Book Review: A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare

At First Sight: At the very edge of England, in a place called Spindle Cove, Susanna Finch has created a safe heaven for women - those who have been disenchanted by love, wallflowers who need to find the courage to be themselves, girls enamored of the wrong men - where they are surrounded by friendship and companionship. 

But the quiet Spindle Cove is greatly disrupted when Victor Bramwell - newly appointed earl of Rycliff- arrives in town with the idea of forming a milita to protect the town. Bram is a war hero who was badly wounded, and after a tough recovery he can't wait to be back in the front, and successfully forming the militia in Spindle Cove might be his ticket back to the front.

Not that the female residents of Spindle Cove are very receptive to the idea.  

Second Glance: A Night to Surrender kicks off the Spindle Cove series and it's the first book by Tessa Dare that I've ever read. 

It had a lot going for it. I thought both Bram and Susanna were lovely characters, each left scarred by the battles they have fought in life and they were both far from perfect. They were obstinate and reluctant to see the other's side. But through it all they respected each other, particularly once they began to understand why they were the way they were. 

Susanna's needed to protect everyone in a way she hadn't been protected when she was a girl and was subjected to some pretty awful medical treatments that nearly killed her. Bram needed to feel useful, to build and leave a legacy and he was pretty close minded about what said legacy should be. 

I liked them and I liked them together, it was really good to see them working together and they certainly had chemistry. 

On the other hand, I felt like there were just TOO many characters introduced all at once, and the ending felt a little anti-climatic. But I'm willing to believe this is all because this is the first book on the series.

Bottom Line: All in all, A Night To Surrender was a good start of a new series, and I enjoyed Ms. Dare's writing -even if it took me a little while to get into it - and I do plan to keep following this series. 

Favorite Quote: 

As she advanced, something bleated at her, as though chastising her for trespassing. She stopped and peered at it. "Did you know there's a lamb in here?"

"Never mind it. That's dinner."

She gave it a smile and a friendly pat. "Hullo, Dinner. Aren't you a sweet thing?"

"What's that small, fluffy thing trotting at his heels? Some kind of dog?"

Drat it, now she had to look. A Broad smile stretched her cheeks "No. That's His Lordship's pet lamb. The dear little thing follows him around. He's named Dinner." 

2/3