This book has nothing to recommend it. It was a waste of 4 hours. The hero, Giles, Earl,of Lilford, is a jealous fool whose ongoing biting and distrustful commentary about Lady Yasmin’s mode of dress and natural flirtatious nature makes me question why she continued to go back to him. He accused her of being a gossip early in the book, but then used his vicious sister’s unkind and unfounded gossip about his fiancé against her. As for his sister Lydia, she was a hypocritical and cruel shrew who was so concerned that their family’s dirty secrets (especially that she was the illegitimate offspring of one of her mother’s affairs) would be exposed by Yasmin that she did everything she could to ruin her reputation and keep Giles and Yasmin apart. She even threatened her own brother with blackmail and he allowed it. So it makes zero sense that Yasmin would take him back when, in the end, he claimed to love her.

The lack of historical accuracy in this book is absurd as well. From the beginning, there were open discussion about bodily functions and sexuality because near strangers. Giles didn’t provide a chaperone to his young sister during her first season because she didn’t want one (???), and his lack of attention meant she could have assignations with unscrupulous men right under his nose (and presumably within site of the ton’s gossips). Yet, when she was caught inflagrante delicto by Yasmin and her brother, he didn’t demand that the young man marry her.

There’s so much more I could say to discredit this book, but I’ve already wasted enough time. I’ve actually enjoyed many of James’s books, especially The Wilde’s of Lindow Castle series, but this one was a very unfortunate departure.

I received an ARC of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a mix for me, while I enjoyed parts of it I found myself not loving the judgment Giles paid towards Yasmin.

Also, Yasmin should have smacked Lydia.

So I find this one difficult to review as it was a mix of good and bad. I love the romance but the side story was at times aggravating.

I loved the romance between Giles and Yasmin. They were so different, but once they were better able to understand each other I felt they brought out the best in the other. I HATE the sister and she will forever be one of my least favorite characters, which says a lot for Eloisa's writing to evoke so much emotion and dislike towards her.

Grumpy meets stubborn sunshine. Yasmin has a scandalous past and refuses to compromise herself for anyone, because they're going to talk about her anyway; Giles falls for her anyway and spends most of the book trying to hypocrit his way out of his lust: she's such a whore! but she's nice to my kid! but she's so hot and silly!

A charming Eloisa James, with her characteristic delightfully silly plot. I really felt for both Giles and Yasmin—a classic comic grumpy-sunshine pair, but with a healthy dose of angst explaining why they could not find their way to each other at first.

I have been super slow to review this one simply because it is a HC book and we don’t cross strike lines. However, I am MAD at myself for not reading it sooner after the strike ended because whoa is this a fun read! I find myself flying through it, I love Yasmin and Giles for the grumpy sunshine dynamic and for the slow burn that turns into a forest fire and then back to slow burn so quickly.

Yasmin is the ultimate frivolous character with hidden depths even when those depths don’t happen to be intelligent in the way that society values it. Her perspective of the world is refreshingly empathetic. Giles gives ASD vibes to me, someone who is self-diagnosed. His rationality and practicality speak to that, as does his emotional state of finding it challenging to feel, name, and experience emotions fully. Both of these characters have experienced tremendous trauma, and their responses to that trauma reflect how differently it can be dealt with, whether with healthy or maladaptive strategies. We love complicated characters! The other component of this is sexual trauma as Yasmin experienced with Hippolyte in the French court. Giles doesn’t react harshly to knowing this, just wanting to be with her in whatever capacity she is willing to have him. This was honestly one of the sweetest things I’ve read in historical romance recently.

Giles Renwick, Earl of Lilford, has never made a fool of himself over a woman—until he meets Lady Yasmin Régnier. Yasmin is ineligible for his attentions in every way: not as a wife, certainly not as a mistress (she is a lady!), nor even as a friend, since they vehemently dislike each other. Her gowns are too low, and her skirts are dampened to cling to admittedly lovely thighs. She loves to gossip—and giggle.

She isn’t dignified, or polite, or even truly British, given that her father’s French ancestry clearly predominated. Not to mention the fact that her mother had been one of Napoleon’s mistresses, a fact she makes no effort to hide.
Overall 5 stars
Writing Quality 10/10
Image / Illustration Quality 10/10
Character Development 10/10
"Couldn't Put It Down"-ness 10/10
Intellectual Depth 10/10
Originality 10/10

Another great read by Eloisa James! Giles and Yasmin’s story will draw you in and you will not be able to put this book down! Can not wait for the next book!

I have read a lot (A LOT) of historical romance novels and this is one of them. This book has Eloisa James' wit and charm, with the extra spice that our heroine is not a virgin and is French (or raised French, something like that). We have a stuffy hero who is irresistibly drawn to her but disapproves of course. Pretty typical. Maybe I'm getting old, but I felt frustrated Yasmine had to explain so much to our hero, who himself is supposed to be a man of the world. My biggest problem with the book was that Giles' sister is going off the rails and is going to end up ruined, if not pregnant, and he's too distracted by romance to parent her. I have very little empathy for him when he just shrugs and keeps following Yasmine around. Also his sister hates Yasmine, so this seems a little pointed. I just didn't feel like I understood the characters' choices.

snobby hero, enemies to lovers has a lot going for it and the heronie is great in particular. I was into the story.

Having recently read How to be a Wallflower, I loved getting Yasmin’s story, as the enemies to lovers plot was already going strong. Lydia is quite the meddler and I enjoyed that she didn’t have some sudden change of character, she was just a brat. Giles also portrayed a stoic English gentleman, and so often they go against the grain in books, making them the exception. Overall, I enjoyed this series and cannot wait for book 3.

I kept dragging my feet on this one due to all of the mixed reviews, even though I had loved Yasmin in the previous book. Past Stacee was a fool.

Of course Yasmin is not who she's perceived to be. She's deeply sensitive with a wonderful outlook on life. She vibrant and delightful and I loved getting to know her. Giles is very stuffy and proper, yet undone by Yasmin. It was enjoyable reading him figure things out. And Lydia really lived up to her namesake.

Plot wise, it was mostly good. There is a lot of push and pull, a lot of miscommunication, and a lot of shit remarks from Giles to Yasmin regarding her dress and manner. I especially loved that Yasmin wouldn't back down and was clear about everything.

Overall, there were some scenes that I wanted to throttle Giles and hug Yasmin, yet I do love how it ended. The second epilogue was perfect for these two.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

I adored the first book in this series and was very intrigued by Yasmin & Giles’s setup, but unfortunately this just didn’t quite work for me the way I’d hoped. Giles’s hot and cold frustrated me, and with as often as he mentioned her reputation & clothing, it didn’t feel like he fully got past those things and recognized the errors of his judgy ways. Or he did, but not enough for me to be satisfied. On top of that it felt like their relationship was based entirely on physical attraction, as they had very little real conversation and too much of the plot was taken up by his terrible sister. I needed less villain and more emotional development.

Giles Renwick, the Earl of Lilford, has always carried himself with stiff propriety. Believing himself incapable of deep emotions, he has never truly given in to pursuit of a woman and determined never to do so, but that all goes out the window when he meets Lady Yasmin Regnier. She’s too much a lady to be his mistress but too scandalous to be a proper wife. Their mutual discord precludes them even being friends.

He abhors her provocative style of dress and her tendency to engage in vapid gossip. She lacks decorum, is only even half English and makes no real attempt to hide her mother’s scandalous affair with Napoleon. Despite all the marks against her, Giles still can’t seem to help himself and proposes to Yasmin anyway. He has no idea what he’ll do if she says yes, or even worse, no.

I’ve been looking forward to this story since I read the epilogue of the previous book. Yasmin and Giles were obviously meant to be together, but they did make for such an odd pairing that I was hard pressed at times to envision how this would work. Yasmin was a genuinely kind person, but she’d been taken advantage of and scorned by society, labeled as loose for no real reason. Giles was rather starched, a high stickler for propriety thanks to his parents who dragged their family name through the mud with scandal. He’d convinced himself he could never have Yasmin thanks to her scandalous reputation, causing him to treat her less than cordially. This, of course, created difficulties when Giles could no longer resist his feelings for Yasmin and wanted to court her in earnest; she was understandably skeptical of his true intentions. These two had a rather tumultuous, hot then cold relationship, but I enjoyed how character driven their story was and how inevitable it felt that they would eventually be together.

Yasmin stood up for herself and demanded to be loved for who she was or not at all, refusing to squeeze herself into some societal mold, and I loved that. There was also a villain in this story that I think many readers will enjoy rooting against and I cannot wait to see what sort of comeuppance is dished out in that quarter in a later book. I think perhaps my favorite relationship here was actually the one between Yasmin and her grandfather. Having lost my own grandfather six months ago, their interactions were bittersweet for me, but I loved them nonetheless. His unconditional support of Yasmin was everything. I enjoyed the way things worked out for Yasmin and Giles and I look forward to the next book in this series.

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

I am a big fan of Romance books and I found this one to be a very enjoyable read. I always want to read Ms. James's book. They are always a joy to read. Loved it!

James's latest romance sparkles as brilliantly as her others. Great characters, tight plotting, and good pacing put her at the top of the genre.

This is my first time reading something by this author, and it definitely won't be my last. I've heard about this author a lot, and so was excited to give it a try and I was not disappointed. This is the second book of the Would-Be Wallflowers series, I really enjoyed it. The story is filled with intrigue, drama, and romance and held my interest all the way through. Lady Yasmin has been living her life surrounded by scandal and she just wants to get away, and so she leaves France. She is doing her best to live her life scandal-free, but the ton won't let her forget her past. Giles hates gossip and scandal, but he can't help it that he has totally fallen for Yasmin, a lady that lives and breathes scandal and as a result is surrounded by gossip. Giles has been especially rude to her in an effort to keep his distance, and when he realizes he wants to forget all the gossip and be with her, Yasmin doesn't make it easy for him. He will have to work especially hard to prove his feelings are genuine.
Giles and Yasmin were an interesting pair and both had wonderful chemistry. A very entertaining and enjoyable story! I am looking forward to following the rest of the series.
I received a complimentary copy Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
THE RELUCTANT COUNTESS is the second installment in the Would-Be Wallflowers series. There is little to no confusion if reading out of series order or as a standalone. It's been a year since I read the first in the series, HOW TO BE A WALLFLOWER. Now I want to go back, reread that novel, then reread this one again.

I haven't read much historical romance lately, the suppression of the era sometimes makes it difficult for me to read, due to a few factors of today's political climate. I had put off reading this novel for some time. As soon as I opened it, I was hooked. Eloisa James' stories always draw me back to this genre, making me want to read and read every historical romance book I can get my hands on. I appreciate how Eloisa James bridges the gap between the historical accuracy of the era, where women were seen to have no power, with today's modern take on feminism, giving the heroines as much power and independence as the era allows.

Lady Yasmin forever has a cloud of scandal surrounding her. Not only is she not entirely British – she's French. Giles takes issue with this, especially how Lady Yasmin's mother is Napoleon's mistress. Yasmin has fled France with a trail of scandal in her wake. She's learned from her mistakes, earned patience and understanding from the weight of rumors that aren't even true, so she never passes judgment on others' mistakes. She is strong, independent, and compassionate after the life she has led.

Giles doesn't want to like Lady Yasmin, but he just cannot seem to help himself, which makes him cranky. Then again, with the monster of a sister he has, it's no wonder he's so high-strung.

Giles knows what he wants, even if he doesn't like it. Yasmin knows her worth, and she's going to make Giles work for it. Work for it, Giles does.

Now if only Giles' sister would just... go away. The villainess of the tale was frustrating to read but a good source of frustration. Sure, it wasn't entirely logical, something that made me white-knuckle my Paperwhite, but it sure did have the pages flying by.

Read in one sitting, now I'm hooked. Off to reread both books in the series, while trying to convince myself I don't need to, yet again, reread Eloisa James's entire backlist.

I have come to terms with the fact that Eloisa James is not the author for me. This will be the last of her books I try to get into unless something crazy happens, I just do not gel with her characters at all after maybe 3 or 4 tries.

DNF at 20%, mostly because of grave aggravation and annoyance.

My main self discovery in 2022 was that my biggest bookish pet peeve is authors trying to show off by using way too many words in a foreign language just for the sake of showing how well they can use google translate. The Reluctant Countess managed to put me in a rage just by reading the prologue, and I am bilingual French Dutch so I didn't even have to go google translate every other word to comprehend it (I pity those who had to do all of those unnecessary researches). When I read Giles being condescending to Yasmin about how her English had improved, I was done.

But, as it was an ARC and this is very petty of me, I didn't want to DNF so quickly. I decided to come back to it when I had cooled down. Two and a half months later, consider me cooled down enough to want to give it a second chance - although I didn't reread that prologue...

My conclusion? I should've just DNF'ed in November last year. It didn't get any better.

I don't particularly like Giles, nor do I think there is any chemistry between him and Yasmin. That first kiss was predictable, but I cringed so hard because it literally came out of the blue and there was no chemistry to fall back upon.

Something else that bothered me was Giles' hypocrisy (or James' inability at keeping her characters consistent, I don't know, it's my first James.). He berates Yasmin for relaying gossip about the man who might be courting his sister (therefore trying to help him, good intentions), but when his sister spouts mean and hurtful gossip about Yasmin for no good reason, it takes him ages to actually tell her she shouldn't gossip, and that's after he joined her in gossiping about Yasmin... It makes absolutely no sense.

Let's talk about Lydia, shall we? She is SUCH a brat. I don't think I've ever disliked a character as quickly as her. The only good thing she's got going for her is that her brain hasn't fully matured, so we can only hope those 8 years of brain maturation will do miracles for her, because my goodness does she need it.

Anyway, I'm just getting more and more annoyed, forcing myself to continue reading when I am completely unbothered about what will happen to these characters. So, out of self preservation, I'm DNF'ing.

The only good thing about this book is the cover, which I really liked. A shame really...