A Wager To Win The Debutante

by Eva Shepherd

All bets are off in this lively Victorian romance full of spice and wit!


May the best gentleman win...a debutante?

Wealthy rail baron Thomas Hayward needs a duke’s land to expand his empire, but the oaf insists on a ridiculous they’ll both woo debutante Miss Grace Lowerby and, if she chooses the Duke (which she surely will), Thomas gets the land at a cheaper price. He can’t lose...

To save her family, Grace must marry the Duke, yet in dashing Thomas she’s found a man she can finally be herself with. But focussing on her goal is paramount...until she discovers the wager and — annoyingly! — that it’s Thomas she’s falling for!



Mills & Boon Historical — Your romantic escape to the past.

Genres: Historical

336 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 2024

About the author

After graduating with degrees in history and political science, Eva Shepherd worked in journalism and as an advertising copywriter.

She began writing historical romances because it combines her love of a happy ending with her passion for history.

She lives in Christchurch New Zealand, but spends her days immersed in the world of late Victorian England.

Reviews

[Han · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 ⭐️

💍 Fake Relationship

💍 Friends to Lovers

💍 Forbidden Romance

*~*~*~*~*

‘𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧,’ 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬. ‘𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.’ 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝. ‘𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞.’

I think this is my favourite historical romance, and oh my, it was beautiful.

I just want to thank Mills and Boon for sending me this wonderful book because I absolutely adore it. When a historical romance involves a fake relationship, I will HAPPILY eat it up every single time because the tension and angst is just something that I can never get tired of, and there was PLENTY of it within this book!

Grace Lowerby is an absolute sweetheart and I want to protect her with everything I have because she deserves so much better than a grandmother who uses her. I think her character development was fantastic and I loved watched her become more confident as the story progressed. She may be naive at first, but the woman that she becomes is a force to be reckoned with.

Thomas Hayward is one of my favourite love interests, and I wish I had someone like him when I was surrounded by bullies. You don’t need a title to be someone important, and you should never allow bullies to see that they’ve gotten to you, and Thomas really did show that to be true. Don’t get me wrong, I’m angry for how he went about the wager regarding Grace, but oh my goodness, he is one of the sweetest men to grace the regency era, most of his intentions were good, and the way he was willing to give up land for Grace just had me in awe.

The reason I didn’t rate this book five stars was down to the fact that there was no diversity within this book, and I think diversity is important, no matter the type of book or genre. Despite this, I loved this book so damn much, and for anyone wanting to make their way into historical romances, this is the PERFECT starter for you.

Ps. I NEED a book on Isaac and Sebastian!!

[Harlequin Books]

Regency Romance, Victorian Historical Fiction, Sagas
Miniseries
Rakes, Rebels and Rogues (Book #1)

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story overall but it felt a bit repetitive at times which made the book drag out in the middle.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! This is Thomas and Grace's story. I'm really enjoying this series and can't wait for the others.

[Lisa J Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story of Thomas and Grace who start as friends which a bet Thomas is desperate to win - but what will this mean for their friendship?