A sweet and charming historical romance - I loved the cluelessness and over confidence of the male lead and appreciated the caution and strength of the heroine. It was an easy to read novel with the feel-good HEA you hope for in a book of this genre - a perfect cozy escape balanced with humour and attraction.

When the story grabs you , you wish there was more to it. I like a rag to riches stories this one is nice because it is historical,. They are the ones with the changes being harder to overcome.

This was super sweet and quick read since it is a novella size! I haven’t read the others for this series but it didn’t seem like I needed too but I’m sure would have made it that much better! William is the third son to a viscount and not looking for love. He likes to travel. Once he comes home his mother is already trying to make matches for all her children! Eloise is a young cook for the family. She’s French & her grandfather taught her to cook. She’s also not afraid to speak her mind! When William and Eloise meet, they have instant chemistry! There short romance was cute and somewhat emotional. William is also your typical guy suggesting him & Eloise could be together without marriage! Uh! No worries we get our HEA & a marriage! I def suggest reading this if you’ve read the others or are looking for a sweet quick historical romance read!

Will Townsbridge is the third son of a viscount. Eloise Lamont is a French chef and the cook for the Townsbridge household. When Will returns to England from diplomatic service, he finds the food devine and is immediately smitten by the cook. Eloise is also smitten, but the difference in class makes it impossible to be together.
A romantic novella where love can overcomes obstacles. A quick read with a charming hero.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

This is a quick class-difference historical romance. Most of the conflict comes from the two leads worrying about it rather than from outside family or social pressure. I liked the heroine, Eloise, and how she stood up for herself in her kitchen. She’s sassy and appreciates her own skills and value. The novella starts cute but then too much happens too fast for it to be as satisfying as I would like.

Please note, this book will make you hungry. Many of the best descriptions are of the awesome food Eloise makes. Consider having tea with this romance.

The hero makes very impulsive decisions that made it hard for me to trust his declaration of love. I think this could have benefited from being a longer more developed plot.

It is not a bad romance, just a really quick one. It definitely made me interested in the other family members.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Net Galley in return for a fair review.

This is a quick read. William is a nice young aristocrat. Eloise is a magnificent cook. This story explores their HEA. I found it hard to understand the attraction between the two of them other than he was handsome and she cooked great. Since it is a novella, I guess there wasn't enough time to develop the characters. It's a sweet, little story, but it left me wanting so much more.

This was a very sweet novella sized story which can be read in a couple of hours. Sophie Barnes can always be relied on to write charming stories, no matter what size they are:)

Eloise is the French cook for the Townsbridge family and I wish I could have tasted all those dishes she makes throughout the story, they all sounded so delicious!! William, one of her employers' sons, has come back from Portugal and wants to meet this cook who comes up with such delicious meals and is quite shocked to see that she's young and beautiful! Of course it's instant attraction but the fact that she's beneath his social standing makes them try to ignore each other. Impossible!! Where love is concerned, though, anything is possible:)

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

As with all romance novellas you had to suspend belief that two people could fall in love in such a short span of time. This could have been a full novel without feeling like the author was stretching out a thin story. I enjoyed the romance between Eloise and William - but I did want to smack him when he made his initial offer to her. You understand the connection between them and how easy an attachment could be formed. William's brothers added just the right amount of humor and I enjoyed their interactions with William. Eloise's backstory was interesting and not what I was expecting at the beginning.

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<p>Mr. Willian Townbridge returns to his family home in London after working for a year in Portugal. The story starts with him eating a pastry which makes him curious about his parent's cook, Mrs. Lamont. His version of a cook was not a young, pretty lady but an old homely lady. Despite, Eloise Lamont's age she can handle being a household cook just fine. Their romance started fast and had some problems due to class and society. In the end, the characters were able to be together. </p>
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<p>The story was played around the first love at first sight trope. Or if considered William's reaction to Eloise's cooking, first love at first taste. I enjoyed reading it but it was too short. It would have made a better impact on me if it was longer. I did love how the story did have William search for Eloise for two weeks. As for Eloise, she is a strong-willed character. I would have loved to know the character's more if the story was longer. As for the ending, it was good. I gave this read a three hearts rating because I liked it but was too short. As for the 2 previous stories in this series, I would want to read them if given the time and opportunity. </p>
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Short, fun read. Good characters
The family chef and the young son.
The chef makes amazing food which draws in William. Chef is not what he expected.
Would like to read more about rhem

I received an ARC of this book through netgalley in return for my honest opinions.

Mr William Townsbridge has returned from a year working in Portugal to find that his parents have hired a most talented French cook. The connection between them is instant but how can he pursue her without tarnishing any reputations.

I enjoyed this book. Being a novella I found that we did not get to know the characters as much as I would have liked but the two leads were likeable and well written.

A very short book that was disappointing. I had hoped from the synopsis that it would be a fresh take, but it was predictable and the characters annoying. I didn’t like either of them from the get go and it didn’t get better.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I REALLY LIKED THIS BOOK. THE STORY WAS SWEET AND SHORT. BOTH THE CHARACTER'S OF WILLIAM AND ELOISE WAS BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN. REALLY LIKE THE MERGE OF TWO DIFFERENT CULTURES. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A HISTORICAL NOVEL YET ELOISE WAS VERY FEISTY AND INDEPENDENT AND HAD SELF-RESPECT THAT I REALLY LIKED. OVERALL THE BOOK WAS AMAZING.
WOULD RECOMMEND TO ALL ROMANCE READERS.

This is my fair and honest review, voluntarily given and in my own words, for this ARC. Delightfully different story. Clean and sweet.

William and Elise were absolutely delightful. I love the easy chemistry between the two. Ms. Barnes writes romance in such a way that the reader feels like they are a part of the story. Readers will not be disappointed.

3.5 STARS

FALLING FOR MR. TOWNSBRIDGE by Sophie Barnes. This was a very short and quick read that was enjoyable and easy to follow. I liked the characters - Eloise and William. I liked the premise of the tale - the high ranking Hero falls for the lowly cook. There was emotion and joy and smiles but, I really wanted more. Being a novella, we only get a quick look into these two characters and, finding the I truly liked them, was hoping for more in depth looks into their lives and backgrounds. Overall, a really quick read that is a lovely tale. (received NetGalley ARC for honest review)

I didn't love this story. This novella is about the third son in the Townsbridge family. The family is already unusual in that they seem to be very much focused on love matches for each of the children. It is often said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach - and in this book that is certainly true. Eloise's cooking seduces Will along with her looks.

The issue with this story for me was the power-differential between Will and Eloise. Eloise is a chef. although she is the granddaughter of a Marquis. Will is the third son of a Viscount. Will has been pursuing a diplomatic career and is home to find a new start because he missed his family. He is supremely privileged in every way. When he meets his mother's new chef, he is very interested in her. His sister keeps pushing him towards her - even as his brothers tell him to step away.

While will clearly respects Eloise's skill and wants to support her dreams of opening a cooking school, it is less clear if he respects her as a woman or person. Eloise is very clear from the beginning that she doesn't want a sexual relationship with him. She is focused on her job and passion for cooking and doesn't want to go down a route that would result in her losing her job and the respect of her employers. Will "tries" to stay away, but is still drawn to Eloise - he ultimately takes steps that show while he cares for her - he didn't respect her. Even in the end, the sense of entitlement and air of privilege that surrounded Will was just a huge turn-off for me.

I received an ARC of this story from NetGalley, but these opinions are my own.

Eloise is an extremely accomplished cook/baker with a secretive background, and William is the third son of an eccentric family who just found his way home. The kitchen heats up when these two meet and between cute quips and sly glances, they manage to find each other and more importantly, but the other actually needs! Not without a couple bumps in the road however!

For a shorter novella, there was a lot packed into this little book, and quite a few things to like! I LOVED Eloise. She is the heroine you always wish to see in a book. She managed to speak her mind and stand up for what she deserved while also retaining her femininity. Not an easy feat in any book, but especially a truncated one. Another win was William's family, they were lovely! And I can't wait to determine if William's youngest sister Athena has a coming of age romance! She was a pistol from the start.

One thing I didn't enjoy... William our hero! He seemed like a nice enough guy but once he enters the story his family go above and beyond to remind him not to mess with the cook. He states that he's never messed with the staff before, but based on how much his family mentioned it... it really put me off him when he fell for Eloise. I kept wondering if that was really true, did he try to sleep with staff before? It was really odd, and definitely made me think about it a lot considering the book was a novella and they had to come together relatively quick. Plus some later choices really makes you wonder how nice this guy really is...

This was my first book by Sophie Barnes but it won't be my last. The hero's actions don't negate my definite love of the book. I believe this can read as a standalone, but there were a few things that they referenced from previous books that I wasn't aware of, nothing that held up the story, but whet my appetite for those books!

These are my opinions and I give them freely and happily!

Posted to Goodreads and Barnes and Noble - link won't work.

This is a cute story overall but it also took me 5 days to read a 100 page novella. The beginning was cute, the middle was slow and the ending was cute. I liked Eloise. She knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself. William though I found him to be a bit forgettable as our main hero. I liked at the end how he admitted his feeling for her and how he wouldn’t give up on them and that made me like him a bit more. I really like how his family treats Eloise with respect. All of the descriptions of food was making me drool. Overall, this was a cute story with some sweet moments but I wasn’t engaged in the entire novella and was hoping for a bit more.

I really enjoyed this story. It was a little shorter than normal, but still packed a positive note. There was a very consistent story and plot line. It is part of a series, but I haven't read any of the others. A younger son returns from his work in the embassy of Portugal after a year. His older siblings are married and he is the youngest brother and unmarried. There are two younger sisters who are old enough to be looking for spouses. The heroine is the French cook mother hired. She is young, like him and is working while her family resides in the French countryside. She learned to cook from her grandfather and is hoping to save to open a culinary school. The hero is looking for a job in England so he doesn't have to sign back up to go outside the country anymore. They meet when he is astounded at the quality of food being prepared. This is such a sweet story. There are some sensual scenes, but the book is not based on them. The characters are likeable and believable. And there are no dangling story lines. The spelling and grammar are accurate. This is a book I highly recommend reading and it has earned 5 stars. This was a very enjoyable story