First things first—I loved the cover! It’s so pretty and really sets the mood for the book. The setting was also great, making the story feel elegant and charming.

The book itself? It was okay for what it tried to be. The love story was fine, but what really stood out to me was the friendship between Kate, Em, and the others. Even though their friendship started with some big lies, I still enjoyed how they stuck together, had fun, and looked out for each other. There's something special about childhood friends who still have that strong bond.

What I didn’t love? The ending. It wrapped up way too quickly and too perfectly for my taste. After all the drama, I expected a bit more depth in the resolution. It felt a little too neat and easy.

Overall, the book is a nice, light read with a beautiful setting and strong friendships at its heart.

And now, of course, I want to go to London again. It doesn’t even matter that this book is set in a different era—Covent Garden is a guilty pleasure of mine!

I absolutely loved this book! It's a super cute story filled with romance, wit and a bit of mystery. I enjoyed the banter between Emerald and Will. They are the perfect opposites attract pairing. If you like historical romance you'll like this book. I highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for allowing me to read this book ahead of release in exchange for my honest opinion.

"All Gowned Up" by Jen Haymore is for Regency romance lovers who enjoy Cinderella-style rags to riches forbidden romance. Although classified as YA, adults will also enjoy the story as it is very well written full of romantic tension and emotional depth. The love story is super sweet and an engaging quick read.
Thank you to NetGallery and TEntangled Publishing, LLC for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

For seamstress Emerald, a chance encounter with Will, a young earl, opens doors to high society as she follows the clues to her father’s identity. He helps her infiltrate the ton, hoping to get closer to her while also escaping the pressures of his father’s expectations. But their charade in this world of secrets is risky, and one kiss could unravel everything.

What a fun book! Emerald and Will are kind and well-developed characters who fit perfectly together. The plot is fast-paced and engaging. The story is heartwarming and uplifting.

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

This seems like a cute book for its target audience as it certainly leans YA. It wasn't working for me, so I DNF'd. I think YA regency romance fans will love this title, so don't let my review stop you!

3.5 ⭐️

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC in return for an unbiased and honest review!

This is a dual POV between our two main characters, Emerald and Will. Emerald is a representation of the lower class of London, being a self proclaimed horrible seamstress in Covent Garden. Will is the son of the sick Marquess, and soon to take over his fathers role. The two become acquainted with one another upon Will's arrival home after over a year on "the continent". Will and Emerald happen too strike up an alliance when Emerald decides she wants to find the identity of her father whom she's never met.

I would first like to say that this book definitely reads as a Young Adult novel, which is definitely not a bad thing! I myself have read many YA books, and this is up there with some of my favourite. I found it a very easy read that doesn't need too much concentration. It was a fun journey that you find yourself unable to put down!

I found this book to be very different from other historical romance/regency era books. I'm used to the usual debutante and lord falling in love, a small conflict and then the happy ending. However, it was a breath of fresh air to read a story between a lower class girl and upper class boy. I feel as though there was good commentary on the divide between the social classes in London at the time.

Not only did I find Emerald and Will's love story quite sweet, I really enjoyed the connection between the group of friends we met through Will. I couldn't help but fall in love with the story of Emerald's mother and the long lost love trope! I would love to see a prequel of their story.

I would recommend this book for anybody who is a fan of the Bridgerton series or looking for a sweet historical romance to binge read!

All Gowned Up will have you feeling hopeful and experiencing the bonds of great friendship and romance.

Emerald is a seamstress who dreams of meeting her father. Upon meeting Will, he helps her infiltrate society in search of her father.

Will’s friends show how to be caring and loving and defend Emerald. Will grows as a character throughout the story and develops into a strong man willing to stand up for his beliefs.

I am so hoping to read another in the series about Kate and Percy!

I like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a chance at reading this!

For a teen regency? This is pretty solid! The story is sort of a Cinderella tale. Girl and her mother live above a seamstress shop. Mother was stripped of her inheritance, raised her daughter in near poverty. Daughter has longed to know who her father is and what the true reason was why he left them.

The male lead is returning home on request of his ailing father. Father wishes for him to marry, and soon. Male lead doesn't want to marry at the speed the father wants. He wants to find love and feel it was earned. He meets the female lead when she and her friend are skipping rocks. She skips her rock right into his leg. It is then, and after spending some time skipping rocks with her, that he wishes for this carefree time in her company more. It's insta love, but a nice insta love.

The plot of the story comes about when the daughter overhears her mother talking about secrets and the possibility arises that her mother may have answers hidden in her room. She finds a box of letters with initials of a male correspondence. Gleaming through the details of the letters, turn out the writer is a Duke, and could very well be someone in society. She wants to infiltrate society - but how? Our male lead will help.

There are cute moments ; found family in terms of finding out who her father is and that she may have other family that she takes a kinship to. There is also a bit of a villain, someone who causes a bit of problems for both the male and female lead. Refreshingly, the misunderstanding isn't anything the male lead does but what others do.

The only reason I rate it down a star is I felt the villain was a bit underdeveloped. Sure, guy was lurking in the background of the story but when he had his confrontation with he leads I was like, 'wait, why do you even care?' The book could have used a couple more swoony moments,.

All in all, this is a great story for teens with the spirit of Georgette Heyer.

By the end of this book, I could not put it down! It ended too soon for me. I loved both main characters, William and Emerald, and the interesting cast of side characters too. William is basically the perfect MMC for the way he respects Emerald. The friendships between Emerald & Tom and Emerald & Kate are my favorite parts of the book. The historical detail is excellent. Though the phrasing is modern, that makes sense for a YA novel. The plot held my attention and I appreciated the characters’ growth - even though characters learning from their mistakes was so painful to read. Some parts of the book are not realistic, but I just suspended my disbelief and enjoyed it. This book will make me look for more from Jen Haymore and Entangled. I give it 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the free eARC! I post this review with my honest opinions. This review is cross-posted on Goodreads (see link), and will be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble within a week of the book's publication date.

Content notes since this is a YA novel: there is a bit more focus on physical attraction than I was expecting from YA, but it’s kisses only (girl-boy kissing and also boy-boy kissing, between characters who are 17-18). Another character attempts to kiss a young woman without her permission (I appreciate the author including content warnings at the beginning of the book). I felt this book had some good life lessons about the consequences of lying and taking/using something that doesn’t belong to you, even though they’re sort of negated at the end.

3 1/2 stars

This cover is so cute and I enjoy Regency/Victorian YA novels, so I was excited to give this one a try.

Emerald and Will did have a bit of an instalovey connection (especially Will) but they also had many cute and sweet moments together. But my favorite part was honestly the wonderful friendship that develops between Emerald and Kate. I like seeing stories of female friendship and it was nice to see the two of them bond together. I loved Kate as a side character and I’m hoping she will get her happily ever after in a companion novel soon!

I wasn’t a fan of Emerald’s lying (though I understand why she felt she had to do it) but overall this was a cute YA historical.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

All Gowned Up by Jen Haymore is a first person dual-POV YA Regency romance. Dressmaker Emerald has never known who her father is despite asking her mother for more information about his identity. When she finds letters from her father to her mother from years ago, she suspects her father is a member of the nobility and she enlists her new acquaintance, Will, to assist her in meeting the man she’s always wanted to know. Meanwhile, Will’s father is pressuring him to find a wife as soon as possible and for Will to take the title of marquess.

One of the things I really liked about this was the lost love storyline between Emerald’s parents and how she’s trying to navigate the world of the nobility while keeping her identity secret. She pretends to be Will’s second cousin and starts to befriend his social circle, which includes her half-sister, all while keeping her actions a secret from her mother. You really do feel for Emerald and her parents as we don’t know why her parents split apart when they seemed so in love and Emerald’s father is constantly referred to as a good guy.

Emerald and Will’s relationship is more on the sweet side and is something of a slowburn. There is an immediate connection between them; on Will’s side Emerald is different from the other women Will knows due to her status as a member of the working class while also holding herself with dignity. On Emerald’s side, Will is kind and respectful towards her and her friend, Tom, as well as being attractive. His status as the future marquess doesn’t really play a part in her noticing him, which takes a fun turn when she suspects her father is a duke, which would make her father of a higher rank than Will’s family.

Will has a good relationship with the women in his life and is a bit awkward when he and several of his friends are being entertained by actresses. The book follows the romance genre expectation of main characters not having any desire for anyone else the moment they start to catch feelings and I liked how it played out here because Will didn’t say anything negative about the other women around him or their choices. I’m a fan of seeing Regency romances where men and women can have positive platonic relationships and create a tight social circle free of jealousy and malicious intentions where there are consequences when those attitudes do enter the circle.

Content warning for attempted sexual assault

I would recommend this to readers of YA who want a Regency romance, fans of Regency romance looking for something on the sweeter side, and those looking for a historical romance featuring positive mixed gender friendships

𐙚 Forbidden Romance
𐙚 Coming of Age
𐙚 Rags to Riches

Very cutesy. 💖 All Gowned Up by Jen Haymore is a delightful YA historical romance filled with charm and heartwarming moments. Set in the glittering world of London’s high society, Emerald, a daydreaming seamstress with little talent for her trade, and Will, a reluctant earl grappling with his own expectations, face societal pressures, hidden identities, and a growing attraction that’s as sweet as it is captivating. Their journey—filled with courage, self-discovery, and stolen kisses—is both engaging and entertaining. With a blend of wit and heart, this is a light and enjoyable read, perfect for those who enjoy an uplifting, feel-good romance.

Rating: ✰✰✰✰/5

Thank you for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. ・❥・

Reviewing an ARC copy of All Gowned Up by Jen Haymore
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"All Gowned Up" is a wonderful YA novel that blends romance, adventure, and wit. I loved how the author developed the not just the relationships of the main characters Emerald and Will but the characters around them as well. Although the writing was fast-paced, the lives of the other characters came full circle such as for Emerald's mother and Mrs. Fitzgibbons.

This book is a nice read and does not dwell on complicated plot twists. I highly recommend this book to those who love meet-cutes, lighthearted escapes, and charming couples.