Forced into a betrothal with an abusive man, the only way out might be to beat her fiancé at his own game.Miss Marianne Twisden knows her best chance at a safe and happy life is to marry a kind man and leave her violent father behind. When her father signs papers betrothing her to Lord Cockell—a cruel and even more violent blackguard—Marianne is desperate for a way out. Her new fiancé gives her … new fiancé gives her one: if Marianne discredits Lord Sheldon Lockhart, England’s newest barrister, Cockell will release her from the marriage contract.
Lord Sheldon Lockhart is determined to rid his neighborhood of Cockell—a man who preys on gamble-hooked gentlemen by loaning them far more money than they could ever hope to repay and then extracting it mercilessly. What he didn’t expect was to fall for Cockell’s most beautiful victim, Miss Marianne.
The seemingly simple game becomes complex when a deep, abiding affection grows between Marianne and Sheldon. It is made all the more perilous when Cockell refuses to play by the rules. Strategizing together, Marianne and Sheldon must think several steps ahead if they ever hope to out-play their opponent and have a shot at victory and their own happily ever after.
Wager for a Lady’s Hand is a clean and wholesome Regency romance, full of witty characters and a heart-warming happily ever after. Buy Wager for a Lady’s Hand and start falling in love today.
The stories in the Lockhart Sweet Regency Romance series are all standalone novels. They can be read apart or enjoyed in proper order.
Book One: Wager for a Lady’s Hand
Book Two: Lily for my Enemy
Book Three: A Heart in the Balance
Book Four: A Farewell Kiss Book
Five: A Well-Kept Promise
*previously published under the author name L. G. Rollins.
more
I really enjoyed this sweet Regency novel by Laura Rollins. It contained an interesting plot twist I hadn’t read before and still led to a happy and satisfying conclusion. Sheldon was such a wonderful and heroic gentleman! Am looking forward to reading more from this series as well as this author.
A sweet story with many twists.
As far as the love story between Marianne and Sheldon, it is a very sweet romance. The story is well written as far as the characters are concerned. It’s the lack of barrister skills that Sheldon has. I know he is new to the roll as lawyer, but his P.I. should have come back on the Earl’s dirty secret before Marianne heard the rumor from a cousin. The climax was exciting, but senseless. How did the earl ever think he was going to recover from attempting to kill Marianne. Most villains like Cockell are more intelligent than to attempt something like that since he had spies in Marianne’s home watching her. I really did love the characters and the story is a sweet romance. I just wish the author thought more about her options, than she actually gave her characters.
Decent story, but it quickly got bogged down in endless rehashing of the situation, endless discussions and more blah blah blah…
Disappointing that the author is so classist. Servants, particularly tenant farmers, are presented as surfs instead of as real people with value and recognition of their contribution to an estate’s fortunes.
You feel sorry for Marriann right off the bat. You want her to find her way to a good place. Many emotions are felt reading this book! A big one is anger toward her father. He is a viscous cruel man to everyone. She finds a man who comes up to snuff for her.
I really enjoyed this book…except for one part. Sadly this part was so “WHAT?? This makes ZERO sense,” that it resulted in 2 stars being removed. I don’t enjoy giving spoilers so I will not disclose this because, although it is an error on the author’s behave, it does disclose a part of the ending plot. But I am still quite disappointed in this “FUBR.”
Kudos to the author for the clever scenario — loved the twist
Traditionally a woman was in a very vulnerable position (M&B).
Marianne Twisden feels trapped in an impossible situation. Her father has betrothed her to a cruel man in order to pay for his debts. However, he agrees to release her if she’ll discredit the local barrister, Lord Sheldon Lockhart. But, can she go through with it? Will he honor his promise to release her?
Lord Sheldon Lockhart knows that Lord Cockell is evil and luring those with a weakness to gambling into further debt, and he’s determined to catch him and stop him from harming more victims – especially a particular Marianne Twisden’s father.
As Sheldon and Marianne get to know each other, a deep affection grows, but they are both trapped by Lord Cockell and his wicked games. Can they outsmart Cockell and beat him at his own game?
What I liked – I liked the gentle development of the romance between Marianne and Sheldon. I liked both of their characters. They were smart and determined to find a solution. And, as a villain, Lord Cockell filled the part very well.
Areas of improvement – As other reviewers have stated, there are several editing errors that should have been caught. But, I didn’t catch anything that altered the plot.
Possible trigger warnings – Marianne sometimes finds herself in an abusive situation.
Romance – PG / kiss
Language – PG / nothing offensive
Violence – PG / reference to bruising, shaking, gun shot
My rating – 4 stars
I truly enjoyed reading this book! A unique plot, a strong heroine, a swoon worthy hero, and a villain you love to hate made for a page turner that I could not put down. The plot twists were unpredictable and I was on the edge of my seat to see how Marianne and Sheldon would work things out. This was the first book I have read by this author but will absolutely be reading more. Don’t miss this one!
I enjoyed this story. I have never read this author so I didn’t know what to expect going in. The story was a sad one that ended so well. The bad guy was so nasty! Yuck he made me shiver. The good guy was so good:} There was some great twists and turns in this one.I love when I have no idea how it could possibly turn out well and it does!. This is a sweet regency romance with no religion or sexual content.
Spoiler( I wish they would have found the spy in the house who was spying on Marianne the author could have made it a little side story)
A lovely regency about Marianne, a lady who’s father is abusive and has dwindling funds and Lord Sheldon Lockhart who is trying to bring down a sneaky criminal intent on seeing lords and ladies fall. Their worlds collide when Marianne’s father is the latest victim. Can Sheldon catch the criminal before he goes too far? Can Marianne escape the unhappy life she has been dealt? A lot of twists and turns to find out in the end.
Wager for a Lady’s Hand is the first novel I have read from this author, but after reading this I can’t wait to read more. The characters were very well written. I like how Lord Sheldon was seeking justice and to do the right thing by those effected by the wicked Lord Cockell. Marianne was a wonderful character as well. I like how the ending wasn’t predictable and for awhile there I really worried about how the two were going to have their happily ever after. I hope the rest of Lord Sheldon’s family get their own novels, this was so wonderful!
This was a fun escape read for me. I liked most of the characters. The bad guy was really bad so it was fun to dislike him. 😉 I didn’t particularly like Marianne’s dad, but I can say that the rest of the characters were a pleasure to read about.
Lord Sheldon Lockhart is trying to bring justice to Lord Cockell’s victims. He wants to stop him before he victimizes another person. While investigating Cockell he meets Marianne and realizes that her father is the next victim.
Sheldon and Marianne are caught in the sights of Cockell and really need to work together rather than against each other. They both have reasons to dislike him, but he is playing them in a complicated web of lies.
I enjoyed the setting, the storyline, and the characters. There were a few loose ends for me, but overall I found this a fun book to read.
Source: I was offered a complimentary copy, but chose to use Kindle Unlimted instead. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
I absolutely loved this book! I have read L.G. Rollins steampunk books and loved them and this book does not disappoint either! I was not ready to put it down and hope the story continues with the siblings.
I loved Marianne’s spunk and brilliance! That even though she had no rights she found ways to lessen the burden on herself. Sheldon’s heart was amazing and the fact that he saw Marianne for who she really was and was willing to fight for her even when he had his own troubles.
When I got the invite to review Wager for a Lady’s Hand, I was intrigued. See, I have read several books by the author, but they were all steampunk/fantasy/dystopian/paranormal/romance based books. So, to see a historical romance by her caught my attention. When I read the blurb, I was all in to read this book. I am glad that I did because this was a wonderful historical romance.
The plotline for Wager for a Lady’s Hand was fast-paced and well written. The author didn’t allow for two many secondary storylines, and in turn, allowed for a book that flowed well. There was some slight lag towards the end of the book. But the author was quick to get the book back on track.
I loved Marianne. She dealt with a lot during the book. But she wasn’t one of those heroines who screamed and fainted when it started getting tough. Instead, she came up with solutions to her problems. Her father drinks too much and starts to become abusive? She drugs him. She didn’t want to be married to Lord Cockell? She tries to bargain with him. The list could go on and on.
I did think that Sheldon was a bit clueless during the first half of the book. Not that I didn’t like him, he just didn’t put two and two together when it came to Marianne. I mean, if the woman I was interested showed up with bruises around her neck and on her arms, I would make it my business to find out what is going on. Which he did but not until the second half of the book.
The romance involving Sheldon and Marianne was sweet. I loved watching them fall in love. Even when Marianne was at her lowest, Sheldon was there for her.
I also loved that it was a clean romance. There was one kiss between Marianne and Sheldon, and that was at the end. It was refreshing. Don’t get me wrong; I like a raunchy romance as much as the next person. But sometimes a book doesn’t need that. And this one was.
There were a couple of things that I didn’t like about Wager for a Lady’s Hand. The first was there was never any explanation about who was supplying Lord Cockell with all of his information. If the author had gone more into that, it would have made for an interesting side story.
The other thing I didn’t like about Wager for a Lady’s Hand was that it got repetitive. By repetitive, I mean that Sheldon’s case and Marianne’s blackmail was addressed a lot during the book. It got to a point where I started skimming over those parts when it happened.
The end of Wager for a Lady’s Hand. It did end in a HEA. But, the lead up to the HEA was fantastic. Honestly, I couldn’t have written a better ending.
I loved the characters in this book! Lord Sheldon is a great hero and I liked that we got to meet most of his family as well. Marianne is so strong and positive and she has such a rough life. This was a fast-paced novel and I was curious to see how everything turned out in the end. It surprised me that this is the author’s first novel in this genre. I thought she did a great job and it seems as though there will be a sequel and I am excited to read that as well! I recommend to anyone who enjoys clean regency romances!
I was kindly given a copy of this book by the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
First I want to thank the author for reaching out to me for an honest review. I have read and enjoyed her steampunk series (Steam & Shadow) so I was really excited when I heard about this one since I am just getting into Regency Romance.
Let me start by giving a trigger warning for abuse from a parent. This is covered in the synopsis so it wouldn’t surprise you but I wanted to just put that out there. It’s not graphic but it’s still there.
I loved this book and did not want to put it down. I was pulled in from the beginning. Marianne is such an amazingly strong person considering how her father treats her. I love books set in this time where the women are valued for how smart they are. Which you get when watching the interactions between Marianne and Sheldon.
With the ending, the way it is I can see a future book and I am so excited for it.
You enjoy clean regency romance books then this is a perfect one for you.
What a good book. The author did a great job with the characters. I HATED Cockell so much! Every solution Marianne came up with that jerk blocked. I wanted to scream every time he came back into the picture. I couldn’t wait for the happy ending to come and it sure did! I hope the author does a story for Felix soon because I want to find out what happens to him too.