4.5 stars

Did I read the first two chapters of my ARC and then immediately order the book? Yes, I did. Do I have any regrets about that decision? No, other than the fact that I have no room for more books. It's okay though; it will be worth it because this books is amazing and I needed it in my hands.

I loved the bets! I loved the characters! I especially loved that we went into the book and immediately knew that Morgan wanted to make Harriet his wife, but he knew he had to convince her that they would be great together. I could not put this book down! It was so well written and amazing! I honestly cannot think of a single thing I disliked about the book. I highly recommend this series! I am now a Kate Bateman fan and will be devouring the rest of her books as soon as I can.

Another great addition to this series. I enjoyed their banter and eagerly awaited when these two would finally share scenes.

A bet made before he shipped off to fight in the war, leads to a very steamy wicked game of dare. When Captain Morgan Davies returned all he could think about was the bet he made with Harriet Montgomery. She owes him three kisses and he's ready to collect.

He also whats to find out who produced the map that left him incarcerated in a foreign prison. It also made it very clear to him that Harriet is the one for him and he plans on marrying her. When he finds out that she's the mapmaker he seeks he decides to up the ante and use their bet to seduce Harriet.

Harriet has always been attracted to Morgan but she knows he's looking for a wife. So, he's constantly surrounded by women at parties, but he always manages to seek her out.

Things are also dangerous as someone from his past is in London looking for the mapmaker also.

Thanks so much to the author and SMPRomance for this ARC to review.

Enjoyed this fun and flirty childhood frenemies to lovers romance! The Davies and Montgomery family feud has taken a few hits lately with some intermingling marriages and now it's time for Morgan and Harriet to reconcile their own attraction. Harriet is a mapmaker (I loved that aspect of the story!) and has been drawing misleading maps to trick the French, only Morgan got caught in the deception leaving him imprisoned for several months and vowing revenge on the mapmaker (only discovering to his dismay that it's his kind-of- nemesis Harriet). Before he'd left to fight, she'd promised him 3 kisses upon his return and Morgan is determined to claim his prize. I loved their banter and their growing realization of the feelings they have for each other. It's a fun ride and it's been a great series so far.

This delicious book is perfectly named! These two are playing a very wicked game of dare you. I love this type of romance where they H/h snipe at each other but the chemistry between them is off the charts. Captain Morgan Davies has lived next door to Harriet Montgomery forever. As children they played together even though they were enemies from centuries of feuding between the families. Now there have been two marriages between the Montgomery's and the Davies' and it looks like the feud is pretty much put to rest. When Morgan returns from captaining a ship in the war with Napoleon he's a chanced man and ready to collect his three kisses from Harriet for staying alive. He spent six months in a Martinique prison under French occupation when he was shipwrecked by an incorrect map. He wants vengeance against the mapmaker and to make Harriet his wife! Little does he realize she was the mapmaker and it was on purpose to mislead the French. He got the map from a French ship when his were destroyed.

Harriet Montgomery has pretty much taken over her father's mapmaking business as he's almost blind from cataracts. He refuses to take a chance on surgery so Harriet is taking care of him. When Morgan returns the sniping between them begins again but it's different now being adults. Morgan loves to bait her to see her sparkle and come alive. When he learns she was the mapmaker he has to make peace with that but his jailor from Martinique is in London looking for the mapmaker Crusoe. He's a dangerous man and it's rumored her hid away a fortune in gold that was for Napoleon's escape funds. He's searching for it but needs the Crusoe map. The more time Harriet and Morgan spend together as he collects his three kisses after winning their last bet, the steamier their relationship gets. This was a fun and satisfying adventure to read. I can't wait for Rhys' story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a great addition to the Ruthless Rivals series. I loved the relationship and banter between Morgan and Harriet. It was very entertaining. It was fun to see the characters from the other novels and I loved the new characters in this story. I know I can depend on a captivating novel from Kate Bateman and this one met that expectation!

Book three in the "Ruthless Rivals" series sees Morgan and Harriet getting their story in yet another match between the Davies and Montgomery families. Adventure, danger, humor, and romance add up to another strong entry, with a peek into the next installment at the end.

Cute

What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Part of a series: The Ruthless Rivals
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue

I look forward to reading Rhys' story.

I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a sucker for a good "enemies to lovers" book and this entire series is basically just that. With budding relationships between the feuding Davies and Montgomery families, it's the perfect setup for this series. I've enjoyed each and every book up until now....always thinking that I can't like the next one any better. Well, A Wicked Game changed that. I absolutely LOVED Morgan and Harriet's story the most.

When you dig into their history and realize they've "tortured" and dared one another since they were young, it's obvious that their feelings for one another have been brewing for years. That's a great deal of pent up romantic frustration just bubbling. When Morgan comes back after being gone for two years with the Navy, Harriet owes him a prize for returning alive - - three kisses to be taken wherever he wants - - on her. Yep. Anywhere. Their dance of denial begins. It's evident he has fallen in love with her and you know that he wants to marry her but he can't decide how to get her to take him seriously. Meanwhile, she thinks she's just a casual fling before he finds a woman to wed. Their communication is definitely lacking but their chemistry isn't.

A Wicked Game was a fun and satisfying read. These two were explosive together.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I chose to voluntarily read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I had trouble picking my first book for 2023 because I feel like the first book of the year just has to be perfect. And I am glad I chose A Wicked Game by Kate Bateman. A Daring Pursuit was my first book by her and it got me back into reading historical romance.

A Wicked Game exceeded my expectations. It had all the ingredients for an enemies to lovers romance. There was banter, adventures, fun, scandal, and the moment where the enemies finally realize when they love each other. But in one person's case, they loved the other since they were a teenager. I didn't want to give away who here and spoil the fun of that discovery. There were mentions of characters from the other two books, but you can still read this out of order if you're like me and find series right in the middle.

There are also some steamy chapters, but I liked how it wasn't just about that it was about the plot too.

This book also instantly sucked me in with the writing pace and I love it when that happens. Kate Bateman is becoming an auto buy or an auto read author for me. I've loved everything I've read by her so far.

There was a quote that I loved, but it was the ARC version and I didn't have a final copy to compare it to. It was about how love isn't about grand gestures, it's about the little things that add up. I love that message because grand gestures aren't the key components for relationships at all.

A Wicked Game was a five star rating and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves enemies to lovers, or if they just want to read a historical romance for the first time or if they are getting into it again.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for allowing me the chance to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Morgan was a fabulous hero. This was the best book of the series! I loved how he knew what he wanted and had his priorities straight. I will continue to champion and recommend Kate Bateman and I cannot wait for her next book.

Smiling the whole time reading “A Wicked Game” by Kate Bateman!! Book three of the Ruthless Rivals series is about oneupmanship and a teasing rivalry to keep the 500 year animosity between the neighboring Davies and Montgomery families alive. However, Mapmaker Harriet Montgomery and Captain Morgan Davies, to put it nicely, are childhood frenemies who pine for each other!!

Their teasing banter is delicious!! Both Harriet and Morgan have a quick wit. Neither wants to concede to the other. They do call a truce when one needs help from actual enemies.

Before the war, Harriet and Morgan made a bet, three kisses granted if Morgan survived. He absolutely made it back home to collect. Just to torture Harriet, he warns her the lip locking will be anytime and any place on her person.

If you love rivals to lovers, enemies to lovers, then this book is for you! We anticipate and are tortured alongside Harriet as to when and where the kisses will be, driving the book to be a fast read with the comfort of knowing Morgan’s swoon worthy intention!!

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Wow! This book was absolutely fantastic. I have fallen deeply in love with this series by Kate Bateman and I think with each installment I have been able to watch her writing grow and strengthen beautifully. With each new novel I find a new favorite. A Wicked Game is the third installment in the Ruthless Rivals series that finds two rival families finding multiple happily ever afters with each other. Kate Bateman has definitely put her heart and soul into each of these novels. Bateman's care of her characters is apparent of every page, she is able to develop the perfect amount of yearning and sensuality to build the chemistry perfectly. This novel from page one swiftly drew me into the story, I fell in love with both characters and I could not wait for them to find their ultimate happily ever after. Kate Bateman is not to be missed! This series is a great place to start if you have never explored her works, I can not recommend her enough!

In this mutual pining novel we see the clever banter and playful teasing that sparks Davies and Harriet's relationship. These two have a deep and abiding chemistry that Bateman brings so beautifully to life. Their relationship and dynamics with each other is a beautiful driving force that keep these two always aware of the other. I fell head over heels for Davies as the perfect swoon worthy hero who is finally ready to make Harriet his. He has had fun challenging her and playing along with her, but now he must grow and show her that he is the perfect man for her, and Bateman does this beautifully. The tension and attraction between these two is so rich that I felt so immersed in their love story. Harriet is also a delightful heroine, she is smart, a mapmaker, she longs for adventure and she is ready to take her own growth as a woman into her hands. Through the exploration of physical romance, we are able to see Harriet and Davies fully trust the other and show the other their deep inner feelings. This mainly character driven novel has some fun and intrigue around a dastardly enemy that becomes the catalyst showing the strength of their relationship and how they both work together beautifully.

I loved Davies and Harriet's love story. If you are looking to be swept up into a well plotted, character driven romance that is full of sensuality and a stunningly beautiful love story, that A Wicked Game is a must read! I can not wait for the next installment in this delicious series!

Captain Morgan Davies’ ship ran aground near Martinique, causing him and his crew to be imprisoned by the French for eight weeks, all thanks to a faulty map. Now that he’s back in London, Morgan is eager for his revenge on the incompetent cartographer, almost as eager as he is to claim the three kisses promised by his lifelong nemesis, smart-mouthed Harriet Montgomery. He had plenty of time while in prison to contemplate his feelings and is sure she’s the woman he wants to marry but convincing her will be even more challenging than his naval assignments. When Morgan realizes Harriet is also responsible for his faulty map, he decides his revenge must take on a more seductive angle.

Harriet has always desired Morgan and that hasn’t changed in the two years he’s been away. Unfortunately, she’s been too busy caring for her father, whose eyesight is failing, and keeping at bay a rival cartographer who’s copying her work. She doesn’t have energy left to play games with Morgan, even if she is sorely tempted. But when Morgan’s naval service becomes a threat to them both, Harriet learns that she and Morgan are far from the enemies she thought them to be.

This was such a cute, light-hearted read. I loved that both the hero and heroine had been in love with each other since their adolescence and just a bit slow to realize it, all the while hiding it under a veneer of animosity. The sexual tension in that dynamic was huge. Harriet did worry me for a bit with how quick she was to doubt Morgan, but she came to her senses, and he persisted in a delightful way. I loved that he was the first to realize he was in love with her and set about a campaign to subtly woo her. The pining was delicious, and I loved that Morgan was so ready to admit his feelings and go after the life he wanted with Harriet. She may have been a bit harder to convince, but she was also mature enough to listen to both her own feelings and Morgan’s and I loved these two as a couple. I both listened to and read this on audio and Beverley Crick's Welsh accent for Morgan made him even more delightfully charming. This entire series has been a delight for me, and this addition was no exception. I’m very much looking forward to Rhys’ story now.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book and it's audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Wicked Game is the third book in the absolutely delightful Ruthless Rivals series by Kate Bateman. This is one of my favorite series! There's some angst in these books, some dangerous situations and intense and very erotic love scenes. It's the humor and sarcasm, however, that really grabs me. I loved the first two books, but this one takes the cake. Yes, I have another new book boyfriend now in Morgan Davies. Go ahead and read this book. "I dare you."

Captain Morgan Davies was imprisoned by an evil Frenchman after being shipwrecked due to an inaccurate map. Now free, Morgan is on a mission to track down the cartographer who made the map and get his revenge. While he's at it, he also intends to claim the winner's prize of three kisses from Harriet Montgomery, his long-time rival. While imprisoned, he realized how much he really cared for Harry, and he's determined to marry the smart-mouthed woman. Imagine Morgan's surprise when he discovers that Harriet is the mapmaker he's looking for! So he plans an even more delightful revenge. Harry has always wanted Morgan, and now he's back and more handsome than ever. She shouldn't make time for wicked games with him, as she is dealing with her father losing his eyesight and a rival mapmaker copying her work, but she can't seem to help herself. A threat from the time of Morgan's imprisonment arises, however, and Harry realizes just how much she cares for the scoundrel.

This was such an entertaining book! The Montgomery and Davies families have always had a rivalry. They did when they were kids, and it carried over into adulthood. However, the two clans were united by marriage over the last two books; we know there's no way that Morgan and Harry will escape that fate! Morgan is absolutely charming; I just adored him. Even as a kid, he knew there was an attraction to Harry, which was hidden by trading barbs with the quick-witted and sarcastic girl. While serving time as a captive of the French, he realized how much he wanted the woman. Now that Morgan is back, Harry is busy fighting her attraction to him. She's busy with the cartography business she's in with her father, plus working on some whimsical maps for customers; on top of that, someone is copying her maps. But still, she can't seem to pull herself away from him. The one thing a Montgomery and Davies cannot ignore is a dare. Once they start daring each other to do something, the incidents are either hysterical or quite erotic. I dare you (see what I did there?) to read about their foot race down Squeeze Gut Alley without laughing! And the erotic moments? Freaking hot as Hades, but not sleazy. You can feel the love and affection between them. I was happy to see Maddie and Gryff from book one make an appearance here. The only thing that fell a little flat was the dangerous visitor from Morgan's past; it felt like an afterthought. But the book was so enchanting and the characters charming I just didn't care. I simply loved it. I'm crossing my fingers that youngest brother Rhys has his story told next!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

The newest addition to this series continues to make this an extremely entertaining series. I love the "feud" they have going. This story is full of humor, romance and drama. I thought the glimpses into their past laid the perfect groundwork for their future together. Fingers crossed for another installment to this series.

Book #3 in the Ruthless Rivals series. A rivals, enemies to lovers Regency romance.

If there’s one thing impossible for a Davies to resist, it’s a challenge from a Montgomery. . .

FUN.. and sooo swoon worthy!!! Loved it!!! This story follows two feuding families — the Davies + the Montgomery’s. Childhood frenemies Harriet Montgomery and Captain Morgan Davies are now adults, and when Harriet challenges Morgan with a tempting wager involving three kisses, well let’s just say that’s one challenge Morgan cannot resist. Unbeknownst to Harriet, he’s ready to settle down and marry but only with one woman in mind.. HER! Their story was a real treat to the imagination as to where Kate Bateman would take their sizzling chemistry and hidden long-abiding love. Our hero Morgan is so swoon worthy.. he’s witty, intelligent, big hearted, and every bit as handsome as his older brothers. Harriet is an independent little spitfire with her mind set on being a wallflower but knows her longing for Morgan could be her downfall. Opposites do attract and these two couldn’t complement each other more perfectly! If you enjoy adventure, danger, lots of steam and pining, and the loveliest grand gesture that will melt your heart.. then this is the book for you. A fantastic series I highly recommend!!! 💕🤩 5 stars — Pub. 12/27/22

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This story is pure delight! Morgan and Harriet with their sizzling chemistry, their sparing matches of quick wit and dares, made every page an entertaining adventure! The dialogue and clever banter between these two is literary genius! Bravo! So we’ll done!

This was the best of the series and it felt like it was over before I knew it. Morgan and Harry’s storyline felt more realistic compared to Carys and Tristan’s, and less drawn out than Maddie and Gryff’s. I’m interested to see what happens with Rhys’s story next.

It’s Kate Bateman. Read it now. End of review. Okay, just kidding. I’ll give you a few more words. But, really, if you’ve read even one of this author’s books you know before you crack it open that it will be wonderful and you will love it. No one can take the Regency Era and what we think is a very well-known, predictable plot and turn it on its ear like Bateman can, or give you characters that are such a mess, so blind, so stubborn they don’t see what is obvious to everyone else. Sometimes their behavior is so ridiculous that you can’t stop laughing, but they are also strong and heroic and brave and clever – and sweet and caring and so afraid that love is going to slip right out of their grasp.

In A Wicked Game, the third in the Ruthless Rivals series, the Davies and Montgomerys are at it again. They’ve had a feud going forever, but somehow a couple of them always manage to fall head-over-heels and have their HEA. We suspect Morgan and Harriet might be headed down that same hilarious path, but they don’t make it easy. Grew up together, fighting, teasing, playing tricks and absolutely never going to acknowledge that little flutter in their heart when the other is near, because they are certain those feelings are not and never will be reciprocated.

Captain Morgan Davies was shipwrecked and imprisoned because of an incorrect map, and he’s come back to London to make the man who made that map pay. Except that man is Harriet. And to make things really interesting, they had a bet before he sailed off: three kisses if he survived the war and returned home. She pretended not to care but hoped winning the bet would motivate him. It did, but what really kept him going was just the thought of her. We see how they feel, their friends and family see how they feel (even if they don’t know about this spicy, forbidden bet!) but Harry and Morgan are clueless. And that’s why this story is so much fun. He’s not about to declare his feelings because of course he knows she doesn’t feel that way. What he is about to do, though, is collect on those kisses – on his terms. She pretends to be aloof but she’s as eager as he is to get to the when, how and where (especially the where) those kisses will take place.

A Wicked Game has it all: rival families, enemies to lovers, dares, bets, teasing, flirting, danger, adventure – and some very serious feelings and lots (and lots and lots) of steam. I really enjoy Regency Era stories because of all those rules. Rules that seem foolish to us now but could have ruined a lady for an action we would consider insignificant today. But does Harriet feel ruined? Not hardly. More like she’s finally been brought to life. And she’s going to fight to keep that feeling.

I said at the beginning that Kate Bateman is the author is all you need to know. If you’re not completely convinced yet, read how Harriet felt after Morgan’s first kiss: “She didn’t care. Knowledge was power. This was power. She could feel it. Drugging her, coursing through her veins, making her weak and strong at the same time. She knew how to kiss this man. It was as if she’d kissed him a thousand times before, a path so familiar she must have walked it in another life.” If this doesn’t give you chills, make you swoon, and have you running, not walking to get this book, there is no hope for you. I received a free copy of A Wicked Game and am voluntarily leaving this honest review. I highly recommend this and every other thing Kate Bateman has written, will write, or is thinking about writing. She takes that familiar trope and twists it up to make it original, entertaining, and amazing. Every single time. All opinions are my own.

I adored Morgan and Harriet's story!! We've seen bits and pieces of their relationship in other books in the series, so I was really looking forward to their story. Bateman did NOT disappoint!! Such a wonderful read!