I was hoping for more banter.

Enemies to lovers. Captain Morgan and Harriet have always spared with each other since their families were feuding with each other. He has returned from the war to claim his three kisses and determined to increase the number to 3 Davies and Montgomery couples.

This book what such an absolute delight! Every book in this series has been so good and this was no exception.

In this book, we follow Harriet and Morgan. They have been rivals since childhood, but Harriet has secretly pined for Morgan for years. He went to sea, but now he is back to exact revenge on a mysterious map maker who’s incorrect map led to the deaths of some of his men.

I love the world Kate Bateman has created in this series and I have found that I am absolutely and unashamedly a ✨HO✨for Welsh main characters. I don’t know what it is, but he accents are just… just trust me and try out the audiobook. You can thank me later. 😉

The banter and tension between these two was both funny and endearing. I was absolutely rooting for them and I really hope we get several more books in this world! 🤞🏻

I am really loving Kate Bateman's Ruthless Rivals series. The tension between the Davies and Montgomerys is so much fun, especially when they keep pairing up! Every book in this series has been a true adventure, and this third installment, A Wicked Game, is no different. Harriet Montgomery (cousin to the landed Montgomerys) has taken over her father's mapmaking business. When a seemingly faulty map leads Captain Morgan Davies to be captured, he sets out to make the cartographer pay, not knowing it is in fact the woman who has captivated and infuriated him for years.

This was such a fun book, Morgan and Harriet are both enamored of each other from the start but neither wants to say anything, so they frame everything as bets and games. There is plenty of adventure and craziness in this historical romance, and was a joy to read. I can't wait for the next book in this series!

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book 3 in the Ruthless Rivals series. It follows Morgan and Harriet who have been frenemies since childhood. This is honestly my favorite of the series. It is so witty and fun with some of the most well written characters. I always appreciate an 'enemies to lovers' trope with lead characters who aren't immature in their behavior. This one hit all the right notes for me and has cemented Kate Bateman as a must buy author for me!

The Davis/Montgomery feud has provided ample ground for Bateman to tread during this trilogy (is there another book coming?), but I think that for me, A Wicked Game has been the most successful. There's something about a bet for three kisses if Morgan returns from war and the delightful way he teases Harriet when he returns that just really got me. My only critique is that I feel like this blend of historical romance and romantic suspense doesn't weave as seamlessly together in this installment as I would like. I think the elements are all there and the ground is laid, but there's no sense of danger until the suspense kicks up dramatically. Which, in all honesty, makes sense, but is not my preferred reading experience. But setting that aside, I really enjoyed the exploration of intimacy here. Morgan was so transparent in his perspective at knowing he wanted Harriet, but it was also really nice to see Harriet sort of take control of the situation eventually.

As for the audiobook, I really enjoyed the narration. I fell into the book so quickly and I had a great time. Definitely recommend!

Although this wasn't my favorite of the series I still thoroughly enjoyed Harriet and Morgan's story! The bet was such a fun addition to the story!

This was such a fun read, and such an interestingly specific historical romance! Harriet and Morgan were both great characters to get to know, and even without having read the other books in the series, it was a blast getting to know the other characters. I’ll definitely seek out other Bateman titles!

This was a delightful and entertaining read. The chemistry between Harriet and Morgan was sizzling!
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a blast to read from start to finish. A great plot, great characters, and great romance. Such a fun, gripping romance.

I loved this book, it was soo good! It did take me a little while to get into but once I started reading, I was hooked. I loved the revenge plan and the complexity of the characters. The chemistry was off the charts and I loved Morgan and Harriet’s back and forth banter.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of the book.

This was such a good historical romance! I loved Harriet, she was a perfect main character. The banter between her and Morgan was so fun, and I had a great time reading this! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical romance :)

A Wicked Game by Kate Bateman is the third in her Ruthless Rivals series. As with the first two, it's an engaging and enjoyable novel set during the Regency period. You can't go wrong with one of Kate Bateman's novels! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Oh how I loved the last book in this series!! The feud between the Montgomery’s and the Davies has been one of my favorite family feuds to read. Morgan and Harriet did not let me down!

Harriet took over as a map maker after her father could no longer see. She works for The Office by creating maps missing key landmarks to trick enemy ships into running off course or aground. Unfortunately Morgan got his hand in such a map and is imprisoned for two years at the hands of a sadistic man. When comes home, all he wants is to get revenge on the man who created the map that led to his torture. What he didn’t expect is that it would be Harriet.

I’m glad that once Morgan realized what happened, he didn’t hold onto his anger. In fact, he’s been in love with Harriet and is determined to marry her. It takes a while, but Harriet finally realizes it as well.

I loved the banter these two. In fact, it’s why I’ve loved the series!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Paperbacks for the arc!

This was a wonderful book. I loved the characters, the plot, everything was wonderful. I would recommend to others. I think that people would enjoy this story. Looking forward to the next book by this author.

Enjoyed Harriet's unique profession. Wish we could have seen Morgan and Harriet when they were growing up. The stories from their past set up their future relationship. They work together to figure out what is going on with the maps and forgeries.

This is book 3 in the series, and we finally get to see the story of Harriet and Morgan!

Harriet "Harry" Montgomery has been helping her father with mapmaking due to his failing eye sight. She even makes maps to assist in the war effort against the French. However, she misses the banter with her rival, Morgan, who is away at war. She even bet him 3 kisses upon his return.

Morgan Davies was imprisoned and tortured due to faulty maps. Finally free he knows exactly what he wants... To seek revenge on the mapmaker and seduce the love of his life, Harriet. Now he just has to use his 3 kisses to convince her to love him back.

This romance is filled with heat and steam. The witty banter between the characters is the best in the series! Clever word play makes me happy!!

I also appreciated that the male lead knew what he wanted and REALLY went for it. Before he starts claiming his kisses, Morgan says "Three kisses on the lips isn't much of a prize. Not when there are so many other, more interesting places I could put my mouth." Yes, please!!

Morgan and Harriet banter and kiss, and they also have a few adventures along the way that made the book's plot really shine to be a delightful read.

Thoroughly enjoyed this read!

Kate Bateman has done it again!! I absolutely adored this whole series. I loved book two so I wasn't sure this one would be able to top it, but I think it just may have...it's difficult to choose a favorite between the two, but Morgan and Harriet have such a perfect relationship, I may just have to say they've become mine. They were all the good parts of enemies to lovers without ever truly being enemies: the banter, the competitive edge, constantly being torn between fighting and f***ing, the constant sexual tension simmering just beneath the surface...plus Morgan is one of my favorite types of heroes--the kind that pines for years but knows he needs to let the heroine comes to terms with their relationship before he can start asking her for more. Their bet was absolute perfection, and I LOVED the grand gesture. It was just...excellence. Pure, delicious, steamy, hilarious, adorable, swoon-worthy excellence.

This was a fun enemies to more story by Kate Bateman. I liked how the characters were in love with each other but didn’t want to admit they loved each other because of an old family feud. I liked the banter between the characters and I love how the story ended. I liked that their was more then just romance but also some adventure. That helped to make the story a fun one to read.

I received a complimentary book from publishers, publicists, and or authors.  A review was not required and all opinions and ideas expressed are my own.

A quick beach or cozy read, fans of this author and series will enjoy this fast-paced friendly-adversaries to lovers story.

Trigger warning: Sexual coercion.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. The subplots of the rival mapmaker copy-catting Harriet and the threats from Morgan’s past felt unsatisfying, and I would’ve liked a longer read in order to add more tension, danger, and stakes to those plot elements. The main characters, while likeable, felt incomplete; what we glimpse of their inner worlds is well-presented, but I wanted more character development to make the main characters feel more unique and it would have been nice to witness each main character struggling with insecurities that weren’t about their love interest (e.g., Morgan struggling with experiences as a prisoner of war, Harriet struggling with the burdens of her role in the war or with her familial obligations and concerns). I haven’t read other instalments in this series, but I suspect that readers of this series will have a familiarity with these characters that somewhat makes up for what wasn’t developed in this book.

What made this book decidedly not for me is the use of coercion in place of consent that takes place as the main characters figure out how to admit their interest in one another. The specific coercive trope used and some of the dialogue around the trope is directly from the 1999 film Cruel Intentions, and the evocation of the abusive relationship in the film combined with the discomfort I felt with the coercive approach being used in general made me set down the book and consider if I was going to finish reading this particular novel. The author did manage to introduce informed consent to the later parts of the romance, but the use of coercion in the budding relationship could not be erased from the totality of the “romance” and therefore I could not recover my previous enjoyment. I would have preferred the author use informed consent in place of coercion and added some other types of tension (and character development) via the mystery subplots to build romantic tension as an alternative method to keeping these two characters stubbornly at odds while simultaneously growing into partners.

Other things that interrupted my enjoyment of the story were the inconsistent formatting of some paragraphs and dialogue, and the typographical error of a character referenced by one spelling of their name in one sentence followed by an alternate spelling on the same page, and not for any plot-based or ‘funny misunderstanding’ reason. I went back and re-read the chapter and page a few times seeking where I had misunderstood the joke or purpose to the differing spellings before realizing that the incongruous name spellings were merely in error.

Despite this not being a good fit for me, I did laugh several times while reading, and appreciated the lighthearted feel of the story (when the plot included consent). The pacing is excellent, the main characters are smart and self-assured while remaining people who seem fun to spend time with, and the sexism of the era is allowed to take a backseat to the main story. Fans of this series and author will likely have a great time with this (mostly) breezy romance.

Readers who require their romance to contain consistent, fully informed, enthusiastic consent might want to skip this book.

A Wicked Game by Kate Bateman is book Three in the Ruthless Rivals Series. This was a great read. Ms. Bateman is one of my favorite historical romance authors. Loved it!