Dark Wager by Mary Spencer

Dark Wager Reviews

• 
  StMargarets

  This Regency historical is a testament to the power of the mind and the stories we tell ourselves. In short, the hero in this story decided to mistrust the heroine based on his family history and his fear of being betrayed.
  
  A good offense is the best defense?
  
  Hero’s distrust #1: his mother was some sort of emotional sadist who brought men to the family manor and openly committed adultery. She left with a lover when the hero was a child. His father followed and killed the two lovers and himself. Hero was raised by his uncle who was engaged to the heroine’s aunt.
  
  Distrust#2: Heroine’s aunt jilted the uncle because the uncle wouldn’t promise to give up his mistress. Hero’s uncle lost his mind and went on a round-the-world trip with the hero when hero was a teen.
  
  While all of this was happening, the H/h were seeing each other now and again. First as children and then as teenagers where they kissed and began some sort of romance (that was interrupted by the four year trip around the world). Hero knew they were betrothed from birth, but heroine did not.
  
  Distrust #3: hero sees the heroine saying goodbye to a neighbor (OM) going off to the army. Especially when the OM suggests they are going to be married one day. Since hero has come to think of the h as “his” he is angry and vows to stop loving her – even though he’s going to marry her one day. His heart will never be vulnerable, etc . .
  
  And this is where the story opens with the hero, drunk, at his club with his friends. He is disparaging of the heroine – calls her “peahen” while he is the good looking peacock. His plans are to marry her, impregnate her and then send her back to the country while he stays in London with his mistress. Win-win for him. An American member of the club bets him that he will end up deeply in love with his peahen after six months of marriage and will return to the country with her.
  
  That’s it. That’s the dark wager of the title. Hero knows he’ll never give his heart. The American just inherited a title and needs the easy money. He senses the hero is a beta in alpha clothing and he is proven right.
  
  So – heroine doesn’t want to marry the hero (even though she has always loved him since girlhood) since he’s basically told her he doesn’t love her and never will. She is intrigued by his moodiness, his cynicism, his peacock good looks and lives in hope her love will transform him back to the boy who loved her before distrust #3.
  
  She has no idea about his mistress or the bet-but knows all about his family history, etc. . .
  
  The hero’s mistress is the villain of the story. She is an artist and a free and easy widow. Hero does not support her, but they have been lovers for two years. She is also a caricaturist and has anonymously ruined people’s lives. Hero’s feels a dark kindred spirit with her.
  
  OW does not take it well that hero is marrying and will not see her for two months. Be she is placated with the promise that after two months of trying to impregnate the wife he doesn’t love, he’ll return to her.
  
  Things don’t go as planned since the hero does fall in love with his wife and breaks it off completely with the evil mistress at the two-month mark.
  
  The H/h are enjoying a happy marriage, the hero’s uncle and the heroine’s aunt mend their relationship but the wager and the hero’s mistress hang over the narrative.
  
  It made for some good angst – since the hero’s sanity and happiness is so fragile. Same with the heroine.
  
  So you will love it or hate it depending on:
  How you view cheating apologists.
  How much 20th century thinking and acting you like in your historical novels.
  How many repetitious thinky thoughts you want to wade through.
  How many scenes you like with the H and the OW.
  How many scenes with the H disparaging the heroine to his friends you can tolerate.
  How much you believe a dark rake can change into a domesticated hubby.
  
  On the plus side of the ledger:
  
  I was so pleased this wasn’t part of series. It was great to read a novel where all the side characters threads were tied off. The OW did get her comeuppance on page and she was exiled to Australia. Sorry Australia. You didn’t deserve her.
  
  I never really warmed up to the crazy with love/hate hero or the heroine whom everyone loved. But there was enough OTT drama going on that I kept reading.
• 
  Naksed

  I am rewriting the ending of this one since the author completely missed the mark.
  
  Book comeuppance: The scheming, evil ex-mistress is sent to Australia to get a fresh start in life after a newspaper caricature reveals her to be the culprit behind many ruined, ridiculed lives and therefore no longer welcome in England.
  
  Rewritten comeuppance: The scheming, evil ex-mistress is invited by the Prince of Wales to the Opera. While she curtsies to him, he pushes her over the balcony and she ends up head first into the giant tuba of the orchestra below, bloomers and flailing, skinny chicken legs in full view of the now hysterically laughing audience. Because no one can unstuck her head from said tuba, she ends her days in PT Barnum's circus as the Half-Tuba, Half-Woman attraction.
  
  Book Grovel: The heroine only makes it to a countryside inn an hour away from London before the hero catches up with her and drowns her in his avowals of love, even as he STILL refuses to apologise or take any responsibility for any of the horrible, awful things he did to his future wife prior to their wedding day. Heroine takes him back at hello like a Regency era Renee Zellweger.
  
  Rewritten Grovel: Heroine leaves for America with the hot, virile, loyal, and besotted OM where she obtains a divorce, remarries and founds a loving, close-knit family full of laughing children, sly cats and adorable puppies. The hero spends the rest of his life prostrate on her doorstep without her letting him back into her life, even for a cuppa. He sometimes wanders off to PT Barnum where he gazes with melancholy at his former mistress' skinny chicken legs still frantically flailing away trying to disengage from the rusty tuba.
  
  Now THAT, my friends, would have earned a five star from me!
• 
  Becky

  So usually when the hero is a douche, I can at least love the heroine but she was sort of insipid, I kept hearing about how plain she was and how charming and delightful but was rarely shown that so it just became a repetitive mantra.
  
  It's page 239, Lucien is supposedly in love and he says "I'll not be accountable to you for the things I did before you were my wife". Are you kidding? Because sleeping with another woman while you are engaged, just before your wedding, but claim to yourself you love your bride, isn't her business? And getting up from the "tempestuous" coupling in your mistresses' bed and going to spend the day with your fiancée while she pathetically tries to please you is something that you aren't accountable for? I hated the hero and loved the heroine's honorable military friend who loved her and was ready to protect heroine from the "demented" crowd of hero. She made a dreadful choice in not choosing the good guy. Honestly, the other man (Andrew) was wonderful...he was willing to risk hero's wrath, even to risk his life...he would have done anything to protect the heroine. This book had shades of
  Dark Angel / Lord Carew's Bride but this heroine chooses the evil, weak man.
  
  And the hero was at the most sympathetic reading a deeply disturbed and demented man, but I really think he was just a whiny bitch. He was vicious and evil as only Valmont from Dangerous Liasons has been. He is a petty prick who doesn't become a better man...he just becomes a petty, vicious prick "in love".
  
  I especially hated how the hero is all enraged at heroine's aunt for daring to break up with his uncle after finding the guy CHEATING a second time during their engagement after promising fidelity, first kissing his mistress rather than a more impersonal goodbye, and then after convincing the aunt that he was really done and would never cheat again, she sees him leaving his mistresses' house in the morning after spending the night...which he tries to explain happened because it was habit!!!! The whole premise of this book is that cheating is permitted for men and irrelevant to their "love" and prohibited for women who must prove their love. Ridiculous all around, even the side couples were gross, author casually showing this poor woman Bella, waiting for her jealous science minded fiancée Wulf who doesn't let her talk to another man, to be ready make the marriage commitment, while he carries on openly with his mistress Yvette (but of course doesn't tell Bella he's cheating on her and give her a choice) while he keeps Bella imprisoned on a shelf and pretends to love her. Are we supposed to believe that these men love these virgins they keep in lock down while they sleep with other women? Have I mentioned that Lucien was a creepy, whiny bitch. I actually felt sympathy for the evil mistress for having to be with him...and she was evil but more likeable than the hero...at least she wasn't betraying someone she cared about and had promised herself to. I had no desire to see Lucien happy.
  
  The hero was such a pig I didn't even care about the stupid bet he made and how even after he supposedly loved heroine he didn't call it off for months. Such an ass.
  
• 
  KarenH

  
  "Guilty(!) until proven innocent"
  
  Viscount Lucien Bryland is getting married to Lady Clara Harkhams. The news isn't earth-shattering as everyone knows the two have been betrothed since birth. What they don't know, however, is that Lucien has been in love with Clara for as long as he can remember. He promised her his heart when they were teenagers, but when he returns from abroad many years later, he finds her in the arms of another man. What an idiot Lucien thought himself to be! After the scandalous deaths of his parents by murder/suicide, Lucien managed to hang onto his sanity in the years that followed because he believed Clara loved him. Bloody hell! She was no better than his mother! The mousy little thing. A peahen! That's what she was! And so the nickname was attached to Lady Clara as a private joke between Lucien, his friends, his mistress...and a good portion of the ton.
  
  The story begins...
  
  I LOVED this book! I adored it...the hero, the heroine, the secondary characters, the plot, the premise...everything! Although I'm not a fan of plain-Jane heroines, I got over it after meeting Clara. Of course she has the cliched "inner beauty" qualities, but unlike other plain heroines, Clara has a sh**load of self-confidence. In fact, she has the art of flirting so finely tuned, every man who makes her acquaintance is mesmerized by her. Unfortunately, so is Lucien. He refuses to be cuckolded like his father, however, so he has a plan...
  
  "In for a penny, in for a pound - 10 thousand to be exact"
  
  Lucien wants Clara but he wants revenge as well. So he'll marry her, get her pregnant and within 6 months he'll have her stashed away at his country home. Life as he knows it...the clubs, the gaming hells and the mistress...will continue. His plan is demeaning to himself, degrading to Clara, and quite selfish (pays the ultimate homage to "having his cake and eating it too"). Nevertheless, Lucien thinks it is a brilliant idea...so much so that he wagers several thousand pounds on it's success.
  
  And into the betting books it goes...
  
  "The best-laid plans of men for their peahens often go awry"
  
  As all good romance novels go, the hero, despite himself, falls deeply in love with the heroine...and she with him. Because of Clara, Lucien's frequent dark moods, fits of rage and jealousy, and mistrust of all things female eventually give way to love, happiness and contentment. But wait! We've still got 100 pages left!
  
  "Hell hath no fury like a mistress scorned"
  
  This is what puts Dark Wager on the keeper's shelf...
  
  So many historical romances feature a hero who has a mistress, but after meeting the heroine he gives the mistress the boot. The ex-lover is then relegated to the background and she may or may not be heard from again as the story progresses. Whatever. It's never a big deal..not the heart-stopping, nail-biting scene that I yearn for but never get. Until this book...and Lady Pamela Halling.
  
  For the most part, Lucien played the cookie-cutter hero here. He intended to get married and continue keeping his mistress of three years; however, once he started sleeping with Clara, he had no desire to continue his relationship with Pamela and told her so. Ah! But the stunningly beautiful queen of all bitches didn't want to give Lucien up. She was in love with him (whatevah!) and wanted to take their relationship to the next level. How could he possibly choose that skinny little peahen over her? Lucien warned Pamela to leave Clara and him alone...or else! Ha! Did he think that was going to stop her?
  
  Out comes her big bag of tricks...
  
  "The pen dipped in poison is mightier than the sword"
  
  Kleenex mandatory.
  
  An accomplished artist, Pamela, under the guise Le Chat does caricature drawings that are published in an indie newspaper popular with the ton. Her drawings are well-defined and unmistakable as to intent...usually "ruining" the reputation of the unsuspecting person she has chosen to exploit. Hell-bent on destroying Lucien and Clara's marriage, the drawing she publishes for the ton and a special drawing she gives to Clara in private make for heart-wrenching scenes that you won't soon forget. I doubt there is another ex-mistress in Romancelandia more vicious than Pamela Halling.
  
  "Nothing is certain but a HEA and sequel
  
  Aside from being publicly humiliated, privately mortified, and having her self-confidence shot to hell, Clara seemed none the worse for wear in the end. Lucien groveled well, Clara forgave him for his wrongdoings and they lived happily ever after - or at least long enough to play secondary characters in the next book, Lady Wager.
  
  Dark Wager is a gem. 5++ stars
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Lauren

  Read:10/8/23
  2.5 stars
  
  Meh. An interesting plot that doesn't live up to its potential
• 
  Tmstprc

  This is a long overdue reread. I loved this book when it was new, so much drama and angst. It pushed all the right buttons in my much younger heart. Now? Not so much, still full of drama and angst, the older me isn’t as impressed. He’s a mean-spirited rake with mommy and daddy issues. Does he grow up? Absolutely, but she was too kind and forgives too easily. I found the secondary romance more compelling, maybe because it was a second chance romance with an older and wiser couple.
• 
  Noelle

  I bought this book from an Amazon used book seller. When the book arrived , with it came a small letter. The letter was from the man who had sold me the book, in it he talks about his wife Kathleen. He tells how she loved life, love, adventure and reading of course. That he felt she loved to read romance because she got all of those things that she loved inside of the books. He then goes on to tell how she had gotten ill and passed away, and that he had lost his wife, lover and best friend. He ended the letter with saying that he hoped that I enjoyed the book as much as his wife had as it was one of her favorites.
  Well I did enjoy it , very much so. Now it will go onto my keeper shelf and some day when I pass maybe some one will sell it or donate it to someone else with a sweet little note in it.
  
  
  Lady Clara (h) had known all of her life that she was going to marry Lucien (H), their parents had arranged it from the time she was born. Through the years, as they were growing up, Lucien would come to her house and spend some time with her. She has loved him forever. The happiness in those early years didn't last long though, a horrible incident occurred that killed both of Lucien's parents at the tender age of 13. Though he went to live with a very loving uncle, he was an angry and bitter little boy. He had changed drasticly , and grew into an angry and bitter man.
  
  Lucien had always known that Clara was his and nothing that has happened in the past was going to change that. He would marry her, even if she had changed her mind, and nothing was going to stop him. Not the fact that he didn't love her anymore, not the fact that he hated her now, and not that fact that she was an untrustworthy flirt. NOTHING. He would have her and that was that.
  
  I really liked this book, I liked both the H and the h. I thought that the author repeated that the h was "plain" or "not beautiful" way too many times and the sex scenes, while there, were just brushed over and not really described as I liked which is why I deducted a star.
• 
  Booklover

  Many of the twists and turns of plot in Dark Wager were refreshingly orignal. Several of the characters are not stereotypic of the genre. Nevertheless, I found the characters themselves made reading the book arduous.
  
  While Clara, the heroine, is repeatedly described as charming, the reader never understands what it is about her that makes others, inlcuding members of the ton, rave about her. Her interests and friendships seem notably limited; she quickly becomes insubstantial whenever she is not speaking to or thinking about Lucien. While fashionable women rush to buy whatever clothing style she wears, the reader never glimpses Clara's uniqueness or her sense of style. In short, the heroine never appears to warrant the universal admiration she receives.
  
  I found the Lucien, the hero, undesirable. It is hard to say something nice about the hero in this book after the beginning of this book portrayed him to be a hateful, rotten, creep. He was all that and more! Not a very nice person.His love for Clara is excessively needy, and seems to have its origins in a difficult childhood and unresolved mental health 'issues.' His penchant for low company (gaming hells, promiscuis women, and a mistress whom he treats poorly) makes the reader slow to realize that he and his fellow night crawlers are among the cream of the English aristocracy.
  
  The atmosphere in Dark Wager is somehow both claustrophobic and empty. The characters appear to have single minded pursuits which throw them together too often, yet I could not perceive the solid surroundings in which they spent so much time together. Instead, the characters appear to finger wineglasses or alight into carriages which materialize whenever necessitated by the plot. I was startled when, in the midst of a detailed conversation between acquaintances, I read that "He turned her about in a neat spin." So little did the press of the crowd, the music of the orchestra, and the exertions of the ballroom intrude into the tempo of their private conversation, I forgot that the couple was supposed to be dancing.
  
  The wager referred to in the title has the power to offend the subtle sensibilites of high society. However, the characters an!d the society in which they move seem rather jaded and hardened which causes the impropriety of the wager to seem insignificant in comparison to the way they conduct their daily lives. This relative comparison remains unaffected by the numerous scandalized references to the wager throughout the book.
  
  I found Dark Wager lacking the charm and romance I look for when purchasing a historical romance. I can't recommend it.
• 
  Jena

  Mostly superficial and mind numbingly repetitive. Clara is not beautiful and is unremarkable as a person. This is repeated every other page that had me sighing in irritation. We're told over and over, instead of shown, that she's hugely popular among other men, but she's not beautiful. Again. Some conflict comes up and she thinks it's because she's not beautiful..... The hero wonders whats so special about her, why he's so obsessed with her when she's not even beautiful like his mistress. Jeez, talk about a repetitive book. And you know whats more frustrating? You still don't know the heroine as a person when you're done with the book. Clare was foremost a "very" plain girl who was spineless to stand up for her self, but we're told different instead of shown. I wish the author had spent more time developing her female lead instead of running on and on about her outer appearance.
  
  
  Hero is obsessed with her but I felt that he was in love with the idea of having someone due to his tormented childhood. I felt he would've loved just about anyone who was named his betrothal.
  
  I loved the sweet scenes but in the back of my mind, I just didn't buy their love story. It just didn't ring true for me.
• 
  Jessa

  Loved this and all its drama. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• 
  Anahi

  Got annoyed with the author always mentioning how plain Clara was. Like, I got it the first time.
• 
  Caroline

  Lucien falls in love with Clara when they are teenagers. They are betrothed before she was born, but she has no idea. They spend a wonderful summer together, but Lucien leaves and never contacts her again for years.
  
  Clara is a plain girl and assumes she was simply childhood fun to him. She lets him go and almost becomes engaged to another man, except Lucien comes back to find the girl he still loves with another man. Things go poorly after that, but the course of true love never did run smooth.
  
  You can find an E copy of this on Scribd.
  
  I reccomend this book highly even if it's not my typical bodice ripper delight. It does the heart a good turn.
• 
  Shabby Girl ~ aka Lady Victoria

  That was some good book. I read it until 2 in the morning and had to make myself go to bed, and I wasn’t doing anything the next day till I finished it. Very tortured H, very sweet and loving h and very vicious other woman. Excellent writing and a very good story. I can see why so many of my friends like this book. I have read this author once before and I remember I also highly rated that book. I must check out more books by this author, I like her a lot.
• 
  ☽ Rhiannon ✭ Mistwalker ☾

  I put this on my to-read shelf in 2012. I can’t believe it took me so long to read it! STELLAR angst! I adored the insecure, plain but charming heroine, and each of the protagonists’ feelings of love unrequited. The drama was a bit overwrought (like seriously, why did he hate her in the beginning?) but this had many of my preferred tropes. It would have had a higher rating if it was not THE WORST MESSAGING EVER about love. The hero muses about murdering the heroine if she cheated on him, for gods sake! This sick cultural phenomenon of equating possessive fury and barely-restrained violence with passion and love is just HORRIFYING to me. I know I should steer clear of bodice-rippers (and the Twilight books) because of my hatred for that awful message, but I do so love my insecure, plain heroines and angst and groveling. So many mixed feelings! (3.5 stars)
  
  Also, I want Bella and Wolf’s story!
• 
  Nancy

  Hah....this is how grovelling should be done. So glad the vicious o-w got what she deserved. Even though there is lots of angst, I like how the H and h overcome the trials and tribulation without things being too drawn out. This one is definitely a keeper.
• 
  Jultri

  3.5
• 
  Fre06 Begum

  Great book.
• 
  Deyanira C.

  3 estrellas
  
  La historia es hasta cierto punto entretenida, pero los personajes y la escritura dan ganas de llorar y no de buena manera.
  
  Lady Clara ah estado prometida desde la niñez al Visconde Callan, con quién ah convivido algunas veces, los dos se enamoran siendo niños y están felices de casarse, sin embargo Callan tiene un enorme trauma y es que su madre tuvo muchos amantes y el padre de callan termino matandola y después a si mismo, por lo que Callan quedó en manos de un tio quien es bueno y amable, pero como resulta Callan no confía en las mujeres y se niega a ser un enamorado como lo fue su padre, igual se enamora de Clara y sueña con casarse peroooooo todo se va al diablo cuando Callan encuentra a Clara coqueteando con un vecino, y después en otras ocasiones con otros hombres, Callan entonces la odia y aunque sigue con la idea de casarse con ella le pone apodos hirientes toma amantes y se burla de su prometida, Clara en un acto increíblemente estúpido, nunca le aclara las cosas a él y sigue dejando que su amor por coquetear la lleve a momentos incriminatorios, todo a pesar de que ama a Callen, cuando se reencuentran ya para casarse el es un celoso, de sangre fría y ella intenta retractarse pero el básicamente la fuerza a casarse, antes de eso el hace una apuesta pública con un amigo, asegurando que embarazara a Clara y la mandara al campo en menos de 6 meses, mientras el disfruta de su amante Pam, pero bueno ellos se casan y en un intento por luchar por su amor, acuerdan darse una verdadera oportunidad, el se enamora y se da cuenta que aunque a ella le gusta coquetear nunca hace nada más y logran amarse en su matrimonio, el deja a su amante, pero Pam se venga ridiculizando a Clara y pues nada al final todo se aclara y son felices.
  
  La historia tiene altos y bajos, tiene un poco de drama, romance, y enredos, por eso que digo que no es mala y es entretenida, pero no se desarrolla de forma muy inteligente y los personajes no son agradables, no logré conectar con los protagonistas y su historia de amor aunque empieza de forma linda y tierna, creo que termino resultando tonta y absurda, llegó un punto en el que no me importaba lo que pasará con ellos, porque no inspiran ternura, ni amor, me interese mucho más en la tía de ella su hija y su ex novio, creo que el problema no es que los personajes sean desagradables porque no lo son, el detalle es que no están bien elaborados, verás Clara se supone que es una chica plana no hermosa no fea, pero por alguna razón TODOS se enamoran de ella, ( lo que es absurdo) pero además es rarisimo, la autora dice que es encantadora, lista, agradable, que sabe escuchar, pero eso nunca se refleja, solo notamos que es una coqueta, pero no le vemos ningun otro encantó ni en personalidad ni en físico, así que aunque entendemos el amor de Callan el de los demás no se de dónde sale, ni por qué todos la admiran y la idólatran, su sobrina me pareció mucho más interesante y eso que es una NIÑA! Ahora Callan que demonios ! Es interesante por qué es frívolo, medio malo, vanidoso, mentiroso, e infiel, aunque tiene un pasado que justifica parte de eso, y el comportamiento de Clara por más inocente que la autora la quiere volver tampoco es excusable, pero ok Callan es un personaje balanceado y realista hasta cierto punto, sin embargo la autora lo lleva de eso a ser un ángel, arregla sus defectos de un día a otro sin más, haciendo que el parezca la víctima de todo, y dando salidas absurdas a la trama que no me convencieron para nada , lo de la amante fue entretenido aunque su dependencia por Callen jamás lo entendí el era horriblemente grosero con ella y ni siquiera la ayudaba económicamente así que ¿Por qué le rogaría, y ojo yo no estoy encontrá d ela infidelidad creo que es algo que a veces hace de las tramas algo más dramático y si es en una época como la regencia dónde era aceptable, lo permito no le molesta pero aquí no está hecho como le gusta, nuestra heroína lo perdona como a los 5 minutos y se acuesta con el, aun cuando sabe cómo al ridiculizó, es verdad el merecía el perdón pero no así de fácil, ahora los otros personajes en específico los amigos de el simplemente me desagradaron, parecen ser personas complejas pero me parecieron unos idiotas sin más demasiado sosos , en fin no es el peor libro pero tampoco es nada nada grandioso.
• 
  Nelly

  Started out strong... Hate to Love, but in that case the hero was in love and pretending to hate her.
  I loved the tension and anticipation before they got married.
  
  But right after the wedding, it felt flat. Nothing happened until the end around 70% I believe when the evil mistress tried to destroy the couple.
  
  Something I didn't like: the way they kept saying Clara was not pretty, ugh!! I'm sick of ugly heroines getting the hot guy... Why does she have to be ugly? Or plain?
  Somewhere the author told us she even looked a bird what the F*ck!?!
  If she were that plain and birdlike ugly, then why all the men were in love with her? Just because she knew how to listen? Please, I don't buy it...
  
  Besides, Clara was such a doormat... She took craps from Lucien before she wanted to save him, to bring back the love hiding deep inside him. And the sex was dry between them, like absolutely nothing happened for the reader. "He kissed her and was deep inside her. The end'' ==> That was the typical sex scene between our MC.
  
  I was rooting more for the secondary romance between Aunt Anna and Uncle Robby. They were more interesting than our main couple.
  
  3 stars
• 
  Scarletizm

  In short, the guy is a crazy stalker, obsessive controlling man-child that needs therapy and the girl is silly enough to be manipulated and mentally abused by this crazy guy, just because she is ugly/plain (this fact is repeated many times by everyone, even him). What is there to like? The only sane people in this story are the uncle and aunt.
• 
  Tiffany

  Such a great book. Thank goodness I still have scribd so I could read it.
• 
  Darbella

  Two romance stories in one. Warning: Both hero's in this story cheat.
• 
  Nicis

  The author was obsessed with mentioning how plain her protagonist was and the miscommunication trope almost ends me but I prevailed ✨
• 
  ♛ Jarusauskas

  Con Dark Wager, por los reviews, me di cuenta de que 'aciertas o fallas'.
  
  Claramente, yo fallé porque nada me gustó.
  
  El héroe es un patán que piensa que porque tuvo una infancia de mierda puede usar a las mujeres como se le dé la gana. El tipo 'ama-odia' a su prometida (al principio de la historia el imbécil no se decide si la quiere o la detesta), pero aún así quiere casarse con ella para 'castigarla' y de paso porque es la clase de sucio, cerdo que hace una apuesta pública a sus costillas. Una donde la llama por sobrenombres.
  
  
  
  La heroína por otro lado, es una mustia que no se respeta o quiere a sí misma. El héroe la pisotea al menos tres veces a lo largo del libro y ella continúa perdonándolo porque 'él ha tenido malas experiencias con las mujeres'.
  
  BULLSHIT.
  
  El héroe (cuyo nombre ya no recuerdo) tiene que ponerse sus pantalones de niño grande y darse cuenta de que por una manzana podrida no todo el saco está echado a perder. Tiene que aprender que si no ama a su esposa, no la quiere, EQUIS, tiene que cancelar el matrimonio e irse con su amante en vez de ser un cerdo infiel.
  Y la heroína... ella tiene que buscar dónde dejó caer su dignidad, para recogerla del piso. Ya ella verá dónde se la pega, si en la frente o qué...
  
  Y ¿por qué mierda se enfocan tanto en la historia de Anna y Robert?
  QUÉ-FASTIDIO. GOSH.
  
  Fue un libro terrible. Terrible en todos los sentidos.