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: he will find husbands for her two reluctant-to-marry sisters--or depart forever. Thus begins a sparkling new series from acclaimed author Vanessa Riley.

 

When her reclusive older sister dismisses the Duke of Torrance, the only gentleman to show kindness to the Wilcox sisters through their most recent financial struggles, Georgina Wilcox, a wallflower with hidden talents, decides to shock the Viscountess and kisses the first willing stranger she meets in the enchanting gardens of Anya House. Unfortunately, Lady Hampton is not the soul witness. A group of reporters who've come to Anya House for the duke's science gathering 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 reputations and his own prospects of winning the celebrated Harlbert's Prize for music. Under the guise of private 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?

 

 

Download A Gamble at Sunset: Book Club Reader's Guide Complete with Playlists, Recipe, and more

The stakes are high in this dazzling and diverse Regency romance, in which a clever duke has made a wager with the now-widowed Viscountess who is the love of his life: To win a second chance with her, he will find husbands for her two sisters--or resign himself to a life of longing in this enchanting tale from award-winning author Vanessa Riley.

 

Scarlett Wilcox is willing to live out her life as a spinster if it means being able to continue her medical research to help a friend in need. After all, few husbands would tolerate her dressing as a man to attend lectures at the Royal Academy of Science. If the Duke of Torrance finds her such a specimen, she'll agree to a marriage in name only, much to the dismay of her elder sister, the Viscountess.

 

When she's unmasked at a lecture on ophthalmology, Scarlett prepares to be disgraced, but she's saved by Trinidadian-born physician Stephen Carew who claims her as a cousin. Dedicated to caring for his community, Stephen has no wish to marry a frivolous and privileged lady, no matter how many fall for his disarming accent and seductive charm. But Scarlett proves the opposite of any he's ever met before. Yet the pressure to marry blinds them both to the chemistry growing between them, pitting their brilliant minds against their reluctant hearts--as the Duke and Viscountess await with bated breath to see who will win . . . A WAGER AT MIDNIGHT.

 

Coming March 25, 2025

atherine Wilcox Palmers, the Viscountess of Hampton, has lost custody of the daughter she secretly bore to Jahleel Charles, now the Duke of Torrance. The bitter court ruling was engineered by the duke himself, but now he is gravely ill. If he dies, Katherine, branded a scandalous bigamist by her late husband’s vengeful family, may never see her child again—unless she makes a bold offer . . .

 

Desperate, Katherine swallows her pride and proposes that she will nurse the Jahleel back to health, serve his every need, and keep up appearances, on one condition: he will secure her a respectable husband to silence society’s gossip. In private, she will be his mistress. . . .

 

But Jahleel has plans of his own. Pressured to produce an heir, he resolves to marry someone else. The hereditary blood sickness that plagues them both means Katherine can never be his bride again—no matter how fiercely their old passions reignite.

 

As dangerous forces gather, composed of those who would erase their child from the peerage for her mixed heritage, Jahleel and Katherine must confront the betrayals and deceptions that tore them apart. To protect their daughter, and fight for the future they were denied, they must jeopardize everything. Especially their hearts.

 

Coming June 30, 2026