I thought this was a good book. Very well written, I enjoyed the storyline. I liked the main characters and their chemistry and dialogue. Overall a good read!

With her goal accomplished to get her wallflower friends married, it seems Aurora is left to contemplate her own future.. Having survived a terrible marriage, she is determined not to put much stock in love.

However, Garrett is determined to wear her down and show her love can be found!

Oh, this book! I wasn't sure if Aurora was going to get a story, given how her first marriage went. But we did, and I loved her and Garrett together, she definitely deserved happiness, and I'm so glad that she got it! I really enjoyed her and Garrett's story!

I don't know if this is the end of the series or not. I mean, all 4 Wallflowers have had books, and I doubt that they'd get another story. There's maybe another couple, of honorary Wallflowers, who could get a story, but I'm not sure...

I've really fallen in love with these characters. Aurora has been great from the beginning, the one who opened up her home to the other Wallflowers. But she was married, to an abusive man. Which had her avoiding members of the opposite gender.

And the there's Garrett. If I remember correctly, he was only in the previous book, but it was pretty clear that he had feelings for Aurora. I was rooting for them, because she deserved a good and happy marriage like her friends. And I loved watching her get it!

I had a really great time reading this book, and I can't wait to see what A.S. Fenichel writes next!

I was so excited to finally read Aurora's story. She has been the glue that held the Wallflowers of West Lane together in the past books. Aurora had a terrible first marriage and she never wants to marry again. Garret is the Duke of Corwin who has been in love with her since childhood. This book had an incredible hero in Garret.

Aurora and Garrett have been friends since they were children as well as Aurora's older brother Rhys. Garrett is undoubtedly in love with her and she has a difficult time accepting that she deserves to be loved because she was a victim of abuse at the hand of her dead husband

She is the dowger countess of Radcliffe and as a widow she enjoys the privileges of a married woman. She wishes to turn a country home into an academic school for girls where they can learn more than how to be a good wife.

Auroras mother wants her to remarry, but because of the abuse Aurora vowed never to remarry.

It is very clear both Aurora and Garrett love eachother and as a reader you know they'll end up together eventually when Aurora has worked her mind out. She spends a 1/3 of the book knowing how great Garrett is and how he would never limit her as his wife, yet she still doesn't want to marry him.
I really enjoyed this book. It has strong regency and bridgerton vibes.

I'll definitely be going back to book 1 to fill in all blanks as I realize this was book 4 in a series after I had started to read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read this�

Having not read the previous books in this series, I have been completely captured by the world the Wallflowers live in. I fell in love with Aurora and her strength and independence although it came as no easy feat. Garrett loves and respects her strength and the steamy scenes had me sold. I will definitely be reading the earlier books in the series.

I'll be honest, I requested this arc without having read the first 3 titles in the series. However, I went ahead and read this, and then read the other 3, and I really liked the entire series. What hit me the most was the strength of the female friendships that this series is centered around and the fact that the men who win our heroines hearts don't try to stop them from being close. It's nice to read about such strong female friendships.

I’ve been waiting for this book since the beginning of the series which may be why it felt like a bit of a letdown. For a couple that had such chemistry throughout the series, it felt a little flat.

I love the Wallflowers of West Lane books- the relationships between the Wallflowers and their romances are just outside of the mood enough to make for really compelling High Regency Romance. That being said, I didn’t find the relationship in Not Even for a Duke to be as strong as the other Wallflowers’. I did like Garrett: the exploration of his guilt as someone who was not aware of his friend’s abusive situation. Aurora, so interesting in the other novels in the series, was less compelling here: shining a closer light on her mental health and trauma response did not feel authentic. It’s still a great book, and well worth it for fans of HR or Fenichel’s other work.

I was on a massive Historical Romance kick and this book hit the right spot.

Not Even for a Duke follows Aurora Sherborne who is the widowed Countess of Radcliff or if we are being specific Dowager Countess of Radcliff. This is the fourth book in the Wallflowers of West Lane series and I admit I hadn't read the first three but that didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the book. You didn't have to read the others I felt, but the characters from the first three were mentioned and seen in the book.

The characters were brilliant. I really liked Aurora, she knew her mind and what she wanted and wasn't willing to give up who she was again. She suffered in her marriage and wanted to be free and enjoy herself. Her friends are supportive of her but I don't think she was expecting Garrett Winslow - the newly appointed Duke of Cowin. Garrett Winslow was also a great character, kind and always in love with Aurora. He is back from his travels abroad and has set his sights on Aurora.

Some won't like Aurora, I feel that they would take umbridge with her at times being a bit mean to Garrett but you have to remember that she went through a hellish marriage and is scared to be back under the thumb of a man that in those times means she gave up all her rights as a woman. She would be property, and she was not willing to be in the position to be abused again. I get that and I feel that she needed to be shown how kind and loved she could be by Garrett.

This was a gentle read and I read it in one sitting it was exactly what I needed and I am really looking forward to reading the other three books in the series. A.S. Fenichel has become a new author that I will definitely pick up again.

I absolutely adored Aurora and Garrett's story! Ever since starting this series, I've been waiting for Aurora to finally get her HEA and Fenichel did not disappoint! This was a great ending to a wonderful series!

Thanks to #Netgalley for making this book available to me.
The final book in the series. Honestly following these four ladies have been pure delight (to avoid spoilers of the previous books I will just give a surface level review of the other books so that there is some logic to the review of this book).
Through the series we follow 4 ladies who have basically reclaimed the insults that was thrown at them. They call themselves the Wallflower of West Lane. One by one they began to find the love of their lives and in this final book we follow Aurora Sherborne. After the death of her abusive husband, she was left with a lot of money and property. The last thing she wants is to get married again, not only because what is hers would be given to her husband but because she is not ready to share her life with another man.

That is until Garrett Winslow steps back into town as the new Duke of Cowin. They have been friend before he went on his travels and she to boarding school. He liked her then and he is certain that his affection for her has not reduced. He wants her and he is willing to use every one and thing as a weapon for his seduction but at the end of the day. Only Aurora can give in to his seduction.

I was holding my breath anytime those two where together. The chemistry was off the chart!

Good ending to this series. Aurora had an abusive first marriage and has no desire to marry again. She and Garrett have been friends since childhood and he has always loved her from afar. He finally takes a chance to go after who he wants.

Garrett is a great hero and his honesty throughout the book is refreshing. Aurora makes some dumb decisions in this book regarding Garrett, but it was a good story and even though it can be read as a stand-alone, ties up the series nicely.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

This was good! Another arc where I hadn't read any of the previous books! While it didn't take anything away from the series I'm definitely going to go back and read the other stories. I really enjoyed the characters and their backstories. I can't wait to read more from A.S. Fenichel.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

I have absolutely loved reading the Wallflowers of West Lane series and this book was a perfect finish. It was amazing to see Aurora finally get her happy ending after everything she went through. I will definitely be rereading!

After her abusive marriage, Aurora Sherborne, the now widowed Countess of Radcliff, has decided to avoid love and emotional entanglements at all costs. With her three best friends married and starting their own families, she is beginning to feel lonely and want a child of her own, but that means a marriage of convenience with no feelings attached.

Garrett Winslow, now the Duke of Corwin and grieving the loss of his beloved father, has loved Aurora since they were children. He hasn’t been back in England long from his world travels, but the distance didn’t lessen his feelings for Aurora in the slightest. Unfortunately, she keeps him firmly in his place as her brother’s best friend, leaving Garrett to use every bit of tenderness he possesses in an effort to show her the love and happiness they could have together.

The first part of this book was lovely and drew me in so much. Garrett charmed me to no end, and I loved him as a hero. He was sweet and sensitive, but he never felt weak or emasculated and I would love to see more heroes like him. My issue here was with Aurora. I’ll start by saying she went through an absolutely hellacious marriage to a monstrous man, but I don’t think that excuses how she treated Garrett. On numerous occasions she enumerates Garrett’s fine qualities and how different he is from her former husband, how good of a man he is, how he would never treat her that way, etc. She then goes on to say she could never marry him because he loves her, and she doesn’t want that. She would rather risk a husband who has no feeling for her and would treat her like an object. This complete lack of logic was maddening for me, especially as poor Garrett is just there having to suffer seeing her court other men, who are of course terrible, but she somehow can’t see this. I just wanted to shake some sense into her and even her friends grew frustrated with her nonsense. It also frustrated me that she told Garrett she would never remarry and listed out understandable reasons, even though they were still hurtful for Garrett. Where she lost me is when she suddenly decided right after this conversation that she needed to have her own children and find a man with which to enter a loveless marriage. All of her previously reasonable fears just flew out the window to be replaced with nonsensical thinking and a problem that was almost entirely of her own making. On top of that, she treated Garrett terribly, taking advantage of his friendship, and then grew incredibly jealous when he received attention from other women, even when he wasn’t reciprocating it and had been blatantly honest about wanting to marry her. Thankfully she did come to her senses eventually, but not until after Garrett had suffered much heartache and not until nearly the end of the book, leaving things to wrap up in a rather abrupt fashion in my opinion.

All in all, I loved Garrett, I enjoyed that this book was mostly driven by conversation over action. I enjoyed the dynamics between this endearing friend group and would love to know more about the sparks that were flying between Helen and Geb and if Prudence can find a new HEA after the loss of her husband. This one was just negatively affected by the heroine for me, but the hero was awesome and made it worth reading.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A story that could have been so good. This story features a heroine who I wanted to strangle, Lady Aurora Sherborne, Dowager Countess of Radcliff, has to be one of the most idiotic female characters I have ever encountered. I almost stopped the book several times because of this character. Throughout almost the entire book she believes she is unable to love due to her previous horrible marriage, yet she DOES love and everyone can see it, but instead of moving forward with her life she refuses the love of a man who would do anything for her. She will however sleep with him. Oh, and she gets the hair brained idea to pursue other gentleman so she can have children, pursues a loveless match, because of course the man who worships her could never give her children, right? Some of the thoughts and comments Aurora makes in this book are very annoying, so be prepared.

Some examples of the reason I wanted to slap Aurora:

"She’d seen Garrett hundreds of times. There were very few men in the world whom she trusted completely, and Garrett was one." -- She trusts Garrett.

"Aurora couldn’t imagine a thing she wouldn’t do for Garrett Winslow." -- She would do anything for Garrett.

"She wouldn’t love a man, no matter how much she liked him, and he deserved to be loved and adored by his wife." Her thoughts on her & Garrett and why she can't Marry Garrett

“Garrett is my dear friend. He would never suit. He deserves a proper wife who will nurture their marriage. I only want children and nothing more. It would be unfair to drag him into such an arrangement knowing his feelings for me.” A deeper understanding of Aurora's neurosis. 🤨

The fact that she feels this way, decided she wants kids so she is looking for a man to marry, she still refuses Garrett due to her thoughts of not being able to love him. [The way she thinks he deserves to be loved]

Now let me introduce you to Garrett Winslow, the new Duke of Cowin, he has known Aurora all her life, and loved her nearly as long. Recently returned from his travels abroad, he’s certain the infatuation was left in the past, but upon seeing the now-widowed Aurora, those feelings come rushing back. Garrett is an amazing beta-hero who wants nothing more than to build his life with the woman he loves. He doesn't want to control his wife (this is when the "obey" part of wedding vows were enforced). He wants his wife to follow her dreams (he wants to support those dreams and achieve them together). In essence, he would be the perfect husband for Aurora due to her desire to open a girls boarding prep school. They have known each other since they were children. What more could a woman want as her spouse, lover, and father of her children...but a man who adores her and is a best-friend. ❤

Some romances such as the one portrayed in the story seem to be begging for trouble. The conflicts between the Hero and heroine are so utterly ridiculous that the rest of the story cannot make up the difference. Give me a brooding rake who falls in love and fights that love over an idiot lady who can’t make up her mind and drags the hero along. I cannot stand those types of simpering heroines. Some will say I am too harsh after what Aurora goes through in her first marriage, and I tried to give her a little leeway. However by the time the book ended I was utterly disgusted with Aurora. It’s like the author had to think of a conflict at the last minute.

I have not read any other books in this series and was able to fully understand and follow this book. I am not sure if I will go back and read books 1-3, they are on my TBR, but they may wait several years.

Overall — I ONLY recommend this book if you are a fan of simpering heroines.

2.5 Stars ⭐️ | 4 Flames 🔥

Not Even For a Duke is a story about a widow determined not to be taken in by love again, only to unexpectedly meet her match.

Aurora Sherborne has everything she needs, and as the Dowager Countess of Radcliff, she is in control of her destiny. Her first marriage was a living hell, and Aurora is determined never again to put her safety in another’s hands. With the support of her friends, Aurora throws herself whole-heartedly into charitable works, and the establishment of a girls’ school on a property she owns. Unfortunately, she is constantly besieged by her meddling mother, who is determined to see her daughter remarried and has commenced throwing eligible bachelors into Aurora’s path.

Garrett Winslow has just inherited his father’s dukedom, and has returned from his travels abroad. Despite the distance and years passing, Garrett has never stopped loving Aurora, his childhood friend and playmate. By the time Aurora returned from school, her father had already organized a match for her, leaving Garrett heartbroken. As he takes up management of his estates, he cannot stop thinking about Aurora, and hoping that perhaps she aspires to more than friendship.

I loved both Garrett and Aurora; they are well-written and excellently characterized. I love a man who pines, and Garrett does, but he is also incredibly respectful and always puts Aurora first. He is unfailingly patient with her, and always treats her like an equal. Aurora is a sensible, kind and intelligent person who has been terribly traumatized by her marriage. This trauma causes her to behave irrationally at times, but the people around her care deeply and ensure that she is taken care of. Aurora isn’t hysterical or unreasonable, she just can’t see past her experience of marriage, and this makes it hard for her to see the truth sometimes. There is a particularly poignant scene where Aurora’s friends ask her why she would never consider marrying Garrett, because she knows he loves her and would never hurt her. She can’t give them an answer that makes sense, because her judgement is being clouded by her PTSD. It’s almost humorous as her friends look aghast at one another, unsure of what to do.

I loved the cast of characters, who are all interesting in their own ways; I would definitely consider reading some of the other books in this series.

The one thing I was not a big fan of was the number of truly awful men who were scheming and targeting Aurora as a prospective bride. It would make sense to have one or two men in the book who pursue her, but you would think from the story that she has a big flashing light over her head that says PLEASE ABUSE THIS WIDOW. It seemed more than a bit contrived that almost every man who is interested in her is a bad guy. It does at least make narrative sense that her mother was the primary source of the unwanted suitors problem; it’s completely in character that Aurora’s mother, who never gave Aurora a season and married her to a man she’d never met, would see Aurora being unmarried and childless as a failure. But I thought it was out of character that Aurora would seek a husband with whom she could have a businesslike marriage and lead separate lives, and consider men she barely knew. Aurora has ALL of the trust issues, and as a reader I wasn’t convinced that she would seek a convenient marriage in this way just because she wants a child. I would have thought she’d be more likely to consider marrying a man – like Garrett – she knew she could trust to keep to the arrangement, and I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t look amongst her acquaintances for a good candidate.

Despite those reservations, Not Even For a Duke is a charming read, and a fun story about second chances at love.

This was a good wrap up to the Wallflowers. Throughout the series, Aurora has been my least favorite character, but it was nice to see her finally get a HEA.

Not Even For a Duke is a story about a widow determined not to be taken in by love again, only to unexpectedly meet her match.

Aurora Sherborne has everything she needs, and as the Dowager Countess of Radcliff, she is in control of her destiny. Her first marriage was a living hell, and Aurora is determined never again to put her safety in another’s hands. With the support of her friends, Aurora throws herself whole-heartedly into charitable works, and the establishment of a girls’ school on a property she owns. Unfortunately, she is constantly besieged by her meddling mother, who is determined to see her daughter remarried and has commenced throwing eligible bachelors into Aurora’s path.

Garrett Winslow has just inherited his father’s dukedom, and has returned from his travels abroad. Despite the distance and years passing, Garrett has never stopped loving Aurora, his childhood friend and playmate. By the time Aurora returned from school, her father had already organized a match for her, leaving Garrett heartbroken. As he takes up management of his estates, he cannot stop thinking about Aurora, and hoping that perhaps she aspires to more than friendship.

I loved both Garrett and Aurora; they are well-written and excellently characterized. I love a man who pines, and Garrett does, but he is also incredibly respectful and always puts Aurora first. He is unfailingly patient with her, and always treats her like an equal. Aurora is a sensible, kind and intelligent person who has been terribly traumatized by her marriage. This trauma causes her to behave irrationally at times, but the people around her care deeply and ensure that she is taken care of. Aurora isn’t hysterical or unreasonable, she just can’t see past her experience of marriage, and this makes it hard for her to see the truth sometimes. There is a particularly poignant scene where Aurora’s friends ask her why she would never consider marrying Garrett, because she knows he loves her and would never hurt her. She can’t give them an answer that makes sense, because her judgement is being clouded by her PTSD. It’s almost humorous as her friends look aghast at one another, unsure of what to do.

I loved the cast of characters, who are all  interesting in their own ways; I would definitely consider reading some of the other books in this series.

The one thing I was not a big fan of was the number of truly awful men who were scheming and targeting Aurora as a prospective bride. It would make sense to have one or two men in the book who pursue her, but you would think from the story that she has a big flashing light over her head that says PLEASE ABUSE THIS WIDOW. It seemed more than a bit contrived that almost every man who is interested in her is a bad guy. It does at least make narrative sense that her mother was the primary source of the unwanted suitors problem; it’s completely in character that  Aurora’s mother, who never gave Aurora a season and married her to a man she’d never met, would see Aurora being unmarried and childless as a failure. But I thought it was out of character that Aurora would seek a husband with whom she could have a businesslike marriage and lead separate lives, and consider men she barely knew. Aurora has ALL of the trust issues, and as a reader I wasn’t convinced that she would seek a convenient marriage in this way just because she wants a child. I would have thought she’d be more likely to consider marrying a man - like Garrett - she knew she could trust to keep to the arrangement, and I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t look amongst her acquaintances for a good candidate.

Despite those reservations, Not Even For a Duke is a charming read, and a fun story about second chances at love.

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