The Wagering Widow

By Diana Gaston

      Guy or Lord Keating whisks Emily Duprey away to Scotland to marry her and save her fortune from her father's clutches. Not to mention all the other money-hungry men in Bath. Even though he feels guilty since he is like the other rascals in Bath, wanting only her fortune.

Guy needs it to save his family, not just to gamble away or to take advantage of Emily. He believes he can give her a good life as Lady Keating and see that she is always treated well and taken care of. However, upon meeting her parents, Guy finds out that there is no fortune; Emily's father made it all up just to save himself from his many gambling debts. Now Guy will have to find another way to make the money to keep his family from becoming destitute from gambling with cards.

     Emily is furious when she discovers the real reason Guy married her. She thought she had finally found a man unlike any other--one that really cared for her. Now she has thought of a plan to make her own money so she can get away from her husband. She will gamble a little herself; after all, she is her father's daughter and was taught to play cards by time she could hold them.

     Emily begins her adventure into the gambling nightlife of London hidden behind a mask as the mysterious Lady Widow. With every man trying to get her in one of the upstairs rooms, Lady Widow makes in plain that she is only there to play cards. However when Emily's husband shows up at the same gambling house one night, she is delighted in the way he looks at her, but also upset that he could flirt with the Lady Widow when he is married to her Emily.

     What she does not know is there is no hiding from her husband. Guy knew who she was almost immediately after meeting her, but decided to see how far his wife would go with the charade. He wants to find out exactly what she is up to. He is finding that he is actually beginning to love his wife and doesn't like having her around all these other men, men that are gambling on who will get her mask and clothes off first.

    The Wagering Widow is one superbly written book. With a plot that instantly grabs your attention and characters that will have you laughing and surprised, Ms. Gaston has given us one very enjoyable read. I enjoyed the book so much I could not put it down until I had finished. Quiet, shy Emily turns out to be one very exciting heroine, and Guy makes a perfect hero who only wants to provide for his family, which includes his two aunts and his mother, who refuses to acccept Emily as Guy's wife and the new Lady Keating.