James is one of my top three romance authors. "Not that Duke" keeps her winning streak going. The characters are well developed. The plotting is tight. A wonderful romance overall.

Having read TRC previously, I really feel like I would have gotten more out of this one reading them back to back. It's definitely not necessary, but the overlap in time between books made me curious.

I loved Stella. She's smart, stands up for herself, and knows what she wants out of life. Silvester is (as Stella calls him) part duke and part pirate. They have an instant friendship that turns into serious chemistry, but I wasn't completely sold on the love part. And the dowager duchess stole every scene she was in.

Plot wise, it was mostly good. They do talk a lot (which is fantastic), yet there were always things that could have been clarified to avoid the many many many miscommunications about Silvester and Yasmin. Granted, in hindsight, Silvester probably didn't know his own feelings, so there's that.

Overall, these two had banter for days and I was here for it. I would have liked more adoration for Stella because she deserved it, but the epilogue was satisfying.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

Stella and her Duke are delicious and it was lovely to see Sylvester get his happily every after. Eloisa James has a knack for writing plucky heroines and adoring heroes.

This is probably not my favorite Eloisa James book, but man you can’t help but like Stella. Red hair, short, spectacles, and forthright. This is a story of learning to love yourself even when you’ve been told all your life that you are not lovable. Stella also had to learn that she was lovable enough for Sylvester who was perfect in all ways. 4 stars.

I reviewed this title for Fresh Fiction. For my full review please visit: https://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=83153

Eloisa James is one of my favorite authors and I collect all of her books. I was so excited to receive Not THat Duke as an ARC. As usual it was everything I wanted from James and more. Lady Stella Corsham is freckled red-head with a mind of her own, and a strong personality to match it. The Duke of Huntington, Silvester Parnell, has fallen for her and when their unexpected marriage happens he has to find a way to make her realize he has fallen in love.
This was such a fun adventure to read. With strong personalities and chemistry between the characters you will be hooked from the start. With a perfect mix of humor and sexual tension the story flows and can’t help but want to join in the fun. Eloisa James always writes with attention to detail in her characters and settings, the perfect historical romance combination. In this series of Would Be Wallflowers James shows that even characters with flaws can be perfect for the right match.
I loved this adventure and I can’t wait to buy it to add to my collection. I know you are going to love it and not wanna put it down. Enjoy.

Well I finished "Not That Duke" and maybe it was just me but I found the heroine a bit hard to like with all of her whining about the other woman and an appalling lack of self-esteem. I did not find the story that interesting because of it. While the writing itself was exceptional the whole story was one of envy and self-doubt. I wanted to give it 4 Stars but since if you remove the pages of "he does not love me" , "I am not pretty enough" and excessive (IMHO) sex you don't even have a good novella. 3 Stars

The Would-be Wallflowers series continues to delight with a friends-to-lovers story that highlights kindness and understanding as an important part of the romance.
Lady Stella Corsham is smart and witty, but her red hair and freckles keep all but the fortune hunters from courting her. She's accepted that she'll probably have a loveless marriage to the nice Earl of Lilford or be a spinster. So while everyone in the Ton knows the Duke of Huntington is in love with lovely, slender Yasmin Régnier, Stella starts a friendship that shows she doesn't care about his title or is looking for anything more than conversations and kindness. Huntington, meanwhile, actually likes that she's smart and enjoys spending time with her, even though he'd rather keep his distance and avoid his mother's matchmaking.
It's a complicated plot that leads to Stella and Sylvester's HEA, with a lot of hidden feelings, denial, and the dreaded lack of communication leading to misunderstandings. But if there's something that James excels at it's breathing life into her characters and weaving a complex and enjoyable plot one chapter at a time.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the wonderfully romantic read!

I haven’t read any books by this author and apparently this book is part of a series, but I didn’t feel like I was missing anything by starting with this one!

Stella has plenty of suitors, but only because of her large dowry. With her curvy body, red hair, smarts and glasses, she isn’t the “beauty” that most men seem to want and because of that she never feels good enough.

Silvester Parnell, the Duke of Huntington, is the most sought after bachelor and he has his sights set firmly on Yasmin. It takes a while for him to realize it (because Yasmin chooses another) but eventually he realizes that Stella is the one that he wants.

I will admit that a large part of this book was tough to read. Poor Stella just wanted to be chosen first, and honestly it was tough for me to come to terms with her getting with Silvester. That being said, I really felt like the second half of the book was much better than the first and turned the story around a bit for me!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Stella wears spectacles, has red hair and freckles, is plump, and outspoken. Nothing like the current standard for beauty. She crushes after Silvester, but he is in love with Yasmin. This book runs concurrently with book 2 (Yasmin's story). You don't have to necessarily have read book 2 (do yourself a favor and skip it). Sylvester is unethical, unscrupulously implementing a little insider trading regarding England's gold standard, making himself another fortune. He's willing to do whatever it takes if it's an advantage for him while only showing a cheerful, likeable side to the people in society. It was odd that the hero was in love with another woman for half the book. Even going with her to the country for a month. Yet he says he never even kissed her. When Yasmin finally marries his friend (again, book 2), Silvester decides to marry Stella. Against her wishes, knowing she was enraged at him, he tells her aunt he ruined her, thereby forcing her into marriage. Stella considers this his "pirate" side. Blech. The second half of the book is their marriage. Stella's character was deeply emotional. She's trying to keep some self esteem while everyone she knows tells her nothing about her is good enough. Even her husband wants another woman. Silvester redeems himself somewhat but too little too late in my opinion! Oh right, the vile Lydia is back causing trouble too. A little nitpick about the cover. I wish the model was wearing glasses. Stella's spectacles were a major plot point of the book. She always had to wear them or she couldn't function. Even misjudging distances when she was wearing them. Not having them on the cover only enforces the idea that a woman in glasses isn't beautiful.

Heat Factor: It’s zingly-tingly

Character Chemistry: They’re friends and they have that undercurrent of ka-pow, so I’d say they’ve got it covered.

Plot: Stella is a freckled, bespectacled, short, round little orphan who has been second-choice or overlooked her entire life. Silvester is a Duke and the son of two very eccentric people, who curated a polished, well-liked exterior in order to fit in socially. Stella has the hots really badly for Silvester, but Silvester is mooning desperately over a very beautiful French noblewoman. It’s painful.

Overall: This book MIGHT end up being my favorite of the entire year. It’s so good I cried twice and had to stop reading once.

Where to start.

This book is incredible.

Stella is everything that is not “the thing”—she’s short, plump, is absolutely covered in freckles, and has to wear glasses because she absolutely cannot see. Unlike ye books of old, she’s not secretly an Amazonian bombshell who just needs the right dress—she is who she is. She’s also incredibly smart, well-read, and highly intellectual, and she doesn’t hide it. Needless to say, she’s sort of pitied in society, and she’s just doing the best she can to survive.

Silvester is a duke, and is the offspring of two very eccentric people. His mother invented a chimney for trains, and his parents were so focused on their relationship and their work together that Silvester ended up raising his two sisters and shoring up the estate into a booming, wealthy success. But in order to do that, he had to create a carefully curated facade so as to be accepted by society, and it worked. Everyone likes him. He’s easygoing, affable, and blends in as much as a handsome duke can.

The book opens with Stella clearly pining for Silvester and Silvester clearly pining for the gorgeous and poised Lady Yasmine. For a time, Stella and Silvester bump along fine as friends (they play chess, walz, and Stella invariably makes Silvester laugh in a way that’s a little too boisterous to be quite the thing), until Stella’s suitor Giles ends up chasing after Yasmine as well. Now Yasmine has two very eligible suitors bending over backwards for her and Stella’s are very clearly only in it for her dowry.

At the same time, Silvester’s mother, the Dowager, is convinced Stella is the one for him. She throws them together subtly in order to urge him along, but it isn’t until Yasmine and Silvester announce their engagement and Giles chases after Yasmine, resulting in THEIR engagement, that Silvester returns and starts pursuing Stella.

Stella being second choice is one of the biggest and most heartbreaking themes of the book. She wasn’t what her mother wanted, what her aunt wanted, and she certainly isn’t what society wants. She just wants to be seen and chosen for who she is. She wants someone to love her unreservedly. It’s so heartbreaking, and it’s even harder to watch unfold when Silvester realizes that he can’t undo what he did—he DID choose Yasmine first. Everyone knew he did. He did force Stella’s hand in a way where Stella doesn’t get the chance to see if anyone out there COULD want her first. It’s incredibly sad.

And Silvester is, in a lot of ways, kind of insecure? He’s determined to win every competition and acquire as much wealth as possible. He looks outwardly like he doesn’t really care what society thinks (he’s a duke after all) but at the same time he pays close attention to it and is always ready with the solution that will make people view him positively. For example, when he marries Stella, he’s very aware that people will think he’s marrying her because she’s pregnant or because he’s lost a lot of money and needs her dowry—so he throws velvet bags of money to the townspeople when they leave the church and they depart on a white, decorated, giant horse. (Because why would he throw that much money if he’s broke, and pregnant women can’t ride on giant horses.)

So anyway, their romance, Stella’s unfolding, and Silvester’s heart opening made for an incredible story. And honestly, the wedding night scene was MEMORABLE. I won’t spoil it, but if you’re sick to death of the guy demonstrating barely contained sex power and the gal being timid and then instantly a rodeo queen, you’ll appreciate how the author handles it. In fact, I bet you’ll LOVE it.

Would that this had been published prior to our upcoming Put Up Your Dukes bracket, because I think it would be a strong contender for the title…

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report

I was so disappointed in this book! I love Eloisa James and have read her books for years, and wow this isn't up to her standards. It feels like 2 different books mashed together. I can't comment on the ending because I stopped reading it 75% of the way through, the first time I couldn't finish a book in years. Eloisa James's characters can be feisty, bold, vulnerable, and shy, sometimes all at once, but Stella is a mess.

She starts off knowing she doesn't fit the ton's beauty standards but seems pretty accepting of herself. But once she marries Silvester she does a 180 and turns into an insecure mess. She pitches an overwrought, tearful fit at a party and that was my stopping point because I was just as confused about what was happening as Silvester.

Plus the wedding night scene was incredibly bizarre for a Regency novel. I've read spicy historical romance and not so spicy, but I've never read anything as WTF as that.

It was just very difficult to feel invested in any of the characters. Except for Blanche! Blanche showed more personal growth in one chapter than anyone else in the whole book! Team Blanche, she needs her own book.

Lady Stella has hoards of suitors, but they’re only after her massive dowry, certainly not her freckles, red hair, or plump figure. Silvester Parnell, the Duke of Huntington, is certainly not included among their number given his status as London’s most sought-after bachelor.

Unfortunately, Stella finds herself maneuvered into marrying the duke for all the wrong reasons. Though she’s long harbored deep feelings for him, this is the worst position she can imagine being in, knowing his feelings for someone else. Now Silvester is left to convince Stella that he truly has fallen in love with the unique woman he married.

This was a fun read and I definitely found myself relating to Stella’s quirks and difficulty fitting in. I loved seeing her come into her own and learn to stand up for herself, though I could’ve done with less of the duke’s attention given to Yasmin. It took him a bit long to turn his eyes to Stella for me, though I did appreciate watching their friendship develop into something more once Silvester finally woke up and listened to his own feelings. His cluelessness did make sense given how much his mother had clearly loved his late father despite being apparently unaware of the emotion. Silvester’s infatuation with Yasmin in the previous book definitely made me nervous going into this one, but it did quickly become clear that the feelings he had for Stella were much deeper than the superficial ones he might have had for Yasmin. I really enjoyed seeing Stella and Silvester gradually peel back one another’s layers and learn how to communicate.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNF at 53%. I just could not continue on with so much of the character's own self-loathing and internal monologue about how ugly she was when she clearly was not. Furthermore, our love interest was not doing enough, fast enough, for her to drop that idea. There was too much pining over another woman while letting our own protagonists feelings get crushed. At over 50%, I expected the plot to swing toward the direction of our main character then still barely heading that direction. I did love the Duchess Dowager and would happily read a book about her her son was irritating and so was the main character and I had to put it down. I will still read from Eloisa James in the future but this was not to my taste.

This was another great book from Eloisa James. She is one of my go-to authors for historical romance. She just has a fantastic ability to set the scene and let it play out on the page perfectly.

I wanted to like this book, but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. This technically can be read as a standalone, but you should probably read The Reluctant Countess first in order to fully understand the backstory of Yasmin and Silvester. Stella thinks that Silvester Parnell, Duke of Huntington, is still in love with Yasmin even as he pursues a relationship with her. The sex scenes in this book were super spicy, but the book still fell a bit flat for me. The first half of the book drags and the ending felt rushed. I only really enjoyed the last quarter of the book.

I have definitely found that Eloisa James' novels in this series get better and better with each installment. James brings her elegant writing, well developed plots and interesting characters to life in this novel. James has a way with her words that really bring to life character dialogue and banter, and the hero and heroine in this novel truly spark with tension and chemistry. This novel is the perfect example of Eloisa James in her element, and it is definitely worth the read if you have been enjoying the Would-be Wallflowers series.

This novel weaves together the marriage of convenience and hero falls first really beautifully. While Stella might seem like Silvester's second choice, it is definitely apparent to the reader that these two are made for this other. This novel is very character and emotionally driven. It is a story about two people who are deeply intrigued by the other, learning to open themselves and trust the other. It is a story about learning how to communicate, learning how to be a spouse, and learning to be truly open with your feelings. This novel really sizzles in the banter and interactions, James steadily builds tension between Stella and Silvester and keeps the reader engaged through kisses and touches that build up the feelings between them as they learn to express physically what they are feeling for the other.

Not That Duke is a fun and delightful third novel in this series, it is definitely worth the read, and if you are a fan of Eloisa James this will just further prove to you what a wonderful historical romance author she is. .

The third in the Wallflowers series and it's just as delightful as the first two.

The characters are so much fun, I love Stella's spunk and her determination to marry for lovel And of course, the Duke is a perfect match. Their romance is fun to watch develop.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

I'm a big fan of Eloisa James' books and have enjoyed the previous books in this series.

In this book, Silvester has been courting Yasmin along with Giles, who she ended up with in the last book (these two must be concurrent). Stella is an orphan who is in love with Silvester. Silvester's mother wants him to marry Stella because the two ladies are very similar in temperament but it takes him awhile to realize he doesn't really want Yasmin but is in lust/love with Stella.

Also in this book Stella needs to find herself and realize that she is worthy of love and being someone's first choice. This is a huge issue for her over the book. Most of the book Stella feels like a burden to her aunt and uncle, and feels like she is a second choice for Silvester and that he is really in love with Yasmin, whom he cannot have.

I enjoyed the two of them together, frankly all the characters in the book, and the relationship between the Dowager Duchess and everyone in the book (she is a real character). I kept thinking the book was over, but then it had 30 more pages to go. Finally there was a conflict between Silvester and Stella that felt kind of thrown in and unnecessary. This also happened in the previous book.

I assume the next book will be Blanche's, and I am enjoying the characters in this series enough that I would like to keep reading even though the pacing in the series or thrown in conflicts aren't as well written as previous books by James.

I received an advanced copy and am giving an honest review.

Eloisa James is always a fun and quick read and “Not That Duke” doesn’t disappoint.

Stella is a wallflower that wants nothing more than to be a spinster and live in a cottage next to a bookstore, but her Aunt and the Marriage Season have other plans. Her Aunt and Uncle increase her dowry because who can ever want a lady with freckles *gasp* , eye glasses *gasp*, and curves *double gasp*?

Well, it seems the Duke of Huntington is on the prowl for his Duchess. He has his eyes set on the beautiful and delicate lady Yasmine, but his eccentric mother would rather him be with a bookish, bespeckled, and rather buxom fiery red-head covered in freckles. He of course has no interest in lady Stella for a wife. She’s far too opinionated, funny, and most importantly she has zero interest in marrying him.

But the fates have other ideas and Stella and Silvester are continuously thrown together to be shown that perhaps the other is not so bad. But how can Silvester prove to Stella that he wants her as his wife instead of Yasmine? And how can he get her to stop refusing his marriage proposals?

This was a great enemies to friends to lovers story. I was pleasantly surprised by Stella’s more modern mindset in regards to women’s pleasure especially since she had to combat her Aunts prudish ideals. Also, it was lovely to see Silvester’s adoration for all of Stella’s quirks. It was another fun story from Eloisa James and I will happily be awaiting her next book; perhaps Blanche’s story next?

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for releasing this arc to me in exchange for an honest review.