As the book cover describes it a combination of My fair Lady and Pride and Prejudice. But also it’s a study in overcoming a disabling disability during a time when nothing was even known about it. The characters are endearing. The title is not truly accurate. Yes the Duke was a rake but not in this story. The Heroine Georgianna wasn’t a spinster yet. She wanted to be one. She was a shining light, a force for good and outspoken. He needs her patience and understanding and she needs his affection and passion. It was a slow lovely story with a delightful HEA.

A heartwarming historical romance that is so captivating you won't put it down until the last page and then want more.

This strangers to lovers, opposites attracted, forced marriage has a neurodivergent hero who finally finds the one woman that isn't afraid of him. In fact, she might be the one to help him recognize that he is worthy of a marriage filled with love despite his rather unexpected engagement.

Georgiana Bly is strong willed, intelligent, unafraid to speak her mind, and hopeful that perhaps Edward will find a way to love her. If Edward can overcome his reputation, a scandal can be resolved, and the chance to find out what truly matters make this a spicy read.

Looking forward to another installment and more adventures from great characters.

“A pair of muddy britches can lead to remarkable things.”

I can’t believe it took me this long to read this book! Honestly out of the 3 this one might be my favorite. I do love a marriage of convenience but that wasn’t exactly what this was. More of a marriage by accident? Kind of? Maybe not.
Georgianna isn’t a social person. She wants to be left alone to read (girl,same) so while at a country ball while her sisters are dancing the night away, she steals away to a secluded study to read. However, she isn’t alone.
Edward is a very stoic and grumpy Duke who always does the right thing. When he goes to his study before his ball for some peace and quiet he finds Georgianna not only there but sitting in his favorite chair. When she refuses to leave the room or even the chair he takes desperate measures that changes both of their lives immediately.

4.5 rounded up

I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the Never a Wallflower series. I am so glad I don’t have to wait long for the next book in the series, Much Ado about Dukes, out Aug 23, 2022.

This book had a grumpy, flawed hero who loves books. His meet-cute with Georgiana takes place in a library; a perfect opening to the book! The sexy, steamy scenes kept the book interesting.

In a nutshell, this is a quintessential grumpy/sunshine romance that shouldn't be missed.

✨“It seems we have found the future Duchess of Thornfield.”✨

From the summary, I knew this one was going to be cozy and classic. Edward finds reading his favorite book in his library, Georgiana mistakes him for a footman, which obviously ends in a passionate—if a touch scandalous—kiss, which obviously ends in compromise. A truly classic Romance Novel Scenario. And I loved every minute of it!

This is my second read and I enjoyed it even more the second time! Their relationship was just so warm and fuzzy. He bought her a reading chair and a bookshop and knew her favorite jam and memorized her favorite authors and I really just think he’s delicious. He took in a sided horses and just gave them really good lives and they loved him. He also has a dog and reads and is generally a cinnamon roll.

My favorite part of their relationship was when he explained who he truly was to her and how he felt abandoned the morning after their wedding. It was so important!! They both felt unseen that morning and I’m happy his feelings didn’t get erased. After that, there wasn’t a breakup or even much of a fight. It was adorable.

I really liked how understanding and nice Georgiana’s parents were, especially her mother. So many times, the parents are just horrible and they absolutely drag me down. They were a nice and I appreciated change here!

Overall, I’ll definitely rereread this again because it was adorable. I also loved the second one. Victory!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶/5

Thanks so much to the author, Netgalley, and Entangled Publishing for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchanged for my honest thoughts. All opinions are entirely my own. { gifted book } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog

Well, we'd all be lying if we said that we weren't seeking out more regency era to fill the Bridgerton sized hole in our hearts in early 2021, right? Those darn rakes, they get me every time.

I read this book months and months ago, so I may not remember all of the individual details, but I remember what a fun read this was! And I remember a bubble bath or two that ran on a bit longer than they needed to because I wasn't quite ready to put the book down for the night.

It may have leaned a little bit into the predictable at times, especially if you've read regency romance before, but I've never been one to turn a book away just because I may know what will happen. That just makes it all the more comforting. This book had a super fun (and steamy!) plot, was well written, and made me smile while I was reading it. I would definitely recommend it!

This story was just okay to me unfortunately! I even read it first and heard it as an audiobook later to see if I missed something buuut unfortunately no.

Some of the story I liked and some of it made me really annoyed with the main characters.
I actually liked the side characters like Edwards’s best friend the Scottish Lord Montrose and Georgiana’s sister Elizabeth and their romance a lot more even though you don’t hear a lot about them;)!

I loved that helping horses get back to health after being mistreated by there former owners brought him peace of mind. His people skills aren’t the best and he often makes mistakes but her reactions to it I really didn’t understand.

The beginning actually made me laugh because he was so out of place and this woman just did everything to get him to notice her.
Unfortunately I didn’t quite understand their meet cute and why he kissed her because she treated him so badly at first. She mistook him as a servant because he had to change clothes really fast after the accident in the beginning and all he could find was his stable boys.

She annoyed me a lot some places but she was also really understanding in other places. So she was really up and down for me too.

I received an e-arc of The Spinster and the Rake by Eva Devon via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I didn’t know too much about this book or the author before I started reading The Spinster and the Rake. I picked it up because it sounded really interesting and something that I would love – and in the end, I ended up really enjoying it.

The Spinster and the Rake follows Edward Stanhope, the Duke of Thornfield who doesn’t want much with life. He is pretty content with the way things are going. But when the Duke’s aunt interrupts and fiery battle the Duke and Miss Georgiana Bly things change, very quickly. Now engaged both Edward and Georgiana need to learn to live with the changes in their lives.
Georgiana is very similar to Edward in many ways and I think that is why they clash so much. And while he wants to have his quiet life, Georgiana wants to do as much for her family as she can. As much as any women can. And as the novel goes on we get to see why she is this way.

From the start, I was hooked by the fantastic romance. I also love a grumpy male that doesn’t want to fall in love, but then is taken about with how quickly he falls. Georgiana and Edward both break down each other’s walls. And then the reader really gets to see them for who they are. Edward and Georgiana were fire and ice and I adored it.

Overall I had a great time reading The Spinster and the Rake by Eva Devon. It’s not my favourite historical romance out there, but I will pick up more books in this series and by this author. The romance was great, the pilot was great and I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. It’s a good introduction to historical romance as well.

Edward is grumpy and is the type of male that wants things to go his way. And it’s all turned on its head when Georgiana comes into this life. He is the type of protagonist that I hate to love. He can be mean sometimes, but you can also see his soft side that he tries to hide.

These two really came into there characters and they were opposites from the very beginning but they grew within themselves and became better people for each other and for themselves. I liked the banter between them and as I mentioned I liked how much they grew together. At the beginning, Edward had his preconceived ideas about Georgiana and he was a bit annoying but I was happy that Georgiana defended herself, she did not allow him to be that way with her. But then there was Georgiana, she was not who I was thinking she should have been when they first met, I was like huh? What in the heck Georgiana?, But all in all as the time when all, I was pleasantly surprised and the story developed and it got better, they got better and I utterly enjoyed.

MUST READ!! Miss Georgiana Bly is more than content to be considered a spinster. Preferring to spend her days trying to keep her family out of debt, she finds crowds abhorrent. While attending a party at the estate of the Duke of Thornfield she seeks peace in his private library. Edward Stanhope, the Duke of Thornfield has no tolerance for crowds. Give him his drink, his books, and his hound, and he is perfectly happy to be left alone. When the two meet a hilarious battle of wills ensue resulting in a tumultuous and ill timed kiss. Unfortunately for them, the tail end of which is witnessed by none other than the Duke’s aunt who proclaims that they now must marry. I encourage everyone to read this book. I received an advanced reader copy of this work from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and given freely.

This was my first book by Eva Devnon. It took me a while to get used to the language used. I find it much easier listening to someone speak on television than reading it. Miss Georgiana Bly and Edward Stanhope, the Duke of Thorfield are forced to marry after they were caught embracing. Neither of them are thrilled at this prospect but after spending time together, learning about each other, they become more open to the idea. I liked how Georgiana makes Edward think about his actions and how affects those around him and how he tries so hard to change his ways. They both end up changing to become better people in each other's eyes.

Overall I found the story ebbed and flowed and it took me some time to get through the book. It may just not be my type of story. This book is the 1st of a series. I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book is a standard romance novel that I have countless times in the past. Does that make it a bad book? No, it doesn't but it is predictable.

From the first page it grabs your attention. And by the end of the first chapter you see the attraction and the tension between the Spinster and the Rake. Good read for a rainy day or a day at the beach.

Eva Devon's The Spinster and the Rake is a fun and romantic comedic novel. I read this one really fast and would recommend taking it on your next trip or just finding a comfortable spot outside this spring. It is a refreshing story of love, when you may have given up. #netgalley

A thoroughly charming, relatively low-stakes bodice ripper, "The Spinster and The Rake" was a light, quick read starring a likable pair of characters -- she's a bluestocking who loves books and politics; he's a duke who's clearly on the autism spectrum -- who have solid chemistry with one another. Devon plays with a "Pride and Prejudice"-esque set of supporting characters/scenarios that's quite fun. All in all, an enjoyable story.

I’ve been reading a lot of historical romance lately and this one filled that hole in me just as well as many of the others I’ve recently read. This is the first book by Eva Devon I’ve read and it was a welcome surprise to find another great historical romance writer. Her characters stuck with propriety in society and didn’t stretch the constraints of accurate history portrayals of the time period and that always makes me happy. Nothing like reading something and thinking…but purple hair dye didn’t exist in medieval times. Ok, not something I really have read, but you get my drift. As of late many of my favorite historical authors are doing some rule breaking that isn’t sitting well with me. Eva does not do that and in my mind that is a huge win right now.

A normal historical romance goes like this, girl meets man, falls in love, some great misunderstanding keeps them apart, finally a great gesture…Happily Ever After. Ok, that is not how this one happens. Actually it goes like this. She has no idea what he looks like, he falls for her at first encounter in the dark, he sneaks into her bedchamber, she falls for him, he makes an error in judgement about her and her family, she risks it all…then Happily Ever After. Way more than that happens, but that is an accurate summation. Where the story really takes off is how the two characters try to use a scandal to prevent her marriage to an ogre, but not reveal their scandalous affair.

The scandalous affair is what makes her love him. He doesn’t tell her, “No,” but instead gives her freedom to be the headstrong, intelligent, determined woman she really is. There is a lot of growth that happens for her under his tutelage and the secure freedom he offers her. She is willing to go to extremes to stop her wedding to the ogre and he is willing to help her when he realizes who the ogre is. There are lots of shenanigans and some tears that ensue along the way to love, but both characters are strong enough to weather the storm.

While I’ve already extolled the characteristics of the heroine, let it be known there is a lot of dignity, determination, and loyalty in the hero that makes them a perfect match. Eventually all the drama works out and they find their HEA. This story will make you laugh and cry a little and wistfully wish for angsty nights with your hero crawling through the window. Well worth the read. I can’t wait until she has the next one in the series out.

I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw the dress on the cover.
The writing in the book was entertaining. I appreciate that the author included an illness. It is something I have rarely read in romance novels.

I absolutely loved Edward and Georgiana's story. Edward was furious upon his arrival to his sanctuary and to go shine self time to pull himself together after a young lady tried to capture his attention and hoping to be one his Duchess. However he did not think anyone would be brave enough to enter said sanctuary let alone standup to him. But that is what Georgiana did and he kissed her and was now forced to marry her and thinking she is just like the rest of the unmarried Lady's of the Ton.

This is a great story and I recommend it if you like arrogant Dukes and Lady's that will stand up to them to give as good as she got. I received this book for an honest review.

After reading the first chapter of this book and laughing out loud more than once, I was sure I was going to love it. Unfortunately, I didn’t love much after the first chapter and it took me several tries to get to the 50% mark, which is where I gave up. The characters were bland and nothing about the story held my interest.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this book. Edward is uncomfortable in his assigned role in society, but has been brought up to do his duty. Georgiana finds herself compromised by this cold, rude man, but is determined to make the best of it. The plot of this story was basically the story of how the two learned to accommodate each other’s weaknesses and celebrate their strengths, but isn’t that a good description for happily ever after?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.