This is a Cinderella retelling that really hits the spot. Charlotte has been kept in hiding by her stepfather ever since her mother's passing when she was little. She is allowed to stay with him in her mother's home but must act as a servant and lady in waiting to his own daughter. As Francesca is not evil as in the original tale, she and Charlotte bond together under her father's cruel behavior. When Charlotte heads to the local prison to rescue a fellow servant, she runs into Rafe who is a Duke. He helps her, believing her to be a Lady, and cannot seem to keep his mind from her ever since.

Charlotte and Rafe are sweet together so when the steam happens it's shocking in a good way. I enjoyed their conversations and their love for the simpler things in life. Charlotte is strong and spunky and Rafe is kind and a defender of all things good. I loved seeing him in the local children's hospital as much as I enjoyed seeing Charlotte take on the ton. Francesca and Rafe's close friends are a great addition to the story and there is a bit of adventure in the end.

If you love fairy-tale retellings, this one is really good. That being said, any lover of historical romance, especially ones with class differences, would enjoy this one. I enjoy Eva Devon's books and can't wait to read more from her in the future.

Charlotte lives with her stepfather, stepsister, Francesca and his son, Phillip. She meets the Duke of Rockford as she is on her way to free a servant of her stepfather's home from debtor's prison. The Duke of Rockford has been challenged by his mother, the Duchess, to find a wife soon or risk losing something of great interest and a passion for him. The Duke is drawn to Charlotte but dhe knows that there can be nothing between them due their class difference. The meet again when the Duke comes to her home to meet her stepsister, Francesca, as suggested by his mother. Written along the lines of the Cinderella trope, it is well done with a happy ever after. I read it within the same day and couldn't stop until I had finished it. Mrs. Devon is a must read for me and I am eagerly looking forward to her next book.

I received an ARC from Netgalley but I am voluntarily leaving a review

I was given an advance copy of this book from netgalley.com and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are truthful and my own.

I do not give 5 stars often. I think maybe 2 or 3 ever but this book - I loved it. It has everything - a stepsister that isn't the stereotypical horrible hag, a good old fashioned mustache twirling villian, good stakes, beautiful dresses, and this description of the hero - "Who was this strange duke with a Herculean physique who went about adventuring in the south of London in the morning only to be caring about the state of books in the afternoon?"

This one gets 5 stars, because I truly can't think of any part I would change. I'm off to devour every other book I can find by this author.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Duke’s Secret Cinderella is the third book in the Never A Wallflower series by Eva Devon. Cinderella is not my favorite fairy tale to be retold; however, I found this romance was sparkling, fresh, and enchanting. Rafe Dorchester, Duke of Rockford, has been given an ultimatum from his mother, and he has to wed…now! Charlotte Browne has been reduced to a servant in her evil stepfather’s household. One little lie starts Charlotte down a slippery, passionate slope with Rafe. Rafe and Charlotte face seemingly insurmountable odds to find their happily ever after.

I liked the premise. However , I felt the lies between the couple took too long to be resolved. I did love the truth that is revealed at the end. The plot flowed well, and the pacing was good. I related to and empathized with both Rafe and Charlotte. The couple had a romantic, passionate relationship that lit up the page. The antagonist was very effective; he was horrible to poor Charlotte! Both Rafe and Charlotte shone brightly as characters. Eva Devon does a wonderful job of creating characters I can fall in love with. The Duke’s Secret Cinderella was entertaining and romantic; this is another excellent book from a fantastic storyteller!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Definitely one of my favorite Cinderella retellings. It was entertaining as the author made a few adjustments to the fairytale retelling. In this story, there was a wicked stepfather as opposed to stepmother. Regardless of the variations, this story was such a delightful audiobook.

The protagonist, Charlotte Browne, was living as a servant to her stepsister (and best friend) Francesca but she wasn’t bitter. She was kind, thoughtful and resourceful. On her crusade to save a servant in their household, she meets Rafe Dorchester, Duke of Rockford who believes he has meet an intriguing prospect. The Duke is being harassed by his mother to marry and went as far as making a list of ladies whom she believed to be suitable to the role of duchess. When Charlotte met Rafe, she didn’t bat her eyelashes and swoon, she spoke to him frankly and plainly making him feel like he could have an equal partner. However, Charlotte didn’t give him her true identity and that led them on a path that made Rafe’s attempt at courtship very twisty.
Eva Devon is an author that I haven’t read before, but I really enjoyed her storytelling. It was fast paced, intriguing and heartwarming. The characters made you root for them, or at least understand what their underlying motives were. The chemistry and intensity between Charlotte and Rafe was palpable. I felt so much angst that I could not stop reading. I loved the energy and confidence that Rafe brought to things that he did. Charlotte had such a resilient spirit that I wanted her to finally have love and family. Rafe’s mother and grandmother were a surprise as I didn’t expect to like them. Most of the characters wanted just a bit more than the ton would allow, so I am glad they were able to work it out and keep their respectability.

I enjoyed this story so much that I plan to read the reminder of the series as soon as possible. It may have been my first book by Eva Devon, but it will not be my last.

**Special thanks to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for this audiobook that I received for free in exchange for an honest review.

The Duke's Secret Cinderella by Eva Devon, book three in her Never a Wallflower series, is an enjoyable, emotional, and wonderful version of the Cinderella fairy tale with a few twists and turns I never expected. This is a Regency Cinderella story, with alterations and changes made in this retelling of a totally enjoyable story. We have a step-father for our Cinderella Charlotte instead of a step-mother and the single step-sister, Francesca, is a supportive character treating her with a lovely sisterly bond instead of a bullying villain. Rather than meeting a Prince at a ball, she meets Rafe Dorchester, the Duke of Rockford, in a shady alley; who thinks that Charlotte must be a Lady. Though Charlotte weaves quite the web of lies, for good reasons, these lies continue to drive much of the story and drama in this book.

Charlotte has been kept as a servant in her mother's house on the charity of her truly awful stepfather. Somehow, he had one of the other servants locked up in a debtor's prison, so she dresses as a lady and sells the last jewel from her mother to save him. Along the way, she runs into a duke, accidentally hits him with a brick and leaves an impression. Rafe is smitten with Charlotte from their first meeting Charlotte is the perfect Cinderella; kind and caring, always thinking of others before herself, and her inner strength keeps her going. Rafe’s mother, strong, supportive and intelligent, acted almost like a fairy godmother in her support, acceptance, and encouragement of the relationship, and there’s an extravagant ball. Rafe’s firm belief that he didn’t want a wife for duty’s sake and that the only woman he could accept as wife would be one he could fall for, even love whole heartedly. Rafe’s friends are wonderful additions to the story. They are funny and loyal, and they add a comical levity to the story while still showing how menacing they can be when someone they care for is threatened.

Ms. Devon wrote an entertaining and enjoyable story that is not to be missed. She provided a tale rich with humorous escapades, clever banter, sparking chemistry and endearing characters giving Charlotte and Rafe a chance to fall in love and have a wonderful future together. I highly recommend The Duke's Secret Cinderella to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All of this thoughts are my own opinion.

3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐💫

A different retelling of Cinderella. Were the FMC Charlotte, our cinder, was a servant in her home. She had the evil stepfather and two step siblings, one who was a bully but the other one was the only one that loved her. The servants all loved Charlotte and I was all about this new story.

Enter the Duke of Rockford, who was told by his mother he had to marry or the cause he hold dear to his heart would be taken away from him. (Not a fan of this, why something that could change the world)

I was immediately interested by this story - I am a fan of Eva Devon now and I will definitely be reading more of her works -. She pulled me in by the sweet meet cute these 2 characters had, saving someone from Debtor jail. Rafe, was such a gold retriever and I was enamored by him and his willingness to help. And love others, So rare we find fictional man so open to love nowadays. And I was just do happy

Were the story lost me a lot was the heavy miscommunication trope. Now listen, i don't love it. But I also don't entirely hate it, first I think I'd the Most realistic trope out there, considering miscommunication is one of the main reason why arguments happens, but I need good reasons. And while well justified fear at the beginning of the relationship, at some point when you get to know the Duke you really know he would love her unconditionally, I think the conflict could've been that Charlotte told the truth without duress and the main conflict surrounding the villain, which he was a HORRIBLE human do I could see it happening. (Wonderful villain btw). It was just unbelievable because of who Rafe was, maybe with a colder Duke that cared more about station this would've made much more sense.

But then we near the end and I was totally into it again and I couldn't stop reading finding out about who truly Charlotte was and that made me happy because I didn't expect it, and the way the friends came to the rescue, always love that.

All in all it was a good experience and as stated above, DEFINITELY gonna read more books from Eva. I believe this books is enjoyable and some people might not be as discouraged by the miscommunication as I was.

P.S. I BETTER HAVE A WHOLE BOOK FOR MATT (I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM)

I enjoy Eva Devon’s books and The Duke’s Secret Cinderella was a nice twist on the fairytale. Rafe enters the story as a very wealthy and proper Duke, keen to do his duty in the House of Lords, caring about the plight of the working classes and determined to remain single for the moment. His mother has other ideas and goes to remarkable lengths to ensure he abides by her wishes.
Charlotte Browne lives with her perfectly vile stepfather Lord Palmerton and her best friend and stepsister Francesca, who happens to be the perfect wife the duchess has chosen for her son. Charlotte is a fabulous character, loyal to a fault, strong and determined to protect her fellow servants and Francesca from Lord Palmerton. Trust, blackmail, cruelty and lies ensure that there are plenty of interesting plot twists in this story, which I found both touching and emotionally engaging.

I adored this! It was so reminiscent of Ever After which is my favorite movie adaptation of Cinderella, yet it was so did and intriguing than any other Cinderella retelling I’ve read. I swooned with every romantic moment and fell so ardently in love with it all.

This book gave me Bridgerton vibes in the best way. I love reading novels from this era in time and especially love an unlikely romance/unconventional match like what we had in this book with Rafe and Charlotte. I loved their tenacity and their mutual desire to protect and honor those they love. Their love story was beautiful and the twist at the end was amazing for a fairytale loving girl like me. I highly recommend this one!

I absolutely devoured this book!

It is loosely inspired by Cinderella, except we have an evil step father and a BFF instead of an evil step sister. Charlotte has been kept as a servant in her mother's house on the charity of her awful step father. But he has gotten one of the other servants locked up in a debtor's prison, so she dresses as a lady and sells the last jewel from her mother to save him. But along the way, she runs into Rafe, a duke, and accidentally hits him with a brick (and leaves a lasting impression).

I found this to be a delightful romance and was thoroughly invested. It's a plot driven novel, but nothing too heavy. I loved the steamy scenes too! They were well written without any of the weird words authors seem to use nowadays when describing it. I really liked the sisterly bond between Charlotte and Fransesca, and how they both took care of each other and loved and encouraged each other.

If you want a historical romance with a smart and capable heroine, a cinnamon roll, sweetheart for a hero who is desperately in love with her (and not a self proclaimed alpha male), this one's for you. This was the first book I read by Eva Devon and you can bet that I'm going to check out all her works from here on out because DAMN!!

Thank you to Entangled publishing and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC!

This has one of the most basic first chapter in historical romance. The main characters are so one-dimensional and without personality that the only thing that made me finish the audiobook is the narrator's enthusiasm and skills. I personally didn't feel invested in the actual story itself.

I enjoyed this Cinderella inspired tale. The Duke's Secret Cinderella is a light hearted historical romance that follows Charlotte who poses as a Lady when she met the Duke, not expecting to ever meet him again. Unfortunately for her, they soon meet and therein starts her web of lies which drove alot of the story.
The novel was sweet and romantic and I loved how the author diverted from the well known story and gave it her own twist. From their first meeting Rafe was smitten with Charlotte and I loved him right from the start. Charlotte was also a likable character and it as easy to root for these two throughout the novel.
There was a great cast of secondary characters who added so much hilarity to the story and even a villain you will easily dislike. However I will admit, I did get a bit frustrated with how long it took Charlotte to tell Rafe the truth.
This story was well written and fun read. I enjoyed it and will recommend it and I look forward to reading more from this author.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

After a chance meeting with the Duke of Rockford, Charlotte Browne is shocked to find he is seeking her out, and wants to spend more time with her. Living as a servant in her stepfather's home, she is not the right type of person for a duke, unlike her stepsister Francesca. Even so, Rafe wants to know more about Charlotte, though he thinks she is Francesca's cousin, and a Lady in her own right too. Charlotte's stepfather will do whatever it takes to keep the pair apart, but Rafe is determined that he loves Charlotte, and will fight for her, no matter what.

I obviously knew this would be a Cinderella retelling, but I wasn't expecting it to be so engrossing. Charlotte's stepfather has treated her as little more than a slave since she was young and her mother died. She is Francesca's ladies maid, as well as a general servant, and he has ruined her family home. While trying to free her fellow servant and father figure from prison - in which her stepfather had placed him - Charlotte finds Rafe, and the pair connect over their mutual search for good. Rafe is shocked to find Charlotte in the home of the one lady his mother thinks he should marry, but it's perfect. I did think that some of the twists and turns were a little too outlandish, but the romance was great, and I loved the ending. Another great addition to the Never a Wallflower series!

There is such an opportunity for some fantastic angst and tension within a re-telling of the Cinderella trope; unfortunately, this story fell short of a great set-up in which we could have felt the heartache and empathy for our heroine, and root for her to come out on top.

Our heroine, Charlotte, started strong with acts of kindness and compassion, but the lying that followed throughout the majority of the story just rubbed me the wrong way. She had an underlying strength of character and to see her initiate such a harmful farce felt like an uncomfortable dichotomy that bothered me immensely. I found there to be clear moments in which she could have told the truth, and she did not. I was so disappointed in her character and I could not find even a sliver of agreement for her rationalizations around her deception.

Rafe was a sweetheart of a hero. He had a generous heart and the love he wants with his partner in life was so lovely and endeared me to his character. I think that Charlotte had aspects of her character that would tie beautifully with Rafe, but her actions spoke louder than anything and I was left disappointed in this match.

The third act resolution drove home the fairy tale element, and it just felt too convenient. I would have liked there to have been more relationship building versus the plot swooping in to make everything better in a superficial way.

This book works as a standalone in this series, and I would recommend it if you are comfortable with a character who is deceptive for reasons that I just couldn't agree with as per my review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this eARC thanks to Entangled Publishing via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a great riff on the Cinderella story. I loved our heroine and hero, and really disliked the villain. It also has some great supporting characters that I just adored. This is a sweet and sexy tale that is all around adorable and enjoyable.

Sent by his mother, Rafe approaches a potential bride only to fall for her half-sister Charlotte. Little does he know that Charlotte is treated as little more than a servant in her own home by her greedy, conniving stepfather. What happens when the truth comes to light? This is an emotional fairytale retelling with well-drawn characters and lots of twists.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This book really reminded me of the film ‘Ever After’. Both Rafe and Charlotte are eminently likeable characters who truly deserve a ‘happily ever after’ ending. There are some twists to the Cinderella inspired story. Notably that Charlotte is close to sister Francesca, but has a brother who treats her badly. Then there is a nasty stepfather, rather than the traditional evil stepmother. It’s an engaging tale with humour and just an enough tension to balance out the romance, which is top notch. Another wonderful book in this very enjoyable series.

I will always gravitate toward a fairy tale retelling, and Eva Devon has taken her Forever a Wallflower series and used classic works of literature to inspire her stories. The Duke's Secret Cinderella is the third book in this series and it draws its inspirations not only from the Cinderella fairy tale, but also the Cinderella inspired movie Ever After. I found the parallels between Devon's work and Ever After to be an absolute delightful way to re-explore this tale, while also giving the main heroine a bit more agency throughout the novel. Devon's writing is charming and accessible, the plotting is beautifully paced and the characters are fully fleshed out and realized. I was easily swept up into the romance and charm of this novel and found this telling to have a nice effortless approach with some nice changes and tweaks to give it a freshness.

Devon has a way of crafting a heroine who is smart, independent and capable on her own, and a hero who loves her for her without any over exhausting alpha tendencies. This retelling is beautifully crafted around tropes that are tried and true, and with some subtle tweaks to the characters, the reader is given a slight shift to the story which gives it a breath of newness. I really delighted in the set up of this novel which is very much inspired by Ever After, it is a really charming way to have the hero and heroine encounter each other and start to develop a current of interest. Devon weaves this tale with a mastery of understanding of this story, and the characters she is developing. The chemistry between the hero and heroine is immediate and only grows and develops with each interaction. Devon also does a beautiful job using physical intimacy to grow the hero and heroine's understanding and trust of each other. This book has the perfect amount of steam to really highlight the foundation these two are building. While this romance starts out with a little white lie, and for some it might carry on too long, I think it does provide a perfect small tension for the reader to put them in a place of caution as the romance is blooming. I really loved our hero and heroine together, I found this romance to be overall light and low on angst, and a really lovely unfolding of a relationship between two people who are given the opportunity to learn about each other and develop a deep understanding of the core of the other person.

I would so highly recommend this novel! Eva Devon is a true master at her craft and if you have not had the opportunity to read one of her works I would highly recommend doing so! This novel is a delightful place to start, as well as any other books in this series, which can all be read as standalones, and have all been absolutely charming and wonderful reads.

This took me a while to get into this book but when I did, I found it to be an entertaining read. Charlotte was a very caring person but wasn’t treated well by her stepfather. I liked that the two stepsisters, Charlotte and Francesca got on well and helped each other as much as they were able. Rafe, Duke of Rockford was also a kind and caring person. I couldn’t understand why Charlotte didn’t trust him sooner, knowing the type of person he was. There are one or two passionate scenes and dangerous moments before a happy ending is achieved. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.