The Duke's Wager

By Edith Layton

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....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Untreed Reads
• Release date: Dec 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781611877908

Edith Layton

Edith Layton loved to write. She wrote articles and opinion pieces for the New York Times and Newsday, as well as for local papers, and freelanced writing publicity before she began writing novels. Publisher’s Weekly called her “one of romance’s most gifted authors.” She received many awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romantic Times, and excellent reviews and commendations from Library Journal, Romance Readers Anonymous, and Romance Writers of America. She also wrote historical novels under the name Edith Felber. Mother of three grown children, she lived on Long Island with her devoted dog, Miss Daisy; her half feral parakeet, Little Richard; and various nameless pond fish in the fishness protection program.

Reviews for The Duke's Wager

[ridley_ · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In her enthusiasm to see the sights while she's in London, country mouse Regina Berryman accidentally attends the opera on the night where mistresses and the demimonde are on display. Dressed smartly in the fancy clothes her uncle bought her, she unwittingly draws the attention of two of London's most notorious libertines - the Marquess of Bessacarr and the Duke of Torquay. When the duke approaches her to whisper a proposition in her ear, she flees the opera house in a hurry. Torquay, however, is undaunted, and becomes determined to have her as a mistress. Bessacarr, being none too fond of Torquay, becomes determined to have her as well, if only to thwart the duke. Thus begins a twisted love triangle battling to corrupt the innocent Regina.

The book is brilliant in that both men are absolutely despicable in the beginning. Early on, Regina is left completely penniless by her uncle's untimely death. Torquay and Bessacarr both exploit this to their own benefit. Torquay by getting her thrown out of her home and abducting her to try to force her to accept his offer, and Bessacarr by taking her into his home under false pretenses and abusing her trust by pretending to help her find work. One is openly trying to corrupt her, while the other is doing it stealthily. Neither is concerned one whit for what Regina wants.

Regina is a delightful character. She's penniless and powerless, but her well-developed sense of honor and self-worth prevents her from accepting Torquay's offer. She refuses to live as someone's object or pampered pet. She's determined to live an honest, honorable existence, even if she must find employment. She was educated as though she were a son by her schoolmaster father and so meets Torquay's sallies head-on, refusing to be taken as anything less than an equal. As it's all she has left, she clings tenaciously to her dignity.

Layton makes good use of dialog in the novel, using lots of it to draw out who the characters are and why they act the ways they do. Whenever the duke encounters Regina, a war of words breaks out. The two have lengthy, wonderfully written discussions where, though he becomes more and more determined to have her, Torquay also begins to wish she never compromises herself. Eventually he starts to wonder if he even wants to win this game of his. Would she still be so appealing if she consented to be his mistress? What sort of person would that make him, as well, if she did?

I just loved watching these characters grow and change. No one ends this book the way they began, not even the secondary characters. Through well-crafted, meaty dialog we watch the characters struggle with their own senses of honor and self-respect. They all make miscalculations along the way, and though all three try, only two come out better people at the end. It's a rare book that can write a character who manages to go from repulsive to endearing, but Layton pulls it off and makes it look easy.

5 stars. Easy. I couldn't find a flaw if I had a gun to my head.