While the Duke Was Sleeping by Samara Parish was FUN. (!!!! Like SO MUCH fun !!!) It was a rollicking good time. I adored Della immediately. The woman has the biggest potty mouth of any HR character I've come across lately. She was hilarious. She was also very smart, witty, charming and a practical problem solver (unless her lady, Cordelia, was involved. Then any common sense went right out the window and into the Thames, literally, which is what gets Della into a giant, stinking mess. Again, quite literally.). Her first meeting with our MMC Rhett is one I'll be long to forget bc it was very original. Rhett himself isn't the most appealing character when we first meet him, but when we see him seeing Della for the first time, I changed my mind. We see the beginnings of a larger change into the man we know he can be. The two of them fit together perfectly.

The author did a great job with the sexual tension and banter throughout the book. Personally I want more actual conjugating the verb in my romance (IYKWIM) and was let down by the lack of igniting the build-up created so expertly, and watching it explode. But I have no regrets reading this book and really want to know what happens next with allllll the side characters!

Thank you @readforeverpub for the eARC and the finished copy!

A runaway bride convinces her maid to change places. A duke proposes marriage to a convenient bride. An accident leaves him unconscious. His brother, a rogue who roams the continent with no responsibilities, returns to his family. It's complicated when love forces everything to fall out of control. An interesting plot with frustration and angst. Very mild descriptive sex.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley.

While I haven't watched it in quite a while, While You Were Sleeping, is one of my favorite movies, which is what attracted me to the title and book. How delightful to find a new author who transfers her wit to paper and pen (or computer) to write a historical (1893) RomCom. From a young age until his death when she was 16, Adelaide's scoundrel of a father schlepped her from one town to another. Then she supported herself by writing travelogues. Her dream is to have a home, with a room lined with bookcases. So when she is offered the position to be maid for Lady Cordelia Highwater, daughter of the Duke of Thirwhestle, at a higher salary, she accepts, despite the fact that Cordelia is a spoiled brat. The brat is supposed to be marrying the Duke of Hornsmouth, but does a runner and convinces Adelaide to aid her- with a reward of enough money to buy her dream. Since their coloring is similar, Cordelia convinces Adelaide to switch dresses with her, which results in a comedy of errors, the Duke of Strafford in a coma, mistaken identities and Adelaide falling for the duke's younger brother Everette. All in all, it is a romping adventure, with excellent character development and those characters are a riot.

I was gifted with an Advanced Reader's Copy from NetGalley.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

While the Duke was Sleeping by Samara Parish
England’s Sweethearts series #1. Historical romance.
Adelaide Rosebourne agrees to impersonate Lady Cordelia after she runs out on her wedding and blames it on Adelaide. They want to travel to the continent but woman aren’t welcome on any of the ships at port, Adelaide finds a small town on the map where she thinks they should be able to lie low. But Cordelia doesn’t truly understand the staying hidden concept and signs the rental agreement with her real name. Not more than three days later, Adelaide returns to the cottage with supplies to find a Duke knocked out on the floor and Cordelia upset that he’s decided they will be married and he’s already sent the announcements. The Duke’s not dead but he’s not waking up either. And here comes the family. Adelaide takes on the role again of the betrothed trying to find a way out for them. Finding Rhett Montgomery is part of the family and already being attracted to him makes the whole deception that much harder.

Oh, getting flung into a dirty Thames sounds so nasty. I’m so grateful that I live when and where the rivers are a resource and mostly cleaned up.
The take-off’s from the movie were fun to track and see what was similar and how it played out. The science to try to wake up the Duke, or just keep him alive was interesting and smart and I understand Adelaide having that knowledge but had to wonder how Frank knew some of it.
Captivating and delightful.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. I also purchased an audiobook copy.

I haven’t read a ton of Samara Parish’s books, but this one was so much fun. While you were sleeping is a top-tier romcom and this histrom version of it lives up to the reputation. Mistaken identity books always stress me out, so Rhett being suspicious of Adelaide from the start was a perfect touch for me. The romance and chemistry were so well done, and the supporting cast of Rhett’s sisters were great. I’d love to see them in another book.

I did think there was already enough going on in this book that the addition of the conniving uncle at the end just felt unnecessary. For me, he didn’t add anything to the story, which was already so strong.

This is such a fun while “While You Were Sleeping” recency rewrite. It got a little slow in the middle but picked back up by the end. The main characters were both so obviously perfect for one another, it was almost frustrating that they wouldn’t just admit it to the other. I loved all the small moments that alluded to the movie.

This is such a fun book if you’re looking for a historical romance that gives off the vibes of an old favorite.

3.5 stars

Thank you Forever for the eARC!!

If you’re a fan of the movie While You Were Sleeping then you’ll probably also like this book. The initial premise of this book is a little convoluted with Adelaide taking Cordelia’s place onto separate, unrelated occasions. But once you get into the main storyline it’s easy to follow.
I really liked the relationship between Adelaide and Rhett. They seemed like two characters who just really understood each other and I loved how drawn to each other they were. There was so much pining and forbidden love which really built up the tension.
This was a fun lighthearted book with great banter and really fun characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC!

I loved this fabulous historical retelling of the 90s rom-com While You Were Sleeping! (I am also DYING that the next book will be based on You've Got Mail!) The book is simply fun, and doesn't try to be anything other than what it is. It's got all the tropes, banter, and predictability that makes historical romance such a joyful escape. This is the first book I've read by this author, and will not be last. I love that she is from Australia as we don't often see HR coming from that part of the world. I've already got her entire backlist on my TBR and can't wait to work through it.

What I loved:

+ Della, her red hair, fiery spirit, independence, and self-reliance
+ Rhett, what's not to love about a handsome, misunderstood second son who just needs someone to believe in him
+ The chemistry between Rhett and Della was fantastic, and their meet cute on the dock was hilarious. I could SMELL them. Hahahahaha.
+ I love a slow burn that really does make the characters work for it, with lots of mutual pining
+ The humor was on point, and I found myself cracking up multiple times. When Della roped Rhett into trying to make Peter walk? I was deceased.
+ The way that the story stayed true to the overall plotline of the movie, but felt completely original at the same time
+ Rhett's entire family and their relationships. I wouldn't be opposed to reading Peter's HEA, is all I'm saying.
+ Low spice until the last chapter, so I would feel comfortable recommending it to my followers who prefer closed door to low spice and advise them they can just skip the final chapter without missing out on any of the story.

I will definitely be recommending this one!

This had a very promising start but I ended up setting it aside at 44%. I liked the very chaotic meeting of our hero and heroine (they both save each other's lives and make them more miserable simultaneously). Also liked the confusion about the heroine's identity (she's a maid pretending to be her mistress) and the hero's large, boisterous family. However, the way the "While you were sleeping" part of the storyline was executed didn't work for me.

Meh. I don’t care for either MC and the FMC reads like a modern heroine. There are other modernisms I’m not a huge fan of reading in a historical too.

While the Duke Was Sleeping is a fun historical romance by Samara Parish and the first book in the England's Sweethearts series.

This book was inspired by the movie While You Were Sleeping, which is on my list of favorite holiday movies *and* favorite rom-coms, so I had to pick it up.

I ended up finishing this book in two sittings, including staying up too late one night to finish it. It was such a fun and refreshing read! Unlike the movie, our heroine meets the hero prior to the duke falling into a coma, and I really liked that change.

I was absolutely here for the chemistry between our leads, even though she was supposedly engaged to his brother. There isn't really a lot of steam here, there are a few kissing scenes and one quick steamy scene as part of the epilogue. But instead of that, we get our MCs being vulnerable with each other in other ways.

Just like in the movie that inspired the book, I fell in love with the eponymous duke's family, and I hope that further books in this series will follow them. I don't often like second-chance romances, but I'm really hype for the book for Rhett's twin, Meg.

This historical take on a modern day romantic comedy was a delight to read! Here we have an insta-love beginning that, somehow, leads to an adventure of 'mistaken' identity that really was no mistake at all.

The chemistry between the MC's is instant, even if it got off to a pretty stinky start. Quickly drawn to each other and unable to forget each other even as they accepted never getting to see the other again. As fate would have it, their paths would indeed cross again and in the most unexpected place! The Dukes bedroom!

Join them in the Dukes bedroom while he peacefully sleeps and misses all of the shenanigans of not only Rhett and Della as they try to avoid crossing every line imaginable, but also the brothers 3 sisters. You will fast fall in love with them and the chaos the 5 siblings cause from the moment they walk in the door. As a member of a big family, I laughed out loud as scenes played out exactly as it would here.

An awesome time in what will, hopefully, become a long series. I am ready to read the 2nd book! I'll just wait over....here!

Huge thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the eArc. All opinions are my own.

I received an ARC copy from NetGalley and am leaving my review voluntarily.

I immediately knew I was going to DNF this book when I got to the second chapter. This chapter was written from Rhett’s POV and I absolutely hated him. He was so full of himself that it physically made me cringe. He is also a complete womanizer. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I love a good book with a womanizer for an MMC and then he turns soft for the girl but ugh the way that Rhett was talking about women, it kinda just disgusted me. Here are some of his highlights:

- “Married women, especially those who were shackled to old men, were more fun."

- “He’d wooed women in France and Spain, Germany and Italy, even as far away as Russia.”

- “Her red hair…could be Scottish or Irish. Her delicate features could be French. Her body stance and wild gestures reminded him of Mediterranean women.” (this does NOT give me a good description of this woman)

Not to mention that they start kissing in the second chapter as well? Like where is the tension? The build-up? There is none. It doesn’t exist. And in historical romances, we all know that if you are seen with a guy alone, let alone kissing him in a dingy bar bathroom, you are ruined for life and need to marry him. I couldn’t believe that that had happened and we just breezed by it.

Despite the second chapter, I continued the book and tried to give it the benefit of the doubt. I read 3-4 more chapters before I called it quits for good. The book was incredibly unrealistic for the time period and written fairly poorly. And yes, I have read another book by Samara Parish and I rated it fairly high so it’s not a problem specifically with the author, just how this book is.

If you are looking for a historical romance with an FMC that doesn’t care about society’s rules, then this might be for you. It just wasn’t for me.

This book was such a treat. I loved that it was similar to While You Were Sleeping with a historical romance twist. Once I started reading I just could not stop. I laughed and cried and also enjoyed the spice. I'm excited to see what else the author writes. A light-hearted fun read to help you escape reality.

While The Duke Was Sleeping, by Samara Parish, there’s way too much to this hilarious book to give it a brief summary just know there’s a runaway bride with a new fiancé who’s unconscious a lady in waiting who just wants a home and a second born son, who believes for the first time in his life in love at first sight. This was such a good book I love how Adelaide got along with his family I am not big on historical books that are historically inaccurate but I’m going to be honest I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to let myself be worried with the fact she cursed like a sailor at a time when most women did not curse at all and they were other things but just know if you love funny romcoms that are really really romantic comedies then you will definitely love this book I am a big fan of Samara Parish’s romances and this one definitely lives up to the reputation she has made as a great author. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series and I do hope it is one of the sisters. Kudos to Miss Parish for another great read! #NetGalley, #SamaraParish, #WhileTheDukeWasSleeping, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview,

90s rom-com alert! 🩷🩵

Thank you to Forever for the complimentary advanced copy.

This book is based on "While You Were Sleeping," and is for anyone who loves Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman's chemistry. The movie has been one of my favorites for years which made the book extra fun! There are some differences, but the story definitely captures the spirit of the film, including the physical and slightly naughty comedy. Parish did a great job adapting the most memorable scenes.

The language and antics in the book do lean more modern - the vibe is light on the historical and heavy on the movie inspiration. The romance burns very slowly too which is surprising given the amount of innuendo throughout. The book isn't precisely closed door, it's more of a slightly ajar door. That being said, 90s rom-coms are often this way with lots of dirty jokes but only delivering a few passionate kisses, so perhaps the choice was intentional.

If you're a lover of old school rom-coms and interested in historical romance this is a great choice. The book is light-hearted and I enjoyed it!

While the Duke Was Sleeping by Samara Parish was a book that I had been looking forward to reading, and it didn't disappoint!
Book one in the England's Sweethearts series was a great introduction. And I can’t wait to see what book two holds.
This story is an addictive, charming, enticing tale by Parish that I absolutely devoured.
A great and well written historical fiction story.

This author has been a bit of a hit or miss for me with her previous series, but I did really enjoy the last book in the previous series. So I was hopeful the good vibes would keep going. Unfortunately, this book ended up being more of a miss for me. I can suspend my disbelief only so far before I just want to roll my eyes. The set up was a bit outlandish, but whatever. I have never seen the movie that inspired this story, so I didn't have any expectations in that regard, and I've come to understand that this set up is similar to the movie. It just didn't make any sense that none of the family recognized she was pretending to be Cordelia when at least a couple have encountered her at ton events, their personalities are so different, and Adelaide made no attempts really to act like her. The book also lost me at the very extra attempts at trying to wake Peter up, which I think were supposed to be humorous but were not my cup of tea. The main couple is also weirdly repressed in their sexual encounters when the moments surrounding them lead the reader to expect it to not be closed door scenes. There are a lot of, in my opinion, weird sexual inuendoes and references that don't make sense or don't go anywhere. It was strange. The relationship between the main couple was on the surface a good match and I was hoping I could find the chemistry, but I never really saw much. Rhett, the mmc, was confusing and confused. For some reason, he questions immediately if this woman is actually Cordelia and then forgets later on that he thought that? I don't get it. I would be open to giving the next book in this series a try, especially if it involves Rhett's twin and the estate manager Andrew. I just think that would be a fun pairing.

London - December 1893

The spoiled Lady Cordelia is to marry a duke today in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Her dress is a concoction of silk studded with gemstones. Her lady’s maid, Adelaide (Della), is waiting to help her when she needs her. Suddenly, Cordelia flees the church and demands that Della get her out of there. They flee in a carriage and hide in an Inn. Cordelia demands that she change clothes with Della and then sends the girl out to find passage to France. It’s a good thing that they both favor one another in hair color and in their looks.

Everett (Rhett) Montgomery has arrived in London as his brother, Peter, the Duke of Stratford has demanded he return for Christmas. Rhett knows it’s because he wants him to stop his life of frivolity and settle down. That’s when Rhett sees Della looking for passage and they bump into one another and both fall into the Thames. He saves her but both are soaked and filthy. He finds a place for her to wash and change into clothes. She then kisses him and leaves. Cordelia and Della find a small cottage to rent outside London and Rhett is back with his family, where he finally gets clean and enjoys his sisters.

When Della and Rhett meet up again, it’s because she is impersonating Lady Cordelia. The story continues as Rhett is sure she is Della and not Cordelia. Yet both of them are attracted to one another and continue to play a game.

Perhaps it’s because I’m not familiar with “While You Were Sleeping” that at first I had a difficult time keeping up with the story. But it finally fell into place. I like this author’s books and look forward to reading more of them. Enjoy!

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

4.5/5 stars

Tropes:
Fake engagement
Son of a duke/lady's maid
Mistaken identity
Wanderlust
Finding oneself
Forced proximity
Insta-lust to love
Dual POV

I loved this historical retelling of one of my favorite 90s romcom movie. I was giggling and feeling all mushy with this book. I really enjoyed Adelaide's character. She just had so much gumption and independence but was also yearning for the closeness of family. And Rhett was misunderstood even by himself. I think they both brought out the best in each other and it was sweet to watch them grow in friendship past their instant attraction.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for fans of historical romances, 90s romcoms, and forced proximity.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever Publishing for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.