An Improbable Season, which is set in 1817 London, introduces sisters Thalia and Kalliope, who join their cousin Charis for their first season. In alternating third-person narration Thalia's love of poetry, Kalli's of home and family and Charis's of natural science are revealed. With all of society's rules and regulations for debutantes, scandal immediately erupts, and Kalli finds herself engaged to childhood friend Adam to avoid family ruin. Adam has always been in love with Thalia, who is looking for a more intellectual match, which she thinks she's found in James. Meanwhile Charis, who wants to connect with the scientific community, finds a kindred soul in Mark, who delights in her quirky interest in bugs and birds. Although all of the girls' initial plans are thwarted by unexpected predicaments, the three band together to navigate societal expectations and find unpredictable happy endings

An Improbable Season is a fun beginner entry into the world of historical regency romance for teens who have been enchanted by the Bridgerton series on Netflix. As a fan of both that series and adult historical romance, this was an enjoyable read. It takes time to introduce/define concepts that will be more common when the reader ages up into adult romance (which often assumes you already know the historical lingo). This book also offers several different heroines to root for, all unique and engaging in their own ways. Wholeheartedly recommend for school libraries and beginner romance readers.

**Rounded up from 3.75**

Three women. Three very different goals of the season. I have yet to read a book like this and the premiss was very interesting. I feel as if I would have liked this book more if it was easier for me to be able to tell the difference between all the women and love interests. A lot of them seemed to have very similar personalities, so it was difficult to figure out who was engaged to who and who was secretly in love.

Overall, this was a fun read and if you are a fan a regency romance and would want to read a more YA version of those romances, this is the book for you!

Original? No. Entertaining? Yes.
Authors who write in this time period are nothing new. They have entertained us for centuries. But now there is more humor, more options say sweet instead of steamy, and now the Regency Era has entered onto YA book shelves and rightfully so.
Why? The Debut Season for young ladies is while they are young teenagers themselves so why haven't we been reading about 3 young ladies like Thalia, Charis, and Kalliope before?
The author does a brilliant job of making each girl separate from the other as well as keeping what binds them at the front of our minds. Each girl represents something fitting in, standing out, or totally going against the grain of what is expected as a young woman in society.
As with all YA--and why I love it--is the hope, curiosity, resilience, and self discovery with and amongst the characters. Well done.
I loved Charis and I hope you do too.

I loved this! A fun and smart and delightfully well-written. It's got the exact right doses of Austen's unlikely heroes and rogues, and her delightful, nuanced women. I give this a strong recommend to all Regency fans, romance fans, historical fiction fans, or just good book fans.

This book was so beautifully written! So fun to have 3 young ladies with such different personalities and perspectives to indulge in the Regency Season in London! I know others have said it was a bit much.. and at first it was a bit hard to follow… but a couple chapters in and I was hooked. I loved the realistic way Ms Eves shared the intertwining of their stories! Well done! If you are a fan of Historical Regency, grab this one! You will not regret it.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It was cute and a fun read!

This was a nice, easy going, historical fiction novel. Much on par with Bridgerton and Pride and Prejudice. Rosalyn Eves does an exceptional job and does of describing the era and setting the scene. Each character is unique and their personalities really shine through.

This book was wonderful company in Disney World lines! But seriously, it’s a lovely escape that’s historical yet modern at the same time.

An Improbable Season is the story of three different debutantes and how they make good - or don’t – during their very first season. Unfortunately, some terminology and title bobbles don’t allow this one to glimmer like a diamond of the first water, but teens will likely find it to be an amusing diversion.

Sisters Thalia and Kalli Aubrey and their cousin, Charis Elphinstone, all hope to accomplish different things by immersing themselves in the parties and balls of the London season. Thalia wants to become a writer – and she’ll do anything to get attention for her skills and get her poetry published. Charis hopes to become a scientist, even though doing so will require her to crash an entirely male hierarchy. Kalli’s the only one really looking for a husband, but she’s planning on partying and enjoying the best of what London society has to offer before she marries.

Each of the girls meets with adversity. Thalia’s sober plan to remain a bachelorette is complicated by her introduction to the roguish James Darby which causes her to throw caution to the wind in spite of the affections of family friend Mr. Adam Hetherbridge, and Charis finds herself the belle of the social season but becomes entangled in a battle of wits with the mysterious Mr. Leveson. Sweet but clumsy Kalli gets stuck in the worst mess of all – she finds herself betrothed to Adam after a scandal arises when they’re caught alone in a garden together but finds herself romantically torn between him and Henry Salisbury, who pursues her ardently.

An Improbable Season could have used a little more time to bake, and perhaps it would have worked better chopped up into three different novels, but the end result is still a fun read. The best story belongs to Charis, who is trying to balance her scientific aims with the attention thrown upon her by the ton – and Mr. Leveson, with whom she has a meeting of the minds. But I did enjoy Kalli’s romantic pas de deux and the way Thalia tries to loosen up, even though James clearly doesn’t deserve her.

There are some major errors in forms of address and protocol here, and even though they’re not as bad as I’ve seen in some wallpapery historicals, and they still kept me from rating this one any higher. But though not perfect, An Improbable Season is fun and entertaining, and will please its intended audience.

Regency is all the rage these days! It's refreshing to see a regency book targeted at teenagers. The storylines were unique (as unique as a regency can be, all said) Recommend this as a gateway to Austen, as a book for a snarky young teenager, or to anyone who likes something different and fun.

A cute regency romance. Quick, enjoyable read. I always enjoy a book that gives the perspective of multiple characters, which was done here. The constant defining of terms did bog the story down, a bit. However, seeing as this is not a genre largely done for YA, perhaps the author wanted to make sure the reader understood certain terms.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the eArc!

For fans of Bridgerton or any other period piece - “An Improbable Season” has the drama and delight of any regency era romance. A must read!

Alas, no one has yet to capture the historical romance genre for a YA audience.
Rosalyn Eves certainly tries here with An Improbable Season, but there just isn't any engagement or enticement here.

Clearly meant to be a capitalization of the Bridgerton fever, the three protagonists go out to London for their first season, and along the way have romantic dalliances and adventures before reaching their HEA (a romance genre mainstay, of course). The obligatory "diamond of the first water" and "ton" references abound, but even those whimsical, fanciful colloquialisms aren't fun here. Eves feels the need to define every Regency season term after they're stated, and it grows quite tedious.

Additionally, key Regency phrases or titles are misspelled or misused. "Marquis" (as opposed to a "marquess") was the main offender. At first, I wondered if Eves was Canadian or European mainland, as this would be the correct spelling from those regions. Unfortunately, Eves is American, so she's just wrong.
Even in a historical fiction, I don't expect the accuracy to be 100%; I don't mind finding out that the piano the heroine played was not actually manufactured until 1844, even though the story took place in 1755. This kind of stuff just really doesn't bother me- even our own understanding of our history is not 100% accurate. But spelling titles correctly seems to me like a nonnegotiable.

And this is all to say nothing of the flat characters and dialogue. They were neither engaging nor perplexing enough to get much of my attention (as opposed to all the historical inaccuracies). Male love interests flip-flop between emotions at a speed to give you whiplash. Personalities fluctuate wildly. Charis is a scientist who likes all the sciences and does all the sciences and wants to be the BEST scientist of all time. (What kind of science you ask? All of them!) Science!

This is a personal preference, but this book has a heavy Christian lean. At first, I wondered if it was more to just be closer to historical accuracy, which would be appropriate for this time period. But it was really more an elevation of the church due to its prominence in the author's own life (Eves is a part of the LDS church, I believe). This is not meant as a critique of the book- I just want to make this clear, since the book is not labelled as Christian or inspirational fiction. If it were labelled as such, I wouldn't have requested it off of Netgalley. An Improbable Season deserves to be put in the hands of the right reader, someone who will connect with those values intimately. Unfortunately, that reader is not me.

An Improbable Season was a fun Regency-era read. I enjoyed the alternating perspectives of the three female leads, Thalia, Kalliope, and Charis, and their different experiences in their first London season. There were strong feminism themes throughout this book, especially with Thalia and Charis stories. I enjoyed the fact that this book included a more plus sized female lead as it is important for girls to see themselves in the stories. There were certainly some twists and turns that were unexpected in this novel, but there were a few characters who were easy to see through from the beginning and it was frustrating that one of the leading ladies seemed to ignore all warning signs about his lack of character. I enjoyed the ending for the most part but was a little dissatisfied with one of the female leads ending. It was left dangling and unresolved although some might consider it satisfying, but it would keep me from picking it up and reading it again or recommending it to others.

Thank you NetGalley and Rosalyn Eves for an ARC of An Improbable Season by Rosalyn Eves. It was a very fun and easy read! It’s definitely perfect for fans of Bridgerton.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of An Improbable Season by Rosalyn Eves. It was a very easy read! I really enjoyed the characters and the setting.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Marketed as a Bridgerton read-alike because it’s set in the Regency era, An Improbable Season focuses on the London debut of two sisters and their cousin, only one of whom actually seems interested in settling down and marrying. Admirably, one is looking for the intellectual heart of the city, and I had trouble from the beginning keeping the characters–defined as the scientist, the poet and the one who wants a family–or their beaus–straight and had to keep flipping back (even though details were conveyed through diary entries, field notes, and actions) to remind myself who was who. While chapters alternate in focus, the narrative voice and point of view is the same throughout. I would have much rather read a stand-alone novel about the romances of each protagonist in a three-part series, which would have left more time and space for nuanced character development, and more complete world-building.

For the record, Thalia Aubrey is an aspiring poet and has ignored the affections of family friend Mr. Hetherbridge for years, falling for the rakiest rake, Mr. Darby; Kalliope, the sweet one who loves parties second only to family is accidentally caught with Hetherbridge in the gardens with a ripped dress and the two are forced into a betrothal as Kalli navigates and attraction to and attention from a Mr. Salisbury, who seems to love her awkwardness; cousin Charist Elphinstone, a scientist and naturalist who has a fondness for insects and feminism, plans only to observe the Season and then engages in a battle of wits and wills with the Indian-born style maker Mr. Leveson, who becomes her love interest.

As the three young ladies arrive in London, details of the journey or preparations for the Season are omitted, launching right into visiting other women and girls, with nary an eligible bachelor in sight, quickly remedied once the parade of calling cards begins. There is drama, and gossip, etiquette to be learned, and dancing late into the night, but also hurt feelings, soul searching, sneaking around, and finally, solidarity.

Much knowledge is simply assumed, with period details, London locations, and terms are mostly undefined (bluestocking, Gretna Green, Almacks, modiste, nabobs, milliner); careful readers will be able to figure out some references with context, and while I had fun looking up the various punches served, a few more sensory details would have been gracious. The excellent author’s note at the end fills in some of the blanks and addresses British colonization and women of science of the time period. The inclusion of a person of colonized India ancestry educated in Britain and struggling to find his place in the world was a welcome addition.

I will say the courtship scenes are tame but full of sensual details, and the endings/beau that each young lady ended up with was … well, improbable. Which makes me think either I really didn’t read carefully, that some details were just red herrings, or there was a goal by the author, a long time reader of Regency romances, to meet the expectation set by the title.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #TheImprobableSeason from #NetGalley.

This book was a little bit of a disappointment. The characters were well written and well rounded but something with their interactions kept falling flat. I wanted more from this book even though I'm not sure what else it could have given me. I wanted another stronger punchier plot line.