This book was fun except for the fact that I was hella stressed out the whole time. Not the fault of the author, since the story follows the plot of the Sandra Bullock movie While You Were Sleeping. Despite "knowing" the ending, it was still an enjoyable and sometimes quite funny historical romance.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my review.

This one was so fun. I found the chemistry between the main characters to be so good and the conflict for them not being together officially was very compelling (aka her fake betrothed was in a coma). I did find the woman that Della was pretending to be to be really insufferable (though I know that was the point, it was just too much at times), but otherwise this was really a fun time.

This is a “While You were Sleeping” retelling set in 1893 England. In this case, we don’t have a working class heroine, who pretends to be engaged to an unconscious man, we have a lady’s maid, Adelaide (Della) who has switched places with Duke’s daughter, Cordelia. Cordelia has just fled her own wedding and the two are hiding out in a small village outside of London. They rent a cottage from a different Duke, Peter, who recognizes the runaway bride and somehow decides to be engaged to her. Cordelia pushes him and he hits his head as he falls down. And now we have the set up

Unconscious Duke’s brother, Rhett, has arrived home from travel abroad and had met Della on the London docks. Suspend your disbelief. It kind of works.

Peter and Rhett have three charming sisters who would be wonderful main characters in future books. His twin sister does not get much development here so here’s hoping she gets her time to shine

Della has had a very transient life and it’s craving a permanent home. She loves the family and they embrace her as an almost-sister. The retelling deviates from the original once Peter wakes up. Needless to say the right people wind up together.

The pace is fast. The reading is easy. There are parts where a history nerd expecting complete historical accuracy will be disappointed. But perhaps they can just enjoy the ride through this alternative version of 1893 where cars have keys and clutches and steamboats take weeks, not days, to cross the North Sea

I have watched "While you were Sleeping" so many times. So, I was really excited when I read the blurb for this regency retelling. It was the perfect blend of doing justice to the plot of the movie, while managing to have enough different wrinkles to be its own story.

I loved all the characters (even Peter in the end) and would be interested in a book telling Cordelia's story.

Definitely recommended.