Lady Amelia Caversham has never made a secret of her desire to marry a duke and only a duke.  After two Seasons and no offers, she decides to enlist the help of the notorious former-courtesan-turned-lady, Sophia Dalby.  Sophia’s scandalous idea is to make a list of potential suitors and then interview them for the position of Amelia’s husband. 

But much to Amelia’s surprise, the list works – suddenly dukes, and every other eligible titled man in London, are lining up to be interviewed by Amelia.  But there is one man who doesn’t like her list – Lord Cranleigh.  His older brother is next in line to be Duke of Hyde, and Cranleigh has no intention of letting Amelia marry him.  There is a history between Cranleigh and Amelia and the shocking event of her list of dukes just might be what makes it all explode. 

I enjoyed The Courtesan’s Wager, but mostly the second half.  The first half was misleading.  Once the history between Cranleigh and Amelia was revealed, the book got exponentially better.  I had fun reading the various machinations the characters went through for love or marriage (or both).  While I didn’t care for Claudia Dain’s writing style, the story was great and I would probably read the other books in the series.