Eloisa James takes readers on a witty banter-filled journey through Regency England in the third installment of the Would-Be Wallflowers series, "Not That Duke."

Silvester Parnell, the Duke of Huntington, and the bespectacled redheaded heroine Lady Stella Corsham, began as secondary but essential characters in The Reluctant Countess. Initially dismissing Lady Stella because he believes himself to be in love with someone else, Silvester's perception changes when he realizes she is far more than meets the eye under those eyeglasses.

Lady Stella, with her substantial dowry, attracts fortune-hunting suitors who barely pretend to tolerate her bluestocking ways in order to bolster their flagging finances. Meanwhile, Silvester, whom she perceives as a sinfully handsome but unsuitable choice, doesn’t need her money and finds her eccentric ways magnetic.

Though their relationship morphs into something far deeper than friendship and mutual respect, they aren’t the ideal fairytale, as Silvester is accused of marrying Stella for all the wrong reasons. He grows increasingly desperate as he tries to convince Stella that his love for her is genuine, despite her belief that he remains in love with someone else.

Eloisa James masterfully crafts the relationship between the couple, infusing it with both passion and vulnerability. Their interactions are filled with clever wordplay and deep emotion.

What sets "Not That Duke" apart is the complex and multi-dimensional characters. Silvester is not just a dashing duke but a man who is willing to fight for and protect the woman he loves. Stella, despite her quirks, is strong-willed and intelligent, refusing to settle for anything less than true love.

Beloved characters from James’ other works “How to Be a Wallflower," "The Reluctant Countess," and "My American Duchess" make frequent appearances. "Not That Duke" can be enjoyed as a standalone novel but works best placed in the timeline of the previous series novels.

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Tropes: bluestockings/spinsters, Big Duke Energy, enemies to friends to lovers, Regency Romance
Heat Level: 1.5/5, open door, on page, emotional intimacy
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Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected publication date July 25th, 2023.

This series has been a head scratcher! I think this is the last one because I dont know how much longer it can sustain itself! This was a solid 3.5 stars

I will say this has been my favorite of the 3. One thing they all share in common is that they tend to have little, or insignificant, conflict. That translates as very one note to me, but it was easy and fun.

Things I liked:
* I really liked both Silvester and Stella. They were both flawed MCs but there was some magic when they were together.
* Silvester's mom was hilarious
* I liked the second part of the book and wished we had more of it

Things that turned me off:
* I wanted to hit Silvester over the head several time for being a dunce. How did he not see that he needed to have done more to convince Stella that he wasn't in love with Yasmin. That last ballroom scene drove me bananas.
* UGHHHH LYDIA is back and it was annoying that she still didn't get her just desserts.

All in all, not a bad book, but not the best.

Thank you #NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I feel like Eloisa James is every other book, but this was supposed to be the good one after the disaster of the countess and I didn’t like this much better. Not explicitly bad, like the countess but just very meh.

More like, Not That Girl. I felt so bad for Stella. Maybe it's because I also have red hair and wear glasses. Growing up was horrible for me. Kids can be very mean. But Stella lives with the mean people even in her adulthood. And her own family is at fault also. I am so proud of the way that she sticks up for herself and isn't afraid to speak her mind. And what a mind she has too.
Silvester is confused by the feelings that he has towards Stella when he is actively pursuing another girl. One that is perfect for him and would be the perfect Duchess.
This book has two parts. Part one is Silvester courting another lady while fighting his feelings towards Stella. Part two is Silvester realizing it was Stella all along and Stella feeling like she is second choice in everything. For Stella words speak louder than actions. Silvester spends so much time showing her how he feels and what he wants. She just wants and needs to words.

I liked this romance and wanted to love it. And for Stella, I really could've. An absolute cracker of a heroine. However, it relies too much on what went on in The Reluctant Countess for this to be a stand-alone, or for the romance between Stella and Silvester to be fully believable.

I'm sure you can read this without having read The Reluctant Countess, but I imagine that would be confusing at times. Much of this book is seeing scenes that take place in the other book from different characters' perspectives. Giles and Yasmin--the leads in that book--are front and center here as well. And I'm sorry to say, so is the execrable Lady Lydia. If you didn't read that one, the most important things to understand for this book are that Silvester is courting Yasmin, and everyone expects Lady Stella and Giles to be married because it seems he might be courting her.

Only, Stella recognizes even perhaps before Giles does that he loves Yasmin. That doesn't bother her much at all--not like it pains her heart that Silvester is clearly in love with Yasmin. And the thing is, throughout much of the early part of this book, he seems to think himself in love with her as well--that love is for adorable Yasmin, but lust and friendship are for Stella. (As a reader of both of these books--one who even liked Yasmin--I can tell you that Stella does not deserve the shabby, secondhand treatment.)

I really did enjoy the friendship between Stella and Silvester, and I would have liked to see more of them without Yasmin or the figurative specter of Yasmin in the middle of their relationship. I would have liked to see Silvester start to realize he loves her, not just because it's not how he felt about Yasmin, but simply because he's focused just on Stella. It's just that too much of the romance here has to do with Yasmin and Silvester's relationship with Yasmin as a yardstick. And frankly, Silvester needed to earn Stella; he gets off far too easily from conflict over the Stella/Yasmin contrast in a moment that becomes a perfect example of intent being far less important than impact.

Stella is a wonder, though. She will make you wish you too were a smart, kind, curvy, freckled, bespeckled ginger. And I liked Silvester, even when he had his head up his ass. I think this pairing would have been stronger if their romance was not so yoked to his attempts at romance with another woman.

Also, please for the love of God, do not bring back Lydia again in this series. There are fun villains, and there are fun to hate villains. Lydia is neither of those: she is straight up evil and has the worst personality. She was a blight on the previous book, and I hated ever moment we had to interact with her here--and it was a lot, like 2/3 of the text. Just send Lydia to the continent or have her fall off a boat in the Channel or something.

Third in a series by Eloisa James, Not That Duke is a historical romance featuring a freckled, specs-wearing, redheaded encyclopedia reading heroine who is raised by her aunt to expect very little on the marriage market. The hero is a smooth, charming duke who appears to be in love with another woman (heroine of book 2) for most of the book. It's something that society believes, and the heroine also believes. To enjoy the book, I do thinking reading the second in the series would help, because the reader would clearly understand the dynamic better. Unfortunately, it lessened my enjoyment of the book as did Stella's insecurity, which got wearying to read, and I never really shook the "sibling" vibe they shared. The connection for me didn't quite "pop" despite how well-written the book is, like it did in the prior installment. I basically had to suspend disbelief that they would get together because I could feel the work that James was having to effect to make the characters connect; it didn't feel organic. That said, this might be totally someone else's jam! And I still can give it no less than 4 stars, because it remains a well written, interesting novel.

Free ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

Silvester, the Duke of Huntington, is the catch of the season. Stella is a red head, bespectacled debutant in her debut year on the marriage mart. The two cross paths at balls and outings and have a friendly rapport until Stella's meddling "friends" report to her that they overheard the duke commenting on her freckles and glasses to his supposed paramour. Stella befriends the duke's mother, the dowager duchess, and the two get into silly hijinks. The dowager adores Stella's intelligence and plots to pair the two together. Silvester eventually sees beyond Stella's initial bluestocking personality and grows to love her wit and humor. He tries to win her hand and proposes multiple times, but Stella refuses, citing his initial lack of interest in her. Silvester has to work hard both before and during their marriage to win over his future duchess.

This read was just okay. I didn't feel a very strong connection between Silvester and Stella. There was certainly lust, but I almost felt that the attraction was one-sided. Stella was very anxious about her husband's feelings, and rightly so, because the reader never figures out why he suddenly dropped his previous paramour and turned all his attention to Stella (there is a brief mention that it was because his friend was also in love with the same woman and he can't stand to lose....yawn). The side characters in this book are the most interesting characters in the whole story. The dowager duchess and the American duchess Merry are the most fun and engaging characters. Lydia is a one-dimensional villian and Blanche seems to be gaining her redemption by the end of the novel. Overall, just a 3 star read that lacked real chemistry,

Oh, the problems of being a handsome, wealthy duke. Silvester has to get married and decides that the one woman for him is Yasmin, the beautiful, but scandalous, toast of the season. His wise mother advises him that she’s not for him and the woman who has the most strength of character is Stella. Apparently, Stella has demonstrated that by refusing to not wear her glasses as other young lady might to put up a false facade of perfection.

Well, of course Stella is the exactly right woman for him and Silvester comes to realize this and, in the way of romance novels, Stella becomes more and more attractive to him as he falls for her.

Add in a marriage of convenience that soon turns quite passionate.

I had read the earlier book about Yasmin’s romance which is contemporaneous with the plot of this book. I hadn’t remembered much of that book, but it didn’t end up mattering much. If you don’t like a plot where the hero is attracted to another woman for the earlier parts of the book, you can read and enjoy this story.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Another solid story from Eloisa James.

Silvester and Stella a match made in heaven? That’s what his mom thinks, but he only sees Stella as a friend. A friend with a lovely lower lip.

Stella thinks Silvester is very handsome and also a friend, a friend she’s upset with cause he keeps kissing her while professing his desire to marry someone else.

Stella has many insecurities (red hair and spectacles! Oh my!) and when the time comes she can’t believe that Silvester, a Duke, actually cares for her. He has to show her.

This books is a little messy, but I did enjoy it.

It says it can be read as a stand-alone but reading the two previous books is helpful.

Stella has unfashionable red hair, a curvaceous figure and spectacles that make her an outcast in London society. Silvester is a duke who believes he is in love with the star of the London season but it is Stella who challenges him. I loved this historical romance but it was almost against my better judgement. Stella is so great but Silvester really was inconsiderate and I felt that his comeuppance should have been more dramatic. It’s hard to nitpick though, because I absolutely inhaled this book.

I received a digital arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

So, I didn’t love this book. However, it is very likely because I didn’t read the previous two, even though there’s a note at the beginning that this can be read as a stand-alone. As someone who hasn’t read it, I highly recommend you read the book 1 & 2. Or at least book 2.

Here’s the deal: I don’t love a triangle or when there’s another man or woman in the picture. It’s just not the escapism I’m looking for. Sylvester’s interest in Yasmin just took me out. They got over it, but it just didn’t quite hit.

I think I honestly would have liked this a lot more if I had read book 2. I’m giving it 4 stars still because it’s not Eloisa’s fault that I didn’t like the story, I’m just not the audience for it. Plus, there were a lot of funny moments that brought it all back for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon for the advanced copy for my honest review.

First off - I'm so thankful to get this book from the publisher for a review as Eloisa James has long been a favorite author of mine.

Second note (this is feeling very formal LOL): I have not yet read Book 2 but having read book 1 and being so excited about getting the ARC I was thrilled when it said it stood alone.

Reader, it does not.

There is an entire swath of the book where <spoiler> the hero has gone off with the woman he says he's in love with and been courting to the country when she has to take off and then apparently no longer loves her and goes to his country house to get it ready for his bride which we seriously don't even know if he's thinking of her or the heroine Stella... this happens OFF PAGE with chapters of stuff going on back in London with Stella. We sadly never see him realize he doesn't love the other woman or that he loves Stella -- does he propose? does she turn him down? is he really just competing? I don't know if I can trust anything in the last two chapters </spoiler>

Anyway... Stella is fun and awesome and very modern. The secondary characters (except for the bully who is actually exhausting to read so that's done well) are lovely and enjoyable.

The book is split into parts and it's kind of "Stella realizing she should not love the Duke." then "Stella loving the Duke but he's in the country with the "winner" of the season." then "now they're married and happy but stella regrets it bc he loves someone else but he says now he doesn't"

The book felt both too slow and rushed.

The weird thing is, none of this sounds like an Eloisa James book to me. Her books are tight and lovely and strongly shaped.

If you are considering picking this up as first Ms. James book, I recommend picking another. She is a wonderful writer with a deep list of five star books. This, sadly, is her one non-five star.

I am looking forward to the next book which I assume is Blanche. I think it will redeem this story and keep the series going forward!

Eloisa gives us another exquisite regency romance. Starring a wallflower and a duke. Carrying over from The Reluctant Countess, both Stella and Silvester, who are vying for the affections of Yasmin and the Earl of Lilford respectively, let their attraction loose.

Orphaned Stella has been bullied and neglected by the ton. Her nervous aunt is in despair of her ever marrying. Silvester, Duke of Huntington, yearned for Yasmin but turns his sights on Stella after he is gobsmacked by her wit, charm, and curvaceous figure.

Lots of misunderstandings avail, but true love as always wins in the end.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

This was a supremely enjoyable historical romance. The author has a gift for incorporating fizzing romantic comedy into the story; I read part of this book while in a waiting room and could barely stop myself from giggling during one fun-filled scene. The best part is that this story also has lots of truly heartfelt moments.

I believe that even though this is the latest in a series, this could be read as a stand-alone. It is linked to a previous book and shares some characters and events, so readers who are familiar with the previous books will have some extra fun and background knowledge.

I received an ARC from the publisher.

I just spent the weekend with the master storyteller, Eloisa James! Her book, Not That Duke is part of the Would-Be Wallflowers Series. It is the story of Stella and Silvester as they discover their authentic selves. The road to their happiness is paved with witty conversations, good intentions and, of course, misunderstandings. This combined with solid supporting characters make this book an incredible read!

Stella is a well crafted female character with enough perceived and displayed flaws to defeat any woman's soul. She is not the embodiment of perfection as declared by the Ton and on top of that she doesn't hide her intelligence or her opinions. I found Stella relatable in so many ways and loved her determination to be herself endearing. She, however, has to fight the her inner voice whispering in her ear ,along with her Aunt Thyme, that she needs to adapt and change to be accepted in society.. This voice wars with her real self throughout the book causing both nagging doubt and the strengthening of her convictions.

Silvester is the golden boy of the Ton who learned at a young age to conceal those parts of him that do not conform to the ideal. . He is a competitive man who needs to always win and his choices are guided by his inner need for security and acceptance. I will admit that I did not warm up to him initially because of his insensitive behavior and lustful imaginings towards Stella while being besotted by another woman.. He enjoys sparing with Stella and plays with her friendship without seeing how his actions strike at her soul.. His decision to court Stella was wishy - washy and caused heartache for both Stella and the reader. I so wanted to shake him and wake up him so he could see the treasure she truly was!

I loved that the book ran timewise along with the previous books in the series. I found this a unique plot strategy and loved the inclusion of characters we met in those books into Not That Duke. . Silvester's mother, the Dowager Duchess, is a stand out character who is crafty and hilarious and whose words are sprinkled with wisdom! . The unexpected surprise on the wedding night made me laugh out loud and was one of the best plot lines I've read in Historical Romance. None the less, the book does not end there as the couple faces new challenges, and misconceptions as well obtuse actions by Silvester! When will he finally see!!!

I am a undeniable Eloisa James fan and she has delivered another excellent romance! Truly a skilled writer in my assessment and Not That Duke is another strong addition to her stories.

I received an advanced readers copy of the book and my opinion is freely given.

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Would-Be Wallflowers series. Half of this book takes place in the same timeline as Book 2 of the series, so there are a lot of overlapping events in both books. Stella bookish and clumsy and awkward and the mean girls make fun of her, but she is definitely attracted to Silvester, even though he will never see her as a potential bride. Silvester grew up with eccentric parents and wants to conform more to social standards, so ignores the possibility of Stella as a wife, even though his mother suggests he. He’s busy pining over another lady for half the book, to the point where Stella knows she definitely has no chance at all with him, even though they’re sort of friends and spend a lot of time together. Poor Stella is just getting the short end of the stick for the whole book and is incredibly insecure, while Silvester is constantly doing and saying the wrong thing and oh so very slow to realize that Stella is worthy of his love and adoration. So much angst over this idiot and you just want to wrap Stella up and choose her first.

As always Eloisa James writes an amazing story, I never remember the time. I am so involved with the story and the characters; I forget everything else. This story is about the Duke of Huntington, Silvester who falls in love this season with someone he adores, and Lady Stella who is a redhead, has freckles, wears glasses and is a little clumsy because it is hard for her to judge distance. The problem arises because the lady Silvester is in love with is not Stella. You will fall in love with Stella, she is unique and wants to just be loved for herself and to be someone’s first choice. I know sometimes I wanted to slap Silvester, but I will say he was always nice to Stella, they were friends first, but he did have an attraction to her he could not help even if he tried to deny it.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and I am leaving my honest opinion.

*This review contains spoilers.*

If you didn’t like book two, I don’t think this will be much of an improvement. Yes, I did like it better, but it also reminded me constantly of how much was wrong with book two. The story relied heavily on book two, even though there was literally a note at the beginning saying it wasn’t necessary to have read it. I greatly disagree. The pacing was so funky that if I didn’t know what happened in book two, I’d have been like WUT is going on.

The book is split into two parts, the first part taking place during the events of book two. This means we see more of Lydia being a wench, Giles being a prig, and Yasmin being too nice about all of it. Lydia (and Giles) ruined book two for me, so I must admit I really didn’t care for the entire first half of this book, as it felt like I was rereading book two with even MORE of Lydia’s machinations. I don’t even think she was properly dealt with in this book, so I’m doubly vexed why we needed to revisit that train wreck.

The hero, Silvester, fancied himself in love with Yasmin so the entire first half he was courting her and being incredibly thick skulled regarding Stella (the heroine). He was like I loooooove her but I’ll admit I would like to bang Stella. Which really just reduced their entire relationship to lust, and I never saw him fall in love love. Eloisa was aware of this, as the lust came up in several conversations…but it was never properly handled.

Part one ends with him absconding to the country with Yasmin, with no explanation. We barely got any of his POV throughout the book (the majority given to Stella) so when he had his whole big shift of feelings towards her…it happened off page and in the country with Yasmin where we WEREN’T. He came back and was like nice that was fun and fresh Stella let’s get married and she was rightfully confused. He then strongarmed her into marriage—something I don’t always dislike, but here it just felt unnecessary. Since I didn’t see the shift of his emotions on the page, I was like why the hell is he suddenly so over Yasmin??

By 60% I genuinely thought the book was over. They were married and seemed happy? I was questioning what the hell was going to be the third act, until I realized it was all of the unresolved insecurity Stella had since she also believed Silvester to be pining for Yasmin. And then he had a random thing where he was adamant that he didn’t love Stella…for reasons unknown. He was so quick to love Yasmin! He was like why do you still think I love Yasmin??? And I’m like SIR you’ve given NONE of us an explanation and we’re 95% in!

Yeah half of the book he was in love with someone else, Stella was kinda of being courted by Giles, and it was just unnecessarily convoluted. He was like yeah Stella I was courting her, but I was playing chess with YOU and thinking about your body…like what am I supposed to do with that info?? Doesn’t seem like a great guy lmao. It really seemed liked a loved her body but we never found out why he fell in love with her. Superficial I guess?

I think this need another round of developmental editing because the pace felt choppy and incredibly random at times. We also needed way more of Silvester’s POV, as he had a lot of ground to cover in order to convince everyone he was over Yasmin. Since the book was two parts, half of the plot just dropped off at 50% and it seemed very abrupt. There were a lot of time jumps and not a lot of depth to the plot or relationship. Splitting this book in teo felt like it was used as a bandaid to try to connect to very different stories. Why rehash the entirety of book two and spend half of the book doing it??

This book just felt like an underdeveloped afterthought. I liked the second part way better than the first, as it actually seemed a. relevant to the relationship and b. like a NEW book not book two in a different font. While book two angered me, this one at least didn’t do that. I don’t hate it, and it shaped up to be a cute ending…but it was just so chaotically plotted and developed. The fact that that man had a whole ass come to Jesus moment off page, got over a years long crush, and decided to marry the heroine…and we saw him think through NONE OF IT??? Idk seems pretty wild to me.

I know I listed a lot of grievances, but I did still enjoy the main characters once we got halfway through. I always liked Stella, and the newly introduced side characters were fun, especially the dowager. The bones of a really compelling story were there, but we only got about half of it. The book could’ve opened with Silvester upset about Yasmin’s marriage to Giles with about a half a page recap, and it would’ve been GREAT. No need to overlap them like that! Let these two cuties shine.

⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.5*/5

*I just wasn’t feeling the chemistry for most of this book, and there wasn’t a lot of spice. While I have major complaints about book two, that book was at least BANGIN.


Thanks to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

First off, I should say I enjoyed Not That Duke; I gobbled it up in a day. But it definitely had issues. First off, it's the 3rd book in a new series. You don't need to have read the first one to read this one but you should really consider this book a companion to the 2nd one, The Reluctant Countess, since it's kind of the other side of the story.

The MMC is Silvester, Duke of Huntington. He is quite determined to marry Yasmin, despite knowing that his friend, Giles, the Earl of Lilford, is clearly fighting a strong attraction to her. (Giles and Yasmin are the main characters of The Reluctant Countess so we already know that Silvester will be unsuccessful) Silvester's unconventional mother declares that she's found the perfect wife for him, Lady Stella. Stella, our FMC, has not been successful on the marriage mart because she is smart, well-read, curvy, with bright red hair, freckles, and spectacles. She longs for the handsome, sophisticated Silvester, but he clearly sees her as only an interesting friend, although enjoying her curves. As their relationship grows, Stella spends the whole time feeling like she's Silvester's second choice behind the beautiful, graceful Yasmin.

I loved Stella. She's smart and sweet and, after bearing the cruel whispers about her looks, she is understandably uncertain about her appeal to the opposite sex. I enjoyed spending time with Stella and those who love her. Silvester, on the other hand, was . . . fine? It was hard to get a good sense of his character. Was he a serious, powerful duke, or more of a lightweight? I don't really know. And it would be better if we were shown aspects of his character or his accomplishments, instead of just being told about them.

Overall, I'd give this a 3.5 so I'm rounding up to 4 stars, mostly because of the enjoyable prose and my affection for Stella. If Silvester had been a better MMC, this could have been a 5 star book.

Look, if Eloisa James writes it, I’m going to read it. I’ve enjoyed the two previous books in the Would-Be Wallflowers series, but I can say with certainty this one is my favorite!

We met Sylvester and Stella in the previous books, and the first part of Not That Duke actually takes place during the same time as The Reluctant Countess. I was a bit worried when I found out about this as I often find it to be tedious to read the same timeline multiple times, however, that was not the case here. I enjoyed seeing Sylvester and Stella build their relationship, both having an attraction to each other but pursuing other partners, and considering their relationship as strictly platonic. I do think things picked up in part two when we step past the timeline of The Reluctant Countess and get further into the romantic relationship between Sylvester and Stella. They had great chemistry and while I can’t agree wholly with Sylvester’s actions in pursuing Stella, I do see how he believed it was the only way. And with Stella, it may have been the only way!

One of my favorite aspects of the book was the inclusion of Stella’s aunt and Sylvester’s mother. I didn’t think I was going to like either woman based on the first few interactions they had on page, but they both ended up being wonderful additions to the story. Mrs. Thyme, Stella’s aunt, was honestly such a wonderful aunt, even if she got things wrong now and then, and I loved her relationship with Stella. Another character I was pleased to see included was Blanche Boodle. If you’ve read the previous books, you’ll know that Blanche was a friend of the wretched Lydia. Her character growth in the book was nice to see. I’m curious as to whether we shall see Miss Boodle in a future book!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy of this e-ARC. All opinions are my own.