"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 and Mark were meant to be together. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book.

I wanted to really enjoy this one, because it did have such an interesting plot. But I could not get past the characters or the writing. Unfortunately, the characters were rather one-dimensional and never fully fleshed out, except perhaps the duke. I felt the writing and the dialogue was messy and didn’t fully come together.

This is a great read. The plot is well written and the storyline is interesting and keeps your attention. I am looking forward to next book in this series.

This was not a typical historical fiction and it was really hard to get into. I may have to try a different book by this author, sadly this one was not it for me.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Normally, this is my go to happy genre. This book...was not. So many moving parts were happening in this book that just didn't need to be, the romance was lackluster. The focus of the book was on a sonata that then couldn't even be used for the goal. Overall, it was just a busy read that I had to force myself through and I was very disappointed.

The first book in a new trilogy….A Gamble at Sunset is about the Wilcox sisters who are Black and living in Regency England. Like Bridgerton, this version of time and place has Black member of the “haute ton” and nobility. But not all member of society approve of their multicultural world and especially dislike mixed race couples. The Wilcox’s father built a lucrative coal empire from scratch which left the sisters wealthy. Unfortunately, the oldest sister Katherine married a Viscount with a gambling addiction and most of their money and business is gone. Now a young widow, Vicountess Katherine must rebuild the coal business and provide for her 3 younger sisters. Enter the Duke of Torrence, who will do anything to help the Wilcox sisters but as Katherine’s former love who she believes abandoned her with child years before, her meets with great resistance from her. In an effort to will her back, Torrence provides huge dowries for the 2 middle sister and works hard to find them suitable husbands. Thru a series of rash decisions, Georgiana (sister #2) becomes fake engaged to Lord Mark….the 3rd son of a Marquis. Mark falls in love with Georgie but his father is a belligerent racist and Georgie is very reticent to marry after watching her former brother-in-law bankrupt the family and make her older sister miserable. I enjoyed th e story and will read the next book in the series. I did, however, feel the the dialogue, especially in the beginning of the book, was not a tight as it could have been and felt a little haphazard.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Vanessa Riley returns to historical romance with A Gamble at Sunset, the first in the Betting Against the Duke series. This new series promises to be rather high-concept, both setting up an overarching plot for the series and including a self-contained romance, which I felt was a somewhat double-edged sword in places here.
Vanessa Riley is well-known at this point for her historical research into Black people in Britain, but I love how she continues to surprise with little nuggets of research highlighting how small the world was and is. The lore of her narrative is based on some characters who are descended from the eighteenth century Russian nobleman Gannibal, who was a former enslaved person who ended up being adopted by Peter the Great. And while the characters in the book are fictional, Gannibal truly does have descendants in the British aristocracy, including the modern-day Unicorn Hot Duke, Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster and George Mountbatten, Marquess of Milford Haven (cousin of Queen Elizabeth II).
But all this lore is perhaps the most interesting part of the book. That’s not to say that there’s not good stuff here, but there’s so much going on that it all feels half-baked. The romance is cute, for example, and gave me similar vibes to Bridgerton book and season 1 but if the dynamics were flipped, with the compromising position occurring before the fake courtship. And Georgina and Mark are nice characters who do have solid chemistry.
But they also share page time with all these other characters, namely Georgina’s sister and the Duke, and what I think will be their overarching plotline over the series, that no one felt well-defined and like they “stuck” with me. The stakes for Georgina and Mark weren’t there, and thus, the whole book fell a little flat.
I am still cautiously optimistic about this series, and will probably read the next to see how the story progresses. But while it was a bit of a letdown, I do recommend it if you’re looking for a well-researched historical romance with Black characters.

DNF. I don't know if i will pick this one up at another time, but i found it to be a bit all over the place within the first 3 chapters. Maybe i'll try something different by this author and compare.

Thank you to Netgalley for the DRC!

"Joy must defeat the darkness."

Vanessa Riley breathes life into a diverse cast of characters in this creative take on a regency era romance and fake dating.

The Wilcox sisters inherited their father's successful coal business, but when the oldest, Katherine, marries she gains not only a title, but the debts accumulated by the man's follies until his untimely death. Luckily a duke, with whom Katherine and her late husband have a past, swoops in to keep the sisters from ruin. Until Georgina Wilcox kisses Mark Sebastian, a would be composer from a well to do family, to vex Katherine, but the wrong people see. They decide to fake court until other prospects present themselves and Georgina can politely end the engagement. Meanwhile Mark is actually in love with her. Regency shenanigans ensue!

Georgina is lovely and has a whimsy that's irresistible. I don't blame Mark in the least for being instantly intrigued by her. There are prejudices which rear their ugly heads and regency sensibilities which can be frustrating ,but our delightful couple gets through them. Plenty of surprises are weaved into the narrative.

4 Stars! Thank you, to the publisher, for this eARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion!

This is the first Vanessa Riley novel I have read and I cannot wait to explore more of her other works! A Gamble at Sunset was a really great read and I enjoyed reading about Georgina and Mark’s love story. I appreciated the character development and friendship between the two and all the supporting characters. The end of the novel left me wanting more so I cannot wait to see how the story continues. I loved the historical lens that the author decided to take and it brought me out of the reading slump I was in. Overall, a sort of marriage of convenience, friends to lovers hybrid situation and lots of great interactions!

Thank you, Kensington Publishing, for this eARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion! If you are into historical fiction/romance, I'd recommend this to you - I will definitely be recommending this to my community.

Oh my GOODNESS, what a beautiful story! I had been in a rut with my last several reads, none of the novels really captured my interest - I think a few of them are sitting unfinished on my Kindle, in fact. On a quest to find something fresh and new, I remembered I had accepted an advance copy of this novel to review, and decided I ought to read it so I could provide my thoughts in time for the book's release. And I am so glad I did so! I believe I have a few of Ms. Riley's books but have not yet had the opportunity to read them (which will change soon, to be sure). This book is such a beautiful story of two souls coming together and breaking apart again (after a rather scandalous initial meeting). Georgina and Mark are well-developed characters, multifaceted and imperfect, as humans tend to be. Mark is a musician and composer, and Georgina a (publicly untested but known in the family to be a) gifted singer and piano player. The music aspect helped make the story of these two extra beautiful, but I think this author also has a gift of making magic happen between her characters. Each of them has their own struggles and hang-ups – not the least of which is how Mark could possibly support the two once his horrid father, the marquess (Mark is the spare’s spare) will disown him at the idea of him being with a Blackamoor. There were definitely areas of this book that were hard to read, but my husband has recently observed a few British being discriminatory, and I have no doubt it was much worse back in the early 1800s, when this book took place. This is history – it is painful, but it should be acknowledged. I appreciate the difficult positions in which some of the characters were placed as a result. Another wonderful aspect of this book is how lovely the supporting characters are. I love the entire Wilcox family, and since this is the first book in a series, I hope to be able to read about the rest of them in the future. For instance, the unforgotten love between Katherine and the Duke simmers beneath the hatred (on Katherine’s part, particularly) between the two characters. They deserve their own story! While there are a few suggestive scenes, there is no overtly spicy contact described in this book. I am delighted to voluntarily provide my honest thoughts on this book – I highly recommend it, and will be reading more of this author in the near future!

A Gamble at Sunset is the first book in the “Betting Against the Duke” regency romance trilogy by Vanessa Riley. This story takes place in London in the early 1800s. It introduces the Wilcox sisters. These four Black sisters inherited their family’s coal company after their parents passed away. The sisters experience several challenges to keeping the business going, yet they are willing to make serious sacrifices in order to save their family business and protect one another. This story focuses on Georgina and her fake engagement to Mark, a local composer and music teacher. These two have the potential to make beautiful music together literally and figuratively in spite of their cultural differences if they can ignore the opinions of others.

I found myself initially wanting to rush the story. Once I slowed down and enjoyed each line and phrase, I was treated to a beautiful love story and hints of the next two stories to come. I also enjoyed the author’s historical accuracy. The author does a phenomenal job of combining history and romance. This book inspired me to not only want to read the rest of the books in the series, but to also research more information highlighted in the book such as Blackamoors and Cesar Picton, the Black Coal Millionaire. The author also excels at depicting the racism, sexism, illnesses, and medical treatments of the regency era while telling a sweet love story.

Thanks to Kensington Publishing for providing me with an advance copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book was such a disappointment to me. I normally love Vanessa Riley’s book but it took everything I had to finish it. I’ve never not finished a book before but this one was probably as close as I’ve ever come. It started with what I felt was too much of the storyline was not about the leading characters. I stayed true because I know it’s the first in a series so the author has to flesh out the characters for future stories but I never like either the hero or the heroine.i spent most of the book wanting to smack one or both of them. I also know that I’m a person that reads to escape and for pleasure and this story doesn’t allow for either. I know there will be readers that will adore this book but there’s just not for me.

"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...

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?"

Sigh, Regency romance and Vanessa Riley FINALLY getting a good cover to one of her books!

Vanessa Riley does an excellent job of making you fall in love with Historical Fiction. I absolutely love her work and admire the time and dedication she puts into the research required for the masterpieces she produce.

A Gamble at Sunset was a beautiful story of The Wilcox sisters determined to keep their family business and legacy intact despite poor decisions of the past. Doing so involves fake romances, prejudice outrage, and a Duke that’s willing to take away the burden just to have another chance with the woman he loves.
I recommend this story.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

This story was truly wonderfully written and brilliantly told about the struggle of Blackmoor women, who weren't then accepted by the ton and their repulsive way of showing it.  The content of this book was about an ancient disease but mainly of love, about loving someone so much, that you would do anything for that person, even if it meant suffering by yourself. I found it very entertaining and refreshing. I have to confess that I also got very interested in the Dido painting. And seriously it´s a must to look it up. It makes you just excited for more. I would recommend it to Bridgerton lovers.
I would also like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity for an early copy to read and review.

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.

Vanessa Riley is brilliant at immersing readers into bygone eras via timeless characters and impressive detail. A Gamble at Sunset follows a group of sisters navigating the regency era as self-made Black women beholden to maintaining the strength of their personal reputations. Enemies to lovers, fake dating, second chance romance... this book has everything. With that said, while the plot of A Gamble at Sunset is compelling, but it took most of the book for me to get invested in the characters, which I thought was unusual since I love many of her other works.

Keep Shining
Thank you, Vanessa Riley and NetGalley, for the ARC of A Gamble At Sunset. Below is my honest review.
I was not a fan of Regency Romance until I read a Vanessa Riley book. The lessons I learned are invaluable and thought-provoking.
The Wilcox sisters were not to be toyed with. A Gamble at Sunset gives us strong characterization and storylines. As we delve into this fake relationship, we find humor, and sorrow,
As we ponder the world we inhabit today, it's impossible not to question how much society has truly evolved from the 1800s. A Gamble at Sunset, with its echoes of biblical narratives and its reflection of contemporary issues, invites us to look closer, to see these themes not just in the pages of a book, but in our own lives and families.

A Gamble at Sunset started a little off for me. I am not sure why but I couldn’t quite get a handle on who was who and why everyone was so mad. Buuuuut by their second meeting (kiss in a garden), Mark and Georgie had reeled me in. This book was a fascinating historical romance that told the story of a black woman and a white man. She is from a very well to do Coal Family and he is an aspiring musician and the third son to a minor peer. He falls fast and she is more of a realist. Aware of the prejudices they would face from society and his family. She is not sue her family could survive the scandal. Now the family friend who is a duke (and son of the Black Russian princess) is determined to help them. (Because of a past relationship with Georgie’s late brother in law) honestly I can’t go further without spoilers. But I will say, these two work through a lot to get to their HEA. I loved the characters and I loved that it was about were of the people of color in the ton. I read an ARC and am looking forward to the next book in the series. So if it seems confusing at first. Stick with it. It is absolutely worth it. (But don’t look for steam, there is nothing beyond passionate kisses)