Customer Reviews

Lady's Wager

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is too much mystery and not enough romance in this book. The hero's character, which certainly seemed promising from the first book in the series, is poorly developed and shallow. The heroine likewise is poorly crafted.

Although the lighter tone of the story in Lady's Wager is in stark contrast to its darker predecessor, Dark Wager, Mary Spencer has once again proven her ability to tell a wonderful tale of adventure and romance in Regency England. And who better to tell of, than tall, blonde and handsome Jack Sommerton, Earl of Rexley, Lucien's dearest friend. (I definitely panted over Jack in his supporting role in Dark Wager!) We find that Jack's secret is consuming and dark, having everything to do with his birthright and who he is. We noted in Dark Wager the brief mention of Lord Manning's likness to Jack, and this comes more into play in this tale. A result of Jack's relentless pursuit of the truth brings him to redeem prostitutes and other unfortunate people from the bondage and torture of Lord Walsh, a member of the ton, whose wealth and fortune feeds on the evils of prostitution. Walsh holds a key document that bears light on Jack's birth. The fun begins when Jack's less-than-favorite American friend, Kerlain, manages to finagle Jack's sense of duty in meeting and attending to his beautiful forthright cousin, Ms. Gwendolyn Wells. Ms. Wells arrives with her famous father to the shores of England for a well-anticipated visit, especially by Lord Wulf Severn. Because of Gwendolyn's somewhat spoiled freedom as an unattended child (due to her father's preoccupation with science), she tends to go forth without really counting the cost of her actions. This creates all kinds of interesting debacles that Jack feels he must deal with. One thing Gwendolyn is sure of - and she informs Jack of this - is that he is The One. Jack, as much as he resists, finds in Gwendolyn more than physical beauty - he finds in Ms. Wells his helpmate and soulmate. She is more than his match, and he cannot but love her. As their bond grows, Gwendolyn risks her life to help Jack by pretending interest in his arch enemy, Lord Walsh, to find evidence of Jack's birthright and in doing so, she hopes that Jack will be free to be wholly hers. Gwendolyn places in interesting bet in the books, asking her cousin Kerlain to assist her .... but Walsh has other things in mind .... and is a dangerous man to deal with. In the midst of this seeming mayhem, Mary Spencer provides comical relief in settling the relationship between long suffering Christabella Howell and the remiss Lord Severn. Bravo, Mary Spencer! I thorughly enjoyed the daring and adventure Lady's Wager brought to my world, as well as discovering the heart and soul of Jack and enjoying again the comraderie amongst friends we found in Dark Wager. Mary Spencer's forte seems to be in her honest assessment of human nature, and she balances the dark side with the natural humor that occurs in life and love ... even in the most trying of circumstances. A topper! I practically read the book in one day, I couldn't put it down! I look forward to the last in this trilogy, hoping to find out what Kerlain has remained so faithful to on the shores of America!

Unfortunately, I was very disappointed by Lady's Wager. I very much enjoyed the previous book, and though that the teaser boded well for this effort. While I liked many aspects of the book, I grew to loathe to heroine. I realize that, by the conventions of the genre, disregard for proprieties and personal safety, as well as failure to admire oneself are considered to be heroic qualities. However, for a young woman to go into the middle of the worst slum in the city in the middle of the night is beyond stupid. The behaviour was nearly unmotivated, except perhaps by a desire to meddle and chase down the hero. Her persistent disregard for the advice of others with regard to the conventions is less strong-minded than rude and insensitive. The author, perhaps, was attempting a contrast between Gwendolyn and Clara of Dark Wager. I feel that the attempt went too far, leaving the reader with a character who, if not entirely ostracized by society in the first hundred pages, would have been gang-raped and dead in the river in the second hundred. Another jarring note (though certainly secondary)lies in a scene in which the elegant Lord Manning nearly foams at the mouth, as he thrashes around trying to punch someone. For a man of such (reputedly)lethal verbal skills and self-control to suddenly begin flailing around like a sitcom character was, I felt, inappropriate. For a final objection, I thought that the author wimped out on the Wulf-Bella-Yvette situation, which could have been genuinely psychological without being too unforgiveable. Instead, it turned out caricatured and unrealistic.

I will certainly buy Mary Spencer's next book, which I assume will deal with the Kerlain situation, but if it turns out as badly as Lady's Wager, I will probably stop.

This absurd foray into regency England isn't romantic, it isn't funny, it's just botched. The heroine is not charmingly stubborn, she is headstrong to the point of idiocy. The only romantic tension in the story comes when she makes a dead set at the hero, informs him that she is his destiny, and he denies it for a couple of hundred pages. The myriad violations of period conventions are beyond annoying, but the violations of human nature are far worse. We are at no point persuaded that real live human beings would speak or behave like Ms. Spencer's characters. We are not persuaded to like them or to are what becomes of them. Period conventions can, of course, be flaunted by convincing and sympathetic characters, as they are in Judith's McNaught's novels. They can be flauted even more flagrantly with a humorous purpose, as they are in Amanda Quick's wonderfully funny regency novels. We are even willing to ignore them when an author has a compelling love story to tell and sets it in the regency despite the fact that she knows nothing of the period, as in Eloisa James' first novel. Ms. Spencer has nothing to offer her readers.

Miss Gwendolyn Wells came went from America to London with her father. She had always had men making fools of themselves for her attention. Her poor father has been through so much between the men constantly courting her and the trouble that seems to find her no matter where she goes. Once in London, she met Jack. From the moment her eyes met his, Gwendolyn knew that he was the one she was destined to marry. Now she had only to convince Jack of it.

Jack Sommerton, Earl of Rexley, was on a search to find out his history. In addition, he was out to stop a mad man who was turning a profit on the misery of others. Gwendolyn was the last thing he wanted or needed. He refused her words of him being her destiny as the garbage it was. But everytime she came near he had trouble ignoring her. Especially since he was always coming to her rescue. She never went looking for trouble, but where Gwendolyn went, things happened all wrong.

***I cannot tell much more than this without giving it all away. Mary Spencer also wrote DARK WAGER. If you took my advice and read it, then you already know how good an author she is! I understand another "Wager" book is in the works! This book is full of humor, adventure, and wit. I loved every second and read it from cover-to-cover before I put it down! Yes, it's THAT good! I cannot recommend this book high enough! A KEEPER!!!***

Both Lady's Wager and Dark Wager are wonderful books. As a Regency Romance addict, I can say that these books are for every romance reader! I can hardly wait to read the end of the triology, story of Kerlain! I believe that his story also will be as good as Lucky's and Jack's.

Mary Spencer does not disappoint. I would recommend this book to all those romantic at heart.

It was nice to continue the saga of the friends and family from Dark Wager, only Lord Rexley, Jack could have been a bit more romantic, especially after meeting the rogue he was portrayed as in the prevous novel. He was quite a lusty soul in the previous novel and seemed much too tame even for Gwendolyn.

The lightheartedness of Bella and Wulf's story helped to make this more enjoyable, but the secret of Jack's parentage was no big surprise.

I agree with the other reviews that there could have been a bit more sensuality introduced in the love scenes. I tended to grow a bit bored with the non-action of this book.