"Romance and intrigue among the uppercrust of London - all you could ask for in a good read."

Lord Anthony Nelthrope joined the army, not to serve his country, but to escape his gambling debts. While serving in Badajoz, he thinks he's found the answer to all his problems in Jenna Montague, the daughter of his colonel. A rich wife would enable him to repay his debts and return to his life of decadence. He tricks Jenna into meeting him in an abandoned monastery and attempts to coerce her into marriage. She, however, is not the helpless female he imagines her to be and escapes after wounding him with a knife.

Following the battle of Waterloo, Tony returns to London a changed man, no longer interested in renewing his rakish ways. Widowed in the war, and later losing her unborn child in a riding accident, Jenna has also changed. She's not the fiery woman Tony once knew. Fearing she may do something drastic, Tony looks for a way to re-ignite her interest in life. He proposes she help him redeem his character "in the memory of all the fallen soldiers of England." When Jenna refuses, Tony suggests it's because she's afraid she'll be unable to resist his charms if they spend time together. Outraged, Jenna takes the bait, and the wager is on!

Romance, intrigue, backstabbing amongst the upper crust of London society, this book has everything lovers of Harlequin romances live for!

Reviewed by Tish Glasson
Courtesy Old Book Barn Gazette
Posted October 28, 2003

Summary

Lord Anthony Nelthorpe had committed many sins—not the least of which was his hare-brained attempt to seduce the well-bred Jenna Montague Fairchild into marrying him. But that was three years past, before the war magnified life's conceit; after Waterloo, he, who scoffed at honor, was nursed back to health by the very woman he'd wronged, while her husband, a man of honor, Jenna could not save.

Back in London, Tony seized the chance to shake the wealthy young widow out of her frightening apathy—even if he was the last man on earth she wanted to see. He hit upon a challenge: since Jenna was the instrument of saving his rascal skin, did she not owe it to all those heroes to make a better man of him?

She would train him until Christmas—the season of miracles. Now Tony just had to figure out how to win this wager without wanting her all over again...