This was a delight, and fantastic. All the books in this series are fairly similar, with a long standing rivalry btn 2 houses resulting in lots of star crossed lovers who can’t admit to themselves that they dig each other. Morgan is a dream, the fact that he starts out the book thinking about marriage to Harriet and wanting to make it happen is unusual and I was into it. Harriet’s reluctance is a little muddled, plot wise, and I wasn’t as into it. It’s hard to manufacture a plot and both parties are into each other from the beginning. Their banter was fantastic. The heat was really great, and the kissing bet was precious. Loved it.

I was excited to see that the next in this series was available for review. Since I read the last one, I've gone back and read the beginning of the series and started on some of her other books. I love them all. In A Wicked Game, we pick back up with the Montgomerys and Davies to see if the world can withstand another partnership between the families. Captain Davies has to convince Harriet to set aside her concerns as well as keep her from coming to a bad end over her mapmaking. The author does a great job of distinguishing her characters from "typical romance characters" with interesting backstories and adventures. It's a bonus to romanace readers!

A fun read! The banter between Harriet and Morgan were great!

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

This is one of my favorite historical fiction romance series, and this latest book was great! I loved the story of Morgan and Harriet. Growing up constantly battling each other, only to find that as adults, battles and dares lead to very different outcomes. Little adventure, some humor, and of course romance. Highly recommend.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved his childhood romance. A childhoods romance that has lasted for so many years to the point where Morgan and Harriet remember the minor details to the I dare you and challenges. I loved the romance of it all. Morgan, I have to say was a big flirt when it came to Harrie. He probably had his eyes set on her when they were in baby cribs. I enjoyed the many seductive ways that the writer had written his character.
The man wouldn’t stop chasing Harriet. She was his prey and he was on notice to pounce. Poor Harriet, she only could wonder, “ what she had done to have this insane man lust after her. Don’t get it wrong, Harriet loved the chase from Morgan, but it was somehow all confusing to her. The Morgan’s and Davies have always challenged one another and for one of them to cross the line, that was down right conspiracy. The romance was timid at first, but like I said Morgan and his lust kicked it up a notch with Harriet, to a raging inferno.
The romance was hot. It was spicy. And it was good. Until next time my fellow readers… read on!

4.5 stars, rated up

A Wicked Game is an utterly enjoyable read from the first chapter. It just draws you in until you're completely under the spell of all the romance.

All the tropes here..
* a long family feud,
* slow burn,
* frenemies to lovers,
* MMC home after years fighting in the military
** and I’m sure I’m missing one or two,

.. just worked really well together. I adored this one (this entire series is so wonderfully fun!) and liked reading it so much ❤️reading this while anxious, really helped redirect my attention - this one just made me smile throughout because it was such a wholly loveable read and was exactly what I needed after a run of more serious books.

Harriet and Morgan were absolutely perfect together, there’s a lot of friendship, history, and longing in these pages and the chemistry between the two is fantastic. The spice level was nice, albeit in a limited capacity.

This one would be an excellent cozy, hibernating until the New Year is over with cocoa, Netflix, and books read. It’s utterly romantic, swoony, and a delightful long weekend book.

I love a well done and fun historical romance, and Ms. Bateman absolutely knows how to write them.

I can’t wait for the next one!

Recommended.

I enjoyed A Wicked Game. Kate Bateman's books always entertain. I have to say that Harriet was not a favorite of mine until closer to the end of the book (80% mark). I found Morgan to be more interesting. I am intrigued by the mention of the Wessex Montgomerys in relation to Rhys. I'm looking forward to that one. This is a great family saga. Thank you Kate Bateman, St. Martin's Romance and Net Galley for an ARC of A Wicked Game.
#AWickedGame#RuthlessRivals#KateBateman#SMPRomance#NetGalley

A Wicked Game is the third book in Kate Bateman’s Ruthless Rivals series. I have loved each book in this series so much and was so excited to get an early copy of this book. The Davies and Montgomery families have been feuding for generations, but they’re discovering it is a thin line between love and hate…

“If there was one thing impossible for a Davies to resist, it was a challenge from a Montgomery.” This story starts off with a scandalous bet between Harriet Montgomery and Morgan Davies. They’ve had mutual animosity for one another for years while growing up, while both secretly wanting one another! When he is headed off for war, she desperately wants him to return safely so she makes a bet with him…if he returns back alive, she’ll grant him 3 kisses. After almost two years traveling the globe with His Majesty’s Royal Navy, and a six-month stint in prison, Morgan arrives back in London with two specific goals: seduction (of Harriet) and revenge (for being lead astray by a mapmaker and landing in prison). After his imprisonment, Morgan comes back with the shocking realization (shocking only to him and Harriet) that he needs and wants Harriet in his bed, in his life, permanently. So when he‘s ready to claim his 3 kisses, he tells Harriet he never specified where the kisses would be placed…

I adored Harriet and Morgan’s banter and lifelong teasing of one another. You can just feel and believe all the history between these characters of growing up together and the flashbacks we get of these messing with one another over the years. We see all the characters from the previous books, his siblings (Carys, Gryff, Rhys) and her cousins (Maddie, Tristan). There is a bit of suspense/intrigue happening in the story that I wasn’t completely invested in (involving a villain searching for specific maps). But I loved that Harriet is a cartographer and works at the map shop with her father. She’s always craved adventure and seeing the world, visiting the places she’s drawn on maps. I liked how all of their family members can see how much these 2 have danced around one another for years and they aren’t the least bit surprised they’re finally giving into their feelings. Such a fun series, I love the rivalry between the families and how far they’ve come! I definitely want Rhys’ story one day!

“His sharp-tongued, lifelong obsession. The rivalry between their two families had shaped their interactions ever since they were children. Over the years it had developed into a kind of gleeful antipathy, a never-ending game of one-upmanship that neither side would ever consider abandoning. They’d teased each other with challenges and foolish bets.”

“And then his big hand slid to the side of her neck and she sucked in a breath as he found her pulse beating an erratic betrayal.”

4.5 stars! Thank you to the publisher (St. Martin’s Press, SMP Romance) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this review are my own. A Wicked Game has a release date of December 27, 2022.

4.5-5 Stars! Kate Bateman has killed it yet again with this book. This is the 3rd book in the ‘Ruthless Rivals’ series and each book is as good as the next! They can all be read as standalone books but this is such a great series, I’d recommend reading all of them. The main characters of this book were Harriet and Morgan and I loved both of them and their witty banter. Faux enemies/friends to lovers historical romance with an HEA ending and some hot ‘sexy times’ scenes. I definitely recommend this book and the other books in the series. This series has made Kate Bateman a favorite must read author for me!
*I received this at no charge & I voluntarily left this review.*

The feud between the Davies and Montgomery families has gone on for decades and yet interestingly enough, no one has ever been hurt in this feud . . . unless you count the sharp retorts tossed back and forth between the younger family members. Take Morgan Davies and Harriet Montgomery for instance - since childhood they have teased each other without mercy and challenged each other to endless games one trying to up the other. Then Morgan was leaving to fight for his nation and in an effort to hide her true feelings, Harriet aka "Harry" challenged him to come home safe. The bet was for three kisses. Morgan survives enemy prison and returns home to claim his kisses, but it's not that simple. He has realized he wants so much more from his nemesis Harry - he wants forever. Harry doesn't believe he's sincere and so their games continue with each challenge getting a little more wicked. She owes Morgan three kisses, and she'll pay up. She just doesn't realize that he never said all three kisses would be on the lips.

A Wicked Game is a sizzling game of seduction and romance between two rivals who secretly love each other, but are afraid to admit it. Each wants the other to go first. The sexual chemistry in this one is blistering set-the-pages-on-fire hot and grows more so as they begin a game of secret rendezvous with a whole lot of naughty banter and touching. Fans of the series will love catching up with the other couples and family members as they do all they can to egg these two on. I appreciated the fact that Morgan is more in touch with his true feelings and willing to do what it takes to win Harriet over. Harriet takes a bit more convincing, but thankfully Morgan is a man with a whole lot of patience and determination to go after what he wants. With lots of banter, teasing and a seductive dance, A Wicked Game is for everyone who loves a good Enemies to Lovers romance with lots of sizzle. Highly recommended for fans of historical romance and enemies to lovers romance!

I have been waiting for this book so I couldn’t bear to start reading it when it showed up in my inbox. This is the third book in Kate Bateman’s Ruthless Rivals about members of feuding Welsh families falling for each other. The night before Morgan set sail with the navy, Harriet bet him three kisses that he wouldn’t return knowing it would inspire him to return home so he could collect on the bet. A couple years later Morgan’s back and desperate to get his kisses from Harriet. Harriet’s familial duties and a plot involving an inaccurate map of Martinique round out the story of a young couple who hasn’t known how to express their feelings for one another.

As someone who has a degree in Geography and had a hyper fixation on the British Royal Navy during high school, this book was made for me. I absolutely adore this cover and the fact that it has Morgan in his naval uniform. I love that Harriet actively works in her family’s map’s shop and found the stuff about the fake map details absolutely delightful (I knew this was a thing from Tessa Dare’s Lord Dashwood Missed Out, but it was fun to have another book feature this idea).

I love that this who series has been enemies to lovers, though I do think that this one was more bickering friends to lovers than true enemies to lovers, but I’m not mad. I absolutely adore how Kate is able to write heroes that are just madly in love with the heroine and don’t quite know what to do with themselves about their feelings. Overall this book was just a fun and deeply romantic read. I was happy to see the couples from the first two books again and pleased that the epilogue for this one set up at least one more book in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lifelong rivals reunite years later and this time the game between them has stakes they never expected. Captain Morgan Davies was shipwrecked and imprisoned thanks to an incorrect map, but he has now returned to London to exact revenge on the cartographer of said map and to finally seduce the woman who has his heart, who has had his heart since he was sixteen but he has finally realized while he was imprisoned, that he could not be without, and that woman is Harriet Montgomery. Harriet and Morgan have been rivals since they were young, they love making bets and competitions between each other, and right before he left for the navy she made him a bet: if he comes back alive she’ll give him three kisses, and now Morgan wants to claim those... and more, if he can only get Harriet to believe that he loves her and that she loves him too. Harriet has been working secretly for the navy, creating maps and taking care of her father, but now that her first love is back she doesn’t know if the feelings between them is another game or if it is the real thing? Morgan wants nothing more than to marry Harriet, except she is extremely stubborn and he’ll have a heck of a time trying to seduce her and see that what he feels for her is the realist thing there is. Bets, banter, and romance all come together in this fun book about two people who love each other but are about to take the next step in their relationship. I adore this series so much so this one was definitely another great read! I am hoping we get another book in the series ( I’m looking at you Rhys) but overall, I definitely recommend this series and can’t wait to see what the author writes next!

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Paperbacks for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Well it’s been a real minute since I last posted an ARC review hasn’t it. But fear not, the growing pile of ARCs are finally being worked through. All that aside I couldn’t be more thrilled to be back here sharing the 3rd book in Kate Bateman’s brilliant Ruthless Rivals historical romance series. Having read and loved books 1 & 2, this one had some big shoes to fill and friends I’m really pleased to say fans of the series will love this instalment and probably fall a little bit in love with Morgan Davies (I know I did).

As always huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy, thoughts below are my own, enjoy.

One of the things I like about historical romances, is the longing. Oh yes we love a slightly angsty hero (or heroine) that pines. And what I can tell you is that A Wicked Game has pining in spades. Morgan (brother of Gryff, Carys and Rhys) bets his sole survival on 3 kisses from his childhood antagonist (and long time crush) Harriet, the night before he’s set to sail in His Majesty’s naval fight against Napoleon.

After a stint in the navy, and the reckless use of a stolen map, Morgan and his crew not only live through a shipwreck (that sandbar came out of nowhere!), but become captured by a French general all too eager to inflict some pain. Spending a little over 6 weeks imprisoned, Morgan reflects enough on what he wants out of life, and that is the one woman who he has done battle with for most of his life: Harriet.

After being freed, and learning his map was a fraud, Morgan returns to London to take revenge on the mapmaker, and collect those kisses. Little does he know that Harriet is the mapmaker! Fans of earlier books will love seeing Morgan and Harriet finally become the focus of their own romance, as so many easter eggs are dropped throughout both Maddie and Tristan’s books respectively.

The romance here between the two is such DELIGHTFUL. There is genuine connection and playfulness between these two, a level of familiarity that only comes from knowing another person through your formative years. And like Carys’ book these two aren’t really enemies or really rivals, they are both deeply connected to and love each other (have for years really), but have spent a lot of that time fighting as extended foreplay.

I think this one also was probably the hottest as well. The three kisses act as a enticing backdrop to Morgan and Harriet exploring the passion and physical chemistry between them. And I almost fully combusted when Morgan was like, “oh no, no sweet summer child, these are not three chaste kisses on the lips, I will be choosing on your body where I collect them”. Well done Kate Bateman, well done.

There’s laughs, swoons, a little danger and of course a truly delightful happy ever after, that I was really pleased with. For folks looking for a quick, lovely, heartfelt historical romance look no further. A Wicked Game is landing on shelves December 27th 2022 and is the perfect end of year romance. Be sure to grab yourself a copy wherever you get your books!

A Wicked Game is a fantastic read, with three exclamation points!!! I loved every minute of this book. Kate Bateman's Ruthless Rivals series is great, and I have enjoyed reading every book in this series. A Wicked Game is the third in the series featuring the Montgomery-Davies "rivals." We were first introduced to Harriet and Morgan in the first of the series and had a hint that there may be an interest there. The surprise is that there isn't really an enmity with these two-- they have always been drawn towards each other and display it with witty barbs and dares to each other.
Prior to sailing off to battle Napoleon, Harriet doesn't want to admit that she wants Morgan to come back safely, so she dares him to come back safe. Their wager and events that force them to be together are great-- they chemistry is fantastic!
I adored Morgan, the dashing naval captain with such a sensitive soul, and I loved Harriet, the witty, plucky cartographer wanting adventure. They were absolutely perfect together, and the chemistry and banter was great. I loved how they both kept each other on their toes and that they were each other's greatest adventure.
I haven't mentioned the Aunts, but they are absolutely delightful once again. I love those kooky, unfiltered ladies with backstories that their nieces and nephew can't even imagine.
I received this book as an ARC from the publisher, via Netgalley for my honest opinion. You won't want to put A Wicked Game down! I kept purposely slowing myself down, so I could enjoy the book like a fine wine. Just writing this review is making me want to start it again from the beginning. This is a fantastic book in a fantastic series. I highly recommend A Wicked Game, and the whole Ruthless Rivals series!

This is an absolutely entertaining ride ! I love how the author paints such a vivid picture that you feel like you are right there in the room! I am a sucker for banter and enemies to lovers and this book provides both in SPADES! It was so neat to see the Hero willing to understand his feelings so quickly in the book and then spend so much time trying to convince the Heroine. Harriet is a hoot and I loved her sense of adventure! This book is so good, I finished it in one sitting and REALLY didn’t want it to end. I hope we get the story of the treasure hunt!

This is the third book in a series but can be read as a stand alone. It is the story of feuding families and their boisterous journey to happy ever after This is Harriet's and Morgan's story and it does not disappoint. There is less conflict in the form of external danger than the other stories. Morgan has decided that Harriet is his when the story begins and now he has to convince her that their sparring all their lives has led up to their forever. It is fun and charming, there is a little danger near the end but it almost felt tacked on. The story doesn't need it. I love the family relationships and the aunts are back with their irreverence. It sounds as if the last brother standing will be getting his own story too.