To Win a Wicked Lord by Sofie Darling – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book To Win a Wicked Lord by Sofie Darling to review. You may find out more about the author on her website.

Here is the book blurb.

Lord Percival Bretagne is used to playing games. He survived being a spy for a decade using his wits alone. But that was just life and death, now he’s playing for the most important prize of all—love.

He’ll Stop at Nothing . . .

Ten years after his family gave him up for dead, British spy Lord Percival Bretagne is back home, but his mission is far from over. Playing the aristocrat in London gambling dens and at country house parties is just a cover for Percy’s real quest. He’s hunting the man who stole everything from him—his family, his marriage, even his identity. And this time nothing, and no one, will stand in his way.

She’ll Risk it All . . .

But one night with Isabel Galante changes everything. She’s willing to gamble a woman’s most intimate prize in order to save her imprisoned father, but she didn’t expect a devilishly handsome opponent with a dangerously attractive wicked streak. Isabel would do anything for her family, including betraying Percy, but she has no idea that she’s stumbled into the middle of a decade-long quest for revenge.

Who Will Win in the Game Called Love?

Percy has been betrayed before, and now the man who destroyed his life is using Isabel to strike again. With the fate of the government and his new life in the balance, he’ll have to keep Isabel seductively, scandalously close. They begin a passionate game of truth and lies, deception and dalliance, uncovering the heart of who they really are and realizing that winning might mean losing what matters the most—each other.

This is book 4 in the Shadows and Silk series. However this is the first book I have read by Sofie Darling and can assure you that it works fine as stand-alone read. In fact looking at the blurbs of Sofie’s earlier titles, they all feature different characters. The common link seemed to just be their Regency romance theme, but I eventually came across mention of characters who featured in earlier stories.

I did find the first couple of chapters rather slow, but it was definitely worth persevering, as it then turned into an excellent read.

The story set in 1826 begins in a gaming hell in London. Lord Percival Bretagne is hoping to play well enough to bankrupt the owner Lord Bertrand Montfort, his arch enemy. Meanwhile Isabel Galante will do anything for Montfort in order to free her father who is imprisoned in Spain, even gamble her virginity. But it is a case of mistaken identity. She was supposed to seduce and gain information from the Earl of Pembroke.

Percy tries to salvage the mess by taking Isabel, along with her sister and baby nephew to Gardencourt, his family’s country estate expecting it to be empty. But no, there is a country house party, so on the spur of the moment , he passes Isabel off as his new bride. But even worse, Lord Montfort is in attendance and of course he recognises Isabel.

What will happen next? Can either Percy or Isabel achieve their goals? So many more twists and turns to come in this great page-turner.

To Win a Wicked Lord is newly published today and available on Amazon, currently priced at £3.99 in Kindle format. A captivating historical romantic story, with some steamy scenes.

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About the author

Sofie Darling is an award-winning author of historical romance. Her debut novel, THREE LESSONS IN SEDUCTION, won the Writers’ League of Texas’ Manuscript Contest in the Romance Category in 2016.

She spent much of her twenties raising two boys and reading every book she could get her hands on. Once she realized she simply had to write the books she loved, she finished her English degree and embarked on her writing career. Mr. Darling and the boys gave her their wholehearted blessing.

When she’s not writing heroes who make her swoon, she runs a marathon in a different state every year, visits crumbling medieval castles whenever she gets a chance, and enjoys a slightly codependent relationship with her beagle, Bosco.

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