The Duke's Secret Cinderella is the third book in the Never a Wallflower series. I was unaware it was part of a series. But now that I know I will be looking for the rest of the series.

We know the story of Cinderella from our childhood. But this is a twist with a wicked stepfather. Charlotte has been living with her stepfather, stepsister, and stepbrother since she was five. She doesn't remember her father at all. So, when he marries her mother, she hopes that he will love her as well. After her mother dies, she becomes a servant in the household. In spite of his abuse, she has grown up to be a strong woman and genuinely cares about others.

Rafe Dorchester, the Duke of Rockford, has been informed by his mother that is it about time for him to marry and soon. She threatens him with the thing he cares about most, the foundling hospital. Marry from the list she gives him with only one name on it or she will give it to someone else. He knows that he will marry but just hasn't met the right person yet. Most of the ton do not care about helping others. As he heads out for the day, he spies a woman being accosted by a man. As he rushes to rescue her, she swings her bag and hits him with it. Rafe is shocked at her defending herself. She proudly claims she is able to defend what is hers. Still Rafe attempts to assist her, and for his trouble she swings the bag at him and hists him in the ribs.

Charlotte is on her way to rescue a servant in her stepfather's house. But somehow after having defended herself from two men she has lost the funds needed to pay for his release. Rafe, the second man who was actually trying to save her offers to pay for the man's release. While they are waiting for him, they get to talking and Rafe can see right away that this is an intelligent strong, but kind woman and is attracted to her right away. Charlotte is grateful for his help.

Charlotte begins to share a few things about herself, but some are not the truth. Thinking he would not help her if she was nothing more than a servant, but she has misjudged Rafe and continues her ruse. Since she does not expect to see him again, no harm done. But Charlotte is wrong, he is going to pursue her until he gets her to agree to marry him. But when he discovers the truth will he still lover her. Also, her stepfather has other plans for Charlotte and will need to be stronger than ever as the whole truth is revealed.

I really enjoyed this twist on the Cinderella story. I don't mind these types of stories at all. I liked the characters; they were well written and not your typical heroine needing to be rescued. I am looking forward to more Eva Devon books.

3.5 stars
Charlotte has been a servant in her stepfather's house since her mother died when she was 5, one day when she is on her way to Marshalsea to free one of the servants that her stepfather had jailed to teach her a lesson she's attacked by a thug. Rafe witnesses a beautiful lady wrestling with a thug and decides he should intervene when she wallops the thief with her purse(with a brick inside) and the guy takes off, then she hits Rafe as well when he sneaks up and surprises her without considering how she'd react after the previous incident.
This was a really fun meet cute and the rest of the story takes the Cinderella track of misrepresenting her status, but I liked that she and the step sister are friends and that for once it's the evil stepfather instead of stepmother.

This is pretty much the retelling of the fairytale story of Cinderella that I remember from years ago. I do have to say…..The Duke’s Secret Cinderella has a few steamy moments that you will not find in the original Cinderella.
Main characters are Charlotte and Rafe. Their relationship is intense and slow burn. I enjoyed watching their relationship grow as time went on.
All in all, a satisfying happily ever after story that I enjoyed reading.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Entertaining Cinderella retelling. Rafe the Duke of Rockford is told by his mother to find a wife. And there is only one name on her list. When he calls upon the household instead he meets Charlotte Browne. She is actually the step-sister to the person he intended to visit but he doesn’t know that at the time. They had met before when he assisted her assuming she was a servant and for a while he thinks she is a cousin. He is captivated by her and the way she has of keeping him in his place. I love that he wants a marriage like is parents and that is why he so easily trust his mother to help him choose. There is of course a villain and this time it is a wicked step-father. It is frustrating how long Charlotte waits before trusting Rafe.

This is sweet, funny and with medium-ish heat. I love stories when the man is smitten with eyes for no one else. I think the cover for this book and for the other two in the Never a Wallflower series are stunning. I often have mixed feelings about Cinderella stories, but I enjoyed this one immensely. Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rafe Dorchester, Duke of Rockford, has always done everything the proper way. He's an honorable man and takes his responsibilities very seriously. When he literally runs into Charlotte in a seedy part of town, he's pleasantly surprised that she has no qualms about telling him exactly what she thinks about his "help." He's intrigued with the young woman and goes with her to help release a friend from prison. Rafe doesn't want the encounter to end and asks her name. Charlotte doesn't know what made her lie about her identity to the handsome duke except for the fact she panicked and never thought she'd see him again. When Rafe appears at her door, she's in for the shock of her life. Now, what should she do?

This story was loosely based on the fairytale, with the stepfather/guardian being the villain in the story instead of a wicked stepmother. While I understood Charlotte's reasoning for lying about her identity, the fact that she kept up the pretense for so long instead of confessing the truth was a little irritating. Rafe was a duke and could certainly protect her from her stepfather, but she never trusted him enough. There are a couple of good twists and turns in the book before the couple has the HEA. One criticism is the fact throughout the book, Charlotte's love for the servants in the household is demonstrated over and over again, but in the epilogue, there isn't even a mention of them. That was definitely a misstep, in my opinion. I look forward to reading Francesca's story next.

I loved this book. I went into this book a bit hesistant but it was such a great cinderlla inspired story with a twist. I realy loved both main characters and thought there love story was unique and something i had a not read before. I also really loved the dyamnics the leads had between the step sisters in this story and also the villan in this story really turned this story on the head and i loved it i def need to read more by this author in the future

2 stars

Eva Devon's books tend to be a bit hit or mess for me, but this series in particular has been the source of the many hits. Unfortunately, that trend ended with The Duke's Secret Cinderella.

I should have known that when we were served a hearty helping of insta-love that this book was not going to be my cup of tea. However, I kept hoping that maybe we would get some exciting characterization, commentary, or action that would spice things up. We did end up getting a little bit of the latter, which I did find interesting, but the characterization just fell so flat for me that I found myself completely uninterested in both of these characters as individuals and as a couple. Just because we are retelling a fairytale where the characters are fairly one-dimensional doesn't mean that the characters in this book need to be constructed the same way. I truly cared about the story of every other character in this book more than our main couple, which is never good in a romance. Honestly give me Francesca and the stoic Earl of Darrow any day!

I'm definitely still going to put up Eva Devon's works, but I think I might be a bit more discerning in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled: Amara for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

The Duke’s Secret Cinderella by Eva Devon was a cute and easy read for me. I enjoyed this so much and am giving it 4.5 stars.

This Cinderella retelling follows the romance between Charlotte Browne, who is a maid in her deceased mother’s home because of her step father and the Duke of Rockford, Rafe. Rafe’s mother gives him a list that only has one name telling him it’s time to marry. Charolette and Rafe have a chance encounter when she is trying to free one of the other workers in the home for prison. Rafe is enchanted by Charolette but when they separate she doesn’t even give a name. Well hours later they meet again when Rafe knocks at the door of Charloette’s home to meet the name on his mother’s list, Charolette’s beloved step sister. From there lies are told, secrets need to be kept hidden but beyond all that the romance of the Duke and a woman who thinks herself as no more than a maid takes flight.

I very much enjoyed this historical romance. From Rafe and Charlotte’s meeting, to the first dance, to everything in between. I just thought it was a cute and sincere relationship. There where just moments in this and between this couple that made me swoon. Would of loved to seen more of the secondary romance between George and Francesca (the stepsister) more. Because I enjoyed those parts as well. Also the big secret in this really shocked me. I usually can spot a plot twist rather well but I didn’t see that coming at all. This book was also an easy read that I got lost in. Also loved Rafe’s family in this. Really become a fan of Eva Devon.

I’m giving this 4.5 stars (marked as 4 stars on this scale). Thank you Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for this arc.

Content warning: parental figure pushes their child in this (on page) and parental figure verbally abuses child/child in care.

I found this to be captivating, whimsical, and endearing. This retelling of a classic was done with masterful writing.

Our fairy tale cast:
Charlotte Browne, our Cinderella, the orphaned girl treated as a servant but loves her step sister, dislikes her step brother, and loathes her step father.

Francesca Palmerton, step sister, friend and co-conspirator to Charlotte. They protect one another as much as they can.

Philip Palmerton, step brother and childhood tormentor.

Lord Palmerton, step father, shaped by his father's actions.

George Leighton, Earl of Darrow, earl’s twin brother, Matthew, important minor characters.

Rafe Andrew William Henley Dorchester, Duke of Rockford, the one to capture Charlotte's true heart.
His mother and grandmother give comical her to him that are just awesome. Grandmother will be important to Charlotte.

You will want tissues for the last third as it will bring tears of joy and sorrow. It is a magical telling with an artfully done twist. To give you more would cheat you of this beautifully crafted story.

Cinderella with a princess twist! This time evil step father. Charlotte was trying to do a good deed, bumped into Rafe.Litttle did she know he was a duke and her life would change.
I liked Charlotte and Rafe, for a good size book I would have liked a bit deeper understanding of them both. What I read was a lot of superficial emotion.
It was a nice light read! Perfect vacation reading for sure!






I was given an advanced reading copy for an honest review.

The Duke's Secret Cinderella is a regency Cinderella retelling (really, that is pretty obvious based on the title lol). When Charlotte runs into the Duke of Rockford while pretending to be a lady, she never anticipates that it will be anything other than a one time meeting. However, Rafe is entranced by her and ends up seeing Charlotte again, while visiting a potential bride whom Charlotte is essentially a maid for. Charlotte lies and says that she is a distant cousin of the lady's and Rafe continues to visit and invite both ladies out to events. As the lies keep piling up and her nasty step-father finds out what she's up to, Charlotte finds herself at a loss for what to do next.

This was an incredibly mid-tier Historical Romance for me. I probably would have DNF'd it if it wasn't an ARC. Not because it was bad, because it wasn't - just because I didn't really care about the characters and I was finding everything in the beginning pretty predictable. And I was really hating how long Charlotte lied to Rafe. I will say that the ending was a bit better for me than the beginning and I did like the deviations from the traditional Cinderella story (there were no nasty step-sisters in this) but ultimately just didn't work well for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Never a Wallflower series. While this book is part of a series, it reads completely standalone with no apparent connection to the other books in the series. This one starts off a lot of the movie Ever After (the Cinderella movie retelling from 1998 starring Drew Barrymore, which is one of my favorite movies ever). Charlotte is the servant of the house who schemes with her beloved stepsister to dress nicely and go down to the prison to free her servant. While there, she meets Rafe, a duke whose mother has just decreed that he should marry. They part ways before she can tell him her name, but when he comes to her home to call on her stepsister, she somehow gets introduced as a lady and cousin. Rafe is smitten with Charlotte the whole way through and is determined to make her his duchess, but she is resistant because of the punishments she will face from her stepfather if she’s usurped her stepsister’s place. This book was delightful with how straightforward Rafe is with his feelings and how his mother and grandmother are completely supportive. It makes a nice contrast to how evil and scheming Charlotte’s stepfather is.

This book is an absolute delight. I had a hard time putting it down. The story flows beautifully, but I loved the main characters more than that. The story starts intriguingly and instantly pulls you in. You keep wondering what will happen next. That doesn't often occur in romance, so I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of it.
Charlotte didn't mean to lie to the Duke, but she didn't think they would meet again. Now, she finds herself in a bind. If her step-father finds out, she might not live to tell the tale. The man is cruel to his own kids, and she isn't even a blood relative.
Rafe wasn't supposed to fall in love, let alone with the woman who was cousin to the one his mother approved of. And to make matters worse, she seems to be hiding something. But no matter how he looks at it, she is the perfect future Duchess and now, he only has to convince her.
What will happen when the secrets are revealed and lies are unraveled? Read to find out. ;) I'd recommend this book to all readers, especially if you enjoy historical romance with unusual characters.

An adaptation of the typical Cinderella story without the glass slippers. I liked that Charlotte got along with her stepsister and they both weren't fond of the mean step-dad. A bit of a longer courtship with the Duke than the typical ball and run trope.

Charlotte and Rafe meet in humble circumstances of Charlotte trying to free the household servant Stevenson. This whole part of the book sets up showing how kind both Rafe and Charlotte are. Unfortunately Charlotte led him to believe some untruth about her background.

I liked this romance and reveal of Charlotte's past, but I felt like it took longer than needed to get there. I felt like the middle of the book spent too much time on Charlotte waffling about telling Rafe the truth.

The characters in this book were pretty solid and I didn't enjoy the variation from the traditional Cinderella since it has been done so many times.

Thanks you to Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

A delightful twist on the traditional Cinderella fairy tale. Evil stepfather, stepsister fairy godmother, a prince (actually a duke!) with a heart of gold.... A heroine who has an equally caring heart of gold. They are a match made Regency Romance heaven.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I had read books 1 and 2 in the series but these are all stand alone with no overlapping characters. This one was so much better than the first two. I could not put it down. This is a take on Cinderella kind of like Ever after but I really enjoyed it.

As the title explains, it is a Cinderella retelling set in the Regency period. Charlotte Browne tells the Duke of Rockford that she is a lady when she is fighting to free her friend from prison, but it's not true. She is treated like a servant in her stepfather's house. She can't help but lie to the handsome duke, because he is so kind to her.

Rafe Dorchester is duty bound to marry and his mother is now insisting he do it. Her ultimatum means he must find his duchess as soon as possible.

The story is somewhat predictable given its premise, but it is well done and it can be read as a stand-alone book even though it is the third in a series.

My honest review is given in exchange for receiving a free ARC from Netgalley.

If you love the movie Ever After and any version of the classic tale of Cinderella, you will love Eva Devon’s new take exploring the lives of Charlotte Browne and Rafe Dorchester, the Duke of Rockford.

Charlotte is a servant in the house of her step-father, Lord Palmerton, and lady’s maid to her best friend and lovely step-sister, Francesca. She tries to avoid her vicious step-brother, Phillip, at all times. The story does start much like the movie Ever After in that Charlotte dresses as a lady to get another house servant out of prison when she meets The Duke. The twists and turns begin there.

While Rafe does enjoy wine, women, and song, he has a huge heart and a charitable soul. One of his families charities, a foundling hospital, is supported by and started by his family. When his mother threatens to hand the reigns over to someone else if he doesn’t marry soon, he thinks of the beautiful blonde who stole his heart in one of the worst places in London.

Charlotte has Francesca basically hyping her up to Rafe and going along with the belief of her status as a lady. Charlotte knows close to nothing about being a lady. She doesn’t dance or paint or play the pianoforte. Yet, none of that matters to Rafe. He loves all the things she’s not and she can’t help but fall for the enchanting man. While Charlotte believes she is unworthy of Rafe’s love and has Lord Palmerton threatening her at every turn, Rafe does everything he can to show her she is the one for him.

The end of the novel shocked and surprised me as it is not your usual Cinderella ending. If you love swoon worthy Dukes, strong heroines, and a good step-sister, you’ll enjoy ever word of The Duke’s Secret Cinderella.

I received The Duke's Secret Cinderella (Never a Wallflower, #3) for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Charlotte has had a difficult upbringing with her mother dying so young and Charlotte being treated as the maid, of the house. Rafe comes into her orbit while she is rescuing another member of the household staff. He is searching for a bride for his dukedom and Rafe searches out Charlotte’s stepsister. Lies ensue with twists and turns as Charlotte tries to tamp down her affection for the Duke due to fear of her stepfather and the class differences. A final twist leads to a surprise for all characters.
Story was enjoyable and I felt mightily for the strife of Charlotte.

A pretty straightforward fairy tale retelling, there are a few updates to this one. First, Charlotte (our Cinderella stand-in) is oppressed by her evil stepfather, loves her beautiful stepsister, and is indifferent to her craven stepbrother. When she bumps into Rafe, she doesn't lose her shoe - but he does assist her in rescuing a fellow servant, since she's lost all of her money. During this short but intense encounter, they learn that they're both interested in social justice and have a complementary sense of fair play.

When they run into each other later, Charlotte decides to lie and claim to be:

1. A Lady;
2. Her stepsister's COUSIN;
3. The daughter of a lord she's never met.

It's because she's embarrassed? Which, OK, fine. But the deception goes on for much too long. Once these two fall in love, shouldn't Charlotte be able to trust in his good nature to at least hear her out before they break up? The final denouement is also just a little too pat.

But y'know, if you're into Cinderella and nice dukes who would never abuse their power, you could do worse than to pick this one up!

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.