A compilation of USA Today Best Selling author Bronwen Evans’s, fabulous Regency historical romances. Wicked Wagers trilogy, the complete boxed set. Three notorious rakes, and three determined ladies, collide in this set of three linked Regency romance stories, all based around a series of scandalous dares, wagers, and challenges. Lady Caitlin Southall’s temper has finally got the better of her. … better of her. She’s challenged Harlow Telford, the Duke of Dangerfield, the most notorious rake in all of England, to a wager. She wants her house back. The one her destitute father lost to Dangerfield in a card game. But if she doesn’t win their bet, she not only loses her home, she loses her dignity and pride and damn it all, maybe her heart… For the handsome Duke has decreed, when he wins, she must spend the night in his bed.
Harlow Telford is amused by his hellion neighbor, Caitlin, or Cate to her friends, who seem to encompass everyone on earth except him. When she bursts into one of his private gatherings, he mistakes her for the entertainment. Her slap across his face sets him straight and raises the absurd desire to seduce the unconventional beauty into his bed. When she issues her daft challenge to win back her father’s pile of rubble, the terms are set. And he’ll do anything to win–except fall in love…
To Wager the Marquis of Wolverstone
Marcus Danvers, the Marquis of Wolverstone, is renowned for his cynical demeanor. It’s rumored that long ago, a beautiful woman broke his heart. Now he lives life for pleasure. He’s the consummate, handsome rake. If anyone tries to get too close—let’s just say his bark is as bad as his bite. That is, until the beautiful, as she is deceitful, Contessa Orsini re-enters his life with a wager he cannot resist. When he wins, he’ll have Sabine exactly where he wants her—in his bed and at his mercy.
Forced to return to England and avenge her father’s death, Sabine knows the one person who can help her is the only man she has ever loved—Marcus. The man who hates her with as much passion as he once loved her. But Marcus doesn’t know that by winning the wager he’ll also be getting his revenge. For there are some secrets best left buried…
To Challenge the Earl of Cravenswood
Henry St. Giles, the Earl of Cravenswood, longs to find his soul mate. Now that his two best friends, both reformed rakes, are happily married, the need becomes an obsession. When they challenge him to find a wife by the end of the season or marry his neighbor, the innocently alluring Lady Amy Shipton, he can’t believe his luck. He wins, either way. But a darkened garden, a case of mistaken identity, a drunken kiss, and a dropped emerald earring, leads Henry on a Cinderella hunt. He knows the woman he held in his arms could be the one he’s searched for all his life. He just has to find her.
Lady Amy Shipton is determined to marry for love instead of sharing her husband like her mother did. So why did she let her handsome neighbor and romantic fantasy, the Sinful Saint as he’s called for his bedroom prowess, seduce her in his garden? And what can she do when in the middle of their passionate encounter; he whispers another woman’s name. Now Henry is hunting the owner of the earring Amy left behind, and she’s determined to retrieve it before her identity is revealed. She’s not about to give her father the ammunition he desperately wants to force her down the aisle.
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This trilogy is wonderful. It speaks of three gentlemen, all friends, who have trials and tribulations of meeting their soul mates. There are ups and downs, and ins and outs, and breath-leaving moments, but happily ever after at the end — but which one? Or all of them? I thoroughly enjoyed them, worth the escape for me.
I previously purchased and read all of the books in this boxset.
To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield: Devastated at the loss of her home in a card game by her wastrel father, Lady Caitlin is determined to demand it back from the Duke of Dangerfield. She has known Harlow Telford since she was a young girl when he came to her assistance and has carried a torch for him over the years. However, she is now an adult woman with only one resource and that has been torn from her. Facing up to Harlow takes more courage than she would have thought, but walking in on his evening’s entertainment takes the wind out of her sails. Harlow has a good understanding of the kind of woman Caitlin is and knows that winning her over will be no easy task. It seems obvious that the only way to settle the matter is to lay down the terms of a wager. Harlow holds his cards close to his chest, trying to play out a game for which there is no easy outcome. The plot is well written, witty and intriguing and whilst romantic, there is also underlying pain and unresolved issues that need to be addressed. Harlow is a charming hero, albeit a rogue and his friends are just as attractive in their support of Caitlin.
To Wager the Marquis of Wolverstone: Having loved and lost, Marcus Danvers, the Marquis of Wolverstone has vowed never to give his heart to another. However, when the very woman who broke his heart suddenly appears in his life once again, begging a favour, he is intrigued despite a deep antagonism towards her. In an attempt to protect Marcus, Sabine, the Contessa Orsini, regrets the pain she caused him, but when the chance comes to avenge the past, Marcus is the perfect person to aid her. Although Marcus does succeed in his quest, things do not go according to plan, and it takes a gentle, softhearted girl to see through the subterfuge to bring two lovers back together. Marcus appears to be a stoney hearted man, but discovering the truth leads him to do everything in his power to protect Sabine. With the help of his stalwart friends, Marcus sets out to win his fair lady’s hand once again.
To Challenge the Earl of Cravenswood: Having had a long-time crush on the devastatingly handsome Henry St. Giles, the Earl of Cravenswood, Lady Amy Shipton is surprised to see him take a tumble in his garden, potentially knocking himself out. Despite knowing that he is in his cups, Amy nevertheless cannot pass up the opportunity to find out what it would be like to be kissed by him. Henry has only ever viewed Amy as his neighbour’s little girl and is shocked to realise that she has grown up once he recovers from his hangover. After many years of being in an intimate relationship with a woman he knows he cannot marry, he takes up the challenge his friends offer him, without divulging that he has already made up his own mind. If only Henry and Amy had taken time to actually talk to each other, instead of evading the real issue, so many misunderstandings would have been avoided. But when did the path of true love ever run smoothly?
All three of these novels are well written, witty and romantic. The characters overlap between the three books, but each one comes to a happy and romantic conclusion, leaving one with a feeling of pleasure. I was sorry when the stories came to an end. I received a copy of this boxset as a gift and this is my honest and voluntary review.
The author does a great job of character development. Loved these stories
This a wonderful set of stories. Each one is over 80000 words, so it’s going to last you a while. They are fun to read and you’ll enjoy the devilment they get up to.
To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield
Men should never bet against women, because it seems when they do the only thing they truly lose is their heart. That’s what happened in this story, Caitlin determined to win her father’s estate back challenges the Duke. There are also underlying causes to the whys of why the Duke set up Caitlin’s father to lose his estates, but he hides these from Caitlin because he is intrigued by her. The story gets more tangled as the wagers continue. It’s very enjoyable, and the chemistry between Caitlin and the Duke is explosive.
To Wager the Marquis of Wolverstone
This story starts out rather slow, but it is daring in its approach to reduce someone to ashes. The Countess is quite the daring woman for her century. The Marquis loves a wicked wager and this is one he can get into. Unfortunately, while getting revenge, the heart still beats for each other. This is a wager everyone or no one will win, except the reader.
To Challenge the Earl of Cravenswood
This the best one of the trilogy. Amy is delightful and and daring. The Earl is fond of his neighbor, and becomes more intrigued when he finds her routing around in his garden. He more intrigued by the owner of the emerald earring he found after kissing some strange woman in his garden the night before. This is a fun romp and Amy gives him a run for his money.