A bit of a slow burn that didn't follow a lot of the romance tropes I've come to expect. I liked that it was longer than most romance novels...more of the characters felt like real people to me. However, the relationship between Ned and Phoebe took a backseat to the wager drama and that was a letdown. I'm interested in the rest of the series, since I did enjoy Noble's writing. 
 {3.5 stars}