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.