A GENTLEMAN'S WAGER - Madelynne Ellis
Black Lace
ISBN: 978-0-352-34173-0
April 2008
Erotic Historical with M/M & M/F/M Interactions

North Yorkshire Countryside, England - 1797

The young and sexually adventurous Bella Rushdale is making love in the wide open with her stable boy, Mark, when they are almost caught. A local landowner is talking to the owner of Lauwine Hall, a place that has been neglected for years. The owner, Viscount Lucerne Marlinscar, has arrived to stay there for the summer. Bella is very interested in the viscount and can't wait to make his acquaintance. Perhaps she will engage in a love affair with him. After all, they are neighbors, and Bella wants to make sure he settles in.

Bella lives with her older brother Joshua at their estate, Wyndfell Grange. Joshua allows Bella to have as much freedom as she desires because he believes Bella is too much of a lady to get into trouble. Also for the summer, Bella's good friend, Louisa Stanley, will stay with them. Louisa has fallen in love with Captain Frederick Wakefield, who is friends with Lucerne, and since Joshua has invited both men to visit Wyndfell, Bella and Louisa are pleased as punch. Bella will begin her seduction of Lucerne while Louisa will try a more tactful approach with the Captain.

Lucerne seems to be interested in what Bella is offering, but there is another person in his life who seems to hold all the cards. Vaughan Forvasham, Marquis of Pennerley has a history with Lucerne and was invited to stay at Lauwine Hall along with the Rushdale siblings, Louisa and Frederick, and other locals. When Bella meets Vaughan, he is rude and cold, and Bella knows he will be her enemy in receiving Lucerne's favors. Lucerne's house party becomes quite risqué as bets are made by some of the men to see who can take Louisa's virginity first, which Vaughan all too willingly volunteers for. Vaughan only cares about one person, and that is Lucerne. He wants Lucerne's heart, but Bella keeps getting in his way. He has to figure out a way to get her to leave even though he can't help but corner her every time he sees her, which leads to some heavy groping between the two.

Lines are crossed and hearts are broken as Lucerne's guests bed hop from one to another. Not even Lucerne himself is innocent, as he wants Bella and Vaughan both. Can Bella allow herself to be owned by two men, one of whom she wants to hate but her body can't stop wanting? And what does Vaughan have in store for both Lucerne and Bella? Is he really so evil and possibly mad to the point where he doesn't care whose body he uses for his own pleasures?

Dark, sensuous, and shocking are some of the words that come into play when reading a Madelynne Ellis novel. A GENTLEMAN'S WAGER is the first novel in the love triangle of Lucerne, Bella and Vaughan. These characters, including the other secondary ones, seem to have no morals or sexual preferences. They enjoy suffering pain and, of course, various sexual escapades. Bella is one such character, who comes across as a twit when we are first introduced to her. She is immature and too wild, but won't back down and is able to push Vaughan's buttons. These two are equals in so many ways from their actions and their pleasures, even though they seem to be enemies. Slowly these two begin to understanding each other, but that does not mean they will stop at nothing to destroy each other.

Lucerne wants to be loved and to love, but he is confused between Bella and Vaughan. Why not have both? And when Lucerne does have both, or rather both he and Vaughan have Bella, it is quite shocking and scandalous.

I had the pleasure of reading PHANTASMAGORIA, the sequel to A GENTLEMAN'S WAGER, and even though I know how things end with Lucerne, Bella, and Vaughan, it was very interesting to see how things started among these three. Madelynne Ellis has written an erotic historical that some may not choose to read, much like the case with PHANTASMAGORIA. I found myself hooked by the actions of her characters and the creative sex scenes. One such scene between two of the characters is one that I didn't even seem coming!

A GENTLEMAN'S WAGER may be over the top and a bit unrealistic, but tantalizing nevertheless. For an erotic and bawdy tale that has mischief and showcases the darkness of the human soul, go out on a limb and lose yourself in the world of Madelynne Ellis.

Kate Garrabrant