Bookshop Cinderella Scandal at the Savoy #1 by Laura Lee Guhrke available June 20, 2023
Evie Harlow runs a quaint bookshop in 1890s London, until Maximillian Shaw, Duke of Westbourne offers to save her from disaster: to win a bet, he’ll turn her into the diamond of the season. Max thinks he’ll find Evie a husband and save her from her dull spinster’s life while he pursues a convenient marriage with someone from his own class.
More My Fair Lady than Cinderella, this story has a duke whose unsuitable first marriage failed and a heroine who is settling for the hand she was dealt. Each has negative thoughts about marrying outside of their own class.
Good pacing and good character arcs. Random POV changes to Evie’s conniving former flame took me out of the story. I often struggle with how condescending makeover stories can be, but this one handled it well. It was less about needing a physical transformation but rather needing an opportunity and not being afraid to take it. Both and Evie and Max have stop hiding and take a chance.
This was an entertaining romance. What do you think of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady/Cinderella stories? I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Evie and Max in this story and I'm on board for the next in the series.
I received an arc from NetGalley