A Game of Chance by Kate Roman

Summary:

When the young Duke of Avon takes a back exit at a masquerade ball, expecting to find like-minded players to share a high-stakes game of cards or dice, nothing can prepare him for what he finds. But in the arms of mysterious Lord Donahue, Sebastian finds this new game is more pleasurable than anything he anticipated…

Reviewer: BlackTulip
The word frustration doesn't begin to describe what I felt once I finished this extremely short story! Just like an appetizer, it gives you a taste of what could have been ... and you definitely want MORE of it. But I cannot deny the fact that I loved every words of it.

Kate Roman takes her time with it, nothing is rushed there. First, and very important for me, you know right away the time period of this story when she describes the young Duke of Avon's arrival at the masquerade ball. Too many times in short stories as this such details are left out. Here is the perfect example :

His black silk mask was skillfully tied, his wig carefully arranged to hide all clues to his identity. The fashionably high red heels to his shoes disguised his height and the cape he wore served well to hide his build.

Avon is a gambler who is here to play a game of cards or dice. But there is no card game. And here begins the most exciting of all misunderstandings. Discovery and ecstasy in strong masculine arms.

The author definitely has a way with descriptions. The sex scene is very skillfully built and very erotic at first and then becomes more graphic as it goes on but it is never in bad taste.

It is well written and well researched and for me it was like the first chapter of a novel ... I will definitely look for any other work by Kate Roman hoping that it will be much longer. I give 4/5.

Publisher: Torquere Press