2.75/5⭐️

Let me preface by saying I’m a huge James fan. She’s always been a writer that I measure other historical romance writers by. However, I haven’t read her in awhile as I’ve been more into mysteries these days.

This book did not seem like it came from her at all. The writing didn’t move/transport me (as hers always does), and the leads had no charisma. The hero was spineless and emotionally stunted, the heroine too back and forth on her decisions, and the intimacy felt sudden and rushed for the lack of courtship involved. The hero’s sister, who played the villain, never got her comeuppance, and the ending had no flair or specialness to it. It just felt mediocre in every way which made me sad because I was looking forward to so much more.

This was 2nd in a series so I had no background to guide me. Normally authors provide some insight so the reader doesn’t feel lost because of what they’ve missed…but I felt thrown into a narrative that I knew nothing about.

I was disappointed because I know the genius of James. I look forward to returning to better things from her in the future.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley and Avon for providing the free early arc of The Reluctant Countess for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Lady Yasmin Régnier grew up in the French court known as the daughter of one of Napoleon's mistresses. She had a personal scandal in her past as well. Yasmin decided to move to England to live with her maternal grandfather in hopes of a reprieve from the whispers and looks she often received at court. Unfortunately, word of her mother's choices and how she chose not to act prim and proper as all English ladies were expected led to the some of the same treatment she encountered at home. Yasmin chose to ignore those who did not like her, but instead focused on those she cared about. She adored her grandfather and her friends fully supported her. The Earl of Lilford, Giles Renwick, held himself to the standards expected of an English peer. He did not approve of the way Yasmin acted in public, but was somehow still drawn to her. He made it a point to dance the first waltz with her at the balls they attended and then did not seek her out again. Yasmin, too, was interested in Giles. She made a point to try and draw out his humor while they danced. She rarely succeeded, but she didn't want to stop trying. Both knew a relationship between the two of them was not one they should seek, but sometimes the heart does what it wants and ignores the rest.

This is the second book in the Would-Be Wallflower series and I enjoyed reading Yasmin and Giles story. I loved that Yasmin chose to be her own person and hoped that people would look beyond her past and the gossip to see the person she was. Those who did found a warm and loyal woman. Giles came from a family who was also touched by scandal. His response was to become the perfect model of an English nobleman. Yasmin found that trying to change to suit society would not change their views of her. She chose herself and her happiness. Giles was intrigued by Yasmin and her choice to choose herself. The more time he spent in her presence, he saw it was the only choice she could make and one that worked for him as well.

I received an e-ARC for The Reluctant Countess and want to thank Eloisa James, Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for the opportunity to voluntarily read and give an honest review of this book.

So this was a bit of a mixed bag that I ended up enjoying by the end, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t struggle with it. The villain had no real reason to be evil and that just bothered me throughout. 3.5 stars

Yasmin Regnier comes to England from France to stay with her grandfather, the Duke of Portbellow. She meets the Earl of Lilford, Giles Renwick as they frequent the many gatherings held by the aristocracy. Giles always dances the first waltz with Yasmin and then they go there separate ways for the rest of the evening. They are total opposites of each other, he is quiet and attuned to his duty as an Earl and Yasmin is a darling of the aristocracy and she loves to gossip and flirt. She is not looking for a husband because of her past indiscretion as a sixteen year old and when Giles asks for her hand in marriage she refuses him. It also doesn't help that Giles' sister, Lydia detests Yasmin and goes out of her way to prevent their coming together. A very romantic, mild steam rollercoaster ride with a HEA.

I received this book as a ARC from Netgalley and I am voluntarily leaving a review

I love a story where the woman picks herself up after something terrible and moves forward with life and Yasmin definitely did that. I loved her! She had the best conversations with the other characters in the novel and it was entertaining how she interacted with Giles throughout the novel. It was refreshing that she was French and it was illuminating reading a little about court in France. I have not read the first novel in the series but that didn't hinder my enjoyment at all. Now I am going back to read the first one because I know it is going to be a great read.

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

For Lady Yasmin Reginier, entry into British society has not been easy going. Her mother was notorious as one of Napoleon's mistresses, and in her youth, she was taken for a fool by a man she thought she loved, and who loved her in return. She is only just accepted by some in the ton, and though she's attracted to Giles Renwick, Earl of Lilford, he is so stubborn and perfect, there's no hope - or is there? Giles needs to keep his title scandal free, and a woman like Yasmin is a walking scandal. Still, he can't keep away, and soon he proposes? But why, and can he go through with it?

With the first meeting of Giles and Yasmin in How to Be a Wallflower I knew I needed to read their book. They had a chemistry which was unmatched, and though they were completely different personalities, they brought out the best, and at times the worst, in each other. I did find myself wanting to shake both parties at different times of the book because of what they were up too. Giles' sister, Lydia, was a piece of work, and I wish both he and Yasmin told her to keep out of their relationship. She was the catalyst for most of the drama and it would've been a lot simpler, though perhaps less entertaining, if she had been stopped earlier. Giles definitely grew on me, and by the end, I understood why he was so uptight. Luckily Yasmin brought him out of his shell, and helped him to become a better man. A great Regency romance, and I look forward to Not That Duke!

Eloisa’s writing is magical! I love how the relationships ( or the sex) isn’t always perfect. She weaves a tale that it hard to put down and left me wanting to read more about the characters. The hero is very reserved and proper. The heroine is very outgoing and happy. Wonderful opposites attract story. Loved it !

The Reluctant Countess is the second book in The Would-be Wallflower series.
Giles Renwick, Earl of Lilford, is looking for a wife and has notions of someone impeccable, until he meets Lady Yasmin. She has a difficult past that she has tried to overcome and coming to England to be with her Grandfather the Duke had helped. Yet she is still not accepted or embraced by the ton. She has all the pedigree but she doesn't seem to fit with the image Giles has for his Countess. Yet they are drawn to each other. And that's we're things get very complicated. There's a whole lot of leeway in the normally over chaperoned world that allows Giles and Yasmin to have so many opportunities for scandalous behavior. It's hard to get past some of this and the behavior of both Giles and Yasmin in different areas seems unexpected as if they should have fought for things more. Parts of this story read like mean girls meets a historical romance, with a little revenge plot thrown in. Lydia the Earls sister is horrid, you've been warned and honestly I don't know if I'd want to read another word about her. She brings petty and mean-spirited to a whole new level.

Book #2 in the Would-Be Wallflowers series. An enemies to lovers and grumpy-sunshine hero Regency romance.

Giles Renwick, the Earl of Lilford is the grumpy-sunshine hero that hates being attracted to our heroine Lady Yasmin. She’s scandalous after all according to the ton.. but she makes him feel things he’s never felt for another woman. Lady Yasmin is an innocent being judged unfairly but has kept herself grounded. She’s down-to-earth and cheerful from the inside out.. and always sports a smile 😀 (and definitely dresses a little more provocative than most ladies of the ton). Yasmine has strong feelings for Giles but is unsure to where she fits in his life. After all.. he had always vehemently disliked her. Sound intriguing and a bit confusing? And let’s not forget his scheming younger sister that tries to make their life unbearable. Hatefulness and cruelty are only a small part behind the trouble that little villain causes 😈.

The highlight of my day was to sit back, relax.. and dive into this entertaining, gossipy story that matches an overprotective/jealous hero with a beautiful yet reluctant (will she? or won’t she?) french heroine. I didn’t care for Giles as much as I wanted to but found it to be interesting to never knowing where EJ would go with his character. I absolutely adored Yasmine!!! ♥️ 4 stars — Pub. 11/29/22.

Highly anticipating reading about The Duke of Huntington and Lady Stella who are up next in book #3 “Not That Duke,” out July 2023.

*Thanks to the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A gentle low conflict historical romance. The FMC is interesting. Not sure what's interesting about the MMC. But Eloisa James books always have great historical tidbits and a lot of heart with secondary characters to distract.

This was such a delightful read as these two who were enemies to lovers but also opposites attract. His families past led him to be cautious and her families scandal involving Napoleon's court followed get to England so she just embraced it. There were some issues with intimacy due to the past and I liked how it was dealt with and wasn't pushed or coerced. The sister though was way too nasty getting in their way cause she didn't like her. Jealousy isn't becoming.

Thank you avonbooks and netgalley for the e-arc for my honest and voluntary review.

James brings witty banter, emotional depth, well-developed characters and superb writing to this newest novel in her Would-Be Wallflowers series.

Yasmin turned out to be a heroine who won both my affection and support. I enjoyed her determination to be true to herself and admired her ability to continue moving forward in the face of much negativity. Each time she was confronted by those who looked down upon her, she chose to smile in response to their pettiness, to choose kindness as a counterbalance to their cruelty. Needless to say, I was in her corner cheering her on the entire way. I loved her relationship with her English grandfather (one of my favorite secondary characters) as well as her best friend, Cleo (heroine of How to Be a Wallflower).

Giles was a harder sell. He's a product of his class, as well as his family and that's reflected in his attitude toward Yasmin. While he desires her, and comes to begrudgingly admire her, he views her as inappropriate, not worthy of being his countess even though she is a lady. That's not a deal breaker for me as James uses it to create conflict and give his character an opportunity to evolve. My issues with him occur when - in my opinion - he crosses the line in holding her responsible for the actions of others (her very visual response is pure gold). Kudos to the author for crafting this story - and character - in a way that allowed me to be happy for the HEA he and Yasmin ultimately share because halfway through I wasn't sure that was possible. Because of his apologetic accountability for the way he had previously behaved, because I believed he was truly repentant and had grown into a man worthy of Yasmin, and because he finally put her first, I was able to happily celebrate their love.

If you like historical romance with wit, humor, well-developed characters, hard-won happy endings, a wonderful supporting cast, plus a self-centered, despicable (female) villain, give this book a go. I enjoyed it.

*ARC received for fair and unbiased review
*I also bought a copy

As much as I did like this one at first, I have mixed feelings about it😕 I loved How To Be A Wallflower so I was really excited for Yasmin's story!
Scandal has always followed Lady Yasmin and as the daughter of a French duke and his English duchess - who was also a mistress of Napoleon, she knows what it's like to be judged and gossiped about. And she has never let it stop her from being who she is. On the other hand, Giles - the Earl of Lilford, is the most uptight person as he doesn't wish to repeat his parents' scandals. His sister Lydia had made her debut a year back and as he accompanies her, he meets Yasmin too. And though he wishes to stay away from her, he can't deny the attraction between them. ⁣
⁣
At first, I was totally into this because who doesn't love starchy earls right? The banter between him and Yasmin was really good, despite his comments about her attire. So, I was expecting something like Parth and Lavinia's relationship in Born To Be Wilde at first because the dynamic felt a little similar, but sadly it was very different from that(blame me for expecting something just based on a few interactions alone lol). But that actually wasn't the problem.
The thing that I hated the most(other than Giles's sister and I'll talk about that later) was the fact that Giles doesn't defend Yasmin when necessary! Look, he can even be a sexist(I've read a few sexist heroes who reformed well) but no way in hell can I root for a hero who allows others - especially his family - to speak badly about the heroine! And don't tell me he did *try* he DID NOT! Not when it matters! This was very disappointing, even more so because he knows how hurtful gossip is - his parents are examples of that. And he doesn't even chastise his sister? Even if you don't defend the heroine you should at least be a good brother and make sure your sister doesn't turn out to be a completely shitty person right??? He just made a token protest when his sister or someone else made comments at first and then didn't even bother. And every time I thought he was improving by doing something good, he'd take two steps back by making some comment on Yasmin's dress or blame her for being so attractive. *pukes in the background*

He shook his head. “Lydia will accept reality once she is married. I intend to give her a letter to open when she returns to England after her wedding trip. This time with her is my wedding present. Not that she hasn’t noticed me watching you. She’s still briskly enumerating all your faults.”
Yasmin flinched.
“You do give her cause, the way men fall at your feet.”

(What the hell?)
(And)

“That’s not really the problem, is it? You think I welcome their lust, that I want it.”
“I think you enjoy attention.”
Yasmin swallowed. Horrible memories of being labelled a strumpet washed over her. She tried to banish them. She and Giles were going to marry. Marriage involved compromise.

See? These are just a few examples and I just CAN'T stand it!

And Yasmin - she is my favorite person in this whole book. Because she's too good! She doesn't give a shit about their comments or gossip. She's so strong despite her experiences and too forgiving. But, she gives Giles too much space to make comments about her and to hurt her. Idk whether this girl was blinded by lust at some point or is it love? But she compromises a lot when it comes to Giles. One of the few times that she does go against him was when she dresses like a wallflower(you know to make sure we remember the series title😂) and shows him that it's not her dress that makes her attractive! It's her and even if you cover her up fully she'll still be magnetic. That was done well!

But, I just can't get over the vile comments that came from some of the characters. The worst comes from Giles' sister - Lydia(she's such a brat and I hated her!). She is literally the worst when it comes to slut-shaming Yasmin and does so many things to pull them apart(like girl just focus on your life). And neither Yasmin nor Giles say or do anything about this. I can understand if Giles loved his sister, but I didn't really get that feeling from him. They just let her get away with everything and the only thing Giles promises at the end is like 'Yeah babe we don't need to meet her at any family gatherings'. Like that's it? We're just going to brush it off? There was so much potential for character development! I'm not saying that she needs to turn 'good' but at least she should learn that all actions have consequences right?

The only other person that I loved was Yasmin's grandfather! He's amazing and unconditionally supportive! She should have just stayed with him and enjoyed her single life imo because Giles doesn't deserve her. And though the characters around Yasmin kept pointing out that Giles has always looked at her with 'love', I can't forgive him. Showing your love through your actions is what is important and he never does that! Even in the last conflict before they get together, Jake is the one who has to bring Giles to Yasmin and I was expecting a big apology. It'd have been perfect if there had been a grovel but nothing of that sort as Yasmin forgives him! He missed the opportunity and that was also disappointing!

Anyway, though I did enjoy this one because of Yasmin and the steamy scenes, some of the characters and their actions had me feeling annoyed+disappointed. I'll still be reading the next book in the series because it sounds interesting but I really hope the hero isn't as disappointing as this one! I'd definitely recommend EJ's other books as I love them, but how much you'd enjoy this one might be up to individual tastes!

Giles Renwick, Earl of Lilford, meets inappropriate Lady Yasmin Ragnier and vehemently dislikes her. She isn't dignified and she’s half French. Yasmin is cheerful and putting a past mistake behind her.

The hero is attracted to the heroine but looks down on her for her sexy dresses and frivolous enjoyments. I get that’s his whole arc, but it just made me uncomfortable for most of the book. He also lets his little sister get away with murder. She’s manipulative and never learns a lesson.

There was one chapter where the pov randomly switched to the sister to show her manipulation and I thought this was lazy writing. Overall, I was bored by the plot, disgusted by the hero, and disappointed by the resolution. Yasmin deserved better than Giles and a sister-in-law like Lydia.

A lady with a scandal in her past is not the woman for Giles Renwick, Earl of Lilford. And yet he can’t keep his eyes off Lady Yasmin Régnier, whose smiles and dress provoke him at every turn. What happens when desire overrides an earl’s proclaimed wants? Readers will find out in The Reluctant Countess.

I’ve been a fan of Eloisa James’s writing for well over a decade, but I struggled with Giles and Yasmin’s tale. Yasmin is a charming heroine; she’s kind, honest, and it’s admirable how she keeps her head high with all the garbage thrown at her by people. People make assumptions about her character because of her mother’s affair with Napoleon and because of how a teenage Yasmin was taken advantage of. It broke my heart and made me want to see her get her happily ever after.

The man Yasmin desires like no other is Giles. Our hero is, well, not as appealing as Yasmin. He is struggling to do his best by an increasingly demanding, bratty sister whose faults he keeps excusing. Even worse, he judges Yasmin. I have no problem with a main character who starts out like a jerk and then grows, but Giles spent way too long being stupidly jealous and criticizing how Yasmin dressed or acted. He wanted her, but he also wanted to change everything about her so that other men wouldn’t desire her. This went on for too long for me to ever be satisfied with the romance and I finished the story feeling like Yasmin deserved so much better.

The villain of the story, Giles’s sister Lydia, takes up way too much page time. She hates Yasmin with a passion and does her all to keep her brother and Yasmin apart. She’s irritating to the extreme and the explanations for her behavior along with the end result with her plotline are utterly unsatisfying. The fact that Giles kept excusing her and Yasmin kept forgiving and helping her left a sour taste in my mouth.

I like James too much as a writer to say The Reluctant Countess is all bad. Yasmin’s friendship with Cleo (of How to Be a Wallflower) and Merry (of My American Duchess) was delightful. And it would be criminal of me to write about this book and not mention Yasmin’s grandfather. The duke is the kind of loveable soul you wish were your own grandparent. So despite The Reluctant Countess not being my cup of tea, I am still very much looking forward to the next Would-Be Wallflowers book. Yasmin’s irreverent friend the Duke of Huntington promises to be a much more appealing hero.

I haven’t read an historical book in awhile and I am so glad I chose this one to read. Giles and Yasmin are quite frankly funny together. She is totally misunderstood and Giles realizes this more as they keep running into each other. I laughed quite a bit throughout this story.

Gilas sister is horrible. For that reason alone I'd be leary about marrying into the family. Her friends are the best though.
I enjoyed reading, The Reluctant Countess. It's about a strong woman who isn't afraid to stand up for herself and fight for what she deserves.

This is a classic Eloisa James' historical romance - lots of witty dialogue with characters who are originals - quirky - unexpected in some way. A story of misconceptions and hidden truths. Very sexy...

Brava!

This was a lovely book with the typical James’ flawed but interesting characters. The ballroom setting is probably my least favorite setting, but it worked in this story. A good sign for me is that the book reads quickly for me and this one went rather quickly for me. 4 stars.

Excellent!
I loved the grumpy but-not-really-grumpy hero, and his heroine with layers upon lovable layers. The history is beautifully woven throughout the story, with above average sensuality and heat for an Eloisa James novel. An excellent, heartfelt read that I devoured in one day.
The backstory in particular for the heroine was truly unique and helped form her character in a way that is nothing short of brilliant.