Laura Lee Guhrke brings us the first in a new historical romance series,  Scandal at the Savoy.  BOOKSHOP CINDERELLA is a Victorian retelling of Cinderella granted her wish to dance at the ball.  In this case, her “fairy godmother” is a duke who makes a drunken bet with a group of immature Oxford schoolboys that he can turn a plainish bookshop owner into the belle of the ball.  This is an opposites-attract trope romance from a favorite author of mine.

Evie Harlow is a shy spinster who is barely keeping her head above water running her father’s bookshop.  Her cousin is pressuring Evie to come live with her as an unpaid nanny to her cousin’s children.  But stubborn Evie wants to remain independent, even if she’s discovering that she doesn’t really like her life anymore. 

Maximillian Shaw, Duke of Westbourne, is a typical clueless aristocrat who doesn’t have much understanding of the lives of those occupying lesser stations in life.  When he proposes to Evie that he gives her a six-week “vacation” where she can live at the ritzy Savoy hotel and attend society events, she rightfully points out that she can’t simply close her bookstore and walk away for six weeks.  He suggests that she hire someone to run the shop temporarily, and muses that it “can’t be that much” money to do so. 

While I was frustrated at Max’s obtuseness, I also find that the author portrays the hero and heroine harping incessantly on their class differences, which became grating pretty quickly.  I also didn’t care for Max’s selfishness. Guhrke is normally an enjoyable author for me, but BOOKSHOP CINDERELLA did not engage me.  Because Gurhkre is a dependable author for me, though--and she writes marvelous heroines--I look forward to reading the next book in this series.