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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I liked this romance and wanted to love it. And for Stella, I really could've. An absolute cracker of a heroine. However, it relies too much on what went on in [b:The Reluctant Countess|60569776|The Reluctant Countess (Would-Be Wallflowers, #2)|Eloisa James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649651052l/60569776._SY75_.jpg|95455657] for this to be a stand-alone, or for the romance between Stella and Silvester to be fully believable.
I'm sure you can read this without having read The Reluctant Countess, but I imagine that would be confusing at times. Much of this book is seeing scenes that take place in the other book from different characters' perspectives. Giles and Yasmin--the leads in that book--are front and center here as well. And I'm sorry to say, so is the execrable Lady Lydia. If you didn't read that one, the most important things to understand for this book are that Silvester is courting Yasmin, and everyone expects Lady Stella and Giles to be married because it seems he might be courting her.
Only, Stella recognizes even perhaps before Giles does that he loves Yasmin. That doesn't bother her much at all, not like it pains her heart that Silvester is clearly in love with Yasmin. And the thing is, throughout much of the early part of this book, he seems to think himself in love with her as well: that love is for adorable Yasmin, but lust and friendship are for Stella. (As a reader of both of these books--one who even liked Yasmin--I can tell you that Stella does not deserve the shabby, secondhand treatment.)
I really did enjoy the friendship between Stella and Silvester, and I would have liked to see more of them without Yasmin or the figurative specter of Yasmin in the middle of their relationship. I would have liked to see Silvester start to realize he loves her, not just because it's not how he felt about Yasmin, but simply because he's focused just on Stella. It's just that too much of the romance here has to do with Yasmin and Silvester's relationship with Yasmin as a yardstick. And frankly, Silvester needed to earn Stella; he gets off far too easily from conflict over the Stella/Yasmin contrast in a moment that becomes a perfect example of intent being far less important than impact.
Stella is a wonder, though. She will make you wish you too were a smart, kind, curvy, freckled, bespeckled ginger. And I liked Silvester, even when he had his head up his ass. I think this pairing would have been stronger if their romance was not so yoked to his attempts at romance with another woman.
Also, please for the love of God, do not bring back Lydia again in this series. There are fun villains, and there are fun to hate villains. Lydia is neither of those: she is straight up evil and has the worst personality. She was a blight on the previous book, and I hated every moment we had to interact with her here--and it was a lot, like 2/3 of the text. Just send Lydia to the Continent or have her fall off a boat in the Channel or something.
I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley for an honest review.
I'm sure you can read this without having read The Reluctant Countess, but I imagine that would be confusing at times. Much of this book is seeing scenes that take place in the other book from different characters' perspectives. Giles and Yasmin--the leads in that book--are front and center here as well. And I'm sorry to say, so is the execrable Lady Lydia. If you didn't read that one, the most important things to understand for this book are that Silvester is courting Yasmin, and everyone expects Lady Stella and Giles to be married because it seems he might be courting her.
Only, Stella recognizes even perhaps before Giles does that he loves Yasmin. That doesn't bother her much at all, not like it pains her heart that Silvester is clearly in love with Yasmin. And the thing is, throughout much of the early part of this book, he seems to think himself in love with her as well: that love is for adorable Yasmin, but lust and friendship are for Stella. (As a reader of both of these books--one who even liked Yasmin--I can tell you that Stella does not deserve the shabby, secondhand treatment.)
I really did enjoy the friendship between Stella and Silvester, and I would have liked to see more of them without Yasmin or the figurative specter of Yasmin in the middle of their relationship. I would have liked to see Silvester start to realize he loves her, not just because it's not how he felt about Yasmin, but simply because he's focused just on Stella. It's just that too much of the romance here has to do with Yasmin and Silvester's relationship with Yasmin as a yardstick. And frankly, Silvester needed to earn Stella; he gets off far too easily from conflict over the Stella/Yasmin contrast in a moment that becomes a perfect example of intent being far less important than impact.
Stella is a wonder, though. She will make you wish you too were a smart, kind, curvy, freckled, bespeckled ginger. And I liked Silvester, even when he had his head up his ass. I think this pairing would have been stronger if their romance was not so yoked to his attempts at romance with another woman.
Also, please for the love of God, do not bring back Lydia again in this series. There are fun villains, and there are fun to hate villains. Lydia is neither of those: she is straight up evil and has the worst personality. She was a blight on the previous book, and I hated every moment we had to interact with her here--and it was a lot, like 2/3 of the text. Just send Lydia to the Continent or have her fall off a boat in the Channel or something.
I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley for an honest review.
I greatly enjoyed this title. I've read a couple of books by this author and they're always enjoyable. The chemistry was great with the two and their banter. It's always fun to see "enemies" falling for each other. It was really a story about accepting yourself when you're "different" from those you deem the popular ones.
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not That Duke is the third book in A Would-be Wallflowers series.
Let me start with that horrid awful Lydia is in this book, and though it pains me to have to read her vitriol, she doesn't destroy the book. But I would've liked to see her get kicked in the face by a horse.
Stella is a cross between the ugly duckling and Penelope from Brigerton. Stella is slightly plump "curvy", red-haired, bespeckled, short and covered in freckles, all of which are not the "must haves" in the ladies on the ton. She's already dealing with her aunt, whose overbearing and anxiety ridden, but add mean girls to the mix, and you can understand why she wants to live the life of a spinster. Stella has insecurities and rightly so, but as she finally starts to realize she is beautiful all along, she's still forced to contend that
the one she wants didn't want her first.
Silvester, Duke of Huntington, is on a mission to find a wife, and he's set his sights on Jasmin. Spoiler, if you haven't read the second book in the series, that doesn't work out for him. But despite his inability to articulate, he does get his Duchess. I'll be honest the chemistry between them was palatable. Yet I still wanted to wring his neck more than once for his careless treatment of Stella. But hey, no one's perfect, and he gets it right... eventually.
The book claims it could be read as a stand-alone, but honestly, that is absurd. Part one is concurrently running with almost the entirety of book two in the series. Yasmin and Giles are integral characters, and you really need to know how they pan out, or you will drop kick the book at some point.
Let me start with that horrid awful Lydia is in this book, and though it pains me to have to read her vitriol, she doesn't destroy the book. But I would've liked to see her get kicked in the face by a horse.
Stella is a cross between the ugly duckling and Penelope from Brigerton. Stella is slightly plump "curvy", red-haired, bespeckled, short and covered in freckles, all of which are not the "must haves" in the ladies on the ton. She's already dealing with her aunt, whose overbearing and anxiety ridden, but add mean girls to the mix, and you can understand why she wants to live the life of a spinster. Stella has insecurities and rightly so, but as she finally starts to realize she is beautiful all along, she's still forced to contend that
the one she wants didn't want her first.
Silvester, Duke of Huntington, is on a mission to find a wife, and he's set his sights on Jasmin. Spoiler, if you haven't read the second book in the series, that doesn't work out for him. But despite his inability to articulate, he does get his Duchess. I'll be honest the chemistry between them was palatable. Yet I still wanted to wring his neck more than once for his careless treatment of Stella. But hey, no one's perfect, and he gets it right... eventually.
The book claims it could be read as a stand-alone, but honestly, that is absurd. Part one is concurrently running with almost the entirety of book two in the series. Yasmin and Giles are integral characters, and you really need to know how they pan out, or you will drop kick the book at some point.
I liked this one but at the same time, I wasn't too satisfied? It's definitely better than book 2 in the series(which had me fuming last year
Silvester, Duke of Huntington is handsome, smart, and completely blind to the good that's in front of him. This is a great friends to lovers story with a man who makes many mistakes and a woman who raises the standards set for herself by society. Stella is a freckled, glasses wearing miss with red hair and too much wit. Silvester fancies himself in love with the season's diamond, Yasmine, but doesn't realise how shallow his feelings are until it's almost too late.
The good- The banter and genuine friendship between Stella and Silvester was strong. After Silvester apologises to Stella for insulting her, he comes to respect and admire and even lust after Stella really soon. Stella makes Silvester question his motives and be a better man. The intimate scenes were sensual and they had great chemistry together. The return of Merry from My American Duchess was also a highlight. I loved that book, and Merry is a wonderful side character.
The not so good- It takes Silvester far too long to realise his feelings for Yasmine were never love, but simple admiration and competition with his best friend Giles. By the time he realises he wants to marry Stella, his courtship of Yasmine has destroyed any chance Stella might believe he truly wants and could love her.
The abysmal- Silvester takes away Stella's choice to marry him, and while I can forgive that alphahole behaviour, he doesn't manage to convince Stella of her value after they are married. She Still believes she is second fiddle to Yasmine and it's heartbreaking. Silvester bumbles along and hurts his wife by giving too much attention to Yasmine in front of the ton, and the grovel that follows is completely insufficient for me. He deserves to be out in the cold a bit longer or to be forced to show his love with action and not just his charming words.
Overall I enjoyed reading this one but the last quarter of the book was frustrating and the ending disappointed me. I'm hoping James writes a story for Blanche soon because her character definitely intrigues me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy.
The good- The banter and genuine friendship between Stella and Silvester was strong. After Silvester apologises to Stella for insulting her, he comes to respect and admire and even lust after Stella really soon. Stella makes Silvester question his motives and be a better man. The intimate scenes were sensual and they had great chemistry together. The return of Merry from My American Duchess was also a highlight. I loved that book, and Merry is a wonderful side character.
The not so good- It takes Silvester far too long to realise his feelings for Yasmine were never love, but simple admiration and competition with his best friend Giles. By the time he realises he wants to marry Stella, his courtship of Yasmine has destroyed any chance Stella might believe he truly wants and could love her.
The abysmal- Silvester takes away Stella's choice to marry him, and while I can forgive that alphahole behaviour, he doesn't manage to convince Stella of her value after they are married. She Still believes she is second fiddle to Yasmine and it's heartbreaking. Silvester bumbles along and hurts his wife by giving too much attention to Yasmine in front of the ton, and the grovel that follows is completely insufficient for me. He deserves to be out in the cold a bit longer or to be forced to show his love with action and not just his charming words.
Overall I enjoyed reading this one but the last quarter of the book was frustrating and the ending disappointed me. I'm hoping James writes a story for Blanche soon because her character definitely intrigues me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy.
Silvester, Duke of Huntington is handsome, smart, and completely blind to the good that's in front of him. This is a great friends to lovers story with a man who makes many mistakes and a woman who raises the standards set for herself by society. Stella is a freckled, glasses wearing miss with red hair and too much wit. Silvester fancies himself in love with the season's diamond, Yasmine, but doesn't realise how shallow his feelings are until it's almost top late.
The good- The banter and genuine friendship between Stella and Silvester was strong. After Silvester apologises to Stella for insulting her he comes to respect and admire and even lust after Stella really soon. Stella makes Silvester question his motives and be a better man. The intimate scenes were sensual, and they had great chemistry together. The return of Merry from My American Duchess was also a highlight. I loved that book, and Merry is wonderful.
The not so good- It takes Silvester far too long to realise his feelings for Yasmine were never love, but simple admiration and competition with his best friend Giles. By the time he realises he wants to marry Stella, his courtship of Yasmine has destroyed any chance Stella might have believed he truly wants her.
The abysmal- Silvester takes away Stella's choice to marry him, and while I can forgive that alphahole behaviour, he doesn't manage to convince Stella of her value after they are married. She still believes she is second fiddle to Yasmine, and it's heartbreaking. Silvester bumbles along and hurts his wife by giving too much attention to Yasmine in front of the ton, and the grovel that follows is completely insufficient for me. He deserves to be out in the cold a bit longer or to be forced to show his love with action and not just his charming words.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this one, but the last quarter of the book was frustrating, and the ending disappointed me. I'm hoping James writes a story for Blanche soon because her character definitely intrigues me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy.
The good- The banter and genuine friendship between Stella and Silvester was strong. After Silvester apologises to Stella for insulting her he comes to respect and admire and even lust after Stella really soon. Stella makes Silvester question his motives and be a better man. The intimate scenes were sensual, and they had great chemistry together. The return of Merry from My American Duchess was also a highlight. I loved that book, and Merry is wonderful.
The not so good- It takes Silvester far too long to realise his feelings for Yasmine were never love, but simple admiration and competition with his best friend Giles. By the time he realises he wants to marry Stella, his courtship of Yasmine has destroyed any chance Stella might have believed he truly wants her.
The abysmal- Silvester takes away Stella's choice to marry him, and while I can forgive that alphahole behaviour, he doesn't manage to convince Stella of her value after they are married. She still believes she is second fiddle to Yasmine, and it's heartbreaking. Silvester bumbles along and hurts his wife by giving too much attention to Yasmine in front of the ton, and the grovel that follows is completely insufficient for me. He deserves to be out in the cold a bit longer or to be forced to show his love with action and not just his charming words.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this one, but the last quarter of the book was frustrating, and the ending disappointed me. I'm hoping James writes a story for Blanche soon because her character definitely intrigues me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy.
✨If you listened to Foolish One by Taylor Swift and were like ah yes I want to read a book where the heroine is constantly led on by the hero…then you’re so in luck. It does have an HEA…but it’s basically as close to that song as you can get.✨
*This review contains spoilers.*
If you didn’t like book two, I don’t think this will be much of an improvement. Yes, I did like it better, but it also reminded me constantly of how much was wrong with book two. The story relied heavily on book two, even though there was literally a note at the beginning saying it wasn’t necessary to have read it. I greatly disagree. The pacing was so funky that if I didn’t know what happened in book two, I’d have been like WUT is going on.
The book is split into two parts, the first part taking place during the events of book two. This means we see more of Lydia being a wench, Giles being a prig, and Yasmin being too nice about all of it. Lydia (and Giles) ruined book two for me, so I must admit I really didn’t care for the entire first half of this book, as it felt like I was rereading book two with even MORE of Lydia’s machinations. I don’t even think she was properly dealt with in this book, so I’m doubly vexed why we needed to revisit that train wreck.
The hero, Silvester, fancied himself in love with Yasmin so the entire first half he was courting her and being incredibly thick skulled regarding Stella (the heroine). He was like I loooooove her but I’ll admit I would like to bang Stella. Which really just reduced their entire relationship to lust, and I never saw him fall in love love. Eloisa was aware of this, as the lust came up in several conversations…but it was never properly handled.
Part one ends with Silvester absconding to the country with Yasmin, with no explanation. We barely got any of his POV throughout the book (the majority given to Stella) so when he had his whole big shift of feelings towards her…it happened off page and in the country with Yasmin where we WEREN’T. He came back and was like nice that was fun and fresh Stella let’s get married, and she was rightfully confused. Since I didn’t see the shift of his emotions on the page, I was like why the hell is he suddenly so over Yasmin?? He then strongarmed her into marriage—something I don’t always dislike, but here it just felt unnecessary. It could’ve been a moment for their relationship to develop. Lots of telling not showing.
By 60% I genuinely thought the book was over. They were married and seemed happy? I was questioning what the hell was going to be the third act, until I realized it was all of the unresolved insecurity Stella had since she also believed Silvester to be pining for Yasmin. And then he had a random thing where he was adamant that he didn’t love Stella…for reasons unknown. He was so quick to love Yasmin! He was like why do you still think I love Yasmin??? And I’m like SIR you’ve given NONE of us an explanation and we’re 95% in!
Yeah half of the book he was in love with someone else, Stella was kinda of being courted by Giles, and it was just unnecessarily convoluted. He was like yeah Stella I was courting her, but I was playing chess with YOU and thinking about your body…like what am I supposed to do with that info?? Doesn’t seem like a great guy lmao. It really seemed like he loved her body from the start, but we never found out why he fell in love with her. Superficial I guess?
I think this need another round of developmental editing because the pace felt choppy and incredibly random at times. We also needed way more of Silvester’s POV, as he had a lot of ground to cover in order to convince everyone he was over Yasmin. Since the book was two parts, half of the plot just dropped off at 50% and it seemed very abrupt. There were a lot of time jumps and not a lot of depth to the plot or relationship. Splitting this book in two felt like it was used as a bandaid to try to connect two very different stories. Why rehash the entirety of book two and spend half of the book doing it??
This book just felt like an underdeveloped afterthought. I liked the second part way better than the first, as it actually seemed a. relevant to the relationship and b. like a NEW book not book two in a different font. While book two angered me, this one at least didn’t do that. I don’t hate it, and it shaped up to be a cute ending…but it was just so chaotically plotted and developed. The fact that that man had a whole ass come to Jesus moment off page, got over a years long crush, and decided to marry the heroine…and we saw him think through NONE OF IT??? Idk seems pretty wild to me.
I know I listed a lot of grievances, but I did still enjoy the main characters once we got halfway through. I always liked Stella, and the newly introduced side characters were fun, especially the dowager. The bones of a really compelling story were there, but we only got about half of it. The book could’ve opened with Silvester upset about Yasmin’s marriage to Giles with about a half a page recap, and it would’ve been GREAT. No need to overlap them like that! Let these two cuties shine.
✨
I hate to say it, but I hope this is the last book in the series. I just really need a break from the characters, especially since Lydia didn’t seem properly quelled. I swear if Blanche somehow gets a book and Lydia is there!!! I really liked Blanche by the end, but even her turnabout seemed half baked. I’d have liked to see more of her friendship with Stella develop. I greatly enjoy Eloisa’s writing, and I really hoped I would love this one, but it was closer to book two than book one for me.
⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.5*/5
*I just wasn’t feeling the chemistry for most of this book, and there wasn’t a lot of spice. While I have major complaints about book two, that book was at least BANGIN.
Thanks to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.
*This review contains spoilers.*
If you didn’t like book two, I don’t think this will be much of an improvement. Yes, I did like it better, but it also reminded me constantly of how much was wrong with book two. The story relied heavily on book two, even though there was literally a note at the beginning saying it wasn’t necessary to have read it. I greatly disagree. The pacing was so funky that if I didn’t know what happened in book two, I’d have been like WUT is going on.
The book is split into two parts, the first part taking place during the events of book two. This means we see more of Lydia being a wench, Giles being a prig, and Yasmin being too nice about all of it. Lydia (and Giles) ruined book two for me, so I must admit I really didn’t care for the entire first half of this book, as it felt like I was rereading book two with even MORE of Lydia’s machinations. I don’t even think she was properly dealt with in this book, so I’m doubly vexed why we needed to revisit that train wreck.
The hero, Silvester, fancied himself in love with Yasmin so the entire first half he was courting her and being incredibly thick skulled regarding Stella (the heroine). He was like I loooooove her but I’ll admit I would like to bang Stella. Which really just reduced their entire relationship to lust, and I never saw him fall in love love. Eloisa was aware of this, as the lust came up in several conversations…but it was never properly handled.
Part one ends with Silvester absconding to the country with Yasmin, with no explanation. We barely got any of his POV throughout the book (the majority given to Stella) so when he had his whole big shift of feelings towards her…it happened off page and in the country with Yasmin where we WEREN’T. He came back and was like nice that was fun and fresh Stella let’s get married, and she was rightfully confused. Since I didn’t see the shift of his emotions on the page, I was like why the hell is he suddenly so over Yasmin?? He then strongarmed her into marriage—something I don’t always dislike, but here it just felt unnecessary. It could’ve been a moment for their relationship to develop. Lots of telling not showing.
By 60% I genuinely thought the book was over. They were married and seemed happy? I was questioning what the hell was going to be the third act, until I realized it was all of the unresolved insecurity Stella had since she also believed Silvester to be pining for Yasmin. And then he had a random thing where he was adamant that he didn’t love Stella…for reasons unknown. He was so quick to love Yasmin! He was like why do you still think I love Yasmin??? And I’m like SIR you’ve given NONE of us an explanation and we’re 95% in!
Yeah half of the book he was in love with someone else, Stella was kinda of being courted by Giles, and it was just unnecessarily convoluted. He was like yeah Stella I was courting her, but I was playing chess with YOU and thinking about your body…like what am I supposed to do with that info?? Doesn’t seem like a great guy lmao. It really seemed like he loved her body from the start, but we never found out why he fell in love with her. Superficial I guess?
I think this need another round of developmental editing because the pace felt choppy and incredibly random at times. We also needed way more of Silvester’s POV, as he had a lot of ground to cover in order to convince everyone he was over Yasmin. Since the book was two parts, half of the plot just dropped off at 50% and it seemed very abrupt. There were a lot of time jumps and not a lot of depth to the plot or relationship. Splitting this book in two felt like it was used as a bandaid to try to connect two very different stories. Why rehash the entirety of book two and spend half of the book doing it??
This book just felt like an underdeveloped afterthought. I liked the second part way better than the first, as it actually seemed a. relevant to the relationship and b. like a NEW book not book two in a different font. While book two angered me, this one at least didn’t do that. I don’t hate it, and it shaped up to be a cute ending…but it was just so chaotically plotted and developed. The fact that that man had a whole ass come to Jesus moment off page, got over a years long crush, and decided to marry the heroine…and we saw him think through NONE OF IT??? Idk seems pretty wild to me.
I know I listed a lot of grievances, but I did still enjoy the main characters once we got halfway through. I always liked Stella, and the newly introduced side characters were fun, especially the dowager. The bones of a really compelling story were there, but we only got about half of it. The book could’ve opened with Silvester upset about Yasmin’s marriage to Giles with about a half a page recap, and it would’ve been GREAT. No need to overlap them like that! Let these two cuties shine.
✨
I hate to say it, but I hope this is the last book in the series. I just really need a break from the characters, especially since Lydia didn’t seem properly quelled. I swear if Blanche somehow gets a book and Lydia is there!!! I really liked Blanche by the end, but even her turnabout seemed half baked. I’d have liked to see more of her friendship with Stella develop. I greatly enjoy Eloisa’s writing, and I really hoped I would love this one, but it was closer to book two than book one for me.
⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.5*/5
*I just wasn’t feeling the chemistry for most of this book, and there wasn’t a lot of spice. While I have major complaints about book two, that book was at least BANGIN.
Thanks to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes