Double Wager

by Mary Balogh

Henry was no Gentleman. In fact, Henry was not a man at all. Henry was a young lady. If you could call any female a lady who refused to go by her proper name of Henrietta but preferred her most... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451136179
• ISBN13: 9780451136176
• Release Date: June 1985
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 222 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A 'sweet' read

I agree that this is not Balogh's best effort and the heroine is very annoying at first. But I enjoyed the book. As I have said before, Balogh's "not very good" is the everyone else's "very good".

In the beginning ....................

If I am correct, this was Mary Balogh's second regency, published in 1985. I've read nearly all of her books now including her novellas and short stories. Like any author, some books were a bit of a let-down (I could not finish The Trysting Place as I was so irritated by it) but, overall, she is a five star writer, unique in the romance genre and top of my auto-buy list. I admire her style very much indeed. I read the thoughts posted here by Bookjunkiereviews before I decided to go ahead and spend a lot of money to get a copy of The Double Wager as her reviews are careful, considered and always worth reading. In the end I located a copy, purely by accident, in a UBS and went home delighted to have found a copy at half the 1985 cover price - obviously the shop owner hadn't a clue about what he had in stock! Well, it was worth 10 times what I paid. I think this book is a great read for anyone who admires this author because in it you will find all of the seeds of her later work, the origins of the Duke of Bewcastle, her homage to Heyer and the firm beginnings of her inimitable and stylish prose. This book owes something to These Old Shades, The Convenient Marriage, Frederica, etc. That's quite clear. However it is not a pastiche but a carefully written and highly entertaining story of two people who, despite themselves, fall deeply and physically in love. The double wager of the book wherein each makes a bet about snagging a spouse is skilfully handled by the author and is an excellent and amusing plot device. The heroine, the very young Henrietta "Henry" Tallant has an amusing and interesting family including a pair of mischief making twins and some wacky pets. Marius, Duke of Eversleigh is a great character - part rake, part guardian, a rather inwardly solitary man but also a man of great patience, understanding and capable of deep and abiding love. And, the Bewcastle quizzing glass was born in this book! If I have any complaint about this story it's that the final scenes were just a bit weak but nevertheless brought a cracking good story to a great conclusion. If you admire Mary Balogh you will find it a real joy to go back to her beginnings and then consider how she has developed as such a great author. I enjoyed this very much both as an insight into the early career of the author but also as a super book in its own right. Highly recommended.

From Balogh's fan

Deligful - in style of Balogh. If you are her fan, you will like this book.

A rebel in old London town.

We liked this story. It was typical of formula historical romances and lent humor in unexpected areas. Basically, you havea willful woman named Henry who gets into a family jam and accepts a Duke's "proposition" to become his wife. It's a duelof wills and passionate hearts. Good characters, delightfullysurprising story, highly recommended.