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My Once and Future Duke
(The Wagers of Sin #1)
by
What happens at the infamous Vega Club . . .
Sophie Campbell is determined to be mistress of her own fate. Surviving on her skill at cards, she never risks what she can’t afford to lose. Yet when the Duke of Ware proposes a scandalous wager that’s too extravagant to refuse, she can’t resist. If she wins, she’ll get five thousand pounds, enough to secure her independence for ...more
Sophie Campbell is determined to be mistress of her own fate. Surviving on her skill at cards, she never risks what she can’t afford to lose. Yet when the Duke of Ware proposes a scandalous wager that’s too extravagant to refuse, she can’t resist. If she wins, she’ll get five thousand pounds, enough to secure her independence for ...more
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ebook, 384 pages
Published
February 27th 2018
by Avon
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Showing 1-30

Start your review of My Once and Future Duke (The Wagers of Sin, #1)

3.5 stars
Buddy read with Lacey, who luckily enjoyed this more than I did :)
See, the thing is, I LOVE Caroline Linden. She has written some of my favorite historical romances. But lately, I don't know why, books from my favorite authors that I have been eagerly waiting for just don't seem to work out for me- it happened three books in a row, with Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, and now Linden :(
The good things first:
Because this is a Carline Linden book, the writing is solid and I was able to look ...more
Buddy read with Lacey, who luckily enjoyed this more than I did :)
See, the thing is, I LOVE Caroline Linden. She has written some of my favorite historical romances. But lately, I don't know why, books from my favorite authors that I have been eagerly waiting for just don't seem to work out for me- it happened three books in a row, with Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, and now Linden :(
The good things first:
Because this is a Carline Linden book, the writing is solid and I was able to look ...more

4.5 stars rounded up.
Caroline Linden writes the most wonderful character-driven romances, and she’s a favourite author of mine. Whenever I want to read something I know will be beautifully and intelligently written, with a gorgeous hero and a heroine I can root for, she’s someone I know I can rely on to deliver something that will hit the spot, and a new book by her is always a cause for celebration. Her latest release, My Once and Future Duke, the first in her new Wagers of Sin series, is a ...more
Caroline Linden writes the most wonderful character-driven romances, and she’s a favourite author of mine. Whenever I want to read something I know will be beautifully and intelligently written, with a gorgeous hero and a heroine I can root for, she’s someone I know I can rely on to deliver something that will hit the spot, and a new book by her is always a cause for celebration. Her latest release, My Once and Future Duke, the first in her new Wagers of Sin series, is a ...more

Recently, I have been thinking about the authors whose books first encouraged my love of Historical Romance. Regrettably some of these authors, such as Caroline Linden, seem to have fallen by the wayside as new authors came along to capture my interest. MY ONCE AND FUTURE DUKE, the first book in her new The Wagers of Sin series, provided the perfect opportunity to rediscover this talented author.
Orphaned at the age of twelve, when both her beloved parents died of consumption, Sophie Graham was l ...more
Orphaned at the age of twelve, when both her beloved parents died of consumption, Sophie Graham was l ...more

A lovely heroine…

… an accomplished gambler who earns her living that way! I admit I admired her! She knew what she wanted and went to get it in an unusual and inventive way! LOL
The hero was a stick-in-the-a**, but while reading I could understand why he was that way! So, when he falls for the heroine, he falls hard and all the way!
Some of my friends said that they liked the hero’s brother; me not so much! A useless and slick youngster who always did whatever he wanted and unloaded all the probl ...more

… an accomplished gambler who earns her living that way! I admit I admired her! She knew what she wanted and went to get it in an unusual and inventive way! LOL
The hero was a stick-in-the-a**, but while reading I could understand why he was that way! So, when he falls for the heroine, he falls hard and all the way!
Some of my friends said that they liked the hero’s brother; me not so much! A useless and slick youngster who always did whatever he wanted and unloaded all the probl ...more

Despite my best efforts to go slow after more than a year of waiting, I gorged myself on this decadent novel and read it in two days. No regrets! In fact, I'll probably be reading it again to catch anything I missed.
My Once and Future Duke is Linden's first novel in a new series. However, it feature a very old secondary character whom readers first met in Caroline's early (perhaps first) novel, What a Woman Needs. The aloof but lonely Duke of Ware finally got his book and what a story it was. St ...more
My Once and Future Duke is Linden's first novel in a new series. However, it feature a very old secondary character whom readers first met in Caroline's early (perhaps first) novel, What a Woman Needs. The aloof but lonely Duke of Ware finally got his book and what a story it was. St ...more

ARC provided by Edelweiss and Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Sophie was sent to an Academy for young ladies by her Viscount Uncle. She was orphaned at a young age. At eighteen she's on her own as far as her Uncle is concerned. Sophie is very good at cards and calculating numbers, thanks to her late father. She becomes a very successful gambler and pretends to be a widow.
Duke of Ware, Jack Linderville is at Vega to pay off his brother Philip's debt, which happens often. This is where ...more
Sophie was sent to an Academy for young ladies by her Viscount Uncle. She was orphaned at a young age. At eighteen she's on her own as far as her Uncle is concerned. Sophie is very good at cards and calculating numbers, thanks to her late father. She becomes a very successful gambler and pretends to be a widow.
Duke of Ware, Jack Linderville is at Vega to pay off his brother Philip's debt, which happens often. This is where ...more

Sep 07, 2018
Jacob Proffitt
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
unfinished,
audiobook
I've been listening to this for a few hours now and the pressure has been building and building and I just can't stand it any longer. A woman who has made and lost a wager to "spend a week in my company" to a man that was witnessed by at least a dozen people in the open gaming room of a gambling club has been "ruined". His dragging her out of the "gaming club", alone, into a carriage that then took them out of London only nails that coffin further shut. That is a done deal. It is inescapable. I'
...more

Don't trust me. I'm an unapologetic Caroline Linden fangirl, as much as I can be a fangirl anyways. Having read all of her historical romances, several multiple times, the pre-ordering of this one was inevitable. Still, I had my qualms going in. Every author is bound to write a story that doesn't appeal to us at some point, and this one features a secondary character from what I believe was her first full-length novel, What a Woman Needs, which is my least favorite of hers. For 13 years, many fa
...more

(2.5 stars) I seem to be swimming against the tide again in my reaction to another new HR release. I thought to try out Linden's new series, even though her previous Scandals books did not appeal to me. But this one goes into the same file as Kleypas' and Campbell's latest novels. It's competently written but Linden and the other two are not one third the wordsmiths of a Meredith Duran, Jayne Fresina, Elizabeth Kingston, Sherry Thomas, or Courtney Milan. Linden tells stories, but the way she wri
...more

I really like Caroline Linden. For me Love and Other Scandals was a masterpiece, I’ve dabbled around in a few of her books since then and I’ve never not liked one of her books. However none of them have matched up to Love and other Scandals. My once and future duke was a good book, I loved the beginning but somewhere around the middle it kind of started to drag. Still a good book though and enjoyable, and I am looking forward to the rest of the series.
...more

There's nothing particularly bad or unlikable about My Once and Future Duke, though I would be hard-pressed to think of more than a couple good or likable things about it. The first half of the book is a dreadful bore. Just blah. Jack and Sophie aren't charismatic on their own, let alone thrown together at his dull country house chatting about family heirlooms and thinking about how sexy the other one is. And that's fine if you want to bask in the soothing romance of two perfectly nice people, b
...more

I've given this an A- for both content and narration at AudioGals, so 4.5 stars rounded up
Better late than never, so they say, and I’m pleased to agree with that when it comes to the release of this first book in Caroline Linden’s Wagers of Sin series. My Once and Future Duke was released in print at the end of February and I’m happy to report that the audio version – narrated by the ever-reliable Beverley A. Crick – was worth the wait.
In the prologue, we’re introduced to the three heroines ...more
Better late than never, so they say, and I’m pleased to agree with that when it comes to the release of this first book in Caroline Linden’s Wagers of Sin series. My Once and Future Duke was released in print at the end of February and I’m happy to report that the audio version – narrated by the ever-reliable Beverley A. Crick – was worth the wait.
In the prologue, we’re introduced to the three heroines ...more

Mar 04, 2018
Gio Listmaker
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those Who Liked "It Happened One Autumn" by Lisa Kleypas
"Sophie was discovering that she could ignore her own attraction as long as she didn’t like him, but when he smiled and let down his guard . . . That flicker of humor and humanity turned him from a cold, haughty duke into an irresistibly attractive man."
This ^^^ Is Why I Love To Read Caroline Linden
Jack Lindeville, Duke Of Ware Does Not Understand His Attraction To The Heroine

Our Heroine Sophie Campbell Is A Sharp Clever Gambler Who Knows How To Play The Odds

The Witty Dialogue Between These Two ...more
This ^^^ Is Why I Love To Read Caroline Linden
Jack Lindeville, Duke Of Ware Does Not Understand His Attraction To The Heroine

Our Heroine Sophie Campbell Is A Sharp Clever Gambler Who Knows How To Play The Odds

The Witty Dialogue Between These Two ...more

4.5 stars
My first book by this author and wow am I impressed! Eagerly looking forward to book 2 of the series.
My first book by this author and wow am I impressed! Eagerly looking forward to book 2 of the series.

Series: The Wagers of Sin #1
Publication Date: 2/27/18
Sophie Graham had a wonderful life – two loving parents, travel, meeting varied and interesting people – until those parents died of consumption when she was twelve years old. Her grandfather was an awful person who had disowned his son (Sophie’s father) because he married the woman he loved rather than marry as his father wanted. That cold and unfeeling man became Sophie’s guardian. He certainly didn’t want her or anything to do with her so h ...more
Publication Date: 2/27/18
Sophie Graham had a wonderful life – two loving parents, travel, meeting varied and interesting people – until those parents died of consumption when she was twelve years old. Her grandfather was an awful person who had disowned his son (Sophie’s father) because he married the woman he loved rather than marry as his father wanted. That cold and unfeeling man became Sophie’s guardian. He certainly didn’t want her or anything to do with her so h ...more

My Once And Future Duke is the first book in "The Wagers of Sin" series. This is the story of Sophie Campbell and Jack Lindeville, Duke of Ware.
Sophie life was wonderful up until her parents died of consumption when she was about twelve years old. Sophie's grandfather became her guardian but he was a bitter mean man who had disowned her father earlier for marrying her mother. The grandfather dropped her off at Miss Upton’s Academy For Young Ladies and told her that he would pay for her schoolin ...more
Sophie life was wonderful up until her parents died of consumption when she was about twelve years old. Sophie's grandfather became her guardian but he was a bitter mean man who had disowned her father earlier for marrying her mother. The grandfather dropped her off at Miss Upton’s Academy For Young Ladies and told her that he would pay for her schoolin ...more

Dec 27, 2018
ashleigh
marked it as to-read
Lol apparently this is the first one oops

The plot was so nonsensical. Couldn’t care for either main characters.

Audiobook - still loved it :-)

I usually really love Caroline Linden's historical romances, but I was quite disappointed by My Once and Future Duke. Let me get to the positive aspects first. I really loved the idea of the heroine being a gambling queen. Sophie is a pro at cards, and is absolutely unapologetic about it. It was refreshing to have a heroine who wasn't part of London high society. She's fiery, independent, and does not let people walk all over her. I admired her absolute tenacity and strength throughout the book. ...more

This was nice except for a misunderstanding in the end that made no sense she beliving other people's word without speaking with him first but okay.
The other two books of this series are much better though. ...more
The other two books of this series are much better though. ...more

Sophie Campbell is a smart, beautiful woman who supports herself by gambling. Her ability to calculate the odds combined with her ability to know when walk away from a game or a challenge has served her well. Jack Lindeville, the Duke of Ware, arrives at the Vega Club to pay his brother Philip’s substantial marker. He is captivated when he sees a woman in a crimson dress playing cards with his brother’s friends. Jack doesn’t see her face but, he acknowledges that something about her intrigues hi
...more

This was the BOTM for April 2018 for the OSRBC. I was rather surprised to learn this was my first book by Caroline Linden - I’ve heard of her forever and I thought SURELY I owned and had read some of her books, but nope.
Sophie was left an orphan when both parents died when she was twelve. Her father was the son of a viscount, but his father disowned him for marrying an opera singer. Sophie’s father named his father as Sophie’s guardian, so she is duly shipped to her grandfather after their death ...more
Sophie was left an orphan when both parents died when she was twelve. Her father was the son of a viscount, but his father disowned him for marrying an opera singer. Sophie’s father named his father as Sophie’s guardian, so she is duly shipped to her grandfather after their death ...more

I am returning this book back to amazon. The story reads more like a Contemporary Modern Romance then Historical Romance. The characters would not do the things they are during 1819. I couldn't get past 30% read. The character Sophie Campbell is poorly written for the era.
Sorry!! ...more
Sorry!! ...more

London 1819.
This featured Jack (a Duke) & Sophie (an excellent
card-player). Jack paid off his brother Phillip's
loss at cards, one last time, at the Vega Club. And
made this crystal clear to the owner. (Phil was over-
indulged by his mother.) Jack lectured gambling
addicted (?) Phil to moderate his card-playing. Huh?
Phil considered Sophie as his "Lady Luck"@ Vega.
Vega included male & female members. Later in
the story, Phil stalked the h.
I did not buy the premise of this story. Sophie was
smar ...more
This featured Jack (a Duke) & Sophie (an excellent
card-player). Jack paid off his brother Phillip's
loss at cards, one last time, at the Vega Club. And
made this crystal clear to the owner. (Phil was over-
indulged by his mother.) Jack lectured gambling
addicted (?) Phil to moderate his card-playing. Huh?
Phil considered Sophie as his "Lady Luck"@ Vega.
Vega included male & female members. Later in
the story, Phil stalked the h.
I did not buy the premise of this story. Sophie was
smar ...more

4.5 stars
The book opens with a 12 year old Sophie Graham, orphan and granddaughter of Viscount Makepeace being dropped at school. Her grandfather had disowned his son for marrying an opera singer and makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with Sophie, he will pay her tuition until she is of age and then he wants nothing to do with her. Sophie is glad to see him go and intends to excel just to spite him and formulates her “Grand Plan”. She meets her new roommates, Lady Georgiana and Miss Eliz ...more
The book opens with a 12 year old Sophie Graham, orphan and granddaughter of Viscount Makepeace being dropped at school. Her grandfather had disowned his son for marrying an opera singer and makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with Sophie, he will pay her tuition until she is of age and then he wants nothing to do with her. Sophie is glad to see him go and intends to excel just to spite him and formulates her “Grand Plan”. She meets her new roommates, Lady Georgiana and Miss Eliz ...more

When twelve-year old Sophie Graham was orphaned, her grandfather Viscount Makepeace unceremoniously shipped her off to school, and at eighteen she was on her own. At twenty four, now Sophie Campbell, she is a professional card player, halfway to the ten thousand pounds she needs to be independent, and hopefully marry a nice man. Jack Linderville, Duke of Ware, is at Vega’s to pay his brother Philip’s debts, again. It happens that the beautiful woman Jack has been ogling is partly responsible for
...more

Sophie and Jack
I loved this story so much. I didn't want it to end. How do you hook me into waiting for the next book like the book fiend that I am? Leave me with a mystery to contemplate. Well done, Linden, well done.
I enjoyed the writing, the characters, the pacing of the story - everything came together for a most enjoyable evening and morning of reading. I am an avid reader of Caroline Linden's books and will continue to be as long as the quality continues in this vein. Top notch! ...more
I loved this story so much. I didn't want it to end. How do you hook me into waiting for the next book like the book fiend that I am? Leave me with a mystery to contemplate. Well done, Linden, well done.
I enjoyed the writing, the characters, the pacing of the story - everything came together for a most enjoyable evening and morning of reading. I am an avid reader of Caroline Linden's books and will continue to be as long as the quality continues in this vein. Top notch! ...more


My Once and Future Duke kicks off a new series by Caroline Linden, Wagers of Sin. I believe this series will revolve around gambling at the exclusive Vega Club. Our heroines will be girls with similarly-situated childhoods who met and bonded at their boarding school, dubbed Ms. Upton's Academy of the Unwanted. This was a good start to the series with an independent heroine who was the perfect person to thaw out our stuffy and proper duke.
Sophie Campbell started life with an idyllic childhood wit ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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YA Buddy Readers'...: My once and future Duke by Caroline Linden starting August 26 | 6 | 9 | Aug 27, 2018 01:06AM | |
Synopsis in Spanish // Sinopsis in Español | 1 | 1 | Nov 05, 2017 02:38PM |
Caroline Linden was born a reader, not a writer. She earned a degree in mathematics from Harvard University and worked as a programmer in the financial services industry before realizing writing fiction is much more exciting than writing code. Her books have won the NEC-RWA Readers' Choice Award, the JNRW Golden Leaf, the Daphne du Maurier Award, and RWA's RITA Award, and have been translated into
...more
Other books in the series
The Wagers of Sin
(3 books)
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