The Dare and the Doctor
By Kate Noble
Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: November 22, 2016
Rhys is delighted that Margaret has agreed to visit London.
Even as he assures himself and his friends Phoebe and Ned, the Earl and
Countess of Ashby (The Game and the
Governess), that his correspondence with Margaret had been academic in
nature and that their relationship is strictly platonic, Rhys is making plans
to spend as much time as possible with Margaret. He has all but forgotten his
mother’s scheme for a marriage between Rhys, her dependable doctor son, and Sylvia
Morton, the pretty daughter of a neighbor, a marriage that will end a feud and
restore the reputations of Rhys’s father and elder brother sufficiently to
allow them to return to England from their exile on the Continent. Despite
Rhys’s repeated insistence that he has not agreed to the marriage, everyone
else acts as if the betrothal is a certainty.
As Margaret and Rhys spend more time together, a growing
attraction adds to their firm friendship, but a romance between them seems
hopeless. Rhys may be reluctant to do his duty to redeem his family’s standing
in society, but clearly he cares for them and cannot ignore the problem that is
within his power to remedy. Margaret understands his dilemma and is eager to
return to her father’s estate and the safety of her greenhouse. When Rhys
continues to postpone acting, someone else acts for him. Has his own indecision
separated him and Margaret forever, or will he find a way to free himself from
a deceiver’s trap?
I am one of the readers of The Lie and the Lady (Book 2, Winner Takes All) who longed for
Margaret and Rhys’s story. I loved both these characters in that book and
believed that the relationship between these two science-obsessed introverts
contained the seeds of an HEA. The Dare
and the Doctor satisfied all my expectations and offered a friends-to-lovers
tale in which both the friendship and the romance are persuasively developed. The opening chapter shows a year in the
lives of Margaret and Rhys through the letters they exchange. The growth of
their friendship is documented through these letters, moving from genuine
liking and respect based on mutual interests to the intimacy of deep
friendship. The reader is prepared to see the friendship progress to romantic
love when the two are reunited in London. The elation both Margaret and Rhys
experience at the thought of seeing one another reveals that feelings other
than friendship are present even if they are too shy to admit to them.
This is a quiet book, and some
readers may find Rhys and to a lesser degree, Margaret too passive. However, if
you prefer your romances character-driven and appreciate a story in which the
protagonists are more at home in environs related to professional interests
than in ballrooms and other sites of social gatherings and if you have an
affection for romances that are more tender than tempestuous, I think you will
like this book as much as I did. As a Kate Noble fan since her first historical
romance, I recommend the full series, but The
Dare and the Doctor can be read as a standalone. I recommend you add this
one to your TBR list.
~Janga
National bestselling author Kate Noble’s THE DARE AND THE DOCTOR lures readers back to the dazzling, irresistible Winner Takes All Regency Romance series. Margaret Babcock has always been content with her quiet life in the country. But every now and then, she feels the urge to spread her wings. Her late mother used to whisper, “What’s the worst that could happen?” at the start of an adventure, and now Margaret’s continuing the tradition. So when Dr. Rhys Gray, her longtime correspondent on matters botanical, invites her to speak to the London Horticultural Society about her new rose hybrid, she accepts. She’s excited about her first visit to London, but even more so about getting to see her friend Dr. Gray. When she arrives, Rhys is eager to show her the wonders of the city, and the two spend many happy hours together just as friends, of course! But would friends miss each other quite as fiercely when they’re apart; or feel such a spark when they’re together? Margaret finds that friendship with Rhys is much more complicated than she’d imagined…especially when it turns out her friend has forgotten that he may be promised to another woman.
Kate Noble is the national bestselling author of The Lie and the Lady, The Game and the Governess, third in the witty, sexy Winner Takes All Regency Series, and the critically acclaimed, RITA Award-nominated Blue Raven series. Under the name Kate Rorick, she writes for television, as well as novels based on the Emmy Award-winning web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, for which she is also a writer and producer. She lives in Los Angeles. Visit Kate at katenoble.com, Facebook, and Twitter.
WINNER TAKES ALL GIVEAWAY!
To celebrate the third in the Winner Takes All series, The Dare and the Doctor, we are hosting a giveaway and the WINNER will TAKE ALL books in the series: The Game and the Governess, The Lie and the Lady and The Dare and the Doctor!
Please note, you can enter at all participating blogs but you can only win once. The Romance Dish winner will be announced November 26th from all comments posted before 11:00 PM, November 25th. (US addresses only)
Do you enjoy stories that are, as Janga notes in her review, "more tender than tempestuous?"
Are you reading Kate Noble's Winner Takes All series?
Please note, you can enter at all participating blogs but you can only win once. The Romance Dish winner will be announced November 26th from all comments posted before 11:00 PM, November 25th. (US addresses only)
Do you enjoy stories that are, as Janga notes in her review, "more tender than tempestuous?"
Are you reading Kate Noble's Winner Takes All series?
THE DARE AND THE DOCTOR
Kate Noble
Pocket Books
Pub date: November 22, 2016
ISBN: 9781476749402
Price: $7.99
Mass Market Paperbound
A Winner Takes All Novel (#3)
Kate Noble is the national bestselling author of The Lie and the Lady, The Game and the Governess, third in the witty, sexy Winner Takes All Regency Series, and the critically acclaimed, RITA Award-nominated Blue Raven series. Under the name Kate Rorick, she writes for television, as well as novels based on the Emmy Award-winning web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, for which she is also a writer and producer. She lives in Los Angeles. Visit Kate at katenoble.com, Facebook, and Twitter.
I enjoy the quiet romances. Their lives are a bit closer to mine than the tempestuous relationships between strong willed heroines and stubborn alpha heroes. I have not yet started this series, but will now be looking for them. I enjoy her books and look forward to reading this series.
ReplyDeleteRomances that are calm and build into a beautiful relationship. Thanks for this lovely feature. I would enjoy reading this series.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy romances that depict individuals whose lives have been beset with tension but are hoping to overcome any problems and look for a future together that is meaningful. Kate's novels interest me.
ReplyDeleteI love the tender and gentle romance. And I really have to read WINNER Takes All series. Enjoyed this excerpt. Thank you for the post.
ReplyDeleteCarol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com
I've not read this series but I have enjoyed her books! I like variety so I don't stick to one particular thing but I do love historicals the most!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this series, but I have enjoyed other books by Kate. I like both tender and tempestuous romances.
ReplyDeleteI love the 1st book in the series it's the only one I've read so far
ReplyDeleteYes - I don't like too much angst or miscommunication/misunderstandings between the characters.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind a quiet romance. What a lovely cover photo.
ReplyDeleteI love the quiet romances b/c I think the feelings are deeper and you get to know the characters a bit better. Thanks for sharing and congrats to Ms. Noble on the new release!
ReplyDeleteI love reading a variety of styles of books with all sorts of 'heat' levels! I haven't started the Winner Takes All series, but the books are all on my wish list!
ReplyDeletetender or tempestuous--either is fine by me
ReplyDeletedenise
i like either, all are great reads
ReplyDeleteI like just about any type of historical romance...adventurous, sweet, hot, mystery, action...you name it, I'll probably read it. So far, I haven't read any of Kate's books. I would so love to win this package so I can start with books 1 in the series.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy tender or angst-filled, It all depends on the plot.
ReplyDelete