Romance

Review: The Gambler by Rachel Thorne

July 16, 2026

Synopsis:

She was supposed to be saying “I do.” Instead, she picked up her skirt and ran.

Libby
I knew marrying Mitch was a mistake even before he compared our love to a Razorback quarterback play. So I grabbed my dress and bolted — straight into the getaway car of Noah McMillan. My best friend. The one person I trust with everything. The same guy who bailed on being a groomsman at my wedding to help his girlfriend of four weeks.
He has a lot of explaining to do.

Noah
I have a lot of explaining to do.
But when Libby runs out of the church. into my car, and tells me to drive, I’m not about to ask questions. Somewhere between Kansas City and Las Vegas, our road trip starts to feel less like running away and more like running toward something neither of us is ready to name.

Libby
Noah is the one person who’s never let me down — until now. But the closer we get, the harder it is to pretend he’s just my friend. He knows my worst fears, my biggest dreams, and exactly how to make me laugh when everything is falling apart. But I’ve spent my whole life watching people leave, and falling for my best friend is the kind of gamble I can’t afford to lose.
.
The Gambler is a sweet, closed-door romcom with a friends-to-lovers road trip, runaway bride chaos, meddling grandmothers, and a Vegas wedding that doesn’t go according to plan.

Review:

I enjoyed getting back into the world of the friend group, the craziness of the curse, and another wild ride.
This time, we meet Libby at the altar, getting ready to become Mitch’s wife. I understand that some people have a passion for football, but that was a bit much for me 🙂 I was glad that Libby came to her senses, only for her getaway driver to be her friend Noah. He decides to give her the non-honeymoon trip she deserved after that disaster, and along the way, they consider crossing the line from friendship into something more.

What I enjoyed most was the beginning. Libby running away in her wedding dress and not having any spare clothes with her made for a lot of funny interactions between her, Noah, and the strangers they met along the way. The fact that you can do almost nothing with one of those dresses (even take care of basic human needs, for example 🙂 ) had me laughing out loud. As the story progressed, it became clear that they both knew each other well and genuinely enjoyed being around one another. Their friends not giving them the support I wanted to see was a bit of a letdown.
At the end of the day, I got what I wanted out of the book – an entertaining read that had me rooting for the main characters and gave me the ending I wanted. Compared to the previous two books, though, it didn’t do quite as good a job, which doesn’t take away from the overall good feeling it left me with.

🌙 Recension: The Gambler (The Wedding Pact #3) by Rachel Thorne
📚 Genre: Romance
📅 Release Date: July 16, 2026
📱 Read as: Kindle
📗 Kindle
💸 I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 315
⭐️ 4/5