After an embarrassing visit to Evie’s bookshop thanks to some arrogant aristocrats Duke Max is determined to prove a point to them by betting he can turn Evie into the Belle of the season. The problem is Evie has no desire to try and integrate into high society, especially with her unsuccessful past. When her bookshop ends up flooded Evie gives into Max’s “charity” and agrees to go along with his bet. From a luxurious hotel suite, a new wardrobe and dancing lessons Evie begins to think maybe high society isn’t ALL bad. But the more time Evie and Max spend together, the more sparks fly. But with the unexpected appearance of an old friend from Evie’s past and Max’s plans to court Lady Helen their lives seem to be on different paths. Can Max and Evie ever end up having a happily ever after?

I absolutely love a Cinderella story!! This book was super cute and I can’t wait to read more from this author 💗

Evie runs a bookshop in London that she inherited from her father along with all of his debts. She works hard but dreams of fun and romance and is pining after her childhood friend Rory who is back in London but is a charming cad. She takes on other side hustles like working with her friend Delia to research ideas for parties. When her friend Delia has to dash off to Rome, she is left planning an exotic food dinner party with Delia’s cousin Max, the dashing Duke of Westbourne. Max and his friends come into her shop and his friends are super rude and disrespectful to Evie.

Later over many Manhattans, Max’s friends are talking trash about Evie and how plain and boring she is. Max disagrees and they make a wager that he has to turn into an incomparable beauty by his end of season ball.

Evie is at first appalled by the idea, but after her water boiler explodes, she’s like well, I’d like to make those dipshits eat crow and having a holiday at the Savoy sounds fun! So she lives her best life buying gowns, shopping at Fortnum and Mason for tea and soaps and treats, dancing lessons with a hot Duke, kissing a hot Duke and falling in love with the hot Duke.

He decides he wants her to be his Duchess and properly court her but when scandal arises they have to decide if they want to live happily ever after or go their separate ways.

It has been a while since I read any of Ms. Guhrke's books and this reminded me of all that I have enjoyed of her in the past. Set just before the turn of the century, this late Victorian era historical was a delightful Pygmalion romance between a Duke and a bookstore owner. Our hero has married disastrously outside of his class before and is currently pursue a highly eligible Earl's daughter when a drunken bet with her brother has him agreeing to turn our bookshop owner into the bell of the charity ball. Our Eliza Doolittle, Evie, is not quite so rough around the edges having been to finishing school but she needs a new wardrobe and some dance lessons. While Evie hesitates to agree at first, a little convenient flood in her apartment/bookshop forces her to agree to a make-over vacation. This could have been a forgettable little historical rom/com but the witty dialogue and believable chemistry made for an enjoyable weekend read. The Gibson girl vibe added a uniqueness not found in the cookie cutter regencies that overfill the genre. Light on my personal steam scale, the mains do enjoy one intense hookup.

I loved this one SO much!!Not only did it have echoes of a from rags to riches Cinderella story, but it also reminded me of the 1964 film titled My Fair Lady in which a flower seller is turned into a lady for a wager.

The banter between the Duke and Evie is fantastic - I could not help but smile at it. The slow burn is delicious - as is the gradual realisation of their attraction for one another. This is a story I will definitely reread - and savour each time.

This was a very fun fast read and great for anyone who liked the movie she’s all that but historical and if the main character actually knew about the bet. The romance was fun and it was great to see Evie come out of her shell and push herself to try new things and how Max and Evie fall in love. The villain was pretty obvious and I really enjoyed Delia his cousin she was super fun.

Thanks to Forever and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

Hmm, it was ok. I thought it would be a bit more feminist but it done how didn’t quite get there for me, the main character did seem to be batted around by the “hero”’s needs & preferences. I struggled to like him.

3.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.
This book is a Pygmalion retelling in a Historical Romance setting.
Unlike other Pygmalion retellings, Evie knew about the bet from the start., which I appreciated since the third act conflict wasn't the same as other retellings.
I enjoyed this book but I didn't rate it higher because the writing style wasn't my favorite. Additionally, to me, this wasn't a Cinderella retelling as the title of the book would suggest.
Overall, I would recommend this book if you are looking for a unique Pygmalion retelling.

Bookshop Cinderella by Linda Lee Guhrke

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley for review. My opinions are my own.

5/5 stars

If you love historical romances, you MUST read this book! I read this entire book in a car trip - thank God - because I could not stop.

This Victorian era romance is a spin on “10 Things I Hate About You” except Evie knows that she is the brunt of a between Max and several acquaintances. She mingles with the aristocracy, makes friends, and, of course, falls in love with Max.

Max is the Duke of Westbourne and has piles of money. He is also a kind man and becomes friends with Evie along the way. Of course, he also falls in love with Evie.

Naturally, there are plenty of twists and turns along the way…

a diverting and lighthearted enough makeover bet romance, love the pretty pink cover, and that's all I have to say

I was a fan of the heroine - while constrained by society and stuck in compromising situations, she made choices that deviated from the norm and was courageous.

I absolutely adored this book. It took two of my favorite tropes (makeover and Cinderella) and milked them for everything they were worth, perfectly. Evie is an overworked bookstore owner, who has managed, despite debt and sexism, to keep her family's business open, years after her slightly inept father's death. Unfortunately, that leaves her rather overworked, often taken advantage of by friends and relatives who see her merely as a workhorse, and in a massive need of a break.

Enter Max, a duke searching for a new wife, after his cross-class first marriage ended in disaster. He thinks he's picked out the perfect aristocratic bride, but becomes quite distracted when he meets Evie on an errand. Enchanted by Evie, despite himself, he defends her attractiveness to other men of his class and enters into a bet, with Evie's agreement (after an accident at the shop leave her with some free time on her hands--and the potential monetary wards of the bed are definitely tempting) to make the upper classes swoon for her.

What ensues is the most fun couple of weeks of new clothes and good food and opera performances, allowing them both to appreciate fun things in life if you are lucky enough to get them .As well as a relationship that grows closer and closer, even though Evie initially has no interest in Max and Max is determined to marry of his own "class." There is so much pining and so much charm and wit and the book is just a whole lot of fun. Totally recommend. And want the clothes.

This was a fun romance although for me, it was set in a time which I don't normally do for this period romance. I tend towards Regency and Victorian romances, so this one forced me out of my comfort zone into a time when I am a little less familiar with the societal rules and norms of the time. For example, there were washrooms and cars and electricity. But at the same time, still limits on being together as a man and a woman even if it was for something as simple as dancing lessons.

I liked both Max and Evie, and the complication in their romance was founded on something that I appreciated for both of them. Rory was annoying, but he's supposed to be, and I was so glad that he got found out without any of the attempted physical violence that is often a trope in these romances.

The relationship between Evie and Max grew through interaction and friendship, and the Pygmalion theme didn't irritate me as much as I had feared it would. Oh yah, I also realized that this was a Pygmalion retelling of sorts, and I really don't get behind those. Despite loving almost every movie that has ever done the popular kid transforms the unpopular (She's All That, Can't Buy Me Love, etc.) I usually struggle with book forms. This one, not so much. Maybe because Max doesn't really try to teach Evie to be better. He realizes that she has it in her, guides her and then lets Delia do the rest.

All in all, a good romance.

Maximillian Shaw, Duke of Westbourne, has returned to London to find a wife, but he doesn't want his sisters or his cousin Delia to know. Delia, who works for the hotelier Cesar Ritz, has promised Ritz's legendary chef Escoffier to provide research for an upcoming feast, but since she must leave town, she asks Max to contact her research associate, bookshop owner Evie Harlow, to collect the information. When Max enters the bookshop, accompanied by three young swells with more hair than sense, he's intrigued by Evie, despite her work-worn appearance. A night of drinking with his companions leads Max to an impulsive wager: he claims he can turn Evie into a society beauty in just a few short weeks.

Really, I shouldn't have even bothered to pick up this book because the Cinderella trope is one that no longer sits well with me. While I do enjoy a good, independent, working middle class heroine, Evie's character felt inconsistent. I was glad Max brought up the wager to her immediately, but I didn't like how he kept pressing her (even if he wasn't super forceful about it). And overall their relationship seemed like it might have been better as friendship, because the attraction level wasn't wholly believable.

Delia's character was the most enjoyable to me, so I was sorry she wasn't on the page more. And the side plot with Rory, Evie's childhood friend, was really cringeworthy.

Maybe 10 years ago I would have enjoyed this book more. Now? Not so much. 2 stars.

Thank you, Forever/Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.

This book about a bookshop owner and a Duke is a story that I didn’t know I needed in my life. It was an entertaining and fun read.

I adored Evie! She is independent, intelligent, determined and kind. I immediately loved her character and the dynamic she had with Max. They have a lot of similar traits and while they are at odds in the beginning, I appreciated how he pushed Evie out of her comfort zone. I also loved his honesty and the fact that he immediately told Evie about the bet rather than the typical storyline of the bet being found out later and pushing the characters apart. It felt refreshing and made me want to find out more. I inhaled the first half of the book but there were a few spots in the second half that I wished had moved along just a tiny bit quicker (mostly because I wanted Evie and Max to be together immediately). This is a book I’d recommend to fans of Julia Quinn, Erica Ridley and Amalie Howard.

If you're a fan of books like the Bridgerton series, this one is for you! I loved the setting and the characters.

Rating: 3.75/5

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been meaning to read Laura Lee Guhrke’s books for some time now and “Bookshop Cinderella” is my first introduction to them. It wasn’t a terrible read, in fact it was lovely, funny, and admittedly pulled me out of my reading slump. I didn’t expect this to be set in the early 20th century, I thought, like most of the historical romance novels I’ve read, it’ll be set in the 19th century or earlier. But I guess it makes sense. How on earth would our Cinderella be able to own a bookshop? Evie is our Cinderella and she inherited her bookshop from her late father. Ever since his father’s death, she powered through paying all the remaining debts and successfully run the bookshop. A wallflower Cinderella then meets her Prince Charming, who also happens to be her fairy godmother. I loved that concept, that her Prince Charming, Max, is also her fairy godmother. Well in this case, a duke. I loved their relationship and how it grew into something beautiful. Even though the last page of the book was perfect, I still wished there was an epilogue. I just love them. Their love was pure despite how it started.

Oh, how I love this Victorian-era twist on Cinderella!

Our sweet heroine is smart, owns her own business, contemplates wearing trousers, and being absolutely ok with making her own way as a proverbial 'spinster'. Rather than dashing off to marry some dusty chap just because she needs to be married in the eyes of society, she waits for love!

<b>THOUGHTS: </b>
- Not often that we have a con man element in regency romances and I love that!
- This is a fun take on the era when it started to become more socially acceptable to marry outside one's social/socioeconomic class and I'm ALL for those types of English romances!!

**Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for this advance reader copy. I received this book for free but all thoughts are my own. - SLR 🖤

ARC Review
Actual Rating 3.5/5 stars

I love Pygmalion retellings that involves a “glow up” and this is exactly what Laura Lee Guhrke is serving up! Evie Harlow is a struggling bookshop owner who is propositioned by Max, the Duke of Westbourne, with an offer to make her the incomparable of the season. After her initial refusal, Evie is determined to put all the naysayers in their place and accepts the Duke’s wager.

It was a cute and quick read with lots of witty banter, but the overall chemistry between Evie and Max fell flat/lacked for me at times. This book is definitely for lovers of fairytale retellings and HRs.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for a chance to read and review an advanced copy of this book!

I really enjoyed this one! I liked the fact that she was in on the bet from the beginning so it wasn't an issue later in the relationship. I thought their budding relationship was sweet. I look forward to reading more in this series.

Bookshop Cinderella was my first book I’ve read by Laura Lee Guhrke and it probably won’t be my last! It was very She’s All That meets Bridgerton. It was well written but I didn’t connect with the Duke or really buy the romance, but it was still a really fun read and I would recommend it!

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.