A Wedding Wager

May 23, 2011
Feather follows 2010's Rushed to the Altar with another story of three handsome but poor brothers who must marry "women in need of spiritual or moral salvation" to inherit their uncle's fortune. Beautiful Lady Serena Carmichael broke the Hon. Sebastian Sullivan's heart, abandoning him to follow her stepfather, Gen. Sir George Heyward, to the Continent. Sir George then frittered away Serena's inheritance and used her body as currency to pay off his debts. When he brings her back to London three years later as the hostess for a gambling house, she encounters Sebastian again and their mutual lust rekindles. It is never clear why Serena ever chose her vile stepfather over her virile lover, but she makes the most of her second chance. Feather creates vivid protagonists, appealing secondary characters, and a passionate romance, but the plot feels thin and rushed.

July 1, 2011
Sebastian's dying, reprobate uncle is threatening a final act of vengeance by offering to leave the struggling family money if Sebastian and his brothers marry women of ill repute. Sebastian's older brother, Jasper, succeeded in pleasing his uncle and himself, leaving Sebastian and his twin to meet his uncle's terms. During an evening out at a new gaming hall, Sebastian sees Lady Serena dealing cards. He was once madly in love with her, but she told him she was going away with her stepfather and did not return his feelings. But she never forgot him, and she hates her life as an accomplice to her stepfather's gambling and nefarious plans. When she sees Sebastian again, all her old feelings return. And this time, Sebastian will not give up on Lady Serena, fighting hard to win her heart and free her from her stepfather once and for all. With a deft hand, Feather brings alive the lasciviousness of the Georgian era in the second book of the Blackwater Brides trilogy, a not-to-be-missed romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)