So this is a fairly standard historical romance, the first in a new series by Ms Linden – The Wagers of Sin. I feel like I’ve read several books lately with a similar premise – young, beautiful woman is left nearly destitute after the death of loved ones, and seeks to make a fortune by gambling. And in the course of this gambling, she meets handsome, wealthy lord who falls into lust with her and must have her. In this case, we have Sophie Graham, […]
Gambling to secure a future, winning a duke
3.5 stars Sophie Graham is twelve when she is orphaned and left in the care of her arrogant grandfather, the Viscount Makepeace. Her father, his second son, eloped with an opera singer (Sophie’s mother) and was summarily disowned. Sophie spent her childhood travelling through Europe with her parents. When both her parents die from illness, there is no one left for Sophie. Her grandfather sends her to boarding school, where she befriends Miss Eliza Cross, the daughter of an industrialist, and Lady Georgiana Lucas. Sophie’s […]
Revisiting a classic I had seriously forgotten every aspect of – also, Cannonball
Sara Fielding and Derek Craven have a hell of a “meet-cute”. While researching her future novel in one of the seedier corners of the East End, Sara comes across Craven being held down and attacked by two thugs. They’ve slashed his face open, and she intends only to fire a warning shot from her pistol (which sh obviously keeps in her reticule for defencive purposes), when she instead ends up killing one of the assailants. She discovers that the man whose life she saved is […]
Who fears the wolf should never enter the forest.
When he wasn’t busy writing some of the world’s finest classic literature, Fyodor Dostoyevsky was busy touring European gambling halls. Like many gamblers, he lost a lot of francs. And, like many gamblers, he seemed to love riding the edge of luck and ruin. In fact, The Gambler was written as the result of a bizarre wager in which Dostoyevsky promised someone that if he didn’t deliver a novel by a date certain, that person would have the right to publish Dostoyevsky’s novels for nine […]