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Rating: 
Summary: this is 1st book i read by gayle wilson and not the last
Review: Elizabeth Carstairs is infamous. One of Britain's elite searving as the mistress of a gambler and working in a gaming hell? Elizabeth also has a secret. And when Valentine Sinclair, the Earl of Dare, wins her in a bet, he jeopardizes that secret by touching the heart she'd thought had long ago withered up and died. The pain of its resurrection is almost to much to bear.Dare doesn't know what to do with his jaded innocent. The mask of ennui she wears as easily as her risque gowns occasionally slips and lets him see that there is more -- so much more beneath the surface. And though he's not sure why, Dare wants to discover just what Elizabeth is hiding. But more than that, Dare wants to do the one thing that society will never permit -- he wants to marry her. And marrying Dare is the one thing that Elizabeth's love can never allow. Gayle Wilson has written a masterful regency without the expected virgin bride. Instead she's written a well-layered, multi-dimensional hero and heroine in this powerful story of intrigue and betrayal . . . and love.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Regency Twist!
Review: Elizabeth Carstairs is infamous. One of Britain's elite searving as the mistress of a gambler and working in a gaming hell? Elizabeth also has a secret. And when Valentine Sinclair, the Earl of Dare, wins her in a bet, he jeopardizes that secret by touching the heart she'd thought had long ago withered up and died. The pain of its resurrection is almost to much to bear. Dare doesn't know what to do with his jaded innocent. The mask of ennui she wears as easily as her risque gowns occasionally slips and lets him see that there is more -- so much more beneath the surface. And though he's not sure why, Dare wants to discover just what Elizabeth is hiding. But more than that, Dare wants to do the one thing that society will never permit -- he wants to marry her. And marrying Dare is the one thing that Elizabeth's love can never allow. Gayle Wilson has written a masterful regency without the expected virgin bride. Instead she's written a well-layered, multi-dimensional hero and heroine in this powerful story of intrigue and betrayal . . . and love.
Rating:
Summary: An emotional and moving read!
Review: My Lady's Dare is a heart warming story with three dimensional characters, historical detail and emotion. Like most of Gayle Wilson's previous works, this novel addresses what is honor. Elizabeth and Dare are faced with impossible choices, and they must decide what is the right thing to do. Elizabeth's journey to self-respect and forgiveness is particularily poignant. In the most moving love scene I've ever read, Dare helps to convince Elizabeth that she is deserving of respect. I have read all of Gayle Wilson's novels, and this is the best one yet. Be warned though. Have a tissue at hand for the last third of this story. The only way Gayle Wilson could have improved this story was to make it longer. If you like regency historicals with powerful emotion and a strong sense of place, read My Lady's Dare.
Rating:
Summary: An emotional and moving read!
Review: My Lady's Dare is a heart warming story with three dimensional characters, historical detail and emotion. Like most of Gayle Wilson's previous works, this novel addresses what is honor. Elizabeth and Dare are faced with impossible choices, and they must decide what is the right thing to do. Elizabeth's journey to self-respect and forgiveness is particularily poignant. In the most moving love scene I've ever read, Dare helps to convince Elizabeth that she is deserving of respect. I have read all of Gayle Wilson's novels, and this is the best one yet. Be warned though. Have a tissue at hand for the last third of this story. The only way Gayle Wilson could have improved this story was to make it longer. If you like regency historicals with powerful emotion and a strong sense of place, read My Lady's Dare.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Boring, but not terribly exciting either
Review: This book was the first Harlequin historical romance I read. I don't usually read Harlequin's but it looked entertaining according to the back cover, so I bought it. The back cover reads, "Now, with the stunning widow installed at his town house, even the Matchmaking Mamas of the ton were doubting that the Earl of Dare would ever recover his good name..." Not one matchmaking mama was ever mentioned, the story didn't even deal with the ton's reaction to her living with him, and it seemed that noone even knew she was there because the story had very few characters. The one time the Earl of Dare went to a social event the chapter ended with him leaving for the party and the next chapter had him coming home. It would have been a much more exciting story had the earl actually socialized and he spoke to more people than Ned and Bonnet. Elizabeth never left the house and the whole story took place at either his house or Bonnets. Another thing that bugged me about this book, was just about everytime the earl spoke, he spoke "softly". Then "more softly". I don't think the man raised his voice once. And finally, the story talked of how Bonnet sent Elizabeth to Dare's house to spy on him, when what really happened is Dare is the one who wanted her at his house and insisted she be used for a wager. And Dare avenging his friend's death was hardly dealt with. It was kind of ridiculous how he kept showing up places and killing people and I'm not real sure why, unless a few pages were missing from my book. But I'm giving this book a 3 star for the author's effort and for Dare's sense of humor, which I enjoyed in the beginning of the story. I think, though, it could have been written better.
Rating:
Summary: Not Boring, but not terribly exciting either
Review: This book was the first Harlequin historical romance I read. I don't usually read Harlequin's but it looked entertaining according to the back cover, so I bought it. The back cover reads, "Now, with the stunning widow installed at his town house, even the Matchmaking Mamas of the ton were doubting that the Earl of Dare would ever recover his good name..." Not one matchmaking mama was ever mentioned, the story didn't even deal with the ton's reaction to her living with him, and it seemed that noone even knew she was there because the story had very few characters. The one time the Earl of Dare went to a social event the chapter ended with him leaving for the party and the next chapter had him coming home. It would have been a much more exciting story had the earl actually socialized and he spoke to more people than Ned and Bonnet. Elizabeth never left the house and the whole story took place at either his house or Bonnets. Another thing that bugged me about this book, was just about everytime the earl spoke, he spoke "softly". Then "more softly". I don't think the man raised his voice once. And finally, the story talked of how Bonnet sent Elizabeth to Dare's house to spy on him, when what really happened is Dare is the one who wanted her at his house and insisted she be used for a wager. And Dare avenging his friend's death was hardly dealt with. It was kind of ridiculous how he kept showing up places and killing people and I'm not real sure why, unless a few pages were missing from my book. But I'm giving this book a 3 star for the author's effort and for Dare's sense of humor, which I enjoyed in the beginning of the story. I think, though, it could have been written better.
Rating:
Summary: this is 1st book i read by gayle wilson and not the last
Review: This was the 1st book I read from gayle wilson and not the last. I am going to at least read the other two sinclair borthers stories.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent, heart-warming regency novel!
Review: Valentine Sinclair, the Earl of Dare, is a spy living a double life: for most of the time, he spends his time in London, pursuing the pleasures afforded to the upper echelon of British society. At other times, however, the Earl travels over to France and garners intelligence through his intelligence network positioned in Napoleon-controlled France. Unable to save an associate from a brutal, painful death, Val "saves" someone else instead: the beautiful Elizabeth Carstairs, the mistress of a French gambler who owns a gambling hell in London. After winning Elizabeth in a hand of cards, Val takes her to his London townhouse, where he offers her shelter. Elizabeth Carstairs, however, isn't clamoring for the Earl's attentions. She protects herself from the harsh realities of life by wearing a carefully constructed mask of indifference and secrecy. Once Val learns Elizabeth's secrets, can he ever see her as anything more than a Frenchman's mistress? Although this is the first book in the Sinclair brides trilogy (the other two are Anne's Perfect Husband and Her Dearest Sin, both by Gayle Wilson), I read this book last, and I wasn't sure I would like it. In the other two books, Val and Elizabeth appear as secondary characters, but he always seems to be a bit snobby, and I thought that I most likely would not like him as the main hero. Wrong! It took me a while to get into this book, but after the first 50 pages went by, I was hooked! I loved the character of Elizabeth, she was a wonderful, noble soul who still retained her elegance and poise even after the horrible life she had been forced into. Val was dashing and actually sensitive and romantic (even though he was a real jerk in a few scenes), which surprised me to no end, but in a pleasantly shocking way! The ending was quite heart-warming, and I was left with that "awwwww" that ends every good romance novel :) I gave the book four stars because it took a while to get me involved in the story, and also because the double standard of the era is smacked in the reader's face quite a lot, which irked me. I know that the double standard existed then, and to some extent still exists today, but I was angry that because Val had slept with a lot of women, he was a handsome rake (at the beginning of the book, for example, he was keeping a mistress in his other London home!), whereas when Elizabeth had slept with a lot of men, she was called a whore and treated as if she were trash. That burned me. Altogether, though, the book is quite good! The book also introduces the character of Ian Sinclair, who is the hero in Anne's Perfect Husband. Ian is one of my favorite romantic heroes ever, so I really enjoyed having him in the book. So if you are looking for a good regency book, or even a good regency series (I can't get over how good Anne's Perfect Husband is!), pick up this book!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent, heart-warming regency novel!
Review: Valentine Sinclair, the Earl of Dare, is a spy living a double life: for most of the time, he spends his time in London, pursuing the pleasures afforded to the upper echelon of British society. At other times, however, the Earl travels over to France and garners intelligence through his intelligence network positioned in Napoleon-controlled France. Unable to save an associate from a brutal, painful death, Val "saves" someone else instead: the beautiful Elizabeth Carstairs, the mistress of a French gambler who owns a gambling hell in London. After winning Elizabeth in a hand of cards, Val takes her to his London townhouse, where he offers her shelter. Elizabeth Carstairs, however, isn't clamoring for the Earl's attentions. She protects herself from the harsh realities of life by wearing a carefully constructed mask of indifference and secrecy. Once Val learns Elizabeth's secrets, can he ever see her as anything more than a Frenchman's mistress? Although this is the first book in the Sinclair brides trilogy (the other two are Anne's Perfect Husband and Her Dearest Sin, both by Gayle Wilson), I read this book last, and I wasn't sure I would like it. In the other two books, Val and Elizabeth appear as secondary characters, but he always seems to be a bit snobby, and I thought that I most likely would not like him as the main hero. Wrong! It took me a while to get into this book, but after the first 50 pages went by, I was hooked! I loved the character of Elizabeth, she was a wonderful, noble soul who still retained her elegance and poise even after the horrible life she had been forced into. Val was dashing and actually sensitive and romantic (even though he was a real jerk in a few scenes), which surprised me to no end, but in a pleasantly shocking way! The ending was quite heart-warming, and I was left with that "awwwww" that ends every good romance novel :) I gave the book four stars because it took a while to get me involved in the story, and also because the double standard of the era is smacked in the reader's face quite a lot, which irked me. I know that the double standard existed then, and to some extent still exists today, but I was angry that because Val had slept with a lot of women, he was a handsome rake (at the beginning of the book, for example, he was keeping a mistress in his other London home!), whereas when Elizabeth had slept with a lot of men, she was called a whore and treated as if she were trash. That burned me. Altogether, though, the book is quite good! The book also introduces the character of Ian Sinclair, who is the hero in Anne's Perfect Husband. Ian is one of my favorite romantic heroes ever, so I really enjoyed having him in the book. So if you are looking for a good regency book, or even a good regency series (I can't get over how good Anne's Perfect Husband is!), pick up this book!
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