Renninger, Ren, and Kern (2018) observe “it is possible for a person to be motivated and engaged, but not interested, whereas, when something is of interest to a person, it is always motivating and engaging. In general, interest can be defined as the tendency to continue engaging with the materials or with a situation. It would appear that educators who capture the interest of students are more likely to have motivated and engaged students.
Reference
Renninger, K. A., Ren, Y., & Kern, H. M. (2018). Motivation, Engagement, and Interest. International handbook of the learning sciences, 25.