What do you think?
Rate this book
Dare to Kiss
A sexy historical romance novella by New York Times bestselling author, and member of the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.
In 1765 a desperate mother accepts shelter with a stranger for herself and her children, but at what cost?
England in the Georgian age was not kind to the poor. When Lily Gifford finds herself homeless in the countryside on a bitter November evening has no choice but to accept shelter from a passing stranger. But when she and her children arrive at Brooks Hall, the house is cold and neglected, and their host abandons them to his handful of resentful servants.
When Lily learns Sir Benjamin Brook's secret, she sees hope for herself and her family, if only she dare risk all to grasp it.
In 1765 a desperate mother accepts shelter with a stranger for herself and her children, but at what cost?
England in the Georgian age was not kind to the poor. When Lily Gifford finds herself homeless in the countryside on a bitter November evening has no choice but to accept shelter from a passing stranger. But when she and her children arrive at Brooks Hall, the house is cold and neglected, and their host abandons them to his handful of resentful servants.
When Lily learns Sir Benjamin Brook's secret, she sees hope for herself and her family, if only she dare risk all to grasp it.
102 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2013
35 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Jo Beverley
142 books1,131 followersMary Josephine Dunn was born 22 September 1947 in Lancashire, England, UK. At the age of eleven she went to an all-girls boarding school, Layton Hill Convent, Blackpool. At sixteen, she wrote her first romance, with a medieval setting, completed in installments in an exercise book. From 1966 to 1970, she obtained a degree in English history from Keele University in Staffordshire, where she met her future husband, Ken Beverley. After graduation, they married on June 24, 1971. She quickly attained a position as a youth employment officer until 1976, working first in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, and then in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire.
In 1976, her scientist husband was invited to do post-doctoral research at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. When her professional qualifications proved not to be usable in the Canadian labour market, she raised their two sons and started to write her first romances.
Moved to Ottawa, in 1985 she became a founding member of the Ottawa Romance Writers’ Association, that her “nurturing community” for the next twelve years. The same year, she completed a regency romance, but it was promptly rejected by a number of publishers, and she settled more earnestly to learning the craft. In 1988, it sold to Walker, and was published as "Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed". She regularly appears on bestseller lists including the USA Today overall bestseller list, the New York Times, and and the Publishers Weekly list. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Golden Leaf, the Award of Excellence, the National Readers Choice, and a two Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times. She is also a five time winner of the RITA, the top award of the Romance Writers Of America, and a member of their Hall of Fame and Honor Roll.
Jo Beverley passed away on May 23, 2016 after a long battle with cancer.
In 1976, her scientist husband was invited to do post-doctoral research at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. When her professional qualifications proved not to be usable in the Canadian labour market, she raised their two sons and started to write her first romances.
Moved to Ottawa, in 1985 she became a founding member of the Ottawa Romance Writers’ Association, that her “nurturing community” for the next twelve years. The same year, she completed a regency romance, but it was promptly rejected by a number of publishers, and she settled more earnestly to learning the craft. In 1988, it sold to Walker, and was published as "Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed". She regularly appears on bestseller lists including the USA Today overall bestseller list, the New York Times, and and the Publishers Weekly list. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Golden Leaf, the Award of Excellence, the National Readers Choice, and a two Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times. She is also a five time winner of the RITA, the top award of the Romance Writers Of America, and a member of their Hall of Fame and Honor Roll.
Jo Beverley passed away on May 23, 2016 after a long battle with cancer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 11, 2014
I really enjoyed reading this one of a kind book. It's originality comes from the idea that love is not always perfect. Oh, I know that we've all enjoyed books with the love at first sight connection and we float away with words of sweet romance and passion. No, this book is different in every way. First of all the h is a widowed 33 years old and a mother of five. She is running from a wicked past filled with regret when she is rescued by a stranger performing his Christian duty.
Ben likes his life just the way it is. If it sounds like you've read it before I assure you it's not. The author approaches questionable ground. It was brave in my opinion to write of such a deformed character. We're also talking about a couple who breaks tradition in other areas as well. Ben is only 24 years old and his passion is botany. How weird is it than that he finds his Lily along side the road in the freezing cold?
A surprise visit from Ben's cousin, Perriam, shows up at the door and in less than a day Lily's past comes back to haunt her. The question than is what will Ben do when he finds out the truth? This is such a short read that things take place very quickly. There is some sex within the story and the h is written as being brazen. I didn't mind it myself and found it kind of a fun little twist. There is also a sneak peak of her next book at the end. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.
Ben likes his life just the way it is. If it sounds like you've read it before I assure you it's not. The author approaches questionable ground. It was brave in my opinion to write of such a deformed character. We're also talking about a couple who breaks tradition in other areas as well. Ben is only 24 years old and his passion is botany. How weird is it than that he finds his Lily along side the road in the freezing cold?
A surprise visit from Ben's cousin, Perriam, shows up at the door and in less than a day Lily's past comes back to haunt her. The question than is what will Ben do when he finds out the truth? This is such a short read that things take place very quickly. There is some sex within the story and the h is written as being brazen. I didn't mind it myself and found it kind of a fun little twist. There is also a sneak peak of her next book at the end. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.
October 8, 2018
got this for free for Kindle. This is a story novella set in Georgian England. Lily Gifford and her 5 children find themselves with no money and no place to go luckily they are picked up from the side road and offered a place to stay for the night by kind Sir Benjamin Brook. Born with a jaw defect that makes people uncomfortable Sir Benjamin rarely makes public appearances and invites people into his home even less often so his staff are quite taken aback with the arrival of 6 new people into the household.
Lily immediately begins plotting how she can turn this temporary stay into a secure and permanent home for her family. The most obvious way is to get Sir Brook to marry her. soon to her surprise Lily finds herself falling in love, but can she marry Brook while still keeping the secret of tragic end of her first marriage, as well as her notorious true identity?
I rather disliked this book. I kept wondering how long Lily would let the charade go on. When it became obviously that she was willing to keep up with it forever, as well as include her children in her lies, I began to lose respect for her character. Also I never could quite tell I'd she was supposed. to be the victim or not. In the end she attempted to justify her misdeed, but through out the story she actually took responsibility for her actions.
It was confusing for me in that I felt the book moved both too fast and too slow at times. I would have liked to know more about Brooks. I would have liked to actually see them develop feelings for each other. And more than anything I would have liked to see Lily be a woman and tell the truth herself. There was very little drama in this book which was very strange considering the wildly dramatic back story. There was a lot of tedium, discussions of cleaning and carrying trays, laundry and chamber pots when the characters themselves were lacking depth and emotion. that extra effort should have been given to them.
Lily immediately begins plotting how she can turn this temporary stay into a secure and permanent home for her family. The most obvious way is to get Sir Brook to marry her. soon to her surprise Lily finds herself falling in love, but can she marry Brook while still keeping the secret of tragic end of her first marriage, as well as her notorious true identity?
I rather disliked this book. I kept wondering how long Lily would let the charade go on. When it became obviously that she was willing to keep up with it forever, as well as include her children in her lies, I began to lose respect for her character. Also I never could quite tell I'd she was supposed. to be the victim or not. In the end she attempted to justify her misdeed, but through out the story she actually took responsibility for her actions.
It was confusing for me in that I felt the book moved both too fast and too slow at times. I would have liked to know more about Brooks. I would have liked to actually see them develop feelings for each other. And more than anything I would have liked to see Lily be a woman and tell the truth herself. There was very little drama in this book which was very strange considering the wildly dramatic back story. There was a lot of tedium, discussions of cleaning and carrying trays, laundry and chamber pots when the characters themselves were lacking depth and emotion. that extra effort should have been given to them.
December 9, 2013
I used to read a lot of Beverley's books when I first started reading romance and when I saw her announcement that this novella was free for kindle I couldn't resist grabbing it.
I can't say it was a complete success though. It has a beauty and the beast type theme but while the hero was an OK character I never felt really comfortable with the heroine. She is rescued from the cold and homelessness by the hero and she immediately starts thinking of the best way to make him marry her. She is not upfront about her past problems, either with the hero or the reader and that was a problem for me.
Maybe if this had been a bigger book and we had more time to better know the characters that wouldn't have been a problem. If we had had time to understand the heroine and to see their relationship develop. Sadly things happen too fast in the relationship department and too slow on the truthfull and honest dialogue.
Grade: 2/5
I can't say it was a complete success though. It has a beauty and the beast type theme but while the hero was an OK character I never felt really comfortable with the heroine. She is rescued from the cold and homelessness by the hero and she immediately starts thinking of the best way to make him marry her. She is not upfront about her past problems, either with the hero or the reader and that was a problem for me.
Maybe if this had been a bigger book and we had more time to better know the characters that wouldn't have been a problem. If we had had time to understand the heroine and to see their relationship develop. Sadly things happen too fast in the relationship department and too slow on the truthfull and honest dialogue.
Grade: 2/5
December 20, 2019
A reread and I still like it. A beauty and the beast done well. Beauty has some baggage. A notorious past, five kids and she's dead broke. The beast isn't all that beastly. He has some facial deformity but isn't totally unsociable. He is clueless however about her past. She lives on pins and needles that her past will come out. But I'm not telling. For 99cents buy the book and find out. It's worth it.
September 24, 2018
2.75 - This is like a short story practicing the character of a scheming woman deciding to seduce someone - quite in cold blood. I totally get the motivation with children to consider and I think the thoughts of the main heroine were realistic, but it is hard to be sympathetic, especially earlier on. Too short a story for a complex plot, this novella was particular light on plot even accounting for length.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2017
loved that it was older woman, also loved that hero wasn't handsome on the outside, but beautiful on the outside
May 9, 2019
This book just seems to be snippet to a larger story. I can’t give more than a single star because it leaves too much unsaid... like dropping into the middle of a story.
April 19, 2025
Okay, a bit hard to like the heroine.
September 3, 2013
Historical English countryside short story romance about a woman and her many children looking for a home and a new start when they get incredibly lucky by randomly being saved from the cold winter night by a kind loner Sir Benjamin Brook. We find our selves in 1765 and an awful court case has just been finished where an adulterous widow finds herself completely ostracized by London society when her lover kills her husband in a duel. So she is walking with her children to find some distant relations, but disappointment is all she finds when her relatives have been in their graves for some time. Lily Gifford at first tries to find a place as a housekeeper but quickly finds an even better post in the house, as wife to Sir Ben. Cute story about love and redemption. I did like the cousin and he did have to tell the truth which makes everything turn out fine anyway.
102 pages and kindle freebie
2 stars
102 pages and kindle freebie
2 stars
October 5, 2015
I normally love Jo Beverley's writing. This story was far from her best. If it was my first exposure to her writing, I would never read anything from her again. That said, perhaps the characters could have been better developed if it was a longer story. The tie in to the Malloran world was tenuous at best. Perry's brief appearance in this story barely works. I feel he only appeared to provide the bridge to the Malloran world and to provide a quick way for Ben to learn about Lily's previous marriage. I do not recommend this story.
November 20, 2015
This was a well-written novella and having a disfigured hero was interesting. I did not like Lily, however. She's too manipulative and calculating at the beginning of the story - maybe understandably so - and I'm not convinced she changed.
Actually, the story reminds me of Secrets of the Night - although it has a completely different plot - because it also deals with harsh reality.
Actually, the story reminds me of Secrets of the Night - although it has a completely different plot - because it also deals with harsh reality.
September 1, 2013
Five stars***** Exquisite, suspenseful and delightful. This is a must read. I am currently reading this series out of sequence. Jo Beverley is an extremely talented writer. She never fails to keep me in tatters while reading her books. Thanks Jo.
May 8, 2014
Didn't like the heroine as she was manipulativ and conniving. She's just using the H, feeling pity for him and playing on his loneliness to make him marry her. Can't see how they could have fallen in love with each other, they don't really get to know each other.
July 28, 2015
Continuing the Malloren series ... this was an ebook, so very happy my husband gave me a kindle a few years back.
A sweet short story of love and redemption. All we can ever hope for is to be loved and needed, on so many levels.
A sweet short story of love and redemption. All we can ever hope for is to be loved and needed, on so many levels.
August 20, 2013
A short Christmas novella with a beauty & the beast trope. Short and sweet with predictable plot lines and ending. Small exceprt into Ms. Beverly's next full length novel is included.
October 28, 2013
I think this story needed more space to develop. It all happened too fast. It had potential, though.
September 16, 2025
Good but a different type of love story the heroine is a liar a cheater a deceiver but still a good story.
Want to read
November 9, 2014Amazon tells me I picked this up in August 2013.
May 26, 2016
A lovely Jo Beverley story about a disgraced wife finding safety and gambling on rebuilding her life for the sake of her children. I particularly liked the hero this time.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews