Kiss or Dare
by Charlie Lane
This enemies-to-lovers Regency romance by Charlie Lane, shows what happens when sparks fly between a flirty second son of a duke and an inventor’s daughter.
She’s risen like a Cinderella.
He’s more charming than any prince.
They shouldn’t be together, but fate can’t resist.
A new year and a new Season means a new Lillian Clarke. She’s transformed herself from wallflower to incomparable. But she’s no Cinderella. She’s washed her hands of love and of Lord Devon, her own charming prince who barely knew she existed. She’d rather be the fairy godmother, helping invisible debutantes gain the attention they deserve on the marriage mart. But even though she’s booted Lord Devon from her heart, he’s not done with her. His sudden appearance at her home and inexplicable teasing threaten to distract her from her debutante dreams.
Lord Devon, the second son of duke, has put self-pity and scandal behind him and found a new purpose. He’ll invent a machine that improves coffee, buy a coffeehouse, and be a self-made man. He’s determined to be more than the heir’s spare, privileged but kept in case of emergency. Unfortunately, he needs the assistance of Miss Clarke’s brilliant father. And he hates Lillian Clarke for speaking the truth about him. The delectable woman thinks she’s better than him. He’ll teach her she’s not. If he can ignore the way her courage makes him smile.
When sparks in the workshop fly, Lillian and Devon invent a passion that’s more than they bargained for and complicate their paths to happily ever after.
Review
Lillian has had a crush on Lord Devon for as long as she can remember but he does not notice her AT ALL. After her disastrous last season, she commits herself to become an incomparable for the next year. And she does it. She transforms herself with clothes and confidence and successfully conquers the ballrooms the next season. She is determined to help other wallflowers find their confidence and their happy ever after. Meanwhile, the man she is trying to desperately to forget has taken up residence in her house as her fathers apprentice, which gives her very little room to move on from him.
Devon’s job is to wait. To sit around and wait incase he is needed to replace his brother as Duke. But he is determined to be a self made man and not live off his family’s money. Devon didn’t mean to become an inventor but, after meeting Lillian’s father, he wants to invent a machine that will filter the grinds out of a cup of coffee. He hasn’t been very successful yet, but he has successfully annoyed Lillian!
When an late night explosion sounds in the workshop, Lillian checks to make sure Devon is okay. But when she helps him solve his problem, he kisses her and things start to escalate…until her father walks in and demands that they marry.
They resolve to make the best of their new marriage but find that they quite enjoy each other’s company and intimacies. They open up and share their dreams as well as their fears.
Both Lillian and Devon have issues of feeling worthless or unnecessary; Devon as only being useful as a 'spare' to his brother and Lillian being an invisible wallflower. But when Devon finally 'sees' Lillian and Lillian "chooses" Devon, they both feel the attention and love they have been looking for.
While going after their dreams together and making a life, they stumble, but in the end, they both realize that they simply need each other.
I thought the story was very well done. They both had hang ups with insecurities, but I didn't feel like it bogged the story down or become tedious to hear about. I loved Devon's transformation from being a flirt in previous books to a serious inventor and husband. And Lillian determined to be "seen" and standing up for herself when the ton cuts her down.
Tropes
Historical Romance, Regency Era, Ton Society, Season/Marriage Mart, Self-Made Hero, Bluestocking Heroine, Wallflower Heroine, Virgin Heroine, Carriage Steam, Enemies to Lovers, Married in Scandal, Unrequited Love
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