However, with all the deals, games and wagers, it might be better called Casino Ducal. Alas, there’s no casinos so the title would not be accurate. What the series includes is plenty of surprising first impressions, steamy liasons and will-they-won’t-they between a quartet of misfit girls and the mad, bad, dangerous to know dukes who love them.

Well there will be a quartet, but The Bride Bet hasn’t been released yet and I wanted to get my thoughts down now since they were all so good. This was a rare ranking where I wasn’t sure how to order them since they were consistantly well-done and all ranked 5 in my book for different reasons. When The Bride Bet comes out, it might be subjected to change but for now here’s how their ordered.

1. The Wallflower Wager: The third book in the series focuses on Lady Penelope “Penny” Campion, the only nobless in the series with her significant other being the self-made one who has to forgo his reservations of their different social statuses to follow his heart. Before this book, Penny has been the somewhat flighty romantic, more concerned with her numerous animals than any firm reality, but here readers see her hidden depths and scars as she chafes against being treated like a child by her friends and family, her worth as a female in society based on her virtue and being able to make choices herself and be fully supported in them. That’s where Gabriel Duke supports her the most and intensifies her initial (ahem) animal attraction toward him. Gabriel has a big chip on his shoulder and like the other men in this series, he thinks it’s better for others to stay away from him since he’s a monster and the self-styled Duke of Ruin, landing numerous nobles in debt through blackmail and other dubious means. I just wish there was a bit more about his past because the hints of it were very interesting. I was a bit tired though of his whole “I’m a monster, stay away from me” schtick as it was repeated in the previous two books and all the bad things he did were technically legal. Really, he did have a heart of gold hidden under his resentment of the upper class and seeing him open up and furthermore, help Penny stand her ground was gratifying to see. I also appreciate how Dare respectfully worked in some darker material and give Penny full agency in reclaiming her power from it. The book was also pretty funny with Gabe, Chase and Ash unexpectedly bonding over delivering a baby goat and just so enjoyable to see how the group has become a real family.

2. The Duchess Deal: This was a classic Beauty and the Beast scenario so it edges the number two spot just a bit. Emma is a seamstress but when her call on the Duke of Ashbury to pay for services turns into a marriage of convenience, the two must learn to make their marriage one of love. Emma is so sweet yet strong in going after what she wants as she pushes Ash to treat her like a bride, not a broodmare. Ash, however, has his literal scars where his right stand has been burned and scarred in the war thanks to a faulty rocket. Self-titled the Monster of Mayfair, he embraces the name as he pushes everyone away and make his servants’ lives uncomfortable with his bitter reclusiveness. It was cool to see a subversion with the man being uncomfortable and insecure of his looks with Emma drawing him out to remind him that appearances aren’t everything. There’s also Ash reminding Emma of her worth as she enters society for the first time as a duchess instead of a semestress in front of all those she used to work for, as well as his support of her non-virgin status. Additionally, this is the book that introduces Emma’s future friends and nicely sets up the last book in my ranking.

3. The Governess Game: Again, it’s really hard to rank these as they’re all fives in my opinion so the only reason this comes last is because I enjoyed the Beauty and Beast-esque plot of the above and the rarely explored material in the first. Here, Alexandra meets the Bookshop Rake she had been fantasizing over for the past few months and accidentally ends up a governess to his wards when he mistakes her clock-fixing service as one for the other position. When all it’s cleared up, she keeps the position because he truly is desperate. Daisy and Rosmund are little hellions with doll funerals every morning and a complete disregard for authority yet Alexandra is a sensible, practical girl and manages to reach to them with their own language, creating enjoyable lessons on maths, geography etc. through piracy. She’s less practical in her dalliances with Chase who is doing his damn best to push anyone he could love away thanks to his mistakes in the past. I really enjoyed how Dare has Alexandra comfort Chase about his mistake, not saying he wasn’t his fault, but reminding him that in the present, he can do better, he can be brave and loving now. Seeing him struggle with the potential pain and loss of loving someone just made the scenes between him and Alexandra all the more heartwarming. I enjoyed Alexandra’ strong, working women ethic and her finding her comet felt so triumphant, and I was just so happy for her. Dare really makes one feel and root for the characters. My one gripe is that Alexandra correctly deduces that Chase is using sex and swagger to be a shield against true emotional intimacy and a way of falsely filling up his guilt and emptiness, but she never has been kissed, rarely interacted with men in such a way, so I found it a bit hard to believe she’d figure that out so quickly.