My rating: 4 of 5 stars
BLURB:
Leo Murphy believes in playing the odds, as long as the house wins. As the owner of Elysium, London’s most exclusive gambling hell, Leo’s existence depends on predicting his opponent’s next move. Rarely is he surprised. Until he meets the young bride of Lord Masterson losing at cards.
0Georgina is beautiful, intelligent, possessed of a razor-sharp wit and a rebellious nature.
She is completely unexpected.
Leo is so struck by Georgina he doesn’t know whether to bed her or befriend her. He decides to do both.
A rebellious young American.
Wed to the scandalous and elderly Lord Masterson, Georgina detests London. Mocked for her accent and her family’s pedigree, she wants nothing more than to return to New York. When the wickedly attractive Leo Murphy offers to teach her how to play cards, she assumes he merely wishes to admire her bosom. She’s half in love with him before the evening ends.
A wager that ruins them both.
One unforgettable night with Leo leaves Georgina compromised in both heart and body. Now she’s keeping secrets from everyone, especially from Leo.
Will he forgive her? Or let Georgina go forever?
REVIEW
This is by far one of my favorite historical romance series, I love all the past Barringtons books and following the siblings to finding their love match. This one follows the brother of Lord Wells (now Duke of Averell) Leo who is considered the bastard son of at the time Duke of Averell, as this books takes place during parts of the other books storylines.The Wager of a Lady introduces Georgina, an American heiress who is sent to London and forced to wed the very elderly Lord Masterson. She lives day in hated by her new husbands son as well as treated like an afterthought to her husband who gambles away his money. She meets Leo who owns the gentleman's gambling hell Elysium, both share a connection and banter. But in a turn of events they are both put in a situation that changes their lives forever.
As always in this series I love the storytelling, Ayers is fantastic in her world building but also her character development. They are always flawed, the men always have something that prevents them from moving towards happiness, not only because their stubborn but because of their past. Where the woman are headstrong and have their hearts wide open. I also love the way Ayer intertwines her past characters and we see a different side to their stories.
Leo is probably the most complicated out of the men in this series, being the bastard of a Duke, a Duke who loved him dearly but cause society to look at him in a different manner. Luckily his brother and Leo had a strong bond and they both supported each other after the tension between their father grew. His history with his father is the reason why Leo refuses to open up, his bastard title has scorned him and causes a lot of the friction between himself and Georgina. I loved the challenge of Georgina for Leo, she is headstrong and clever, she is thrown to the wolves of London by her family and she careful maneuvers her way in the world.
Overall the romance is off the charts as always, the characters, storyline and of course the fantastic suspense kept me hooked until the end. I highly recommend this series, especially for those that love the Bridgerton series.
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