Showing results for "The Wager" in Victorian

Leo Murphy believes in playing the odds, as long as the house wins. As the owner of Elysium, London’s most exclusive gambling hell, Leo’s existence depends on predicting his opponent’s next move. Rarely is he surprised. Until he meets the Lord Masterson's young bride losing at cards.

When Lydia's father tells her he's obtained a husband for her, Mr. Thornton, she doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. She'd only met the man once before, and he'd immediately left her stranded in a ballroom after asking her to dance. How could she marry a man who already deemed her forgettable? Edward Thornton has succumbed to the allure of gambling one too many times, to the point where he loses his house in a game of cards. But when the man who won his house offers him a deal he can't refuse, he agrees to marry the man's daughter in exchange for a chance to redeem himself.

Payton Samuels has always known she wants more out of life than being the youngest daughter of the ton's most disreputable family. While her siblings are content to bet their future happiness on marriage, Payton learned early on from her mother that love is fleeting and leads only to disappointment. She's got a different plan: She'll work as a governess for Baron Ashford's children, but only long enough to win her fortune at one of his infamous masked gaming parties. When she loses big, Payton sees her chance at an independent life go up in flames.

A compilation of USA Today best-selling author Bronwen Evans' fabulous Regency historical romances. Wicked Wagers trilogy, the complete 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.

Once a lady, reduced to a governess, Emilia Greene is desperate. The child in her care has been left orphaned and penniless, and Emilia will do anything to protect her—even track down the girl’s only relation. That man would be the next Viscount Sydenham, and surely he’ll be gentleman enough to take care of his cousin.

Devlin Drake is out for revenge. Since his brother’s mysterious death, the cruel and devious Miss Bromfield has taken to spouting vicious lies, spreading vile gossip - and he vows to make her pay. How better to punish the lady than to make her his wife? A lifetime of misery is what she deserves. Knowing the lady would never accept him, Devlin devises a plan to get her to the altar - he’ll win her hand in a bet. In choosing to marry the spiteful lady, Devlin must accept he will never know true love. But his fortunes turn when he’s offered another tempting option.

A kiss in the gardens. A ruined reputation. A wager without a winner. Having been caught kissing an earl's heir in the gardens during a ball, Lady Lucy has been relegated to the company of potted palms and wallflowers at London entertainments. The incident might have happened three years ago, but time hasn't lessened the stain on her reputation. Despite behaving as a perfect young lady ever since, she is rarely asked to dance nor has anyone courted her. She's beginning to think she will end up a spinster.

The last thing Lady Perdie Crawford expected when she fled London was to encounter difficulties in securing lodgings as a lady traveling alone. Claiming a particular Scotsman as her husband was only supposed to be a brilliant tiny ruse. Except the damn handsome, devilish, charming scoundrel claims they are now truly married, and he must stay by her side to protect her from undesirables. Perdie was not looking for distraction, or marriage, or the love and attention from any gentleman. Yet, with each moment spent in Thaddeus's presence, attraction burns hot and fierce.

Lucinda Darby never dreamed that she would accidentally climb into the wrong bed during her seduction when she accepted a wicked dare! After one night of passion with Alexander, the Earl of Chisholm, Lucinda finds herself more than attracted to Alexander.

Can a lady wager on love? Listen to find out....

Miss Vanessa Claxton gave her heart to Lord Crispin Tilson when she was only seventeen. He did not ask for it, but it went willingly. A secret friendship on the cusp of young love, and then he was gone. Lord Crispin Tilson hadn’t expected that at the age of twenty he’d fall in love with a miss enjoying her first Season. He certainly hadn’t anticipated that their meetings would take place in secret and that nobody would ever learn. But, as much as he wished to be with Vanessa, adventure called, and he had to leave her behind.

Lily Henderson’s greatest passion is knowledge. Christopher Farnsworth thrives on order and decorum. But her penchant for suffragette rallies and logical reasoning soon clashes with his quiet, controlled ex-military lifestyle over a bowl of potato soup. The two agree to a wager, and matchmaking - or, rather, romance - is the intended outcome. The premise? A suitable match by Easter.

Fearless and impulsive, Lady Anne Eliza Lewis, daughter of the Earl of Doverton, is not the usual ton lady. Nor does she want to be, for she's worked the bulk of her adult life at being a balloonist. Well-read Benedict Giles Urquhart, Viscount Worthington is a man who values peace and order over all else in his life. When a freak accident with a crashing hot-air balloon spooks his horse and throws Benedict, his placid life takes an abrupt turn, to say nothing of the distracting and unrepentant woman manning it.

Eliza has her own reasons for agreeing to wed selfish George Bramley. Reasons that have nothing to do with love! If it's the only way to be reunited with the child she was forced to give up after a youthful indiscretion, Eliza will marry anyone! Mr. Rufus Patmore has come to Quamby House expecting to buy a horse, not find the virtuous, beautiful wife for whom he’s been searching.