A Wager to Win the Debutante is the first book in Eva Shepherd’s new Rakes, Rebels and Rogues series, and in it, a wealthy rail baron, Thomas Hayward, endeavors to help debutante Miss Grace Lowerby capture the heart of a duke by pretending to court her. Thomas has an ulterior motive, however, as he has a bet going with that duke regarding Grace over which man truly has her heart. As Thomas tries to win Grace’s affections, however, he ends up in very real danger of losing his own.

Our story open with an extremely nervous Grace at a ball. She needs to catch a duke to repay her grandmother for raising her after her mother dared to marry a commoner. Instead of wowing said duke, Grace falls on the dance floor and is given the nickname Graceless Lower-Born by the other debutantes. Thomas, only there to purchase land (to build a railway line) from the nobleman Grace has her eye on, steps in to save her, dancing with her and telling her her best next step is to hold her head high and pretend nothing happened. In the process of dancing with her, Thomas gains her the attention of his childhood nemesis and the man Grace wants to impress: the Duke of Hardgraves. Hardgraves secures the next dance from Grace and invites her to his home for an upcoming house party. Thomas feels he has helped Grace as much as he needs to and will only go to the house party to secure some land from the Duke.

At the house party, Hardgraves ignores Grace until she is forced to ask Thomas to pretend an interest in her to help her entice him. He reluctantly agrees before Hardgraves approaches him with a bet in mind: if Grace chooses Thomas after the weekend, Hardgraves will sell his land for a cheap price, but if she chooses Hardgraves, Thomas will still get the land but will pay much more. Seeing the bet as a win-win where no one gets hurt, Thomas accepts. As Thomas begins wooing Grace, he finds himself more and more attracted to her, especially as she begins coming into her own and gaining confidence. Of course Grace eventually learns of the bet and chooses Hardgraves because of it, forcing Thomas to rethink what he wants most: Hardgraves’ land or Grace.

First things first, I absolutely loved Thomas. The way he comes in to save Grace after she’s fallen – even though he really, really does not want to be involved and cannot seem to keep himself from continuing to be involved made me love him. His evolution from being focused on buying Hardgraves’ land to build his railway to a man who would give that up to have Grace in his life is very well done.

But I’m not going to lie: Grace annoyed the bejesus out of me in the beginning. She is so grateful to her grandmother for doing what any decent human being would do and raising her that she is blind to how hateful the woman is to her and just goes along with everything she says. Grace is determined to marry well in order to set right the wrong her grandmother thinks Grace’s mother committed by marrying beneath her. However, like Thomas, Grace grows a lot throughout the story. She finally begins seeing herself as someone worthy of love no matter who she marries and chooses to marry for love rather than duty.

A Wager to Win the Debutante is more character than plot driven, although there is a moment or two of action. I cared so much about the characters that I was fully invested in them and did not mind the absence of flashy action scenes. The story keeps moving without needing a lot going on.

Grace’s grandmother makes for an interesting sort of villain, and I actually quite liked that she learned absolutely nothing. It feels more authentic than a character who does a 180 at the end of a novel and suddenly becomes a loving grandparent.

I have enjoyed every Eva Shepherd book I have read, and this is no exception. With a sweet heroine, a hero willing to do anything for her, and a rather easygoing plot, this one makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read. I can’t wait to read whatever comes next!