The Valet’s Secret by Josi S. Kilpack is a historical romance novel. This book will be published on March 8, 2022.

What if the one person you thought you knew is actually someone else? Can a love build on lies and deceive be strong enough to overcome social rank differences? And when you finally know the truth, it might be a little too late because you’ve unknowingly already neck-deep in love since day one.

Rebecca Parker haven’t had it easy after her husband, David died. In desperate need for a shelter for their then young daughter, Rose, and herself, Rebecca was left with no other choice but to return to her childhood home to live with her abusive, drunkard father. Now, years later, Rose is a grown up and have a job that required moving out of the house while Rebecca is at her early forties, experiencing loneliness she never felt before.

Kenneth Winterton is expected to find the right wife to secure his newly position, the heir to his Uncle Lester, the fifth Earl of Brenston. One faithful day, on Rebecca’s way to meet Rose, Kenneth nearly ran her off the road with his horse. They shared a kiss but Kenneth introduced himself as Malcom the valet.

When I thought this was going to be another interesting take on Cinderella,
“If you agree with my intentions, I pray you will wear the dress the baroness has provided and present yourself to the ballroom at 11:00. At 11:45, the orchestra shall strike up a waltz, and I shall bow over your hand as I request the first dance of the rest of our lives.”

I was proven wrong, because there was a plot twist coming,
1. Lady Beth had locked him in his room.
2. They were going to the ball—his ball—without him. He was a grown man locked in a tower in order to prevent him from publicly declaring his intentions toward his true love.

That’s not all. There’s another one, maybe two plot twists coming. Want to know more? You just have to read the book to find out. It’s coming March 8, 2022. Don’t forget to mark your calendar!

This is a voluntary review in exchange for the e-ARC I received. I’m truly grateful to the NetGalley team and the publisher for the chance. Thank you.
#TheValetsSecret #NetGalley

Calling all fans of historical romance with older main characters - a first for me! It's a Regency Cinderella story about Rebecca and Kenneth who have a remarkable first meeting and then continue to find themselves running into each other in unexpected ways. Kenneth is the recent heir to an earl and must learn everything there is know about his new position. Rebecca is a widow who has found herself in a horrible and abusive living situation at her father's home. There's a lot going on in this tale and it kept me turning the pages as Kenneth and Rebecca's story played out. A truly different HR and yet the HEA awaited. I enjoyed it.

This story was a sort of retelling of Cinderella. It was an easy read with a simple plot. Rebecca is a sweet middle aged woman in the working class who gets a job as a maid in a baroness household. She meets a man, Kenneth, posing as a valet and they have an instant chemistry. What she doesn’t realize until later is that he’s the heir apparent to an earldom.

Both agonize over their attraction for the other knowing they are not socially matched. This goes on for the entire book. I wish there was more to the story, it lacked something. But overall, the book was a cute, quick read and good for those who want a fun little beach read. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader copy.

Well-written second chance romance. You really got a feel for the characters and their motivations and values. I liked the premise and the tension and chemistry between the two main characters. An enjoyable historical romance.

Josi Kilpack is quickly becoming a must read author for me, and this title was no exception! Her stories always entertain, amuse and inspire in turn and I will always recommend her stories to anyone who is in need of a light and romantic story!

Such a lovely story! It flowed easily and kept me wanting more to see how this budding romance would commence.

A beautiful story with a strong and courageous heroine. I couldn't put this down! Beautiful writing kept me turning the pages!

This is my first time reading a "proper romance" and I was not let down. Especially since the couple in this book is not your typical couple. They are definitely more mature and both experienced love and romance before (they are both widowers). So, they now a second chance at finding love.

I did enjoy it since it is not the usual type of historical romance I read on a normal basis. The author also uses the trope "love at first sight" or "instalove" where they meet on the side of the road and share a their first kiss within that same meeting. Normally, I am not a fan of that type of stuff, but the way it was done, I found myself literally going "awww",

Both characters face challenges from their past, position in society, gender, and other issues. It is a soft and simple story that is a fairly fast read since you just can't help but for them to be happy together. They pine a lot for each other after the first meeting.

I enjoyed this book very much and it's a simple love story, but it was a very sweet one.

Thank you for Netgalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for sending me an ARC copy of this sweet love story! I highly appreciate it. This is my honest opinion of the book in exchange for a review.

Set in York, Regency England, Mrs Rebecca Parker is nearly run down by a valet riding on a speeding horse. This chance encounter with the handsome Mr Malcolm Henry, valet to the heir of the Earl of Brenston, immediately blossoms into instant attraction as they share a kiss by the road. Widowed with a grown daughter and needing to escape her abusive father, Rebecca has to look for a job. Hired as a maid by the baroness in the neighbouring estate of Grangeford, she finds herself serving dinner to the baroness’s guests, one of whom happens to be Mr Malcolm Henry - except he’s not a valet at all, he’s the heir to the earldom of Brenston, Kenneth Winterton.

This is a novel about two middle-aged people falling in insta-love upon their first encounter. As the nephew of the current Earl of Brenston, Kenneth was not groomed for the role of the earl until his cousin passed away. I can understand the frustrations and stifling restrictions of this role that was suddenly thrust upon him, and that led him to impersonate his valet so as to obtain that little bit of temporary freedom.

To be honest, I didn’t quite get the whole insta-love thing in this novel. There was little development of the romance for these two characters. I am rather bewildered by the breakneck speed and the intensity of which their feelings grew for each other.

There was also a bit of a reverse Cinderella feel to this story, especially when Kenneth was locked up in his room before the ball and had to be rescued. No fairy godmothers though.

The development of the story felt a little haphazard and the manner in which some of the situations unfolded felt a little unbelievable, so this story didn’t quite work for me. I did however, like that the author touched on social classes and also, the baroness is quite a lovely character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for the e-ARC.

Kilpack's The Valet's Secret is a refreshingly deep regency romance that shows readers our capacity for personal growth and love are timeless.

There are a lot of regency works out there which are fun, often involving young twenty-somethings looking for their soulmates that end in the honeymoon phase--which is great within its own right. But what happens when the kids are grown and the heroine or hero find themselves in a new phase of life, as many of us do? The result is a satisfyingly mature, yet fun romance that reminds us that we are never too old to fall in love, try new things, and learn how to be brave.

I loved that the heroine didn't fall apart at the first sign of things going wrong, that she picked herself up and bravely moved on to find her way in the world again. I loved that the hero stumbled a bit along the way but learned that pleasing someone else at the expense of his own happiness just wasn't worth it. This made the characters so realistic and inspiring as a reader expecting to read another fluffy regency romance. I couldn't put this book down from the moment I finished the first chapter and was so happy with the plot and ending; that I immediately picked it up again to read through a second time!

I loved this book. It was fast paced enough to keep things interesting but not too fast either. I will definatelt recommend this.

I really liked this book! Rebecca and Kenneth are wonderful characters from different classes. Their first meeting is very fun. I loved the secret meetings and the depth of the characters. I would definitely recommend this book.

I have read other books by Josi S. Kilpack, so I was excited to read her latest book! I will admit that the beginning surprised me a little bit. The kiss was sudden and as I got to know the characters, I'm not sure it really fit with their personalities. There were a few other times in the book that the characters seemed to go against their true nature. Despite that, the story really drew me in and I couldn't put the book down.

I think my favorite thing about The Valet's Secret is that the characters are older with more life experience. Most of the historical romances I have read feature younger main characters. This was a really sweet story of two people finding a second chance at love years after losing their spouses.

Thank you to NetGalley, Shadow Mountain Publishing, and the author for a chance to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I tried really hard to like this book, but it just didn't do it for me! It was an intriguing idea I admit, I do love a good hidden identity plot.

Kenneth and Rebecca's story is a fun, easy read! Kenneth is the new heir in line for his uncle's title, something he never thought would happen. Now he faces new requirements in behavior, dress, and speech to live up to his station in life. That means he is no longer free to marry anyone beneath his social class, an unfortunate requirement now that he has found a woman that makes his heart race when she isn't serving a dinner for the upper class.

Rebecca has not felt anything for a man since the death of her husband. But when a handsome (bald?) stranger nearly runs her over, she realizes that maybe she can still feel the rush of young love. But he's unattainable as the heir presumptive to the earl's title and she is in service. It all seems so impossible.

This is an easy read with several unique characteristics. Both Kenneth and Rebecca are in their 40's with grown children and have lost their first spouses. This gives a different air to the story, since both are reasoning adults with less worries about social outcomes (though they do worry about appearances more than I would have expected). But the characters are well-developed with entertaining dialogue. It kept my interest and is worth a read!

Rated PG
--clean romance
--some parental verbal/emotional abuse (mild)
--no language

I received this ebook free from NetGalley. My opinions are voluntarily given.

I was very excited going into this book, but something fell very flat for me. We follow Rebecca, a widow who falls in love with a valet. She finally realizes she can love again after the death of her husband…then she finds out the valet was lying to her the whole time and was actually a future earl.

I really liked Kenneth as a character. He was my favorite in the book. He’s kind of dream man material. I also liked Rebecca because of how strong she was. But there were definitely moments when I found her very annoying.

I found the romance was quite well done. I’m not a fan of insta love, but I think something did run deeper with these two. To each other, they were the proof that they could love again. They not only fell in love with each other, but they fell in love with the idea of each other.

I also particularly liked the writing style. It was simple and concise. I don’t read many historical/period romances, but based on this book alone, I would like to read more. I would also like to read more by this author.

The problem I had was the depth. I found that I didn’t really understand what was keeping these characters apart, aside from class. There never was any expression from characters outside of Kenneth and Rebecca that they could not be together. The stakes were also not very high for me. I never really felt Kenneth’s pressure to marry.

While this is a quick and rather light-hearted read, I found myself a little bored by about 80%. I think the author started adding unnecessary elements that prevented the two characters from getting together, as well as villainizing some side characters. I think the author should have added these details in earlier rather than later.

Overall, I still enjoyed this book. It was a pretty easy read, but I think it could have been more in-depth and detailed.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this story of second love and second chances. Josi Kilpack does a great job of getting away from stereotypical storylines and bringing up other relatable life circumstances. A good story to get lost in for awhile!

I was excited to pick this book up. I really enjoyed it.

When first reading the description, I couldn't wait to get it open. It took a bit to be able to get to read this one, and even though I remembered the premise of the story, I had forgotten quite a bit. Stupid me, didn't go and read it again before diving in. That lead to me being thrown by a few things: their ages and their first kiss.

But neither of those things were negative for me. I just needed to change my mindset. Most regency books you read have these young women as the main character and a 21 year old man. But the main characters were in their 40s. I actually really liked that. It was a nice thing to read. And that chemistry!

The first kiss was great, but I think it was a bit too fast, and too sudden for me. Although it was a great place for the book to jump from and a most unforgettable meet cute.

I enjoyed the book. I would read it again.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

This doesn’t disappoint it was such a fun read. The story flowed well and the characters were well written. A romance with a few twists and turns thrown in, what more could you ask for! It was also nice to have characters in their middle years, rather than the usual youngsters..

The future earl, Kenneth, dresses as his valet to feel a little more like himself and less of the burdens of his position. While out he practically runs Rebecca down with his wild horse. While checking that she is alright, sparks fly and an instant connection is realized. They meet again, Kenneth again in disguise but before their third meeting, Rebecca encounters him at a dinner where she is serving his meal as the future Earl. The journey that follows while he tries to regain her trust and good opinion is beautiful. It took me a little to get into the story at first, but I was very glad I stuck with it as I could not put it down after. The Cinderella elements were subtle yet striking and the twist of Kenneth being locked into the tower to miss the ball was funny. The thought of a capable man locked in his room trying (unsuccessfully) to break down the door, soaking himself in Sandalwood oil trying to loosen the hinges, is frankly hilarious! I do wish they would have returned to the ball for the final dance and to see Lady Beth set down by her own father for her antics. But I loved that they were able to find their second chance at love and their Happy ever after!