A big thank you to TLC Book Tours and Entangled Publishing for gifting me a copy of The Wedding Wager by Eva Devon.

I've been on such a historical romance kick lately, so was super excited to pick this one up.

What would you do if a Duke you'd never met before turned up in your bedroom at midnight telling you that you were going to be married?

That's exactly what happens to Victoria after her dad gambles away her hand in a dice game! Derek Marcus Andrew Kent, the Duke of Chase, has carefully cultivated his reputation as a rake and never planned to marry, but he couldn't let the cad Lord Craven win the poor girl's hand, so he intervened.

Lady Victoria is an archeologist and anthropologist and has all but abandoned polite society in favor of her work. She had no plans to marry either, and The Duke's appearance on her doorstep is less than welcome.

The two of them appear so very different, but each of them wants independence so perhaps this arrangement might actually be beneficial to them both.

I really enjoyed the story and found it fun but also sweet and moving at times too. It's the perfect book to cozy up with on a rainy fall day.

Synopsis:

All Lady Victoria Kirby wants is to dig in the dirt, take notations, and record history, thank you very much. Bumbling through ballrooms and getting disdained by the ton for her less than ideal looks, on the other hand, is the last thing she wants. But her reckless father has a different idea for her future when he puts up the ultimate ante—her hand in marriage—and loses. Over her dead body.

The Duke of Chase cannot bear to see a woman misused. After all, he saw that often enough as a child. So when he’s witness to a marquess gambling away his daughter to a lecher of a man, he has no choice but to step in and rescue her. Lady Victoria has a reputation for being as tart as a lemon and as bitter as one, too. So, he may have just found the perfect wife to keep a promise he made to himself long ago—to never have an heir. With her, surely, he'll never be tempted to take her to bed and break that promise.

But when he meets the wild, witty, intelligent, young lady he’s bound to marry, he knows trouble is headed his way... And everything he ever swore to uphold may very well come undone, especially his heart.