A big thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Grand Central Publishing for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Overall:⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5 stars rounded up)
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

This book is the historical romance version of She’s All That. I absolutely love a good 90’s romcom and this was a great introduction to historical romance for me. The Duke is like Freddie Prince Jr’s character and Evie is the "ugly duckling" except this time, she’s in on the bet.

Tropes:
Forced Proximity
Slow Burn
Opposites Attract
Cinderella Retelling

Overall, I really enjoyed this storyline! Dual POV stories are not my typical jam, but this was done pretty well. My biggest annoyance was that it took the Duke constantly telling her how awesome she was for her to finally believe it. I just wished she could have figured it out on her own.

If you love the movie She’s All That and the story of Cinderella, you will love this book!

You have Evie, the serious, spinster bookshop owner. Who is fairly comfortable in her predictable life. Then you have Max, a Duke who is looking for the perfect duchess.

After Max is asked by his cousin for a favor, he is thrust into Evie’s bookshop. At her bookshop Evie and Max have a not so friendly first meeting.

When some youthful boys who know Max and Evie make some off hand comments, Max bets the boys he can have Evie’s dance card full at his ball. After telling his plan to Evie, she agrees and begins to enjoy a whirl wind luxury vacation all financed by Max.

Soon feelings develop and Max and Evie have to decide what they each want and need out of life and a spouse.

I loved that Evie was pushed out of her comfort zone. Sometimes we need that push to grow to our full potential.

I love that Max fell first and he saw how beautiful Evie was before her glow up. I related so much to Evie, as I’m too a spinster ;) The story flowed so well and the side characters were hilarious! The book was wonderful and I can’t wait to read more by Laura Lee Guhrke!

Thank you Netgalley and Forever Grand Central Publishing for this ARC.

Max and Evie's story is wonderful!! I loved the quick, witty banter between the two. Both are very likeable characters that capture your heart immediately! Any Cinderella type story really grabs me, I love those type of stories.
Since this is the first in this series I will be waiting impatiently waiting for the next in the series. The only thing this one is missing is the epilogue, I look forward to reading about what their lives are like in the near future. Well maybe they will appear in the next editions to the series for brief updates. I am curious to see where the series goes next.
I give 5 stars and recommend highly. Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review voluntarily in return.

4/5 stars
2/5 spice

A quick read that integrates friends to lovers with a bit of Cinderella vibes. Fun to read the banter between Evie and Max and see their friendship blossom.

Tropes:
Friends to lovers
Cinderella/Ugly Duckling vibes
Forced proximity
Duke & Bookshop owner
Class differences
Slow burn
Tension & banter
Victorian era
Multiple POV

Evie was very relatable and genuine in her fears. I was very pleased how she was able to conquer her fears and in the end choose to embrace the challenges life was throwing her way. She was independent, witty, and out spoken. I loved her interactions with the Duke. And Max, the Duke, was kept on his toes and never put her in her place, despite being well above her station. Max proved to be Evie's champion without over stepping. The banter was great and the sexual tension that built up was nice too.

Overall, a great Victorian era romance that focused more on the two main characters and their budding romance. I was hoping for an epilogue but it still ended at a good part that was sweet. Highly recommend for fans of Cinderella or Ugly Duckling retellings or sweet friends to lovers.

Thank you to Forever/Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered freely.

Trigger/Content warnings:
Bullying (shared as a memory), classism, sexism (relative to that time period), death of a spouse (shared as a memory), sexual content

I loved, loved, loved Max And Evie’s story. I loved it so much I couldn’t put this book down. Then again, I’m a fan of Laura Lee Guhrke. I haven’t read all her books but the ones I’ve read I’ve always enjoyed very much, and this wasn’t the exception either. It do not disappoint.

Bookshop Cinderella is basically She’s All That, but Freddie Prince is a Duke and Rachel Leigh Cook is a bookshop owner.

Max, the Duke of Westbourne, idly makes a bet with some acquaintances that he can make bookshop owner Evie Harlow into a diamond of the season. At first, Evie is not remotely interested, but after a flood in her shop, she has to move out for a few weeks and she decides to take Mac up on his offer.

This is a really sweet romance. Max thinks he can just waltz into Evie’s life, transform her into a society lady, and marry her off, but Evie is much more complicated than he expected. Max has a lot of baggage because his first marriage, a love match, ended badly, and he’s only looking for a match of convenience with an ideal duchess.

Although Evie is reluctant at first, she soon finds that she enjoys her new lifestyle a lot, and it makes her wonder if she really wants the quiet spinster life that she’s planned out.

Max and Evie have great chemistry, and you’ll really like this one if you like your historical romance with a side of rom com.

I am a sucker for stories about bookshop owners who are women so this book was right up my alley! Evie is a shy, quiet young woman, independent and smart, who runs a small bookshop - making her not quite the typical Victorian lady. Max Shaw is a roguish Duke who takes a bet to turn shy Evie into the belle of the ball, but begins falling for her.

Really fun light romance with colorful settings and interesting characters. Enjoyed this one very much!

3.5 STARS
This is a fun read.
The characters are great!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really loved that book! I’m a sucker for Cinderella related stuff and I absolutely love She’s All That (even watched He's All That, you can't stop me!). In the book, you get all the vibes from those stories but it is such a nice take on it, so well done, I was really looking forward to see what would happen next. I loved that Evie knew about the whole bet and even though she had no plan to do it at first, she then found herself wanting to win for real and she slowly took confidence in herself.

Max was absolutely perfect in my opinion, the winking, the banter, the way he was always honest and trying his best to help how he could. Ugh.... I looooove him. I also quite enjoyed knowing more about the past of our characters and understanding how it could affect their reactions/decisions, it was easy to understand them. Max and his cousin’s relationship was so cute and it made me love Delia right away (hoping she gets her own book!!). The character growth was quite satisfying and the interactions between our MC were so damn adorable. All this tension between them... oh how I loved it! Max’s inner thoughts were just the best, I loved that he was always battling how he felt and all, until he just couldn’t. I was dying with the dance lessons, IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER.

Anyways, I was smiling a lot reading this book and it was just so easy to get into it. The ending really flew by and next thing I knew the book was over. For some reason that I cannot explain, the ending gave me such Persuasion vibes and it was awesome.Gonna be honest, I kinda want a movie with that book now!

To sum up, it was a light, sweet, fun read and I definitely recommend your read it if you enjoy historical romance!

Thanks to the author, Forever and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a deliciously quaint, cute, and fun read! I absolutely loved Evie. I thought this was a unique twist in the typical bet trope and found Max & Evie’s story to be fun and easy to read. It gave me She’s All That vibes (which is one of my all time favorite movies) and I was absolutely here for it! Plus, it’s set in a bookshop! Super cute.

A fun Regency take on She's All That, but one where the heroine knows she is being made over. I liked this book a lot. I really liked watching FMC Evie come into her own. I liked reading about Max's attitude about Evie a bit less. He was fixated on the class differences for longer than I would have liked, though his backstory gives insight into why. There is great chemistry between them, though, and watching Max overcome his history and grow as a person was lovely.

One negative for me was the somewhat superfluous villain character and the random jump into the villain's POV. Secondary character Delia, however, was a huge plus. She is so much her own woman and accepting of Evie as Evie is. I am interested to see if she ends up with a story of her own, though I also love the notion of her as a swinging single forever in charge of her own destiny.

A solid 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary ARC of this book. The opinions herein are my own.

A Victoria era novel set in 1896 London. Named for Cinderella but it is really a twist on Pygmalion or the movie She’s All That. Miss Evie Harlow inherited her fathers bookshop in London. The shop isn’t very successful but she takes on other jobs like typing manuscripts and doing research to keep things a float. She is moving to the age of spinster and vows only to marry for love as she can take care of herself.

Maximillian Shaw, Duke of Westbourne comes into her shop to pick up some research for his favorite cousin. After a couple of his friends taught about her being beneath their class he makes a bet with them. He will make her the belle of the season. Of course she calls the offer ridiculous until a flood at the shop gives her reason to accept. During the make over they spend time together which leads to attraction. The author adds in an extra twist by Max previously marrying while young to a woman who wasn’t prepared to be a duchess. The marriage only lasted two years. So now he isn’t looking for love but for someone suitable and ready for the responsibilities of his position.

This is an entertaining story with two strong leads. I like that she is aware of the bet so she isn’t being deceived. It takes almost 30 percent of the book to get the story set up and I wish there were more interactions like him teaching her to dance. The bet last for almost two months but there are time jumps hoping from one event to another. But I was happy for the ending and would have loved an epilogue. Maybe they will appear in the next novel in the series so I can know how they are doing.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review.

It has been a while since I’ve read a book from Guhrke, but I’m so glad I came across this book! And to think this is the first book in a series. So ready to read the next installment! I was definitely not disappointed. Was it equal amounts of sweet, funny, and steamy? Yes, yes it was. Think She’s All That set in the Victorian-era! And I’m all here for it!

Evie is our steadfast heroine willing to stay independent despite things not going the way they should. She owns a crumbling bookstore which is barely making money, is accumulating a mountain of debt and to top it all off, she thinks herself in love with Rory, her childhood friend, who pretty much just uses her for money.

Max is the Hero of the story who apart from being so good looking and intelligent, he sees Evie for who she truly is which is not in any way a homey wallflower like his young peers think she is. And that’s where the wager comes in. If Max can turn Evie into the belle of the ball by the end of the season, he wins the bet.

At first Evie thinks it’s ridiculous and complete refuses, but when some unfortunate circumstances occur, she ends up accepting Max’s offer and they work together in order to win the bet. These two characters together is heaven. You see them begin as strangers, ease into a friendship, until suddenly they begin looking at each other differently and heated glances become forbidden kisses.

I loved this slow-burn, steamy but sweet romance. Max was such a sweetheart with equal amounts of wicked comments, I lost count how many highlights I had throughout the book. Definitely worth the read. My only issue was Rory. I forgot he existed for a big chunk of the book. I figured he was just a villain to move the story along, but he was very much a cookie cutter bad guy. More personality would have worked? Or maybe his motive could’ve had higher stakes.

All in all an amazing, fun read. I cannot wait for the next book in the series!

I read a lot of reviews that billed this as more She’s All That than Cinderella and I certainly got that vibe with the bet. This was a cute story and an easy read. I liked the FMC more than the MMC. If you’re a historical romance fan, I’d give this one a shot!

As a historical romance reader, I am ashamed to say this is my first book by Laura Lee Guhrke and I am so happy it was because it was beautiful. Strong characters, strong plot, strong secondary characters, vivid writing, and a fantastic wrap.! I finished this in one sitting, and at the end, it made me remember why I love historical romance so much! Great story and I can't wait for the next book in the series. Now, have this need to read all of Laura's backlist!

I loved Max. He was so cautious of his heart and position that he was willing to let everything go to make things right. Evie was such a strong female character, being an independent lady and trying to get by. I loved these two characters because they help each other build themselves up, not down. They were both open about what they wanted, and it was their insecurities that got them thinking they didn't deserve happiness. Lovely.

Engaging story about proving society wrong and being courageous in the face of the unknown, about learning the difference between love and lust, settling for what is safe and boring vs seeking true happiness. He is her “fairy godmother” and “Prince Charming” and so they also deserve to get their fairy tale ending. As always, Laura Lee Guhrke does not disappoint with this enjoyable tale.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and leaving my review voluntarily.

This was a nice fun quick read. It reminded me of My Fair Lady. Evie Harlow runs a bookshop that was passed down to her. She loves the bookshop, but lately she has been wanting more out of life. In walks a Duke, who comes at a time when she's more interested in another and doesn't have time for his judgement. One thing leads to another and a bet comes into play. Evie is thrust into high society where she gets to know the Duke more. Can a working class woman fit into the Duke's high class society? I enjoyed both of the main characters and the story put a smile on my face. Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Bookshop Cinderella was a fun, fast read! It's been a little while since I read something by Laura Lee Guhrke, but this was a great return to the author. I appreciate that the hero was up front about the circumstances of bargain at once, as that can easily lead to some simple miscommunications. While at times awkward, overall I really enjoyed it. I will definitely be looking out for more of her books in the future!

thank you netgalley & forever for my advanced copy of Bookshop Cinderella! I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve posted a general book review, so I apologize if I’m a bit rusty!

I tend to not read many historical romances because they generally do not hold my attention for long, but this one was easy to digest and a quick read! It’s the first in a new series called Scandal at the Savoy. I haven’t read anything else by this author, but her writing felt polished and expert to me. I enjoyed the story that unfolded between our main character, Evie Harlow, and the love interest, Maximillian (Max) Shaw, Duke of Westbourne.

I loved that Evie is a character who runs her own bookstore, is smart, quick-witted, and speaks her mind. I enjoyed the fun banter between Evie and Max as their feelings grew for one another. And I could feel the author’s love of historical romance and books through the pages of this book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4 stars from me, I will definitely check out future releases in this series.

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Scandal at the Savoy series. Max is doing a favor for his cousin by collecting research and plans for a dinner party from bookseller Evie; when he meets her, he’s tailed by a few boisterous younger men who disparage Evie’s plain and bookish demeanor. He ends up wagering that with a bit of polish, she’ll be able to fill her dance card at a ball in six weeks time. Max tries to enlist Evie to be part of his wager, but she refuses at first, until a boiler bursts in her bookshop, closing it down and leaving her without a place to stay. Evie has basically been alone in running her shop and barely making ends meet and has never experienced any balls or parties, so Max’s offer forces her to experience new things. Meanwhile, as a duke with no heirs, Max is seeking the perfect society wife and trying to learn from the mistakes he made with his first wife, who was ostracized in society. While Max and Evie grow closer with their talking and banter, they both know that the social class differences between them would be unrealistic to try to overcome. This was a fun book to read and I liked reading about Evie gaining more self-confidence through the book.