A Novel Engagement - Review

A Novel Engagement (The Gentlemen's Gamble, # ?)

By: Anneka R Walker

Expected Publication: March 19, 2026 by Anneka R. Walker

238 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--A reckless wager. A forgotten promise. Two enemies in a race to the altar.

With an arranged marriage looming, Rowan Ashworth and Arabella Delafield cannot get past their vexing history—or their growing attraction. He has a vow to keep, and she’s determined to wed anyone but him. Old hurts, mistaken identities, and surprise chemistry turn a childhood promise into a second chance neither expected—and a love neither can outrun.

***The Gentlemen's Gamble is a series about seven men racing to the altar in order to avoid losing a wager. Starting January, the books will release in surprise order so as not to give away who the final bachelor and loser of the wager is.

Rowan and Arabella have been arranged to marry since they were little. The story goes that Arabella and family arrived at Rowan's family's house for a house party in tears. Two-year-old Rowan asked to hold baby Arabella, and she settled. At the entire house party, whenever Arabella would get upset, they would jokingly call in Master Amrbose to calm her down, and it worked every time. And thus they were promised to each other. However, being told you're going to marry someone from the time you're little doesn't always sit right, and Arabella and Rowan began to resent and tease each other. Rowan's mother dies while he is still young, and his grief plays a part in his treatment of Arabella. Also, he and his friends ridicule Arabella's writing and break her heart in the process, as writing has become her favorite pastime and way of dealing with life. Yet after the wager between his friends, Rowan has finally decided it is time to do his duty and marry Arabella afterall.

Arabella knows that Rowan is coming to force her hand since he's written to her father. She travels to visit her sister and concocts a plan to find someone else to marry in the meantime. She does settle on her sister's husband's cousin. She hopes that marrying him will allow her to live a quiet life where she will continue to write undeterred. But there are a couple of issues with Mr. Clodwick, one he's not Rowan. Two, Arabella isn't attracted to him at all and can only stand close proximity to him in small doses, and three, he believes in ghosts and thinks they not only haunt his house but also follow him around.

Rowan and Arabella have a lot of history that has caused a lot of tension. They behave with each other in a way that they wouldn't behave towards anyone else. Yet they also have a sweet history that needs to be remembered and brought back to the surface.

Favorite quotes:

-"You're a liar Arabella Delafield. You're more drawn to me than you dare admit. So fight all you want, but in the end, we both know I'm the only one for you."

-The more she tried to push me away, the more she ensnared my interest.

A Novel Engagement is probably my second favorite of this series. And I'm not going to quite say that Anneka R Walker is a better author than the other ladies writing this series, but I will say that I noted her writing style and felt it was more polished and to my tastes, even if I plan to seek out more books by the other authors of this series as well. Anneka R Walker has become an auto-read author for me, and A Novel Engagement reinforced exactly why. A Novel Engagement gets 4 Stars. Have you read A Novel Engagement? What did you think? Let me know!