I have been provided with a review copy of The Spinster and the Rake from NetGalley for an impartial review. This is the first book in the brand-new Never a Wallflower series and this was just such a great way to start off a new series. I just really enjoyed this story and I just didn’t want it to end. I just lost myself in and I just couldn’t get enough of these interesting characters. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

Wow! This book is spectacular! It is full romantic, heartfelt, moving, passionate, and quite steamy at times. Whenever I picked up "The Spinster and the Rake", I was whisked back in time, and found myself not wanting to put this book down!

This is the first book in Eva Devon's new series, "Never a Wallflower", and I hope there will be many more! Her storytelling is incredible! She truly takes you on a journey that hooks you from the first page to the very last, and you can envision each and every moment. Her characters all feel like such incredibly real people, and their interactions felt authentic and true to who they are. You feel their fears, wants, needs, desires, and truly pull for them to find happiness.

Georgiana is such a kind, strong-willed, spunky, intelligent, loving, warm-hearted woman who truly wants the best for those around her. To escape a gathering, she goes into the library to read. Never could she have imagined who she will see there...and what it all will eventually lead to.

Edward is such a kind, hard-working, passionate, and driven man who often puts up, what others consider to be, a hard exterior. However, in reality, what others perceive is very different than the truth. Having experienced horrific pain in the past, he is understandably scared of letting anyone else in, and is concerned with trusting again. However, never could he have imagined what the moment in the library with Georgiana leads to.

(Possible Spoilers!)
I found myself rooting for Georgiana and Edward from the beginning, as their chemistry is there from the very start. Through ups and downs, they come to truly understand and respect one another...and love begins to grow and blossom. Though Edward sets out to teach Georgiana how to become, what he considers to be, a proper duchess, I think he learns quite a lot from her, as she is able to truly bring out the best in him. She opens his eyes to many things, and watching them both grow toward such strong love together is simply beautiful.

If you enjoy historical romance, I highly recommend this book! I read into the early hours of the morning to see what would happen next, and so came to care for the characters, and I hope we see many of them again in future books! I was also so moved by many of the poignant messages in the book as well. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Entangled: Amara for the ARC of this book, I loved it! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

When the Duke is found in a compromising situation with Miss Georgiana Bly he is honour bound to marry her, even though she is not of his station and he is convinced that she engineered the whole thing. Women are always throwing themselves at him but usually he sees such machinations coming; for some reason with this bold young lady who talks back at him, rather than with deference, he feels more like kissing her than avoiding her! Georgiana is convinced that the rude man in ill-fitting clothes who wants her to vacate the small private study in which she has hidden herself, is a servant and is dismayed when she discovers that is not the case. Now she must study to become a duchess and hope that she can find some kindness in the distant, arrogant man who is to become her husband.
Hopefully the errors and typos in the unfinished proof that I read will have been corrected by the time of publication.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book will kill your reading slump.  Right from the start, Devon sucks you in to the story of Georgiana Bly and Edward, Duke of Thornfield.  The second these two are on the page together, when Georgiana mistakes Edward for a servant and refuses to leave his private library, the story flows in such a delicious way that you don't want to put the book down.  She calls Edward's bluff of his threat to kiss her to scare her away and the two are caught into an unwanted marriage on both sides.  What's particularly great about this book is both characters are so likable.  Georgiana is smart and witty and unafraid to say what's on her mind...even to a Duke.  Edward is that grumpy hero with a soft center that is truly a good person deep down, despite what he may think of himself.  I loved that Devon wrote Edward to be on the spectrum and how he handles the challenges that brings.  I love that Georgiana is put in an unwanted to very difficult position as she is not someone of rank before her marriage to Edward and still puts on her big girl panties and deals with it in the best way she knows how.  The writing is great and this book was just fun.  I'm looking forward to more in this series.  4.5 stars!

Have you ever sat through a movie needing to go to the restroom but afraid you would miss something good? That is the way this book is. From the moment Edward Stanhope, the Duke of Thornfield, finds Georgiana Bly sitting in his favorite chair and he kisses her you are hooked. There is definitely something going on with the Duke of Thornfield and I am a little sad that the author didn't explain the malady but Georgiana is determined to fix him. She sees a cold and distant Duke and she wants a warm and affectionate husband. Once I started this book I just could not put it down. The life and marriage this couple was building was so fragile that you pray that it holds together while at the same time looking for it to fall apart.

Thank you Eva Devon and Entangled Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book.

Miss Georgiana Bly has a very thin thread attached to the aristocracy. Her mother, the daughter of an earl, married a mere mister, a mister who is quite inept when it come to the family finances. Georgiana and her sisters are so far down on the ton ladder, she never expects to ever marry. That is until she mistakes the Duke of Thornfield for a servant and is caught with him in an unusually passionate kiss.

Edward, the Duke of Thornfield, at first believes Miss Bly is a schemer like all the rest of the single ladies at his house party. Even after he accepts his fate to make her his duchess, he has severe doubts about her abilities to stand by his side. To ready her for the position of a lifetime, Edward with his Aunt Agatha, begin giving Georgiana “duchess lessons” to teach her what her mother never thought to prepare her for. As things progress and the wedding date nears, the duo can’t deny the passion that flairs between them even if Edward is somewhat frosty most of the time.

While Devon keeps an air of mystery around the reason for Edward’s personality traits until later in the novel, I understood his slow thaw where Georgiana was concerned. Georgiana was true to herself throughout the entire novel. While she found herself in a situation she never expected to be in, she wanted to learn all she could about being a successful duchess and wife. I really loved the little moments between the duo that brought them inches closer. By the time the end of the novel arrived, they were so naturally at the perfect place for their burgeoning relationship.

Devon has a five star novel to begin this unforgettable new series. While we know Georgiana’s sister begins a romance in this novel, we don’t get all the juicy details. Maybe Devon will grant us the story of a jovial earl and another Miss Bly as the Never a Wallflower series continues.

I received The Spinster and the Rake (Never a Wallflower, #1) for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Georgianna and Edward are an interesting couple that had my attention from the get go. I loved their initial meeting, especially since it was not only a great display on how different they are between their own social classes, but how they have great chemistry despite that. 

I loved that their first meeting lead to a compromising situation in which they had no choice to marry: I love that we didn’t have to wait for it, as it meant there was more time throughout the story for them to interact with one another. 

I especially loved that Georgina didn’t cower to Edward and constantly kept him on his toes. And the fact that he’s on some sort of spectrum was really intriguing to how they navigated their budding relationship.

But I can only give this a 3. As I enjoyed it but it felt like I was missing something. I can’t really pinpoint it, I just didn’t love it.

Georgianna and Edward end up in a compromised position and are forced to wed when neither of them wanted to marry at all. Both have very interesting personalities. Gerogianna is very new to whole London and the various ton practices making her refreshingly straightforward. Edward might be someone on the spectrum who has anxiety and is high functioning. 

It was interesting to see how two people with such interesting personalities come together and handle their marriage. The first half of the book was on the slower side and the plot gets more interesting only midway so readers will need to push through to get to the good part.

ARC received for review

I really enjoyed this book. Georgianna maybe have been a virgin but she was not a simpering one. She's actually pretty knowledgeable for one. She gave as good as she got, if not better. She was willing to learn anything and everything she needed to be a Duchess.

Now Edward is an interesting Duke. He is on the spectrum. Things have to be done just so and his brain gets taken over by numbers and procedures. He reminds me of Lord Ian from The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie.

They both work to overcome with stumbling blocks in their relationship to fall in love.

I wonder who's going to be next...maybe one of her sisters.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Miss Georgiana Bly is more at home in a library than on a dance floor, but her propensity to hide soon finds her in hot water when she is seen embracing Edward Stanhope, the icy Duke of Thornfield, in his private library. Now they are forced to marry, lest her and her family are ruined. For Edward, he knows he should marry, if only to beget an heir, but he hates being in company, and when his solitude is broken. Georgiana is as far away from the perfect duchess as you could find, but Edward, and his Aunt Agatha, must work together to support her, and she might just turn out to be the making of Edward, after all.

This book just blew me away, and I could not put it down as soon as I started it. I hated even clicked on about the Pride and Prejudice reference when I first read the synopsis, but thinking back to the plot, I can see that link. Georgiana is from a genteel family in Yorkshire, but they don't have any connections, and it's only really luck they happen to be at the Duke of Thornfield's ball. She is a lovely character, who faces some difficulty in her transition to Duchess, but she is strong, and her caring nature allows her to blow off all naysayers, and even melt Edward's icy heart. Their relationship was swoony, from near strangers when they met - and kissed - to slowly getting to know each other's history, and what makes them tick. I loved Edward too, who lost his parents when he was young, and had been treated abominably by his nurse and tutors for his behaviour - I think he may be on the autistic spectrum - and really felt ill at ease when with near strangers. He pushed against Georgiana's attempts to learn more, at first, but soon softened, and it was then it was clear they really loved each other. Yes, there are some moments of angst - a la Lydia and Wickham's elopement, but not quite, and I can't wait to read more from this author.