Class difference and slow burn pining. I love slow burn. Lady Serena knows what she wants and goes after it. Namingly Charles, who has been her friend. I liked their interactions and slowly unfolding attraction towards each other.

I listened to the audiobook for Library Journal - thank you to LJ for the ALC; I cross-checked the paperback that I checked out from the library.

Overall, despite the blurb and premise being entirely my jam, this was entirely meh for me. Serena is a girl-boss, she is really pushy to Charles in wanting him to have an affair with her, Charles secret is a bit of a snore, and I really just was bored by the kid plotline. I've heard the first book introduces these two characters, which makes the feeling plopped into their friendship/romance make more sense, but I'm not compelled enough to go back and read.

Serena's tragic romance and miscarriage was really sad and I did appreciate how that grief was handled. She's grieving, but not traumatized and I felt there was enough distance between those events and where Serena is now.

All in all, a fine histrom, just not one that met my personal reading preferences.

Talk about a sweet story! And it hit the mark for my Historical Romance mood 💗

I loved Serena! She was an independent, incredibly smart lady! And she didn't let the opinions of others bother her. I loved that about her! And Charles wouldn't change a thing about her, and that made me love him even more than I already did.

I am looking forward to more in this world 🥰

Say You’ll Be My Lady is yet another example of Author Kate Pembrooke’s ability to craft entertaining and romantic tales that you won’t want to end. If you enjoy strong, smart, independent female MCs then I think you will enjoy this romance. As an added bonus if you love a romance with a slow burn, this book will definitely satisfy your desire! Serena is a character type not often portrayed in Regency Romance - she is the so called cat and her target Charles is the somewhat reluctant and fearful mouse. I enjoyed the female being the aggressor in their budding relationship. This story is told from a dual POV which I always enjoy as it let’s the reader “get to know” each character and essentially take on the angst, longing, and fears each character experiences. I quite simply enjoyed the story from beginning to end!

Overall 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 3 Flames 🔥🔥🔥

📚Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from Forever - Grand Central Publishing - via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, comments, and interpretations of the story are my own and bias free. I did not receive any money in exchange for this review. Thank you to the publisher/author for allowing me the opportunity to review. Reviews are usually cross-posted to social media, goodreads, and Bookbub. 🦄 @ReadForeverPub @GrandCentralPub @HachetteUS

Regency romances are my bread and butter, and this book fit the bill perfectly. There was such chemistry between Charles and Serena. Already thinking of rereading this one!

2.5 Stars. This friends to lovers closed door romance brings together longtime friends Lady Serena and Charles Townsend. The pair have both kind of liked each other for some time but are too scared to risk losing their friendship to act on anything. While working together toward some common goals they finally decide to act on their feelings.

This book was a mess and somehow a snoozefest at the same time. Almost nothing happened in the first 40% of the book and because of that I didn’t care enough about the characters when things finally got rolling. There was absolutely no chemistry between Serena Charles and all their conversations seemed stilted and forced. I felt like the author just kept telling us they had feelings for one another but never actually showed them. Additionally there were entire plot points that just disappeared with no resolution. I quite enjoyed the first book in this series, so I’m not sure what happened between the writing of that one and this one. I will give the third book a shot when it comes out as it sounds promising.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was, unfortunately, a DNF for me. I love a good friends to lovers, and I love a slow burn, so I had high hopes for this one. By 33% there seemed to be one too many factors at play and none of them seemed to be leading toward to couple getting together. I just couldn't get into it enough to continue,

I might go back and give it another chance another day but for now it's a DNF.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever publishing for the opportunity to review. All thoughts are my own!

Serena and Charles definitely caught my eye when I was reading Not the Kind of Earl You Marry - so I was gleeful to see the next book would follow their love story. You could just tell these two were kindred souls who felt they didn't deserve a happy ever after no matter what they wanted. Reading their love story was beautiful and a lesson in second chances and deserving good things in life no matter your past.

Serena and Charles have such a contentious friendship, where Charles just wants to protect her and gets upset when she puts herself at risk - whereas Serena just wants to be her own person outside the confines of the ton. This causes a few dustups, but after a few run-ins they start to see those passionate feelings are good for them and could be an interesting arrangement.

However they both are harboring secrets in their pasts, one's that stand to change everything for them. Serena's past broke my heart but her second chance at love was so very beautiful. And the child they adopted was just adorable and completely stole the show.

Very excited for the third book in this series, and will definitely continue to read Pembrooke's regencies.

**Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn't a fan of this book. There were several times I thought about just marking it as DNF but I forced myself to keep going.
The story was extremely slow and for how long this book was it felt like nothing happened. I didn't care about anyone in this book and it felt like we were told that they cared for each other rather than saw so.
The conflict wrapping up in the end was also so pointless and meaningless which shows how insignificant it was in the first place.
It felt like plots were thrown in just to go nowhere in the end.
This book was disappointing.

Trope: different class, secret crush

This book was really hard to get into at the beginning but overall a great read because it held wonderful characters. It was also a slow burn but I did not mind because this book was different and unique. I really liked the main characters Charles's and Serena. They were both charming, and it was awesome the heroine was pursuing the hero instead of the other way around.

I couldn't finish this one. Which makes me feel terrible, but there it is. I didn't care about anyone at all in this book. It's probably me. So much regency romance is becoming predictable to me. The writing is good and I think fans of the genre will probably love this one, even if I didn't.

I will be honest, I could not finish this one. I gave it a try because I loved Bridgerton, but I just dont think that this series is for me. I find regency romance a bit too cheesy. I am sure that for fans of this genre, it would be great, but it was a bit much for me.

This was a DNF for me...

This was another excellent historical romance from Kate Pembrooke! And I'm quite looking forward to the next book in the series!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Well I was pleasantly surprised with this book!! I had been hearing mixed reviews about it, but wanted to check it out for myself and boy oh boy am I ever glad that I did because Say You'll Be My Lady is just so fun! Prior to reading this book, I had not read anything by Kate Pembrooke, but I'm definitely gonna go through all of her books now -- she's just such a great writer.

We have a LOVELY opposites attract trope and it was done so so well!! Our Lady Serena Wynter is she's an unconventional woman who doesn't want to follow the strict societal rules that women are required to follow, and our Charles Townsend (oh, Charles how I love you) who is a former boxer but also gentleman (love that) and the opposite of Serena. I enjoyed the chemistry between these characters and the complex storylines that accompanied them individually.

However, this book lost a star for me because of the time it took for me to become engaged with these characters. I also felt like there was sometimes a bit too much going on that distracted me from the romance between Serena and Charles. Basically, if I'm reading romance, I want it to be romance at almost all times. Maybe that's just me, but I just felt like I needed a bit more time between Serena and Charles and then that would have made it a 5 star read for me.

Say You’ll Be My Lady by Kate Penbrooke

After reading and loving Not The Kind of Earl you Marry, I was so excited to read this next book by Kate Penbrooke!

This book follows headstrong Serena Wynter who spends more time worrying about helping others than doing what is proper in the eyes of society. Her friend Charles Townsend worries about her and her group of friends being reckless and tries to be her voice of reason.

While both are attracted to one another, secrets from their past convince them they can never have a future. Watching their friendship and attraction deepen along with the work they were doing to help others made this very, very slow burn worth it.

If, like me, you enjoy friends to lovers, strong willed women and regency romance this book is for you!!

Say You'll Be My Lady is the second Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair book and the second book that I have read in series. While both books were good, I think I actually liked this one a bit more than Not the Kind of Earl You Marry. Serena was a really great lead for the book and I enjoyed all of the different levels to her story. I liked the relationship between her and Charles and enjoyed reading it throughout the book. And I also appreciated the attention to supporting characters, leaving me interested in the upcoming third book. Say You'll Be My Lady is another good pick for historical romance readers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for this ARC; this is my honest and voluntary review.

Say You'll Be My Lady by Kate Pembrooke is book Two in The Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair Series. This is the story of Serena Wynter and Charles Townshend. I have read the previous book which did add to my enjoyment of this one. Charles and Serena are good friends but he is of a lower station and had once been a boxer. Serena doesn't care about society and borders on scandal most times. But she has her weekly ladies meeting and helping with charitable causes. But lately she is feeling more for Charles than friendship but can their be more between them?

Say You'll Be My Lady by Kate Pembroke is the second book in the The Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair series.

Lady Serena Wynter is not afraid of scandal. She goes after what she wants and dedicates most of her time to charitable causes. Although the book takes place during the 1800s. Serena feels like a very modern heroine. Typically these books have titled men who go after untitled females and this book has the reverse. Charles Townshend is a former boxer, who is much more concerned for Serena’s reputation than she is.

The author does a really great job with the side characters and Jem stole the show. I can’t wait to see which characters will be featured in the next book.

I would have liked the book to be a little spicier. I felt like so much of this book focused on how Serena wanted to seduce Charles, but the book was much less steamy than the first in the series. I did enjoy this very sweet friends to lovers romance.

Thank you Forever pub for sending me a physical copy of the first book and allowing me to read an ARC of the second. I enjoyed both books in the series and will pick up the next!

Complementary copy given for my honest review and opinion. Sassy females of the past are my favorite. The historic romance with “different sides of the tracks” feel makes this romance perfect.