This book follows Poppy and Rhys. Poppy is a member of a group of woman who call themselves the Wallflowers of West Lane and Rhys is another members brother.

When a member of the Wallflowers is told she is marrying a man without ever even seeing him, the girls get together to determine everything about him. Rhys agrees to help them.

Things I liked:
-The cover art
-Rhys is super sweet and cute
-Several of the supporting characters are funny and entertaining.

Didn't like:
-Poppy for the most part. She is really annoying for most of the book and seems to have a grudge against all men for a reason that I didn't totally believe. Mostly just to keep the plot going.
-The origin story of how the girls met and use of the phrase "Wallflowers of West Lane" is repeated often throughout the book. Got quite repetitive.

I am however quite interested to see how the other girls stories work out, they were much more likable than Poppy.

"The Earl Not Taken" was not what I expected it to be. Poppy provided a strong, willful heroin who held her convictions close to her heart while Rhys was the not-as-he-first-appeared hero who stole you heart before the storyline really got going. I suppose I expected more humor and development between the two. While the book was not what I expected it proved to be an entertaining diversion during quarantine.

I  seized on this book as a distraction from the flood of bad news we’ve been dealing with lately,  This is a fun and incoherent tale of Rhys and Penelope, long-time friends through Aurora's friend of Rhys 'sister / Penelope. Penelope and her closest boarding school companions call themselves the "Wallflowers",( when an author write under this or mentions this she is 100% aware of Kleypas...) and they are committed to saving one another from being forced to marry disreputable persons. They have their hands full since their families seem bound and determined to match them eligible with men who are wrong with them.

My one concern with the narrative is that it leaned on the least favourite trope too heavily( misunderstanding). Owing to lack of communication, misunderstanding between the H&H Penelope continues to me as being pretty immature; she still goes off in a sulk and is unwilling to listen.
 In general, this was perfect to whisk away from current events.


Thank you to the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of The Earl Not Taken!❤️

My favorite genre is romance. More modern day romance. I recently read a cozy mystery series where the mother read books about courting and arranged marriage and Dowries. I was kind of interested but didn’t know what to read.
Well one day The Earl Not Taken cake up on my Facebook feed for a group Between The Chapters Book Club. From that moment I knew I had to read this book. I must say I love this book.

I’m really bummed that i have the kindle version because I really want this book on my bookshelf that’s how much I love this book!

The storyline comes from the Regency Romance Era. Not only do you get a little bit of a history lesson you get a true love story of a woman trying to “rebel” from the ways of past generations. 


A short and sweet romance where your shouting from the top of you lungs saying just kiss the girl lol. The Earl Not Taken well turn you on to regency romance for sure.

Left standing on the side while their contemporaries marry into society, four young ladies forge a bond to guard each other from a similar fate . . 
Finishing school failed to make a proper lady of Penelope Arrington. But as a Wallflower of West Lane, Poppy has a far more vital role—she and her three best friends have made a pact to protect each other from the clutches of dangerous, disreputable men. So when one of them is about to be married off to a duke sight unseen, Poppy makes it her mission to divine the prospective husband’s true character. If only she didn’t require the aid of London’s most unsuitable rake. 
Rhys Draper, Earl of Marsden, has known the headstrong Poppy since she was a young girl naïve to the ways of men. To her eternal chagrin—and to his vague amusement—they have been at odds over  the memory of embarrassing first encounter  all these years. Now, with his services in need, Rhys sees a chance to finally clear the air between them. Instead, he is surprised by the heat of their feelings. If the two do not tread carefully, they may end up in a most agreeably compromising position . . .
 
This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believeable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Can't wait to read more of these.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.  This is my own honest voluntary review.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this story a lot. It was a quick read and a great pallet cleanser. I really enjoyed Poppy's character as a whole. I do think the relationship between her and Rhys moved a bit fast and was too "insta love" for me. 

I will most definitely be picking up the next book in this series. 

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

The Earl Not Taken is all about the romance between Poppy and Rhys.

She wants nothing to do with him. He is a rake and a reprobate as far as she is concerned and she has no interest in marrying anyone she doesn't have strong feelings for.

Rhys, on the other hand, is fascinated with Poppy. He has known her for most of his life and is not sure why she dislikes him so much. 

But whether they like it or not, they're going to need to work together if they want to discover what the duke their friend, Faith, is engaged to is hiding. 

And of course, because this is a romance, the longer they're around each other, the more they realize that the spark between them isn't going out anytime soon (much to Poppy's chagrin).

OH BOY! These two. As soon as they're alone in SOMEONE ELSE'S HOUSE, they go off. They have sex on a chaise lounge in a stranger's home. My jaw dropped. This is like Regency/Victorian time...what the hell??? I mean I loved it but also...whaaat??? *fans self*

I also enjoyed the friendship between Poppy and the other Wallflowers of West Lane. They care for each other so deeply that they want to make sure they're safe so matter what. Ultimate friendship goals! I would read a whole book about just them.

That being said, I wasn't completely in love with this one. The relationship between Poppy and Rhys moved a little fast for me and I just wasn't as invested as I wanted to be in their mission to make sure Faith was safe. 

It looks like the next book in this series is all about Faith and her duke which definitely intrigues me. I just wish this book was as captivating as the next book sounds. I'm giving The Earl Not Take 3 out of 5 stars.

The Earl Not Taken by A.S Fenichel is available now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was just ok for me, the characters and story were ok but nothing really stood out to me. I would like to read more from the author.

This novel was as a page turner and I could not stop reading!!
There were a few bits and pieces that I did not enjoy reading or I didn’t agree with the character development from the story.
Other than that, it was a good read!!

I am pretty disappointed in this book. I loved the premise and the idea of it, but the story ended up not being as entertaining as I had hoped. When reading a historical fiction, some of my favorite parts are seeing the daily life of the characters that live in this era. Taking tea, needlework, calling on friends, etc. And while this book had a little of that, I didn't feel that Regency era charm that I love in other books in this genre. Another thing that bothered me was the characters. I felt no connection to Poppy or to any of the other characters in this book. I especially did not like Rhys at all. I'm not quite sure how to explain it but this book almost felt like a modern romance... but not in modern times. This didn't feel like a historical fiction at all.

Things I loved:


The author does a fabulous job of making you feel like you're in the era in which she's writing. Decadent homes, frilly dresses, horse and buggies...I almost felt a bit underdressed wearing yoga pants while reading.
The cover. It's beautifully done and makes me crave a spring tea party. 
The #girlgang vibe. Love a book with a tight-knit group of friends ready to conquer the world.
The drama and twist that happens in said #girlgang. It was gasp-worthy.

Things I didn't really love:

The characters were underdeveloped to me. I wanted to know more about how and why the girls became friends, how they got to be so close, some insider secrets, etc. Maybe if there would have been a book before this one?
The back and forth between Poppy and Rhys got a bit old. I know Poppy was against marriage, and she had good reasons, but the constant back and forth only seemed to slow the book down.
Overall, the book was a bit slow for me. It felt repetitive in some areas.

I give it 3/5 stars!

This was...ok. It wasn't horrible, but it also wasn't wonderful or even great. It was just ok. There were several sweet moments, but much of it was silly, too long, with a heroine who acted immature and unwilling to grow (while still knowing more about certain *adult* things than she would have any way to know about?).

This is a very typical historical romance novel . And I don’t really read this genre much but I saw quite a few posts about this book on Instagram and wanted to try it out, especially since I’ve been looking for some lighter reads. ⁣
⁣
What I liked about this book:⁣ * The friendships - and there were quite a few different dynamics and I enjoyed reading about them ⁣ * there were some original plot points ⁣
⁣
What I didn’t like about this book ⁣ * there was a lot of repetitive dialogue in this story ⁣ * the family relationships, for the most part, were all very dysfunctional⁣
⁣

This book was a lot of fun to read! I enjoyed meeting Poppy and the other Wallflowers! They're a spirited bunch of characters who don't fit in with society's straitlaced rules, and were a lot of fun to read about! 

This is the story of Rhys and Poppy falling in love-while they're investigating the potential spouse of another Wallflower, Faith. Said spouse and Faith are the leads of the next book, so I enjoyed getting to know all of them, and all this delicious conflict, since said spouse finds out about their investigation and isn't happy! 

My one thing is, that Poppy's flaw, as she recognizes in this book, is that she runs away from what scares her, what she doesn't like. And once she comes to terms with that, the next time an instance comes up where she'd run, she doesn't, because she resolved not to do so. My thing is, that people don't change that quickly. I guess maybe because it was the first time afterwards, that she actually follows through, and maybe she'll have slip ups in the future? That would make sense.

Oh, another thing. These times are pretty restrictive, but Rhys is trying to comfort Poppy about the between the bed sheets activities, and the way he said that, it put down his other lovers, and that aggravated me. I know he's a product of his times, but, not cool, dude!

I enjoyed this book, it was a lot of fun to read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher Kensington Books for an advance reader copy of this book for an honest review.

This is a very typical historical romance novel . And I don’t really read this genre much but I saw quite a few posts about this book on Instagram  and wanted to try it out, especially since I’ve been looking for some lighter reads. 

What I liked about this book:
 *  The friendships - and there were quite a few different dynamics and I enjoyed reading about them 
 *  there were some original plot points 

What I didn’t like about this book 
 * there was a lot of repetitive dialogue in this story 
 * the family relationships, for the most part, were all very dysfunctional

3 stars ⭐️  

There is a sequel to this novel and I would  most likely read it .

I received an e-ARC copy from NetGalley.

This was a cute period romance that I deeply enjoyed. 
As I use the CAWPILE system (created by the lovely G from Book Roast), I will comment on those points.

Characters. The characters in this book were lovely. They all had their own personality and showed it. Poppy, our main female character, is a strong woman. She is powerful enough to maintain her beliefs, to not want to fall into the strict rules of her society and to wish for a better life for herself. Rhys, the male main character, is right-headed and thoughtful. It has been a long time since I've seen a love interest that caring and charming. Aurora, Faith and Mercy are the rest of the Wallflowers of West Lane. They are all endearing and each has her own personality.
The only thing I would ask is for more inclusive characters.

Atmosphere. The atmosphere created by the author was enjoyable. It was beautiful to imagine characters in this period, which I really enjoy. However, there was some election of vocabulary that didn't seem to fit within the period.

Writing. I found the writing easy to fly-through. It wasn't full of wordy descriptions but still created the ambience. 

Plot. I must admit it is not the most intricated plot I've ever read. Even so, I found it very enjoyable. Seeing how their love grows little by little, with the addition of the mystery was really good. 

Intrigue. As for intrigue, I will only say this book has kept me up late a couple of nights, unable to put it down.

Logic. The behaviour of the characters seemed quite coherent to me. Maybe not with the period, but with their personalities. The only thing that bothered me was some elections of vocabulary.

Enjoyment. About enjoyment, I can only repeat myself and say that I truly liked this book. With the current situation, I can't think of a better way to relieve some tension from our minds.

My review of this book was published at All About Romance on March 27, 2020.  You can see the complete review here: https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/the-earl-not-taken-by-a-s-fenichel/

Also on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3249350669?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Do you like steamy historical fiction? If your answer is yes, I suggest picking up this book! I didn’t realize how much I liked that genre until I got into the romance of this book and I couldn’t put it down. I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars but overall it was a fun read!

This book follows Penelope “Poppy” Arrington and her three friends who call themselves the Wallflowers of West Lane, four girls who bonded when they met at a finishing school they were sent to when their families felt they needed to learn how to be “proper ladies.” They vow to protect each other in a world that sees women as the lesser, weaker sex and parents that see them as property to sell to the highest bidder.

While there isn’t a whole lot of plot in this, The Earl Not Taken is more of a focus on these characters and their lives in this time period, which reminds me very much of Jane Austen’s world. It’s a time of dowries, Earls and reputations and one I love reading about. One of the Wallflowers’ mother has arranged her marriage to a duke, and Poppy and her friends take it upon themselves to look into who this duke is and if he’ll treat their friend right. She reluctantly accepts the help of Rhys Draper, a friend of a Wallflower and a man she’s known for a long time.

Rhys has a reputation as a womanizer and Poppy is set on never getting married. She refuses to be seen as a husband’s property and has seen terrible examples of marriage and men in her life. As they spend more time together, they realize the things they assumed about one another aren’t right and they begin to have feelings for one another. What follows is a steamy romance filled with lots of angst and talks of marriage and reputations.

Overall I had a lot of fun reading story. I found Poppy to be frustrating at times, but that I think is a product of the time period. She constantly talks about how much she hates marriage and men and everything in between, it was a bit exhausting at times. But I enjoyed watching her open up to Rhys as she realizes she’s not the womanizer she thinks he is and them slowly falling in love. The side characters were fun to read about and I will definitely be continuing with this series and it follows the other three Wallflowers of West Lane.

A delightful enemy to lover romance. Poppy is set in her ways and unwilling to change her views even as her heart becomes engaged. The story has some interesting moments, but some questions are left unanswered, to whet your appetite for the next book in the series, and I detect hints at the following romance for this intriguing group of wallflowers.

I fell in love with The Wallflower of West Lane. They each have their strengths, which compliments the others. Penelope or affectionately called Poppy, is the one who believes all men are cads and not worth marrying. She is fiercely protective of her friends. She is smart and funny. Rhys Draper, The Duke of Marsden and Aurora's brother, is a handsome and engaging person. He is protective of his sister. It seems as if Faith has now been matched and The Wallflowers are worried he will not be a good match. He is to secretive. Poppy and Rhys have teamed up to see what the can find out about hi,. Along the way, Rhys has discovered why Poppy hates him. In the weeks that follow, Rhys and Poppy become friends but he is in love. He wants it all. How do you change a way of life? It was so romantic! I can't wait to read the next book in this series.