Thank you Forever for the ARC to read and review.

First time author for me and I just did not connect with this story. It’s so long winded. Long drawn out segments of utter rubbish. This story could be condensed to half its size to get the main characters together. Serena has a lot of inner strength stemming from a past tragedy that added to her taking in the young boy she finds. She has charity work and raising the boy to keep her fulfilled. She and Charles dance around each other most of this book. There lots of side plots that are eye rolling. Lots of side characters coming in and out.

This one needed a bit more editing down.

"What she overwhelmingly felt was that she'd been on a long journey and she'd finally made her way home."

"Say You'll Be My Lady" is an opposites-attract, friends-to-lovers historical romance about two people figuring out where they belong. Readers were first introduced to Lady Serena Wynter, Charles Townshend, and their undeniable chemistry in "Not the Kind of Earl You Marry." This second installment in the Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair series gives readers a deeper look into the minds and hearts of Charles, a proper gentleman who lives by the rules, and Serena, who seems born to break the rules.

Lady Serena and her Wednesday Afternoon Social Club are unconventional. This group of women gather each week to wear pants, drink spirits, discuss topics deemed inappropriate for women, but also to change lives through their charitable endeavors. One such endeavor leads to Serena and Charles spending increasing amounts of time together. As they do, their chemistry is hard to deny, but Charles will do everything in his power to deny Serena, who he feels is so far above him.

This book is an incredibly slow burn, with most of the action off-page. The number of characters may lend to a bit of confusion from time-to-time, but the main storyline is easy to follow and enjoy.

CW: Miscarriage

I received an early copy from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I remember enjoying the first book in this series and being so excited for book two, but it just felt so slow to me. I spent the first part of the book just waiting for something to happen. It felt a little repetitive and just didn't get there for me.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Lady Serena Wynter is part of a society for unconventional ladies. She is used to go after what she wants, and right now she wants Charles Townshend. He is apprehensive to their relationship because he has secrets that prevent him from being good enough for her.

I almost always dislike friends to lovers tropes, but I really wanted to read this story and was looking forward to it. I loved Charles and Serena in the first book, and thought they had such great chemistry. Where did it go? Because it's completely missing from this book. It felt mechanical and not emotional or romantic at all. I never believed the relationship. Their conversations were so technical. Then it felt like the author was talking about their feelings, but was never showing us. I don't know. I'm really kind of bummed because the first book was fantastic, and I think Kate Pembrooke is a talented writer. Sadly, this one didn't work for me.

2.5 stars rounded down.

I’ve read the first book and this is equally as good. It’s perfect for fans of the show Bridgerton. Say you’ll be my lady is the perfect romance book.

Though they both say they will never marry, Serena and Charles have noted the attraction they have for each other. The radical Serena decides to just go for it, while the conservative Charles tries to resist. I can not wait to read the next in the series “Sweet Dreams Are Made of Dukes” which comes out in the Fall of 2022. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for my honest review.

Lady Serena Wynter pours her passions into charitable causes with the vibrant group of ladies in her Wednesday Afternoon Social Club. But her friend Charles Townshend worries that Serena’s recklessness might lead to trouble or gossip. There’s a mutual attraction between them, but they are both hiding secrets from their past.

This is the second book in the The Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair series. It stands alone very well, except for mentions of a number of secondary characters from the Afternoon Social Club.

I felt like this book had a bit of an identity crisis. It was slow to start, with a lot of conversations and storytelling that didn’t work for me. I thought the book was going in one direction with Serena and Charles taking in an abandoned child with questionable origins, but then it seemed to fall to the wayside.

It took until after the 40% mark for me to become engaged in the characters. I thought the story came alive with their closeness as Serena tried to move beyond friendship and proposition Charles. From there, I thought the story found it’s footings. But then it felt like it sped to the end with a lot of things (including their intimacy) fading to black or happening off page.

Tropes: Class Difference, Secret Crush

* I received an ARC and this is my honest review. #SayYoullBeMyLady #NetGalley

This book was disappointing. It started with a conversation between a group of ladies at an unconventional ladies' club. Which... should have been interesting. But it was so. Boring. Mostly because we have no sense of who any of these ladies are? There's a name and some insipid comments to another name and... They're not really discussing anything of substance and it goes on. And on.

The same sort of thing keeps happening. We get the introduction of the Hero and ... yet another boring conversation with a lot of words that say very little. I started to skim about there and nothing really changed -- the book seems to rely very heavily on long-winded telling and absolutely no showing. Nothing about it snagged my interest.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing an e-arc for review.

✨ Serena I’d jump his bones too you do you girl.✨

Charles and Serena were just so good together. Mutual pining and evident lust was present in almost every interaction between them. I loved the drunk scene (reader, I will always love the drunk scene). The second half of the book was very influenced by Pride and Prejudice and I was very very happy when Serena made like Lizzy and told his mother “I will not” and kicked her out of her home. Oh and when Charles finally said fuck it and punched someone. Their energy could feed me for weeks. I love when a friends-to-lovers can convey the middle-of-a-pining-tree-forest type of yearning I require. Food for the soul.

This book was sugary sweet and very low angst. Mutual pining but not self destruction. I liked seeing how much Serena wanted him, how white-knuckled and tense-jawed Charles was, and just how they handled their final declarations. I didn’t feel like there was a third act breakup and I respected their actions at the end! The plot was just as cinnamon roll as the characters.

I would do anything for Jem. Literally anything. Walk on legos, eat tomatoes, listen to balloons popping. The way Jem had not only me, but Charles and Serena eating from the palm of his hand was so impressive. I loved who the two became when they were with Jem. I don’t even know how to describe just how CUTE Jem was. Kate really wrote the little things of their relationship with him so well. I could feel every knee hug and snuggle.

However, “I’m not mad I’m just disappointed” is a perfect way to describe how I felt about the last half of the book. I loved Kate’s writing, her voice, her characters, but the second part was a completely different book. I was so in love with Jem and how Charles and Serena acted with him, as well as her father, that I severely missed my lil mans Jem. Even the huge conversation they had with him at the end happened OFF page. I was DESPERATE to see his reaction. Why was it cut???

Many important conversations and situations during this second half were summed up in two lines and happened off page. It occurred… a LOT. So much was told not shown to us. There was also a major tonal switch and plot shift away from Jem. I ached to see their mundane days, the beauty of small things born from their life as a family. Also Serena’s interest in helping the pregnant women was just completely discarded. (It was maybe briefly touched upon that she stopped having time when she got Jem, but it was weird. This was a fundamental part of who she was for half of the book.) There was even a major shift in how sex was represented in this book.

In book one, I was pleasantly surprised to find two sex scenes, with a relatively good amount of detail. We were served fade to black on a platter here. I’ve heard authors say different couples just *feel* different in the bedroom. Aka quantity of scenes and what goes down. But I don’t think that explains away a completely different way of approaching the sex scenes. Especially with the book’s premise of Serena literally wanting to jump Charles and his large bones. We still got sexual tension and supreme yearning, but the talk was bigger than the game.

This book worked because I liked the story as a whole, but I wanted even more because Charles and Serena were so good. It felt a little lazy and that made me sad. Everything went a little sideways. I liked what I was given, but I was also left wanting more in many different categories. Frankly, Jem and Serena’s father saved this book for me because I loved their unproblematic, cute selves. Serena and Charles were wonderful *characters* too, but I think we were promised something from their storyline that ultimately wasn’t fully delivered.

Four stars because book three sounds lovely and Kate came for my throat with Simon. I’m simply a lush for the first half of this book and like I said, I enjoyed this one, but I’m disappointed because I know it could be even better. It subverted tropes and was low angst (exactly what I wanted) and I really respected decisions the characters made, especially towards the end. It was a fine line between being too stubborn and unwilling to communicate, but these two honey buns never crossed it. I found myself very happy with how they handled outside forces, scheming mothers, and the whole “honor and duty” situation Charles was dealing with.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶/5

Thank you to the publisher and author for an advanced review copy! All opinions are honest and my own.

Charles and Serena are good friends, but even the best of friends don't always see eye-to-eye. Serena is not inclined to be constrained by society's expectations for women and Charles is supportive...if only she wouldn't take such terrible risks. Working out their differences is a tough task, but could be quite worthwhile!

There is a lot more going on here than romance, and it's really quite interesting. There's a real sense of place and time, with good detail about what life during this era was like. It's always fun to come away from a book feeling like you've learned something! There is definite chemistry, but the steam level is PG-13ish. This would be a great read for fans who enjoy the "historical" as must as the "romance" in the genre.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

There are so many things to love about Say You’ll Be My Lady. The role reversal of the female chasing after the honorable male was highly original, and Charles being so upstanding is what makes him so lovable. And Serena is bold and forthright and confident, but she never becomes overbearing and a nag, which I greatly appreciate. I think what I appreciate most about both this book and it’s predecessor (Not the Kind of Earl You Marry) is the rich, full world the author has created. There are so many interesting characters introduced with any number of stories to be told. And I like that there are hints to characters’ backstories which would also lend themselves to even more books or novellas. Can’t wait!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Lady Serena Wynter doesn’t mind flirting with a bit of scandal—she’s determined to ignore society’s strictures and live life on her own fiercely independent terms. These days, she chooses to pour her passions into charitable causes with the vibrant group of ladies in her Wednesday Afternoon Social Club. But there is one man who stirs Serena’s deepest emotions, one who’s irresistibly handsome, infuriatingly circumspect, and too honorable for his own good...
Charles Townshend, former boxer and consummate gentleman, worries Serena’s reckless nature will earn her the ton’s scorn…or put her in serious danger. Though Charles isn’t immune to the attraction between them, a shocking family secret prevents him from ever acting on his desires. But it seems Lady Serena doesn’t intend to let his penchant for propriety stand in the way of a mutually satisfying dalliance.
Serena and Charles are the consummate pair in that they have a lot to overcome.
There is nothing they won't do to be together.
Kate Pembroke has done a remarkable job with this book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

Serena and Charles have a lot of friends in common. Their own relationship has grown out of those connections. They are friends - of a sort - and Charles has always been very protective of Serena. He's been there to help her with all of her plans and pull her out of danger when she needed it. Both of them have held themselves back from anything more for various reasons - that are very honest and congruent with the time they live in.

It is definitely a slow burn - which makes sense for both characters. They are both on the cusp of making decisions that will affect the course of their lives going forward - even without adding in their relationship.

Overall - this is a solid historical - with great character development and a solid emotional punch.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Kate Pembrooke continues to write smart, historically pitch perfect and delightfully romantic regency romances with her second installment in the Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair series, Say You’ll Be My Lady.

In an entertaining twist, this romance features a worldly heroine who decides to pursue a liaison with an interested but all-too-honorable hero. In addition, Pembrooke overturns yet another trope as it is the heroine, Serena Wynter, who is titled and the hero, Charles Townshend, is not.

Charles and Serena have been friends for years. He has always felt protective towards her, especially since her work on behalf of the charitable – and deliciously subversive – ladies organization sometimes brings her into dangerous neighborhoods. Lately, Serena has been weighing whether their friendship should progress into a physical relationship. Although Charles is tempted, as much by his enjoyment of her character as by his reciprocal attraction, he will not oblige. He is far too aware of the difference in their stations and the risk she runs to her reputation should they be discovered. More important, he has a closely held secret from his past that has suddenly come back to haunt him, and he doesn’t want to risk her finding this out.

I loved that Pembrooke kept the pressure from Serena on Charles to give in to their attraction the entire way through the book. Hooray for women who know what they want and go after it without shame. Fans of regency romance that is well researched and historically accurate but with a thoroughly modern sensibility will adore this book.

This story was very good in that it had me questioning things in the story all the way through. I felt that I could understand the angst.
While this was a well written book, one of the main characters of the book is a high society lady, almost a spinster, who does charitable works. She does not want to get married, but all of her friends are falling, one by one. The heroine has had a particular gentleman friend for some time. She is attracted to him, but holds off because she doesn't want to marry because everything she has and is will be given to her husband and she doesn't trust anyone like that. So the hero, her friend, helps her with her charitable works. He is not in the aristocracy, but he does work in the government as a clerk for a Lord.. Since the hero doesn't hold a title, he is thinking of taking a diplomatic position. He loves the heroine, but he is afraid that he is illegitimate and knows that this will cause problems if it gets out. So the couple just goes on, attracted, but not crossing that line until the day they did.
I enjoyed this book,even if I felt that it was nothing but them. They just seemed to talk the whole book. They didn't go that many places where I felt that I was riding along with them. They just seemed to talk throughout the whole story and that was the only story. I give this book 3 stars and a recommendation to read if warned. I did like the story, I just felt it needed something else.

This was a lovely slow burn romance. It could have moved a little faster, but the relationship from friend to lovers was well handled. It was a nice twist to make the woman the more forward and pushy as well, it suited the book and the male character. I also liked that he didn’t abandon his principles as soon as they were inconvenient.

I may be in the minority here but I didn’t like this story at all, maybe perhaps because I’m used to that in historical romances the man is mostly the pursuer and the more experienced. Even if the heroine is pursuing the man, I’ve never read a historical romance where the heroine was just so aggressive to the point of desperation.

<b> SPOILER ALERT </b>

Serena leads this club of unconventional ladies. They meet once a week and pursue important causes to help women and children. Serena also has a secret that only an aunt knows about and has resigned herself to become a spinster. Charles is a close friend, who’s got her best interest at heart. The thing is he has a crush on her but because of his social status, he feels it’d never be possible to have a different kind of relationship with her.

As the story developed, I felt that it failed to deliver the kind of friendships Serena had with the unconventional ladies. The dialogue between her and her friends failed to show the deep connection that was supposed to exist between them. Then her relationship with Charles… at first I thought he was an alpha male, but as the story went on, he wasn’t even a beta. I just thought he wouldn’t be a man I’d be interested in, no matter his looks.

Then Serena wakes up one day thinking she wanted a different type of relationship with Charles and begins to pursue him so aggressively that I felt sorry for him because it was borderline harassment.
Honestly, if I’d been Charles, I would’ve run as fast and far away as possible from Serena. That woman wouldn’t let up!

The characters were so unlikeable, unreal, and somewhat boring, unconventional ladies included. This just my opinion, and others might feel differently.

This is an absolutely charming friends to lovers, slow burn romance! Serena and Charles are both hiding secrets. But while Serena is determined to plow through life and not let society dictate what she can or should do, Charles is far more reticent (and concerned for her). These two stubborn and compassionate people are more than a match for each other, and the book is filled with Pembrooke's delightful character banter. I can't wait for the next book in this series!

Love it! This book ticked all the boxes for a perfect romance.

I feisty heroine, a gentleman with a sense of duty, a slow-burn romance. There are so many elements to this story that made it unique. I was rooting for the couple from the first chapter.

Kate Pembrooke's books are a must-read for me now.

I enjoyed this book. Serena and Charles were darling. There are some great moments between the characters. I enjoyed their banter, the way they supported each other, and were protective of the each other. Jem was a great addition to their story. I also enjoyed how Charles background wasn’t tied up in a nice bow. It was left more realistic. He wasn’t a fairytale hero, just an authentically great person.
This book could be a stand-alone, but is so much better when read with the previous book in the series.

Thank you Kate Pembroke for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am enjoying the Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair, and can’t wait to read Phoebe and Simon’s story. I have a feeling it is going to be sublime.