Tessa Dare "The Goddess of the Hunt"

It's hard to be a good book that's read after an amazing book. Hmmm. Lucy is the perpetual little sister to a group of her older brother's friends. She's been madly in love with one of them forever and decides that to finally change her status with the group and gain Toby's attention she must dally with one of them. She picks Jeremy.

This is a cute plot device but to work it has to be a sweet, honest and funny book, like a Julia Quinn.

Then we have Jeremy whose brother died when he was eight, his father was distant even before the tragedy and afterwords his mother falls apart who was the only source of love he had. This is another good basis for character development, emotionally stunted hero, but to work it has to be gut wrenching, which is hard when you've started out on the lighter Julia Quinn path.

Not that the book doesn't work at all, the first half focuses on the lighter sillier self delusions, the second half the more angsty problems of the hero. A lot of the book is very good, well written, likable characters, plot moves along at a good pace. There are just moments when it feels like the dough is stretched too thin. Why does Lucy not explain to Jeremy her tears? What in the hell is up with the Sophia character?

And to be fair, if you've read Meredith Duran, you'll understand my nitpicking when I say, I just finished Duke of Shadows before I read The Goddess of the Hunt. That is a very hard act to follow.

Historical Romance 2009: 4 out of 5 small filthy tenant boys.