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)

I adored Mark and Giorgina's romance! I am so glad I read this because it has gotten me back into historical fiction/romance and I am now hungry for more. Vanessa Riley's writing shines in this one, and I will definitely be looking into her backlist.

Good book! It’s two love stories in one book. Old flames Katherine and the Duke and Torrance. Then Katherine’s sister- Georgina and Lord Mark Sebastian a composer. I like the characters the main ones and their sisters, and I like the story. A must read!

Many thanks to the author and Netgalley for my advance copy! I love historical fiction (especially the regency era) and this book had great setting, characters, and fantastic dialogue. Since I prefer clean, closed-door romances, this book hit all the right notes! (Plus, who doesn't love a good fake engagement story?)

While I did have a bit of difficulty keeping the characters and story straight in the initial few chapters, I was quickly drawn in by the Wilcox sisters and their suitors. Some scenes felt a little long but the dialogue and writing were strong and set the time period very well. I also appreciate how the author leaves a little ambiguity in her writing, not revealing or resolving all the secrets in this first book! I think this sets readers up to continue to fall in love with these sisters and their stories over multiple books.

This was a sweet read with lovely characters and world-building!

Great book! Personally, I wanted more romance and character development, as it felt more like historical fiction with a love story rather than a romance set in historical times. Still, it's a good read, especially for those who enjoy second-chance romance and stories centered around Black women. While it wasn't exactly what I expected, I'd still recommend it for fans of Bridgerton!

As always with Vanessa Riley, great writing, story, and characters. I already wish I could reread it for the first time again.

Full review to come.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. I finished this book last night and I loved every moment of it. I was hoping "the confession" would come between Katherine and Jaheel but I assume we are just to imagine how it went. Thats OK, i have a large imagination. This book just had me hooked at all times.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing imprint Zebra, and Vanessa Riley for an advanced copy of for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A Gamble at Sunset is the latest literary offering from award winning author Vanessa Riley and it does not disappoint in this Regency romance. Ms. Riley has done it again and I am here for it. The world building is like her other works such as A Duke, The Lady, and A Baby but even more dynamic along with the fun, witty banter I have come to expect from Ms. Riley. A Gamble at Sunset reminds me why I enjoy her work so much. I am looking forward to the rest of the series.