Knave's Wager
I had a love-hate relationship with Loretta Chase’ Knave’s Wager. Loved the heroine, hated the hero. Loved the writing, disliked the tropes. I didn’t want to put the book down, but not for the reasons anyone would keep reading a romance. That made it a difficult book to grade, but at least it meant I had plenty to write about.
Let’s start with the best part, the heroine. A widow in her late twenties, Lilith Davenant enjoys shepherding her young nieces through their Seasons. She’s superbly qualified to be a chaperone, since she has a spotless reputation and always behaves with cool, unruffled dignity. She’s honorable and smart and one of the best examples of a strong woman who doesn’t exhibit anachronistic feminism.
Julian, Lord Brandon, is a rich libertine whose constant air of cold ennui is disturbed when he hears that his cousin Robert has been fool enough to propose to Elise, his mistress. Not only is she a grasping tart who’s not of their social class, she’s French. Swallowing his revulsion, Julian meets with her to warn her off. Elise realizes at once that this man can bring all the weight of his power and rank down on her, so she says that if this is a duel, she would like a champion on her side. Her choice? Mrs. Davenant.
Elise tells Julian that if he can seduce Lilith, she will quit the field in defeat. To him, of course, this is a win-win proposition, since not only will he enjoy the widow’s charms, he’ll save his cousin from the French cat’s claws as well.
To that purpose, Julian bribes Lilith’s servants to keep him informed of her whereabouts, shows up wherever she goes, and maneuvers to get her alone whenever possible, despite her evident dislike of him and the risk to her reputation. When she tells him she is engaged, he shrugs. What does that have to do with anything? Besides, the man she’s chosen is a stupid, balding bore, so she’ll have a far better time in Julian’s bed.
The writing is so good that I felt all of Lilith’s uneasiness and fear. Readers know that despite Julian’s campaign of manipulation and harassment, he won’t actually force himself on her, but she can’t be certain of that. Especially since, when she’s riding in Hyde Park, he tells her to dismount or he’ll drag her out of the saddle, so he seemed quite willing to put his hands on her without her consent. I’m not fond of the trope where the hero stalks the heroine, and in a historical the man typically has far more power while the woman often has no way to defend herself.
In stories that rely on this trope, there’s always a point where the heroine is worn down by both the hero’s refusal to take no for an answer and her body’s traitorous responses, so she agrees to whatever he wants. If you don’t mind spoilers, that happens here as well, so Julian buys a house and decks it out as a love nest, complete with sachet-scented lingerie, at which point I dubbed him Lord Sleaze. But then a friend tells Lilith about an overheard conversation between him and Elise, discussing the wager (he wasn’t planning to tell Lilith the truth, which is entirely in character).
So when he arrives to whisk her off to paradise, she puts him in his place with a few cold, well-chosen words. And he slinks away. I stopped and read this scene again, it was so enjoyable. Even better was the follow-up, where Julian retreats to the empty love nest, realizes what he’s done, and thinks that in a few years he’ll be an aging roué with nothing to show for it. I reread that too.
But that’s not what I read romances for. I want to care about the hero, not savor the Schadenfreude as the consequences of his deceitful schemes catch up with him. I would also have preferred it if he and Lilith had decided to work matters out between them, but instead they’re reunited when her niece and his cousin pretend to run away so Lilith and Julian will be forced to travel together to find them. It just felt contrived.
And while Julian is a chastened and humbler person after his defeat, the last quarter of the book wasn’t enough to make up for the rest of it. I was relieved, though, that Elise didn’t end up dead, destitute, or humiliated. Actually, now I wish the book had been about Lilith and Elise going on a road trip together, leaving Julian behind in the love nest with the sachet-scented lingerie.
That said, the writing is superb. The characters come to life, their dialogue sparkles, and there are touches of droll humor throughout the narrative. So even though Knave’s Wager didn’t quite work for me, I’ll happily pick up another of Loretta Chase’s romances at any time, and readers who like the tropes in this book better than I do should enjoy it.
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Book Details
Reviewer: | Marian Perera |
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Review Date: | August 19, 2019 |
Publication Date: | 11/2012 |
Grade: | C+ |
Sensuality | Warm |
Book Type: | Historical Romance |
Review Tags: |
Even bad Loretta Chase is head and shoulders above everyone else. While these tropes are hackneyed now, and the H is too threatening, her writing makes up for a great deal. I wish she wrote faster, but I’m glad she takes the time to get it right.
I have this in a twofer with The Sandalwood Princess – it’s been on the shelf for years, waiting to be read.
I think this was just the kick in the pants I needed to finally move it to the top of the reading pile, so thank you! :)
Even if the hero is an idiot, a great heroine and sparkling dialogue still sounds much better than all the books I’ve been reading recently.
Great review!
One note, however: the first edition of this book is copyrighted 1990. I believe the 2012 date referenced above is Amazon’s e-book “reprint” date. As Blackjack noted, this title is one of Chase’s older titles and that may be the reason for the “outdated” tropes found in it. (I’m particularly sensitive to publication dates/versions of works having literally just read the recent NYT article about fakes and forgeries being sold by Amazon.)
Thank you for pointing out the original copyright, it’s an important distinction.
Yes, that’s correct. When I input the reviews, there is a field for the original publicaiton date as well as the publication date of the relevant edition – but only the “new” date shows up on the actual review page. So the correct date IS in the system, and would show up in a Power Search. Obviously, the vast majority of the books we review here are new so this isn’t an issue – I will ask to see if there’s a way the original date could be added for reissues.
Actually it wouldn’t–the only date it will appear in on the site is the pub date, whatever you input that as. I don’t know why there is an entry for copyright date–as best as I can tell, it goes nowhere.
I recommend that for such reviews a line at the top of the review should state the actual copyright date of the book, so that the book can be viewed through an appropriate lens.
The original copyright date matters. Thank you for pointing it out.
Yes, that’s a good point. I should have written that if I’d read this book when it was first released, the hero’s behavior wouldn’t have bothered me so much (or perhaps, not at all). Unfortunately I’m a day late and a CAD short.
That is the issue with these traditional Regencies. Those of us who love them know the biases and issues they exhibit. So, for example, this is a book I enjoy re-reading, because I know Chase’s writing from that era and that of her contemporaries.
Just so. Same with some series romances like Burchell. Consciously reading a romance from my Mum’s time can be fun, reading a modern heroine / hero behaving that way does not work anymore.
I would heartily dislike these tropes as well. Fabulous review. I have a handful of older Chase stories that I hope to read one of these days, including this one.
Thanks! I wish there had been more room in this one to develop the hero, because the heroine’s characterization was so appealing.
Aww, too bad this is kinda mid-level in Chase’s storied oeuvre!
Great review. This sounds like exactly how this book would have affected me. Besides more open communication by the characters, these books also usually need more time on the side after the secret is revealed. Maybe if this had been the secondary plot of a prequel or a flashback?
I agree, it would be more fun if the heroine found out early enough that there was time for her to deal with the knowledge and for the relationship to proceed on a more honest footing. And isn’t there a Courtney Milan book where the heroine sets out to seduce the hero because she stands to make money if she does? I read that a long time ago so I don’t remember all the details, but I liked it. Something like that – a twist in the trope – would work better for me than playing it straight.