Someone made a bad choice and look. He is about to do it again. Two people from two different classes have to make a decision that is right for them both. Fun to watch as they finally reach a decision.

It had been a while since I had read Laura Lee Guhrke's historical romance and I very liked going back to her work, losing myself in her words. Bookshop Cinderella was refreshing and very well written. I liked the characters both individually and together. I did find the chemistry lacking sometimes though. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book and would recomment it.

I loved this book. It’s so fresh and delicious.
I think what I loved most was the communication between them. He came out immediately about the bet and his intentions and their banter was always so on point and hilarious at times.
It was my first book by the author but it won’t be the last one because I enjoyed the writing and the characters a lot. I’m definitely looking forward to more by her in the near future.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did. I could have used another sex scene, but overall this was great. He fell first, and goodness he was very fantastic. The red herring of her other suitor could have been a little more drawn out but was well executed and a great distraction. Very fun, very angst.

Sigh. Max and Evie. Sigh.

My first Guhrke! Loved this!

Max, a Duke, has come to town to marry the “right” woman. Evie, a friend of his cousin, is a bookstore owner with excellent research skills and even better personality. Turns out the right woman isn’t at all what he planned.

Max’s rude “friends” bet him Evie can’t be popular. He takes the bet. She agrees to take a holiday from work and have some fun with the ton.

First, LOVE that he is immediately honest with her about the bet. Think Pygmalion, My Fair Lady, & She’s All That, but better. (If you haven’t heard of She’s All That please don’t tell me and make be feel old.)

He’s funny, self deprecating, smart, and determined to show her a good time.

Evie is just as smart, realistic (almost to a fault), determined to be a success, and a real feminist.

This book is funny, wonderfully descriptive, and sexy.

Also the conclusion of the bet is very very romantic.

Bookshop Cinderella is out June 20th.

Thank you to Guhrke, Hachette, and NetGalley for the ARC.

A charming take on turning a middle-class, bluestocking bookstore owner into the belle of the ball. London, 1896, Evie Harlow runs the little bookshop she inherited from her Father and performs other jobs such as transcribing manuscripts and researching topic for other to augment her meager living. A long time client, Lady Delia, has asked her to research exotic foods and decor to assist the famous chef, Auguste Escoffer to produce his annual dinner for London’s Epicurean Club. Lady Delia asks her cousin, Maxmillian Shaw, Duke of Westbourne to pick up the research at Harlow Bookshop and get it to Chef Escoffier as she needs to be in Rome and doesn’t have time to run this errand. Max has always loved his somewhat flamboyant cousin and reluctantly agrees. Max is in London because it’s time to marry a aristocrat like himself, a woman who will not love but will respect and like, a woman born a raise to take on the role of Duchess and all that entails. Ten years ago, Max impetuously married Rebecca, a young American woman who was completely out of her depth in her new role. The marriage crumbled almost immediately, Rebecca fled back to America and died after a carriage accident. Max is determined not to make the same mistake with is second marriage so when he meets and is instantly attracted to Evie, he knows they will never suit. However, in order to keep Lady Helen the woman who Max has set his matrimonial sites on, he agrees to keep an eye on her reckless and arrogant younger brother. When the brother and his equally foolish friends follow Max to the bookstore, they disparage Evie and her store. Max bets the younger men that he could turn Evie into the toast of the town and the Cinderella story begins. Of course, Cinderellas always get their prince…

I was happy to see a new series coming out from Laura Lee Guhrke.
Bookshop Cinderella missed the mark for me. I really like the MMC the Duke of Wesbourne. He had some really swoon worthy lines, delivered quite perfectly. Evie and I just didn’t connect. And the subplot with Rory was just unnecessary.

But, there was a HEA.

Another great book by Laura Lee Guhrke! The characters were very well written and I found myself drawn to their love story.

I loved this book!! I loved the characters, the title, the plot everything. It was a fun story and a quick afternoon read. I thought it was delightful from top to bottom. I would recommend to others.

Did you like She’s All That but we’re super irritated by Freddy Prince Jr’s character not telling Lanie Boggs she is a makeover project? Same. This author gets a million brownie points for the hero telling the heroine straight away that he make a bet because some jerks were being cruel about her and he wants her cooperation to prove them wrong. Since disaster has struck, she decides why not and with a villain hiding in plain sight, we want them to get their happily ever after.

✨She’s All That but make it historical✨

I’m a huge fan of the movie She’s All That, and Bookshop Cinderella did have those vibes, especially as the book caught its stride. Max frustrated me a bit more than Zach Siler—maybe the Freddie Prinze Jr. effect is just THAT strong—BUT the bet was revealed to Evie right away so that was a breath of fresh air!

I ended up liking this one more than I thought after a rocky beginning, but I wanted a bit more from the ending. It took me longer to warm up to Max than to Evie, because she was mainly just a relatable queen. He was a jerk at the beginning and I was annoyed for a time, but overall I liked Max by the end. There wasn’t an epilogue and it made me SAD because I was finally invested in their relationship and then it just ended!! I hope to see more of them in book two. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the last chapter a lot, but I give me a glimpse into their future!!

I was worried about how the Rory character would be handled, since I’m not a fan of one character thinking they’re in love with someone else…but I think it was minimal angst here. She saw pretty quick that he was a foolish peacock with no care for her and I love her for it. Max was also attempting to court someone else and while that too scared me at the beginning, I enjoyed how Max came out of it completely invested in Evie.

Overall, Bookshop Cinderella was a pretty light and sweet romance once it got going. This was my first book by the author, but it’s evident that Guhrke is a seasoned writer, as the style was charming. I don’t think it was entirely memorable, but I will read the next book in the series! I think you’ll have a good time with it if you like My Fair Ladyish etiquette lessons, opposites attract, and bookish settings.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️*/5

*We got one scene that I thought was well written and pretty good! We got the iconic “statues aren’t THAT big” line 😌

Bluestocking entrances Duke
Ms. Gurke’s tale of a book seller and a duke is a sweet romance with a bit of heat. Great descriptions of characters, scenes and clothing.
Evie Harlow inherited a struggling book store from her father and made a go of it, not rich but getting by. When she encountered Max Shaw, they rubbed each other the wrong way, but she captured his interest.
Enter a few acquaintances of his and a bet. Soon they are working together and falling in love.
Sweet sexy romance. Recommended for historical readers looking for same.
I requested and received a NetGalley ARC to peruse gratis and offer my opinion in the same.

I'm a bit conflicted with this book. In one way, it did what it was supposed to do, but I also just felt like it was lacking in chemistry, tension, and swoony-ness. I feel like the Cinderella trope is never fully developed in books, which is a shame, because it's such a trope with so much potential for tension/angst/simmering character development/forbidden attraction. But I just felt like this relied on the *idea* of a Cinderella trope to tell the story. For now, I'm giving this a 3-star rating, but I am definitely going to reread it this month to see if my opinion of it changes and maybe give it a 4-star rating instead:)

<i>I received this title as an ARC on Net-galley in exchange for a honest review. Thank you publisher for the copy!</i>

<b>The Good</b>
I usually don't like bet "she's all that"–esque plot lines but the open communication about the bet and them both benefiting made it work. I love their friendship and the chemistry between them. It was a bit of a slow burn but the chemistry was great.

<b>The Bad</b>
I wish their was an epilogue to the story they showed even a little of their life after marriage since it was so late into the book. I also felt as though Rudy was a very cartoonish "villian" of the story.

<b>The Rating</b>
I give this book a <b>4/5🌟 rating.</b> I liked this pairing a lot and the concept. A nice historical romance!

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Maximillian “Max” Shaw, the Duke of Westbourne, plans to remarry. He has already selected the ideal woman to be his future duchess. Max agrees to collect the research material his cousin commissioned from a certain bookshop proprietress. When his drunken comrades disparage the shop’s owner, Max bets he can transform the dowdy bibliophile into the Season’s diamond. He never factored in losing his heart to the woman. Can Max and Evie bridge the differences in the social classes?

Evangeline “Evie” Harlow owns and operates a small bookshop she inherited from her father. She also does research for authors and nobles to supplement her income. Evie feels oddly discontent with her current life. She reluctantly agrees to the Duke of Westbourne’s outlandish proposition. Evie has no interest in joining high society, but she intends to enjoy her brief ‘holiday’. She never anticipated the attraction brewing between her and Max. Will Evie’s insecurities stand in the way of her future happiness?

What is there NOT to like about Max? The man proved to be a sweetheart. I adore the fact that Max cannot resist helping a woman in need. High-born or low-born, it makes no difference to him. He does get harped on by his friends and family, but that does not stop him. I also like how Max wields his ducal title and authority. He mostly uses it for other people’s benefits than his own. What I adore the most about Max is how he noticed Evie’s true potential. Where others saw her outward appearance, he acknowledged the beauty within.

Evie is the reason why I picked up this book. Something about a bibliophile-type Cinderella sounded really good to me. I love Evie’s persistence. She refused to give up on her father’s bookstore, especially in an era when women had restricted roles and rights. Evie found clever ways to keep her business afloat. What I like the most about Evie is that she is a woman beset by insecurities. It makes her so much more relatable. She is in no way perfect. Sometimes her insecurities interfere with Evie’s dreams and wishes.

BOOKSHOP CINDERELLA is the first book in Laura Lee Guhrke’s historical romance series, SCANDAL AT THE SAVOY. I am new to this author’s works. I have seen Guhrke’s name mentioned here or there in Romancelandia for this genre. The story’s premise is what initially snagged my interest… and it did NOT disappoint. The author’s writing style really sucked me in. I could not wait for the time I allotted myself to reading (aka with no interruptions from my family and doggos). I will be checking out Guhrke’s backlist.

This was a really fun easy read. In this story we have Evie a middle class bookshop owner who is struggling to make ends meet, and feeling lonely and unsettled with her life. Into her shop strolls Max, a duke forced to stop by her shop by his cousin Delia. While there, he is intrigued by the bookshop owner who isn’t afraid to put him in his place and to treat him like anyone else. When some friends of his make fun of Evie, Max gets enraged on her behalf and ends up making a drunken bet with his friends about her being a belle of the ball if she was given the opportunity to get the same pampering and fancy clothes as the women in their class had. A lot of fun ensues as Max tries to persuade Evie to help him win this bet, and take advantage of a holiday and some training and new clothes for a month. This was a great rags to riches Cinderella story. This was my first book by this author, but it won’t be my last! I received an ARC, and this is my honest review.

I’m a marketing and publicity intern at Forever Publishing, so I am reading this for work! Aaaaaaand there's a character limit on reviews here are some more words

Bookshop by Laura Lee Guhrke was my first introduction to her. I’m very happy I picked it up.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It’s a fast sweet romance. I think this was more My Fair Lady (but nicer) or Pygmalion than Cinderella. Common girl/rich guy trope. She gets a makeover. There’s a wager. I enjoyed the characters so much! The dialogue was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to the next one in the series.

Thanks to #netgalley for this ARC. This was my honest opinion. This book releases 6/20/23. It would make a great beach read.

Thank you, Forever and NetGalley, for being able to read this

This book was the perfect escape. Evie and Max are now two of my favorite historical romance characters! I think the reason I enjoyed this so much was that it was a light, fluffy read, but it had some good tension throughout the whole plot.

I also was a big fan of Max being honest from the start and not trying to hide anything from Evie. I get annoyed with unnecessary dishonesty in any books, but it seems to happen in Regency/historical fiction books more.

This was my first book by Laura Lee Guhrke, and I know it won’t be my last because the writing was detailed and the characters well-developed. I’m looking forward to the next book in the Scandal at the Savoy series!

I ADORED this read. Being a fan of period romances this gave me all I wanted and more.
Swoony, sweet, undeniable love between the Duke and Evie had me smiling as I read. I’m officially looking forward to my next Laura Lee Guhrke read!