A lady math genius card shark! Just what I wanted. ( )

Here after all was their condition, perched on their separate wind-whipped summits, in view of each other, but too distant to reach.

I slowly made my way through the beginning of this book, realizing it's not your usual. Nor was the story for Martha, Will's older sister, so this came a no surprise, but somehow I was surprised. It's stunning how brilliant this series is. How quietly rich and subversive, how oddly fresh. How terribly difficult too.

I'd tell you to expect plots more like Sherry Thomas than any other, and I think that's true. I don't want to compare either author, really.

Will and Lydia were both incredible. Both full characters, consistent and challenging. Both able to hurt one another, to cause angst-completely understandable angst.

Will repeatedly tries to rescue Lydia from her gentleman protector and is repeatedly told she's not in need of it. They forge friendship and intimacy through cards and probabilities, along with a shared goal of a good deal of money for their goals.

There's this scene, barely matched in any novel for its intimacy, in which Lydia watches Will drink his coffee. It's incredible and one little example of how we feel intimacy as people but rarely ever find this level of everyday in relationships in our books.

I'm running out of Cecilia Grant's novels, but I know I can happily reread them and I'll be gifted with more enjoyment and understanding of these rich plots and characters. ( )

I did want to like this tale of a maths wiz who realises that she has an advantage over many other card players and uses that advantage, however when she fleeces Will Blackshear he decides to join with her to work together for both of their financial benefit, however they soon discover that they're more than just business partners and their lives are going to get very complicated by all of this.

Interesting but there were moments where she risks a lot for very little gain which is not what expected from someone who is priding themselves on their hard-headed skills. It also felt like she was doing all of the sacrifice while he was getting all of the benefit.

It just wasn't me. ( )

Will Blackshear came back from the war unable to fit into his previous life. His understanding of morality and class has been utterly shaken, and he considers himself a murderer. Will has sworn to support the family of a fellow soldier killed in battle, and to do that he needs to make money, fast. While at the gaming tables he meets Lydia Slaughter, another man's mistress and a prodigiously gifted card sharp. She has a gift for logic and mathematics, and together they embark on a con to make their fortunes.

Each of these characters felt completely individual and unique, and I could see why they were drawn to each other. What I found fascinating about this book was how different it was from the usual books about mistresses. In every other regency romance I've ever read, the "mistress" is actually a total innocent virgin, and she and the hero embark on a love affair and then get married. In this, Lydia has been a prostitute for years, continues to be another man's mistress while falling in love with Will, and has very enjoyable sex with men other than Will. And this is not like other books either, in that everyone knows Lydia's station in life, and marriage to her really would ruin Will and his entire family's reputation. They get married, and Will truly does have to drop out of Society, he does lose touch with members of his family, and he has to start working for a living. They're happy together, but it's not a fairy tale ending. ( )

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