independently wealthy with 100% control over their fortunes and not have interfering relatives to worry about. It's just tea and pianofortes and sea bathing and intelligent conversation for the lot of 'em.

      So, like I said, it's a time-travel fantasy. Maybe that's your thing. We all like to have our biases confirmed--Lord knows I giggle every time one of those "family values" sorts gets caught with a rent boy--but this isn't a bias I share. I read this book, and it just strikes me as arrogant self-applause. YMMV
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 5/5
      I smiled all the way through "A Night to Surrender" by Tessa Dare. The humor and banter and romantic sparks were just right. There were also moments of exquisite tenderness as well as evocatively erotic interludes. The appreciation between the hero and heroine of each other as individuals was as profound as it was passionate. Neither of them knew that they had spent a lifetime searching for each other until they actually met. Susanna Finch, daughter of Sir Lewis Finch, is a healer and a champion of women in need of shelter from the outside world. She oversees the community of Spindle Cove, also known as "Spinster's Cove", where young women come to enjoy the sea air and beautiful countryside. To those who stay, it is a safe haven and a place where they can be themselves. Victor Bramwell, on leave from his army duties due to a wounded knee, seeks the assistance of Susanna's father to restore his active duty commission. Sir Lewis does much more than that, enabling Bram to become the new Earl of Rycliff in exchange for regrouping and refining the local militia. Bram hadn't counted on becoming an Earl and inheriting a crumbling castle, but most of all, he hadn't expected his overwhelming attraction to the lovely Susanna. At cross purposes, and hopelessly smitten with each other, Bram and Susanna eventually work together for the good of the community. Their own personal demons and fears of being hurt get in the way of their blossoming romance. Can they learn to compromise and trust each other enough to truly have the love of a lifetime? Susanna is a strong, spirited heroine, and she is more than a match for Bram. I instantly fell in love with Bram. His self-deprecating humor, wicked sexiness, and touching vulnerability made him one of my favorite romantic heroes. I very much look forward to the upcoming books in Tessa Dare's "Spindle Cove" series!Review Copy Gratis Amazon Vine
    • 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
      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!
    • 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
      I enjoyed this book quite a bit although I couldn't help but compare it to Miss Wonderful by Loretta Chase (wounded war hero forced to rusticate, meets intelligent miss, sparks fly). However, they obviously aren't identical and this had some wonderful lines. (Bram: "You need a good ravaging"; Susanna: "You need a hug.") Overall it was a fun read and I'm quite looking forward to the next in the series.
    • 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!
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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
    • 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.
    • 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 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
      New series for me--love it so far!