THE DUKE’S WAGER – EDITH LAYTON

BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

Lovely Regina Berryman was pursued by two men--the two most attractive and infamous bachelors in London.

One was Jason Thomas, Duke of Torquay, whose skill and success in seduction had made him a legend of lordly licentiousness. The other was St. John Basil St. Charles, Marquis of Bessacarr, the devilish duke's only rival as the foremost rake of the realm.

These notorious gentlemen had made Regina fair game in a competition where all was considered legitimate strategy in winning her affection and capturing her virtue. And Regina's only chance of preserving her honor and protecting her heart was to turn the tables on her titled tempters--and change the dallying way Regency London played the game of love ...

The duke’s wager, the book that was published the month I was born – so that makes it as old as I am… :) Okay, except of that, this is also one of my top favorite books ever. And why is that, since the plot written above doesn’t state anything exceptional: 2 rakes trying to win the love of a beautiful innocent and also quite poor little miss … blah, blah. Well, it’s not as simple as that, especially since we’re talking about Edith Layton, who is quite well known for her in-depth character description and for her gift of truly immersing the reader in the world she’s depicting.

The heroine, Regina, begins the book as the very beautiful innocent, with absolutely no relations in the beau-monde, with very high morals, she also becomes destitute quite early in the story. And so, these are the reasons why she is to become the object of a wager between 2 infamous rakes. She is not very interesting at the beginning, quite common in fact, but as the story progresses we see her learn so many things about life, about right and wrong and how these can change so quickly, about what is moral and what is human, she will learn that life has more shades of gray and it’s not simply black or white, on the whole, we see her gain a lot of depth to her character, something that will become surprising to the reader and irresistible to the hero, who is not a simple character either.

The hero is something special too. Maybe it was just me not having read many romances at the time I first read this book, but I have to confess that I did not guess WHO the hero was, between the 2 main characters mentioned in the blurb, until very late in the story. So I won’t say anything about him, just that he really is one of the worst rakes ever, not a fake, misunderstood or exaggerated one. Nope, he is the real deal (even if the reason for it is a little romanticized). Another thing I liked about him is that he doesn’t invite pity, he has a crystal clear view of his life and the choices he made that lead him to what he is now, he accepts himself and doesn’t try to hide behind fancy words. He is honest, he doesn’t lie, to the world, or to the heroine. He is a cynic, but not the “my momma didn’t love me so I must go out and make everyone else to feel as miserable as I do” type, no, he is more refined than that, maybe a little cruel sometimes, but in the end, very human. The flawed character by excellence.

There are some other interesting characters depicted in the story, although I couldn’t say that any of them is a villain. Like always in Layton books, the secondary characters are very well drawn and maybe take too much space from the main ones. On the other hand, as a reader, you get a much better picture of the whole story, so the journey gets very enjoyable.

Pfiew… it seems I did it :) I wrote the review without mentioning anything about the plot! Since I enjoyed it so much, word by word, especially on my first read, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone else…

Grade: 5/5 with congratulations :)

Knaves' Wager - Loretta Chase

"I need no further proof that you are despicable!" Lilith Davenant's sensibilities were appropriately offended. How dare the brazen Lord Julian Brandon kiss her when he knew full well the man she was to marry was in the next room! It mattered not that the cad was handsome, charming and witty...unlike the staid, auburn-haired young widow's fiancé. Lilith's repute meant all. Never did she imagine the blackguard's amorous pursuit was the result of a wager to sully her flawless reputation. Nor did she dream that one day she would yearn for Julian's irresistible embrace-and that a reckless gamble would cause the notorious rake to lose his heart...just as Lilith discovered her own!

Knaves' Wager must be one of my favorite Trad Regency books, just after The Sandalwood Princess also by Loretta Chase. Since I was much in need of a comfort read this week, I immediately thought about rereading this story again. It’s always a pleasure to revisit Chase’s characters again and again.

I’m one of those readers who immediately shy away when I see a wager plot. Maybe it’s the abundance of this kind of story in the romance gender, but, for me, they all follow the same steps: virtuous heroine, rake hero, he wagers to compromise her, she tries to keep her distance but fails miserably after tasting the hero’s charms. At the end, after a big confrontation, everyone gets together and all problems are solved. I confess that what made me read this book for the first time was the author. Most of Loretta Chase books are hits for me and this one was no exception, even if some aspects of the story are not entirely to my taste. Chase still managed to pull it off!

Lilith is a young widow who is determined to marry her nieces well. When faced with some economical troubles, she knows the only solution is to get married. Her fiancé is a member of the aristocracy, a pleasant and reliable man, very in agreement of what Lilith wanted for herself. While virtuous and sensible, she is also respectable without being a moralizing tight up kind of heroine who would constantly judge everything and everyone. She’s a charming woman who tries to give the best to her nieces and she actually surprised me since I was all ready to dislike her.

The charming scoundrel, Jillian was a bit of a disappointment. He starts as a delicious, even if sometimes scandalous womanizer and towards the end, he completely changes, as if a new man was born. A repentant rake can be believable sometimes but not to this point. He entered the wager to try to save his nephew from a tricky situation and actually drags himself in a complex relationship with a woman who turned out to be everything he didn’t believe anymore. While I had no hard time seeing these two together, I didn’t understand how he had to change so much to allow himself to be with Lilith.

Something I truly enjoy in this story is the fact that the characters aren’t all perfect; there’s no cardboard villains, just normal people with their flaws and qualities who sometimes don’t make the best decisions. This creates some very real situations and this along with the witty dialogues between Lilith and Jillian is what makes it a favorite. Certainly a must read for any Trad Regency fan.

Grade: 4/5

The Spinster and The Rake - Anne Stuart

Were the lines around his eyes from laughter or light living? One good look at Ronan Patrick Blakely, Marquis of Herrington, and Gillian Redford thought she knew the answer. This knight in tarnished armor, who had rescued her from a coach accident, now presumed to pluck her from her straitlaced life and send her to perdition! He was clearly a rogue, a rake with a dangerous gleam in his eye, determined to chase the last vestiges of propriety from her starchy life. Did she dare accept the challenge? She was thirty--old enough to know better. Old enough, he said, to kick up her heels and let the devil take the hindmost!

I was actually expecting The Spinster and The Rake to be a sort of To Love a Dark Lord but in short format. I have no idea why I thought that, I should have remembered that Stuart has many different voices and the fact is that TSaTR is a light and fun regency romance, not to be taken too seriously but certain to leave you with a smile on your face.

Gillian is a confirmed spinster. She is nearing 30 and she spends much of her time taking care of her brother and sister’s children alternating between one home and the other, as she is needed. One day while she is travelling to her brother’s house in London her carriage suffers an accident and she is saved by Lord Marlowe, a confirmed rake with whom her brother shares some past history.

Marlowe is highly entertained by Gilly, who he at first believed to be some kind of servant. When he finds out she is the sister of his old enemy, Lord Redfern, he has no problems accepting a wager from his friend Vivian that he can seduce her.

The problem though is that Marlowe is not the hardened and unfeeling rake that his actions might make him seem. He is actually rather nice and easygoing and it’s not difficult to like. He starts approaching Gilly and takes her to his gaming hell or at balls he convinces her to dance with him more than the proverbial two times allowed.

As Gilly falls for Marlowe so Marlowe falls for Gilly, there are a few problems though on their way to happiness as Marlowe is not ready to ruin Gilly after all but can’t offer marriage. There’s wonderful banter between the Gilly and Marlowe and there’s also a bit of a villain and a visit from the past to help them in the right direction. Of course, in the end Gilly still has to save Marlowe from himself, what would a rake do without a good woman to make him change his ways?

Grade: 4.5/5