A Gamble at Sunset
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
Award-winning author Vanessa Riley turns all convention on its head for the first in an enchanting, dazzlingly diverse new Regency romance trilogy featuring a duke, three sisters, and a tantalizing bet with a most desirable reward...
“A triumphant return to romance…Riley renders the Regency in living color, with impressive historical detail and an admirably diverse cast. Historical romance readers will be entranced.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“The perfect historical read.” —Julia Quinn, #1 New York Times bestselling author
When a duke discovers the woman he loves was tricked into marrying another, the master chess player makes the now-widowed viscountess the highest-stakes wager of his life in a last-ditch effort to win her affection: he will find husbands for her two sisters—or depart forever...
Georgina Wilcox, a wallflower with hidden musical talents, is furious when her reclusive older sister—the recently widowed viscountess—refuses sorely needed help from the Duke of Torrance, the only gentleman who has shown kindness to the bereft Wilcox sisters. Georgina decides to get back at her sister and shock the viscountess by kissing the first willing stranger she meets in the enchanting gardens of Anya House. Unfortunately, her sister is not the sole witness. A group of reporters and the ton’s leading gossips catch Georgina in a passionate embrace with a reticent composer, Lord Mark Sebastian.
The third son of an influential marquis, the tongue-tied Mark is determined to keep the scandal from ruining Georgina’s reputation and his own prospects of winning the celebrated Harlbert’s Prize for music. Under the guise of private voice lessons, the two embark on a daring gamble to fool the ton into believing that their feigned courtship is honorable while bolstering Georgina’s singing genius to captivate potential suitors. Sexist cartoons, family rivalries, and an upcoming ball test the fake couple’s resolve. Will their sudden fiery collaboration—and growing attraction—prove there’s nothing false about a first kiss and scandalously irresistible temptation?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Riley (Island Queen) makes a triumphant return to romance after dabbling in mystery and historical fiction, proving with this Betting Against the Duke Regency series launch that her talent translates across genres. Georgina Wilcox is a middle daughter with beauty, brains, and musical talent. Unfortunately, her parents' deaths and her sister's desperate marriage left their family business in the hands of a pathological gambler. After her brother-in-law dies, an old family friend, the Duke of Torrance, helps the Wilcoxes narrowly escape destitution, but they cannot afford another scandal. Unfortunately, Georgina and Lord Mark Sebastian, an aspiring composer, are about to cause just that when a misunderstanding leads to a kiss in the Duke's gardens that's witnessed by a large group of guests. The only way to protect their good names is a fake engagement, a charade they hope to pull off through a concert in which Georgina performs Mark's music, making society believe that they fell in love in the process. Mark hopes this performance will also convince London society of his talent. Riley renders the Regency in living color, with impressive historical detail and an admirably diverse cast. Historical romance readers will be entranced.
Customer Reviews
First in a Trilogy
I found this book a little hard going, partly I think because it was laying the grounds for the eldest sister’s story which was rumbling along in the background and will I assume continue into book 2, before being concluded in book 3 and I didn’t particularly like her. I liked Georgina and the other two sisters and the Black Prince Duke was a great character, just a shame that the hero Lord Mark was so ineffectual. I just couldn’t warm to him and didn’t feel any emotional attachment between the main protagonists. The interactions between the characters tend to formality, with the duke for instance even saying to five-year-old Lydia “but you obey Lady Hampton…”, rather than saying “but you obey your sister…”.
Despite what I’ve said here I look forward to reading Scarlett’s story, with her clever scientific mind and at least two men who might turn out to be her match, it should be an engaging read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.