Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable reading....., May 9, 2000
This review is from: Devil's Wager (Mass Market Paperback)
I have been following the Wager trilogy since its inception, and have always loved Ms. Spencer's stories. Lad and Diana's story is by far the best written and most enjoyable of the series (and that's saying a lot! ). Lad kept popping up in the previous stories, and we would get glimpses of what his story might be. Thankfully, Devil's Wager delivers the story. Lad is a strong and interesting character. We find out why he leaves the United States, and even after a traumatic time in his life during The War of 1812 (losing his brother and shortly thereafter his mother), he still takes up his birth right in England. Not an easy move, and not one most people would have made. He loved his home and the memories it held of his family, but he was able to move beyond that. Once in England, watching Lad struggle with both the aristocracy and common folk is fascinating. He tries to befriend his tenants and ultimately sets them against him because of his egalitarian beliefs. They just don't understand him, and being an American, he just can't think of them as inferior or himself as superior. How he overcomes this and develops his character, makes for great reading. I found Diana a bit of a weak character, not believing in Lad's love (he figured out his letters were not reaching her, why could she not figure the same, especially for an intelligent person) and sticking so strongly to her home. The idea that love is not enough does not sit well with me (as a fan of romance books). How she could love Lad for what he is, but wants to change the very things that make him who he is, is unrealistic. The writing itself is wonderfully done, and I truly enjoyed reading Devil's Wager.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A careless wager cost Lad his beloved bride-perhaps forever!, January 23, 2000
This review is from: Devil's Wager (Mass Market Paperback)
As a proud American, Lad Walker had nothing but contempt for his father's homeland and the English earl who had disinherited him long ago. But when he first set eyes on Diana Whitleby, his grandfather's goddaughter, he knew he would do anything to win her love, even assume the earldom of Kerlaine and strive to rescue the estate from the poverty into which it had fallen. As much as she loved him in return, Diana had made a prior commitment to protect the castle, the land, and the tenants at all costs. She knew her beloved American husband could not understand her feelings, anymore than he could fit into his role as the earl, but when he lost the entire estate on the turn of a card, Diana was forced to send him away until he could earn the money to redeem it. For the first several months of his exile, Lad's efforts met with nothing but failure. Then he had the good fortune to run into a real-life guardian angel who taught him how to behave like an English gentleman and helped him find an honorable way to win back his inheritance and his wife. Under his tutelage, Lad began to understand the English social system and, indeed, his own responsibilities as the earl of Kerlaine. What a shock, then, to return to Kerlaine with the means to redeem it, only to find his wife preparing to honor a dastardly wager of her own! The last of Mary Spencer's "Wager" trilogy, this book may be the best of them all. Not only does it portray the triumph of true love over evil, but it makes even this patriotic American reader begin to understand and appreciate the purposes and benefits of the English class system.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Nice Completion for the Wager Trilogy, January 19, 2000
This review is from: Devil's Wager (Mass Market Paperback)
While this wasn't my favorite of the series, I was very pleased with this book. It wraps up all the loose ends of the previous two books while managing to maintain the focus of the story on Lad and Diana. Theirs is a bitter sweet romance which is portreyed partly through letters. While they fall in love almost right away, most of their time is spent apart. I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to anyone who has read the other two books. If you haven't, I am not sure that you will appreciate some of the minor characters in this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
