I absolutely loved this book. It was a wonderful story of love and honor.

Louisa Hargreaves was experiencing her first season in London and had already received a proposal to a handsome, wealthy young man who would keep her in the life she was accustomed to. Then, due to a bet made years ago between her grandfather and another man, she was left a pawn and because of her integrity and honor, she broke off her engagement to marry a man she didn't know or trust. In time, she began to see William Fairleigh as a good man and not a man who was the type of man she had originally imagined him to be; cold, heartless and full of secrets.

William Fairleigh had just inherited his father's title of Viscount and his debt ridden estate. He had to save the estate to protect those who had been faithful workers to him and his parents. In order to save his estate, he had to coerce a young woman of means to marry him. That wasn't the type of man he was but he had no choice. He realized the hurt he was causing Louisa but he just didn't see another way. Was it possible for them to find love or would their marriage be one of honor but no love?

This book was a wonderful clean romance that was had no foul language of sex. This is the first book I have read by this author but I look forward to reading more by her. It was a wonderful regency romance. I was given an arc copy of this book and willingly and enthusiastically offer my review.

Lady Louisa Hargreaves' first London season is going well--she has even attracted the attention of the heir to a dukedom, the Earl fo Kerridge. He even proposes, and the details of the marriage agreement just need to be finalized before they can announce their engagement. Before that happens, though, William Barlow, Jr., the new Viscount Farleigh arrives and changes everything. It seems years ago, his father and Louisa's grandfather made a bed, which his father won--and the winnings were the hand of the daughter of the Marquess of Ashworth in marriage to the Viscount Farleigh. Since the vowel didn't state which Marquess of Ashworth or which Viscount Farleigh, William can claim the hand of the current marquess's daughter--meaning Louisa now has to choose whether to uphold her family's honor and pay the debt or to sacrifice the family honor by refusing to wed the viscount.
While Louisa agrees to the marriage, she wants to get to know the character of her betrothed--but he speaks little and shows no emotion, and she fears what marriage to such a man will bring. William needs her to marry him in order to save his estate and provide a home and living for the servants there, who are more like family to him than his father ever was, and he wants to marry her, because he fell for her immediately, but he can't break down the walls he's built up in his life, walls built as a result of an abusive father who drilled in him that he must never show emotions..

I was immediately drawn to honor-bound, reticent Willam and bubbly, vivacious Louisa. William just drew me in with how much he cared about his servants and how he'd been hurt and influenced by his father; I also adored the fact that while he was terrible at expressing himself, he easily appreciated that about Louisa and didn't ever try to stifle her emotions.
I also really liked the supporting characters in the book, Louisa's family and William's servant family. The banter between Louisa and her brothers was a lot of fun, and the love that William's servants had for him was really sweet and tender--and a nice break from the traditional servants in Regency novels; I liked that we got to see their personalities.
I skimmed through other reviews of this book and the biggest complaint seemed to be that people didn't find the vowel and the mortgages that made it necessary for William to call in payment on the debt to be believable. For me, that wasn't a problem. I guess I don't know enough about Regency estate management and entails to be bothered by that plotline. I certainly have read books where I felt like the author made you suspend disbelief to a point that it wasn't enjoyable, but that wasn't my experience with this book. (I did get tired of the word "vowel," however; according to my Kindle search, its' in there 66 times in 256 pages!)
All in all, I loved the romance and was very drawn in by it and found it to be a very enjoyable read.

I read an ARC via #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a book that I stayed up until 3 am reading! I enjoyed this book quite a lot.
After his father's passing, William Barlow is the new Viscount Farleigh, along with the title come the debts and poor reputation of his father. Louisa Hargreaves is in the midst of her first London season and is enjoying it immensely, especially the attention of the Earl of Kerridge. Louisa and William are thrown together in a most unexpected way, and all that follows is a delightful tale of communication, struggling with family expectations and learning to trust.
Louisa is an outspoken lady who sticks up for herself and desperately wants to marry for love. William keeps things bottled up and close so that no one can tell what he's thinking or feeling, he is trying to protect the people who now depend on him as Viscount.
I really enjoyed the conversations between Louisa and William, and how their relationship changed throughout the book. There was a lot of growth and I liked that Louisa's family, who is very wealthy and privileged did not behave that way.
If you're looking for a lighthearted engaging read, then this is for you.

The characters in this book were nice, and I would enjoy reading something else from the pen of this author to see what she could do with a more realistic plot. Unfortunately, I found the plot of "Wager for a Wife" to be so contrived as to be insupportable. It's not just that the grandfather made a ridiculous bet that could maybe, barely, conceivably be stretched to apply to future generations, it's that all the members of the current generation take it so very seriously. I understand the concept of "honor" as it applied in historical times, and that it is very different from what we might consider necessary today, but I think this plot goes beyond even the historical context. It is laughable that anyone even in that society would consider it honorable for someone to jilt her fiance and marry a complete stranger because of a vaguely worded wager made between a couple of rogues decades back. I also thought there was a contradiction between Louisa's feminist beliefs (as in, I should be held to the same standard of honor as the men) with her willingness to accept that the men's definition of honor was infallible.
Furthermore, the man who wants to hold her to it is much too nice to have suggested it; it's not really consistent with the way his character is written.
There were also some jarring anachronisms in dialogue.
However, the book was easy to read and I enjoyed the secondary characters and the general writing style well enough to give it three stars. The trope of a couple falling in love in spite of an arranged marriage can be a fun one, and it worked well enough here, if only the spur to set the relationship going had been slightly easier to swallow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Covenant Communications for providing me a digital review copy.

Despite my low rating this is not a horrible book. The characters are interesting, and the actual writing style (such as grammar and sentence structure) was smooth enough to keep me reading to the end despite its flaws. Now, as to those flaws…
While I am quite forgiving when it comes to the unlikely plots of historical romances, the core premise of ‘Wager for a Wife’ was so far-fetched as to strain even my normally flexible credulity. And yet, I may still have unabashedly enjoyed the silliness of it all if the story hadn’t been needlessly dragged out by drama and uncertainty caused by the hero’s refusal to openly communicate with his fiancée. For example, how could he honestly think that a woman willing to marry a man she barely knows, for sake of ‘family honor’, would be scandalized by his actions to care those he views as family?!? It really felt as if she did all the work in building their relationship, and in the end he just suddenly did a complete 180º from his usual sullen and reticent self. While the starting and ending points of his transformation were believable, it would have been far more enjoyable and realistic to read if it had been gradual and directly connected to his getting to know Louisa and her family better.

All in all, I might consider trying another book by this author if it stuck to a more believable plot line and didn’t rely on lack of communication to prolong the story.

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

An interesting story but a bit far-fetched that such an odd wager extended a generation to the next daughter, Louisa. If you overlook that part, then the book is entertaining.

One event, you could just see was going to be misunderstood and cause problems, but there were a few surprises along the way which made the story more intriguing.

It was kind of sad to see Louisa's family so loving and ready to defend her and poor William only had his servant's that cared for him.

The only thing that kind of turned me off was the family expecting Alex to marry a young girl (at some future date) that was fifteen years old while he was probably 10 years or more older.

Wager for a Wife is a sweet, innocent love story of two strangers who become betrothed and then fall in love. Louisa is almost engaged to an earl, heir to a duke until William comes along with a vowel forcing their marriage. William has become a viscount upon the death of his father. He holds a vowel put together by his father and her grandfather over a wager. He forces the marriage in order to save his family estate and those dependent upon the viscountcy.

Louisa is appalled at first, but slowly accepts the betrothal. She believes she has the need to honor the marriage just as a man would due to family honor. During time of waiting for the banns to be read, she begins to see that her prior beau wanted her due to her lineage and family connection. She, also, wants to get to know William before the marriage.

William is an extremely caring, young man who was treated horribly by his unscrupulous father. Having lost his mother while young and knowing she was treated just as badly by his father weighs heavily on his heart. Although caring and responsible, William seems to have a shell around his heart and continues to not let Louisa get to know him.

This begins to be a serious problem for her. It becomes worse when her former beau accuses William of a horrible situation. Louisa’s brothers seem to agree with the former beau.

William’s elderly servants stayed with his father due to loving William. They knew he would come back to the estate some day. This is a huge clue into his true character. You realize William and Louisa are more alike than even they realized.

This is one of those books you know will end with a charming HEA. It’s the journey that is enjoyable.

The Honorable William Barlow, age 24, became the fourth Viscount Farleigh when his father recently passed away. Now, he is traveling to Farleigh Manor to face what he knows will be huge debts left by his father.

Lady Louisa Hargreaves, daughter of the Marquess of Ashworth, is preparing to attend the first ball of her first season. Judging by the number of floral arrangements delivered the next day, Louisa was a great success at the ball. She is surprised when one suitor, the Earl of Kerridge, and heir to a dukedom, proposes to her and she accepts.

Before the betrothal can be announced, Viscount Farleigh and his solicitor arrive to inform Louisa’s family that he has a vowel saying that the daughter of the Marquess of Ashworth must wed Viscount Farleigh. The vowel had originated between their grandfathers. William fully expects to the thrown out, but realizes that Louisa and her family believe in honor and, thus, respecting the vowel. William wishes he didn’t have to resort to this, but his home and the people who depend on him need him to press forward with this. Louisa has a very large dowry that can help greatly with the debts run up by his father.

Louisa agrees to marry him in three weeks time. Slowly they get to know one another and they both realize they are attracted to one another. However, Louisa wishes she didn’t have to do this. But when William with a young woman and two children, people and Louisa wonder what he could be hiding.

This is a clean and wholesome novel which I enjoyed. With two older brothers, Louisa has been allowed to be a bit of a chatterbox and is very special to her brothers and parents. William’s childhood was sad as his father was distant and broke his mother’s heart leading to her early demise. William is an honorable man and wants to see his home and employees do well. I think readers will enjoy this story and the ups and downs that both the hero and heroine face.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was an enjoyable book. The characters were wonderful and I loved reading about Louisa's family dynamic. The growth and change were touching though the ending was a little forced. Would definitely look into more by this author.

Louisa Ashworth is ready for her first season in London. With her beauty, title and wealth, she is one of the top prospects for the season. Within three weeks, she finds her self having accepted a proposal from Lord Kerridge, also wealthy, titled and good looking. It seems to be the perfect match.

William Barrow,Jr. has lived as far away from his degenerate father as possible since his mother's death. With the death of his father, William is now Lord Farleigh and finds his estate mortgaged to the hilt. There is only one way to keep his estate and beloved servants, and that is to ask for payment on a wager his father made with Louisa's grandfather. The wager enabled the viscount of Farleigh to marry the daughter of the marquess of Ashworth. Louisa agrees to break her betrothal and marry William for the honor of the family. She does ask for three weeks to allow for the bans to be read at church and to get to know one another.

What follows is a study in the value of women during Regency England, the impact and influence parents have on their children, and lessons on how to open your heart to others. Louisa's older brothers, Alex and Anthony, provide comic relief in their teasing of Louisa, even though they love her dearly. If you enjoy stories set in Regency England, you will certainly love this one.

Thanks net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. I enjoyed this regancy romance. It took a while for this story to come together for me and found myself wondering when the climax would happen. Loved the sibling love between main character, Weezy aka Louisa, and her brothers. I wanted to strangle Lord Farleigh at some points and just tell him to speak to his intended frankly. Overall a good clean read. I will look for more by this author.

I had so much fun reading this book. It was just what I wanted! A silent, broken leading man just doing his best and an open honest fun leading lady. Both doing what has to been done in their time. Tuft is very good at writing deep characters. I felt like I could have had a little more from them both but was very satisfied. The ending was just what I wanted and needed from the whole story. It felt like it came full circle to me. I just love a good chaste regency romance and this did not disappoint.