Calista Faulkner had a plan: go to England, get married, and save her father from ruin. Instead, she’s now stuck in London & penniless. Desperate to return home, she seeks employment at a hotel & is offered a job as a scullery maid. But when a chance encounter with the hotel’s owner, Mr Steven Donahue, leads to a change in fortune and her acquaintance with him deepens.
A well written quick read, the story flowed well but the ending seemed rushed so I would have preferred a longer story, probably because I was enjoying it so much. I really liked both Steven & Calista & how their relationship grew & changed. A charming romance

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

Leaving America was a risk Calista Faulkner took, but not lightly. Hoping to arrive in England and marry, and be able to save her family from ruin, she's devastated to find that her prospective husband has died, and she has no one, and nowhere to turn to. Taking up work as a scullery maid - the only job available to her - it's clear she's in over her head. So when the owner of the hotel she works at, Mr. Donahue, crosses her path, and rescues her from her misery, she's now conflicted in her feelings for him

I found this book a real quick and fun read. Calista hoped to save her family from an awful man back home, who was ready to ruin them or for her to marry. She found hope in England, but as it went wrong she had to use all her resilience to survive. I liked the dynamic between her and Steven, and though it was initially one with a power imbalance, it soon became obvious there was mutual respect and affection between them. A nice read, and I look forward to the companion book in the future.

Calista Faulkner's plan to go to England and marry a rich man and save her father.
Things don't go according to plan, and Calista becomes a scullery maid.
One day she comes across the owner, Mr. Donahue, and when he hears her story, he vows to help her to get back to America at his expense.
But his plans go awry because love is in the air.

Thanks to NETGALLEY for the ARC.

Steven and Calista's story just pulled on all of my heartstrings. I love Sophie Barnes period, but she really brought an amazing story to life.. Calista is just the kind of heroine I like--she's got nothing to lose so she's just going for broke. She's in an impossible situation being practically forced to marry a completely repulsive man to save her family. She figures... she'll try anything, so she ends up as a maid in a hotel. She happens to run into Mr. Dohahue, the owner, and man... you just know. He is such a hero to me as he sees something is not right, and he does something about it. They deserve an HEA and I loved this book.

Irresistible…Elegant, old fashioned and endlessly winning.
Many thanks to BookBuzz.net and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I absolutely adored this short sweet story. I really loved the fact that Steven comes in to help Calista in her troubles. I like that the writer chose to write Calistas character as a woman not relying on a man to help her when she was in trouble. With that being said, Steven swept in and did what she didn’t want. I was a lot confused by this plot. The story focused on the romance between Calista and Steven. The story circulated around the two getting to know one another. I liked the beginning of the story were the staff and Calista found themselves on opposite ends. I would like to see that the two worked towards an understanding of each other. The romance was a heated relationship that was great.

Mr. Donahue’s Total Surrender by Sophie Barnes is a Cinderella story with a regency twist. Calista Faulkner travelled to England with the goals of helping her parents who were in need. For Calista things turn dreary and she gets herself employment as a scullery maid at a hotel. The Hotel turns out to be Mr. Steven Donahue’s hotel and its quite clear that she has no experienced at it being a kitchen maid. Steven and Calista form a friendship when she is taken to his office and he gets her story. I liken her to Cinderella because the other staff are quite rotten to her and make accusations of her putting things in the customers food and the likes. Steven lets her stay in a guest room, and things start to change as the two began a truly fairytale romance. It is an adorable read, not a steamy one. It makes for a slow dreamy holiday break read. My review was given on the ARC copy received from the Publisher via NetGalley in return for my honest opinion, happy reading!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. I chose it because I like Sophie Barnes’ stories. This one is a bit of a Cinderella story with a twist. Calista is an American who came to London to marry, but discovered her future husband had died in the time it took her to travel to him. She finds herself destitute and unable to return home so she seeks employment. Unfortunately, no one is willing to hire her because she has no references. She finally gets a job at the Hotel Imperial, owned by a Mr. Steven Donahue. When she comes to Mr. Donahue’s attention, he realizes that despite her scullery maid uniform, she is actually a “lady” of refinement so he determines to learn her story. He rescues her from the kitchen and promises to find a chaperone for her and pay for her fare back home. Of course, during the time it takes to find said chaperone, the two of them start to fall in love. But Mr. Donahue is known for his deliberate way of making decisions and will not make a spontaneous decision to marry Calista. The solution he finds is a surprise, but it works well. It’s a good story and its similarity to other stories is balanced by the personality of Mr. Donahue, who will not allow himself to make decisions based entirely on emotions.

Sophie Barnes is well written author. I have read many of her books and they are always a good page turner. Once again, you can't put the book down! In this novella, Mr. Donahue's Total Surrender Calista Faulkner is an American who travelled by herself to England in hopes of marrying someone she had met through mail. The marriage was to help her family with their debt. Unfortunately, she after arrives she has discovered her fiancée has recently passed away. She finds herself in a foreign country with very little money and no way to get back to the states.

Calista finds herself at the Imperial Hotel seeking employment, having no work experience, no work history or references in addition to her foreigner status. The manager tells her no job is available, but then later is taken aside and told to give her a position. She takes the job as a scullery maid and is given a bed in the pantry. The other employees make her life a living hell and do everything in their power to make her job difficult.

Mr. Steven Donahue is the third son of the Earl. He took his inheritance and turned the Imperial hotel with the soon to be expansion in other areas. He investigates Calista Faulkner after an episode with guests and finds out the mistreatment among the other staff. Donahue tries to make up for the abuse that she suffered and tries to help her with her current situation by getting her back to America. During the time they spent together, they both discover they have respect and feelings towards one another. Sparks start to fly; they are forced to make a decision about what they should do with their relationship.

The book is very sweet, and the internal turmoil of the character is very well written. It's an easy and quick read if you are looking for some sweet love. I appreciate the characters got to know each other and not just fall in love instantly. It's a great read for the first of the series!

Thank you #NetGalley and Publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

Troope: Cinderella, Class Difference

Such a nice tale about a hotel owner and the American woman he helps. Calista came to England to get married but upon arrival found out her intended had died. Desperate she takes a job as a scullery maid where she is abused by the staff. When the owner Steven finds out he sets out to make it up to her until she goes back to New York. But as he gets to know her he does not want her to go. But is he willing to marry her and take care of an old debt to keep her?

It was an okay story. Fast moving. Felt more like a novella. The characters were passable but not my favorite. Calista felt weak and whiny. Steven was fat more generous that I works have guessed a man in his position would be. All in all I couodnt relate to these characters or the story.

I loved this historical romance story. This is an author that I never hesitate to pick up. I have loved reading this author's books from the first one I picked up. One of my favorite things about her is her writing style and her ability to pull me into her stories. I enjoy how well written and orginal they are. Her characters are unique, strong, hot and they pull you into the story. They make the story pop and keep me coming back for more. This book is no different. This is a story about Calista and her plans of marriage and save her father. Than she meets Mr. Donahue and things just may change for her. She is now faced with having to marry a man she doesn't love and leave a man she is falling for. This is a story with great chemistry and great growth. I really enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it.

London 1849

A delightful story that took me by surprise as I started and could not stop until the end!

She had gone to London to get married. Well that had been the plan when she escaped New York and the man that she truly did not want to wed. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Forced to work to try to earn funds to get back home, she finally got a job at a hotel.

He could not believe when he found her being mistreated by the staff and realized she was not meant to be a scully maid.

"Her ocean blue eyes met his, and it took all the strength he possessed not to sink to his knees and pledge himself to her right there, like a medieval knight swearing allegiance to his queen."

Must I say more? Simply romantic!

London - 1849

Calista Faulkner is an American who traveled to London to marry Mr. Peter Westchester only to find that he had been ill and died before she arrived. Now, she is without money and needs to get a job to be able to return to America.

She applies for a job, using the name Jane Smith, at the Imperial Hotel but all that is offered to her is as a scullery maid and a cot in the pantry. Having never worked before, she finds the work hard but does her best. However, the harassment she receives from some male workers makes it more difficult.

The Hotel and its restaurant are owned by Steven Donahue. He purchased the building and with a lot of hard work, transformed it into an exquisite place. It is also a popular place with the House of Commons. Steven’s oldest brother is Edward, the Earl of Lakewood and he is happy for Steven’s success. However, their middle brother, Nigel, couldn’t care less about him.

One day, a diner finds a blond hair in her food and as Calista is the only blond in the kitchen, she gets blamed. But she does not work anywhere near the food so someone must have planted her hair in the food to get her fired. When Steven learns of her treatment, he offers her a nice room, a maid, and some money to buy some clothes. He also promises to pay for her passage back to America. He finds himself fascinated with her and enjoys spending time with her. Could there be a future for them?

I enjoyed how Calista and Steven got along and enjoyed similar things. Nigel is a nasty and snide character and the author created him very well. I have long been a fan of Sophie Barnes and always enjoy her books.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a really enjoyable, quick read! I loved that it was different from anything that I had read recently.

2.5 stars

This novella is a quick, chaste read that isn't bad so much as it is dull. Neither Calista not Steven is a particularly exciting character; instead, they're both nice people who are nice together. Billed inaccurately as a Cinderella story, the novella starts with Calista in not-yet-met Steven's hotel where she is trying desperately to be hired to do anything so she can earn money to get home to New York. Apparently, a series of unfortunate events had left her penniless, but we learn about them only after the fact.

So she's hired as scullery maid but is mistreated by the staff, who are either annoyed that she doesn't know how to do anything or are eager to get under her skirts. A prank intended to get her fired brings her into Steven's orbit, but instead of canning her, he installs her in the hotel as a treasured guest.

From there, they enjoy a growing friendship that is never seriously challenged. The only thing against them is time; Steven has booked a return passage for Calista. It's pretty clear, however, that there are no true roadblocks, and it's somewhat frustrating that it takes them so long to figure it out.

As I said, there's nothing wrong with this story, but there's nothing memorable about it either.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks!

There’s plenty of surrendering to go around in this charming Victorian-era historical romance. Mr. Steven Donahue AND Miss Callista Faulkner both eventually surrender to their happily ever after. But they certainly don’t start there. Or anywhere close.

As the story begins, Donahue is the owner and operator of what would today be called a boutique hotel that is desirably close to the newly built halls of Parliament. Considering that this is a romance, there’s a very apropos joke that applies here. “What do kissing and real estate have in common? The three most important things in both instances are, ‘Location, location, location.”

It’s been a ton of work to rehabilitate what was a dilapidated building, and Donahue has invested a significant amount of money in the endeavor, but the Imperial is a success that he’s rightfully proud of. As the third son of an Earl, it’s up to him to make his own way in life – even if he was born with a bit of the silver spoon in his mouth. He’s turned that silver into something that provides him with an excellent livelihood and a purpose.

Because Donahue isn’t just interested in making money for himself – although he certainly is interested in that. He also prides himself on the well-compensated jobs in excellent working conditions that his hotel – and the others he plans to build around the country – will provide for all the people necessary to make his hotels shine in every way.

That’s where Miss Callista Faulkner steps into the story – very much to her own surprise. She came from her native New York City to marry a gentleman who died while she was en route. She was fleeing a forced marriage to a despicable villain who just might possibly have gotten her father in debt for that very purpose. But her late, would-be bridegroom seems to have been marrying Callista in order to get out from under the unwelcome marriage that his own family was trying to arrange for him. So they didn’t know Callista was coming and wouldn’t have agreed or approved if they had.

Callista has run through or been relieved of the money she came to London with – and she needs to get home. Broke and desperate, she’s applied for jobs all over London only to be rejected at every turn. The Imperial offers her one last chance, but there’s a catch.

There are several catches. The manager is about to turn her down when Donahue intervenes and forces the man to offer her any job that he believes she will suit. Said manager takes his comeuppance out on Callista by offering her a position as a scullery maid, absolutely no training or introduction to the work at all, and refuses to give her a room in the hotel’s generously provided and reasonably appointed staff quarters. She has a cot in the pantry, no lock on the door and is the butt of every joke and blamed for every spilled drink and broken plate that occurs – even when she’s not near the incident. She consoles herself with the money she’s saving for her passage home.

But her mistreatment at the hands of the staff forces Donahue to intervene. He becomes her knight in well-tailored armor, giving her room, board and spending money while thoroughly cleaning out the staff who were much too willing to harass and abuse one of their colleagues. He also pays for her passage back home and even provides her with chaperons for the journey.

While they are both waiting for that journey to take place, however, they have time. Perhaps a little too much of it. More than enough time to discover that they LIKE each other. Not just that they are attracted to each other, but that they are developing a friendship along with possibly more.

Which they don’t have quite enough time to be sure of – at least not if they’re being sensible. And then there’s that odious toad waiting back in New York to claim Callista as payment of her father’s debts.

Donahue has always been sober and sensible – but this is looking like the one time in his life when he’ll be much better served if he throws caution to the winds.

Escape Rating B: Mr. Donahue’s Total Surrender is a light and frothy historical romance with just enough dark undertones to keep the reader – and the characters – on their toes.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this story is that it is a romance of thoughts and feelings and not body parts. Some of that is the period in which it is set, but I loved the way that the protagonists fall in love through spending time together, talking with each other, and just enjoying each other’s company. I did feel the romance, and we did see them fall for each other, but they’re not using sex to cement the relationship and that worked well.

I also liked that Donahue is someone who works for a living. Not that he isn’t rich, and not that his family didn’t give him a damn good start with education and money, but he’s not among the idle rich. We’re seeing more of that in historical romance and I like the trend very much.

The thing that kept this book from being a grade A read instead of a B has to do with comeuppances. There weren’t nearly enough of them. There are several circumstances in the story with villains. Not just the staff of the hotel who harass and abuse Callista, but also a titled brother and sister who are just awful and, top of the ugly pile, the odious schemer who hatched the plan to force Callista to marry him. He’s slime. The hotel staff do get their just desserts, but that was too easy. I would want to see the sour expressions on the part of those awful siblings at the wedding, and I especially wanted to know that Mr. Odious New York got at least a sliver of what should be coming to him. That we don’t discover what happened to him or even just his reaction at getting thwarted felt like a missed opportunity for a bit of catharsis.

But I had a ball – even if there is no actual ball – with Mr. Donahue, Miss Faulkner, and their total surrender to each other.

This is the first of the Enterprising Scoundrels series and another great story from Ms. Barnes. Her storytelling is amazing and she really knows how to craft a good regency story with details that are true to the time period. In this story, Calista has traveled to Europe in hopes of finding a husband and a better life. She doesn't have luck on her side, and when she has no money to return home, she seeks a position at a hotel. Being thought a woman of ill-repute, she is offered a low paying position. Stephen is the owner of the hotel and when he learns of her troubles, he does all he can to help her and keep her safe. Stephen is charmed by Calista and she by him. The two grow close and their attraction grows, but Calista must eventually return home and follow through with an arranged marriage that has been set up for her in order to save her family from ruin. Will she be able to leave Stephen and the love she has found behind?
This was a sweet, lighthearted, and delightful story. The characters were well-crafted and likable. Calista and Stephen were a charming couple and I enjoyed their story.

I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

This book is an enjoyable and quick read that I got through very quickly.

Spoiler-free summary:
Calista Faulkner needs a job desperately to get back home to New York after finding herself penniless and alone in England. Desperate to return home, she seeks employment at a hotel—as a scullery maid. When she meets the hotel owner Mr. Donahue life is thrown upside down. Does she actually want to go back to her old life?

What I liked:
It was quick and easy to get into. The world-building and background data were really easy to read without feeling like you are bored with it. The hero seems to be really determined to do the right thing. I also really love the heroine, she was plucky and quick thinking, never letting the terrible things just happen to her without her fighting through it.

What I did like;
One thing I really really didn't love was Mr. Donahue's motivation. When he was ready to fire her I understand he was curious to see what her background was but when he turns around and pays to make all of her problems go away it screams favoritism and classism. She became worthy of his money and sympathy because she is rich and gorgeous. That just rubbed me the wrong way.

Romance done Sophie Barnes style. A cute story even though I felt it highly unrealistic and at times the characters behaved a little like perfect robots. Not a lot of emotional content in this story and the pacing moved along a tad faster than I prefer.

An enjoyable start to a new series - I only hope the rest of the series adds more romance.

3 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 3 Flames 🔥🔥🔥