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The Mysterious Miss M #2
The Wagering Widow
Diane Gaston
350 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Diane Gaston
175 books127 followersDiane Gaston’s dream job had always been to write romance novels. One day she decided to pursue that dream and has never looked back; she is now writing full-time. Her books have won Romance’s highest honour—the RITA Award, the National Readers Choice Award and the Golden Heart. She lives in Virginia with her husband and three very ordinary house cats. Diane loves to hear from readers and friends.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 22, 2010
It's not that this was a bad book, but it felt like a testimonial for Gamblers Anonymous...
February 24, 2014
I almost didn't read The Wagering Widow. Like many fans of HR novels, I was impatient to get to the romance between heavenly looking people. I am so thankful that I went back to try again. Now having read it, I think it has my favorite hero ever in Lord Guy Keating. Yes, he is good man. If he is just a good man that wouldn't make him stand out from other Heroes. It is the depiction of him as a man who loves women that makes him so endearing to me. As the head of the household of course he is responsible to the lives of his mother, great-aunt and aunt but he takes care of duties out of love. Also, when conflicts arise between his mother and his new wife, he acts with a clear head and would not allow his mother play him a fool. The Hero and Heroine both have to evolve and learn to move pass the past and trust each other again in order for their love to flourish.
After having read a majority of Diane Gaston's HR novels to date and compared her works with other authors, I have come to appreciate the historic settings in DG's storytelling and the multi-dimensional characters she creates. I am sure DG has ruined me for HR novels from other authors because I have come to expect to see how heroes and heroines are people who have more than just their love for each other, They are sons, brothers, sisters, daughters, and friends in their lives. Also, they are not always perfect, and well-meaning intensions don't always help to bring perfect situations. I find that DG's HR novels give me the most satisfying reading experiences, and her characters come alive and linger in my mind afterwards for a long time.
After having read a majority of Diane Gaston's HR novels to date and compared her works with other authors, I have come to appreciate the historic settings in DG's storytelling and the multi-dimensional characters she creates. I am sure DG has ruined me for HR novels from other authors because I have come to expect to see how heroes and heroines are people who have more than just their love for each other, They are sons, brothers, sisters, daughters, and friends in their lives. Also, they are not always perfect, and well-meaning intensions don't always help to bring perfect situations. I find that DG's HR novels give me the most satisfying reading experiences, and her characters come alive and linger in my mind afterwards for a long time.
October 27, 2012
What a disappointment!
The cover of this book is so beautiful and the general concept very intriguing and yet, I was left frustrated with this book.
First of all, I cannot say that I like the hero, Guy. I do not hate him either but I strongly dislike him.
He married the heroine, Emily, because he thought she was a rich heiress and he wanted her money.
True, he wanted the money so that he could be able to provide for his mother and her aunts.
Still, I didn't like it at all.
But what really made me angry was the fact that he is a selfish bastard.
He is so set on his goals that he does not worry about anybody else.
Can you imagine my disgust when, even when he was making love to his wife or as he first called it, "performing his husbandly duties", he had not a single care for her?
He didn't care a bit if she had pleasure as well or if he hurt her feelings.
And she was a virgin.
What an awful introduction to the sexual part of a marriage!
And he kept making bad decision and doing things that hurt her, which pissed me off even more.
But Emily wasn't a great heroine as well.
At first, she was too meek. And she was much too worried about how a proper lady should react.
Damn, she made herself barely move when she was intimate with her husband because, in her point of view, if she moved a lot or made noises, she would be too forward and that was wrong.
And let's not talk about the end of this book.
So much drama and then, too damn quickly, it is everything alrigh.
What a pity!
The cover of this book is so beautiful and the general concept very intriguing and yet, I was left frustrated with this book.
First of all, I cannot say that I like the hero, Guy. I do not hate him either but I strongly dislike him.
He married the heroine, Emily, because he thought she was a rich heiress and he wanted her money.
True, he wanted the money so that he could be able to provide for his mother and her aunts.
Still, I didn't like it at all.
But what really made me angry was the fact that he is a selfish bastard.
He is so set on his goals that he does not worry about anybody else.
Can you imagine my disgust when, even when he was making love to his wife or as he first called it, "performing his husbandly duties", he had not a single care for her?
He didn't care a bit if she had pleasure as well or if he hurt her feelings.
And she was a virgin.
What an awful introduction to the sexual part of a marriage!
And he kept making bad decision and doing things that hurt her, which pissed me off even more.
But Emily wasn't a great heroine as well.
At first, she was too meek. And she was much too worried about how a proper lady should react.
Damn, she made herself barely move when she was intimate with her husband because, in her point of view, if she moved a lot or made noises, she would be too forward and that was wrong.
And let's not talk about the end of this book.
So much drama and then, too damn quickly, it is everything alrigh.
What a pity!
October 16, 2019
Enjoyed this book.
May 7, 2013
Diane Gaston, The Wagering Widow (Harlequin, 2006)
You always know what you're going to get with a romance novel; the only difference is the setting. I can't even remember where I originally picked this up, but I have it in ebook form, and when I dialed it up I for some reason had the idea in my head that it was a Kindle short rather than a full-length novel. Wrong I was, obviously (it turns out, at least judging by an omnibus title released in 2008, it's actually the second in a series of six loosely-connected novels; now I have to hunt down the other five...). But then I wasn't terribly concerned; after all, it being a romance, I knew what I was getting, and while I was not surprised in any way, I wasn't disappointed, either.
Plot: In one of those classic romance “we probably could have solved all this with a five-minute honest conversation” setups, Guy Keating, a Lord in name only who is saddled with crippling gambling debts incurred by his father, elopes with Emily Duprey, whom he believes to be an heiress. Turns out she's as penniless as he is. Guy has sworn never to return to the tables, despite being a much more successful card sharp than his father ever was, but given his current situation, he can't think of any other way to make money (ah, to be of the idle rich!). Emily, who believes (thanks in no small part from misinformation got from both her brother and her mother-in-law, as well as many, many evasive answers from Guy) Guy's gambling debts are his own, believes he's going out every night and losing his shirt, so she—also quite the card sharp—gets herself gussied up so no one'll recognize her save her maid and heads out to turn the tables herself. Well, you know that eventually these two are gonna get together across a table. And here's the important question: who's gonna win THAT game?
At least, it's the important question if you're a poker player (I am). Gaston, on the other hand, takes it in the expected direction— [SPOILER ALERT!] Guy ends up falling for the masked lass and going through a major crisis of faith, while Emily is all too well aware that her husband is being “unfaithful” and is gonna milk that for all it's worth. [/SPOILER] But, you know, this is a romance novel, right? It's safe, it's predictable, and it's enjoyable as long as you're willing to play by its rules. If a good historical is what you're in the mood for and you're a fan of the cardroom, The Wagering Widow will be right up your alley (or your ante). ** ½
You always know what you're going to get with a romance novel; the only difference is the setting. I can't even remember where I originally picked this up, but I have it in ebook form, and when I dialed it up I for some reason had the idea in my head that it was a Kindle short rather than a full-length novel. Wrong I was, obviously (it turns out, at least judging by an omnibus title released in 2008, it's actually the second in a series of six loosely-connected novels; now I have to hunt down the other five...). But then I wasn't terribly concerned; after all, it being a romance, I knew what I was getting, and while I was not surprised in any way, I wasn't disappointed, either.
Plot: In one of those classic romance “we probably could have solved all this with a five-minute honest conversation” setups, Guy Keating, a Lord in name only who is saddled with crippling gambling debts incurred by his father, elopes with Emily Duprey, whom he believes to be an heiress. Turns out she's as penniless as he is. Guy has sworn never to return to the tables, despite being a much more successful card sharp than his father ever was, but given his current situation, he can't think of any other way to make money (ah, to be of the idle rich!). Emily, who believes (thanks in no small part from misinformation got from both her brother and her mother-in-law, as well as many, many evasive answers from Guy) Guy's gambling debts are his own, believes he's going out every night and losing his shirt, so she—also quite the card sharp—gets herself gussied up so no one'll recognize her save her maid and heads out to turn the tables herself. Well, you know that eventually these two are gonna get together across a table. And here's the important question: who's gonna win THAT game?
At least, it's the important question if you're a poker player (I am). Gaston, on the other hand, takes it in the expected direction— [SPOILER ALERT!] Guy ends up falling for the masked lass and going through a major crisis of faith, while Emily is all too well aware that her husband is being “unfaithful” and is gonna milk that for all it's worth. [/SPOILER] But, you know, this is a romance novel, right? It's safe, it's predictable, and it's enjoyable as long as you're willing to play by its rules. If a good historical is what you're in the mood for and you're a fan of the cardroom, The Wagering Widow will be right up your alley (or your ante). ** ½
September 26, 2022
Really like the character development. I don't know a good way to say this, but there's a level of attention devoted to psychological details that's just fascinating. Also, I've read other books that involved gambling and card games, but I've never found the gaming itself particularly interesting until now.
April 19, 2009
Set in the Regency period, the book starts out with a hasty marriage between handsome Guy Keating and plain Emily Duprey. He's not in love with her but marries her for her money, which he later finds out she doesn't have because her father gambled it all away. In a state of panic (since he inherited a large sum of debt and must provide for his mother, her aunts, his sister, and his new wife), he goes to the gambling hells where he hopes to make a fortune in a short amount of time.
His lack of affection to his wife stems largely from his guilt over deceiving her into marriage, and it is obvious that he does come to care for her as he gets to know her. Emily, meanwhile, had married Guy to escape her parents who cared more about themselves than about her. She spent her life trying to avoid scandal, so she is meek and agreeable, even at the expense of her feelings. When she discovers Guy married her for her nonexistent funds, she decides she must have money in order to leave him. This leads her to don on her Lady Widow's mask, and she goes gambling.
Of course, they end up meeting each other, and he recognizes her almost immediately, but she doesn't realize he knows her true identity. This sets the stage for tension and intrigue, which I did enjoy. As the plot evolves, Guy falls head over heels in love with Emily, whether she's playing herself or Lady Widow. The story is full of misunderstandings between the two main characters because neither one reveals their "cards" to the other. Though this could have been boring, I thought Diane Gaston did a good job of pulling it off. You can't help but love Guy because he is doing what's best for his family, and you can't help but sympathize with Emily who thinks he's only interested in Lady Widow, not her. This is an enjoyable read that I highly recommend it.
His lack of affection to his wife stems largely from his guilt over deceiving her into marriage, and it is obvious that he does come to care for her as he gets to know her. Emily, meanwhile, had married Guy to escape her parents who cared more about themselves than about her. She spent her life trying to avoid scandal, so she is meek and agreeable, even at the expense of her feelings. When she discovers Guy married her for her nonexistent funds, she decides she must have money in order to leave him. This leads her to don on her Lady Widow's mask, and she goes gambling.
Of course, they end up meeting each other, and he recognizes her almost immediately, but she doesn't realize he knows her true identity. This sets the stage for tension and intrigue, which I did enjoy. As the plot evolves, Guy falls head over heels in love with Emily, whether she's playing herself or Lady Widow. The story is full of misunderstandings between the two main characters because neither one reveals their "cards" to the other. Though this could have been boring, I thought Diane Gaston did a good job of pulling it off. You can't help but love Guy because he is doing what's best for his family, and you can't help but sympathize with Emily who thinks he's only interested in Lady Widow, not her. This is an enjoyable read that I highly recommend it.
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March 5, 2014Technically this is billed as a standalone, but numerous references to the heroine's sister's story lead one to conclude it's part of a series. This was a bit irritating. Towards the end there is mention of the Mysterious Miss M... which I read quite a while ago. Now I guess I'll have to pick it up again and see if rereading it elucidates the questions that have arisen. Aside from that, this is a tidy little gem of a story. The wild side so carefully concealed during the day, allowed to come out and play at night, makes for an intriguing tale. Interesting how two people can have so many wrong ideas about each other. Fun read.
August 20, 2023
I love this book. Loved the characters. Loved the sexual tension between the leads. The ending is satisfactory but I wish they talked more about their differences. I wished the author showed us what happened after the couple reconciled. Anyway, we shall see in the next book in the series.
Found this book on sale. I was captivated by the teaser so I purchased this in a heartbeat. This is one of my triumphant book purchases of 2023 coz the contents of the book matched my enthusiasm when I first read the teaser on the back. Kudos, Diane Gaston!
Found this book on sale. I was captivated by the teaser so I purchased this in a heartbeat. This is one of my triumphant book purchases of 2023 coz the contents of the book matched my enthusiasm when I first read the teaser on the back. Kudos, Diane Gaston!
October 5, 2011
Some books just can't be read a second time. This book, however, was just as good the second read as it was the first. Can two people who lie to each other, or have secrets from each other find true love? The Wagering Widow tells us.
January 16, 2016
I enjoyed this book very much. It was very sweet & romantic. The characters were very intriguing.
December 12, 2012
The guy in this was stupid but well meaning the woman however was stupid and annoying and ruined it.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews