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A Shop Girl's Guide to Wooing a Lord
Not yet published
Expected 9 Jun 26A down-on-her-luck shop girl and the son of an earl find they have more in common than they’d think—including sexual chemistry they can’t resist—in this fresh Regency romance by Shana Galen.
Tamsin Archer might just be having the worst year of her life. And that’s saying something, considering her father is dead, her mother was maimed at work, and her family regularly sleeps under London’s bridges. But when her younger siblings go missing, Tamsin decides it’s time to step up and fight.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Tamsin’s more than willing to take a few risks to reunite with her siblings. But while disguising herself to sneak into homes and steal from the rich, Tamsin is caught by Garrett Kildaire, an earl’s second son and the biggest threat she’s faced yet. Thinking quickly, Tamsin strikes a Garrett will get her into the exclusive places she needs to continue her search, and she’ll give him what he wants—her.
Garrett knows he must be careful—being seen with a woman of a lower class could be the nail in the coffin for his family’s tenuous social standing. But resisting their chemistry proves impossible, and soon there’s much more between them than their bargain. But there are eyes everywhere, and as more focus lands on Tamsin and Garret, the unlikely pair wonder if their red-hot connection means giving up everything—and everyone—they’ve ever known.
Tamsin Archer might just be having the worst year of her life. And that’s saying something, considering her father is dead, her mother was maimed at work, and her family regularly sleeps under London’s bridges. But when her younger siblings go missing, Tamsin decides it’s time to step up and fight.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Tamsin’s more than willing to take a few risks to reunite with her siblings. But while disguising herself to sneak into homes and steal from the rich, Tamsin is caught by Garrett Kildaire, an earl’s second son and the biggest threat she’s faced yet. Thinking quickly, Tamsin strikes a Garrett will get her into the exclusive places she needs to continue her search, and she’ll give him what he wants—her.
Garrett knows he must be careful—being seen with a woman of a lower class could be the nail in the coffin for his family’s tenuous social standing. But resisting their chemistry proves impossible, and soon there’s much more between them than their bargain. But there are eyes everywhere, and as more focus lands on Tamsin and Garret, the unlikely pair wonder if their red-hot connection means giving up everything—and everyone—they’ve ever known.
336 pages, Paperback
Expected publication June 9, 2026
109 people want to read
About the author
Shana Galen
100 books1,549 followersShana Galen is three-time Rita award nominee and the bestselling author of fast-paced, witty, and adventurous Regency romances. Kirkus says of her books, "The road to happily-ever-after is intense, conflicted, suspenseful and fun," and RT Bookreviews calls her books “lighthearted yet poignant, humorous yet touching." She taught English at the middle and high school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston's inner city. Now she writes full time. She's happily married and has a daughter who is most definitely a romance heroine in the making.
Want to know more? Visit Shana's website at http://www.shanagalen.com and sign up to be notified when Shana has a new release http://bit.ly/ShanaGalenNews
Want to know more? Visit Shana's website at http://www.shanagalen.com and sign up to be notified when Shana has a new release http://bit.ly/ShanaGalenNews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Tamsin Archer will do anything to keep her family together and fed, even stealing from wealthy nobles. Her luck takes a turn when she is nearly caught by Garrett Kildaire, a handsome noble who she never thought to see again. Tamsin is wary of his promise to help her locate and rescue her missing siblings. She knows better than to lose her heart to Garrett since they come from different worlds. Will Tamsin be reunited with her siblings? And can she bring herself to part ways with Garrett once they are safe?
Gearoid “Garrett” Kildaire is the second son of an Irish lord. When his father reveals their family’s monetary troubles, he comes up with a solution. Garrett proposes that he and his brothers marry wealthy heiresses to help restore their dwindling finances. He never anticipated Tamsin or her dire situation. He knows he should pursue a rich bride, but he wants to help Tamsin more. Will Garrett choose to sacrifice his love for Tamsin to save his family from financial ruin?
My heart went out to Tamsin. She is such a resilient and remarkable woman. Tamsin has endured starvation, poverty, and unimaginable hardships – things people tend to overlook to feel better about themselves. I admire how she never once gave up hope of reuniting with her younger siblings. Every risk that Tamsin took was for their benefit and their handicapped mother.
Garrett surprised me. At first, he comes off as a carefree nobleman who delights in cavorting with his friends and little else. I love Garrett’s willingness to step up when his family needed him. He refused to allow his younger sister to sacrifice her future for him and their brothers. What I like the most about Garrett is how his world expanded once he met Tamsin. He glimpsed into her world, and it changed him for the better.
A SHOP GIRL’S GUIDE TO WOOING A LORD is the first book in Shana Galen’s upcoming new series, THE HEIRESS HUNTERS. This story is my first introduction to Galen’s works. I know she is a popular author (and having seen other readers gush about her books). I just never gotten around to trying out one of her stories until now. And boy, it did NOT disappoint! I practically devoured this book in one setting. I even rearranged my daily “to-do” list so I could finish. I am looking forward to the next installment of this series!
What I like the best about this series (so far) is the Kildaire family and their Irish roots. It is no secret that I am a sucker for anything Irish or Scottish when it comes to books. And I especially love how each Kildaire brother has a Gaelic name. That is the first thing I noticed about the family!
Gearoid “Garrett” Kildaire is the second son of an Irish lord. When his father reveals their family’s monetary troubles, he comes up with a solution. Garrett proposes that he and his brothers marry wealthy heiresses to help restore their dwindling finances. He never anticipated Tamsin or her dire situation. He knows he should pursue a rich bride, but he wants to help Tamsin more. Will Garrett choose to sacrifice his love for Tamsin to save his family from financial ruin?
My heart went out to Tamsin. She is such a resilient and remarkable woman. Tamsin has endured starvation, poverty, and unimaginable hardships – things people tend to overlook to feel better about themselves. I admire how she never once gave up hope of reuniting with her younger siblings. Every risk that Tamsin took was for their benefit and their handicapped mother.
Garrett surprised me. At first, he comes off as a carefree nobleman who delights in cavorting with his friends and little else. I love Garrett’s willingness to step up when his family needed him. He refused to allow his younger sister to sacrifice her future for him and their brothers. What I like the most about Garrett is how his world expanded once he met Tamsin. He glimpsed into her world, and it changed him for the better.
A SHOP GIRL’S GUIDE TO WOOING A LORD is the first book in Shana Galen’s upcoming new series, THE HEIRESS HUNTERS. This story is my first introduction to Galen’s works. I know she is a popular author (and having seen other readers gush about her books). I just never gotten around to trying out one of her stories until now. And boy, it did NOT disappoint! I practically devoured this book in one setting. I even rearranged my daily “to-do” list so I could finish. I am looking forward to the next installment of this series!
What I like the best about this series (so far) is the Kildaire family and their Irish roots. It is no secret that I am a sucker for anything Irish or Scottish when it comes to books. And I especially love how each Kildaire brother has a Gaelic name. That is the first thing I noticed about the family!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!💖
First of all: I do not usually read historical romance. Of the 200+ books I read last year (mostly romance and fantasy), I think… two were historical. It’s just not normally my cup of tea. However the synopsis for A Shop Girl’s Guide to Wooing a Lord sounded way too delightful to ignore, and to my absolute shock and joy… I loved it. So thank you, Shana Galen, for proving me wrong and humbling me in the best way.
Right out of the gate, I loved that this book is clearly setting us up to spend time with the entire Kildaire family. This is the first in what I’m assuming is a series (please say yes) where the four Kildaire brothers , and maybe even a sister?? are all attempting to save their crumbling family fortune by marrying rich. Hence the series name: Heiress Hunters. The brothers all seem delightful, and Garrett is our first brother up.
Garrett and Tamsin’s romance is giving forbidden love with a side of financial distress. She’s nearly homeless and of a lower class, he’s a lord (a very broke one, but still). Their chemistry was fun, sweet, and surprisingly emotional, but what really worked for me is that there are actual stakes outside of the romance. Tamsin is desperately trying to find her missing siblings, who were sold to a horrifying, crooked chimney sweep (I know, I was not emotionally prepared either). That plotline adds real urgency and heart to the story and pushes the romance forward instead of making it feel flimsy or instalove-y.
Overall, this was charming, emotional, and way more engaging than I expected from a genre I usually side-eye. Consider me officially invested in the Kildaire brothers’ romantic and financial recovery journeys. I will absolutely be back for the rest of this series.
First of all: I do not usually read historical romance. Of the 200+ books I read last year (mostly romance and fantasy), I think… two were historical. It’s just not normally my cup of tea. However the synopsis for A Shop Girl’s Guide to Wooing a Lord sounded way too delightful to ignore, and to my absolute shock and joy… I loved it. So thank you, Shana Galen, for proving me wrong and humbling me in the best way.
Right out of the gate, I loved that this book is clearly setting us up to spend time with the entire Kildaire family. This is the first in what I’m assuming is a series (please say yes) where the four Kildaire brothers , and maybe even a sister?? are all attempting to save their crumbling family fortune by marrying rich. Hence the series name: Heiress Hunters. The brothers all seem delightful, and Garrett is our first brother up.
Garrett and Tamsin’s romance is giving forbidden love with a side of financial distress. She’s nearly homeless and of a lower class, he’s a lord (a very broke one, but still). Their chemistry was fun, sweet, and surprisingly emotional, but what really worked for me is that there are actual stakes outside of the romance. Tamsin is desperately trying to find her missing siblings, who were sold to a horrifying, crooked chimney sweep (I know, I was not emotionally prepared either). That plotline adds real urgency and heart to the story and pushes the romance forward instead of making it feel flimsy or instalove-y.
Overall, this was charming, emotional, and way more engaging than I expected from a genre I usually side-eye. Consider me officially invested in the Kildaire brothers’ romantic and financial recovery journeys. I will absolutely be back for the rest of this series.
January 12, 2026
I really enjoyed this latest book by Shana Galen (of whom I was already a fan). It's not your standard Regency novel, IMHO. The main character is Tamsin, who has been working to help feed her family ever since her stepfather died and her mother lost an arm working in a laundry. She is trying to sell violets and ends up meeting Garret, who randomly helps her up and gives her a shilling for her violets,, causing Tamsin to fall in love with Garret. Over the next 2 years she looks at he and his family from afar.
When Tamsin is at a ball trying to steal items to pawn to rescue her half brother and sister who had been sold to a chimney sweep by the family that takes advantage of Tamsin and her mother's labor, she sees Garret again and kisses him. This causes him to be curious about her, and try to find "the thief". When Garret discovers Tamsin is essentially starving he becomes on some level her guardian angel, and tries to help her find her brother and sister.
Meanwhile, Garret's family is about to lose all their money so he and his brothers are trying to find heiresses to marry to save his own family. I loved Tamsin and Garret, and was so happy to see Tamsin's mother have a HEA, and for Tamsin's lot to improve with Garret's help and also her own change of luck and fate and hard work.
I'm sure there is some suspension of disbelief you need to have in order to believe this story could have happened as it did, but the characters were wonderful, and it was ultimately an uplifting, story of class difference, the plight of the poor and also children in that time period, and also how the rich are encouraged to live their lives to keep up appearances.
I received an advanced copy and am giving an honest review.
When Tamsin is at a ball trying to steal items to pawn to rescue her half brother and sister who had been sold to a chimney sweep by the family that takes advantage of Tamsin and her mother's labor, she sees Garret again and kisses him. This causes him to be curious about her, and try to find "the thief". When Garret discovers Tamsin is essentially starving he becomes on some level her guardian angel, and tries to help her find her brother and sister.
Meanwhile, Garret's family is about to lose all their money so he and his brothers are trying to find heiresses to marry to save his own family. I loved Tamsin and Garret, and was so happy to see Tamsin's mother have a HEA, and for Tamsin's lot to improve with Garret's help and also her own change of luck and fate and hard work.
I'm sure there is some suspension of disbelief you need to have in order to believe this story could have happened as it did, but the characters were wonderful, and it was ultimately an uplifting, story of class difference, the plight of the poor and also children in that time period, and also how the rich are encouraged to live their lives to keep up appearances.
I received an advanced copy and am giving an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Garrett Kildaire, second son of an earl, has received some bad news. His family is broke, like so broke that unless something drastically changes, they will have to sell their land and their belongings at the end of the season, in a few short months. His parents propose that his youngest sister, Mariah, marry a rich old peer to save the family. His brothers are opposed to this plan and so they decide they will each try to woo a wealthy heiress to save the family from financial ruin. With this in mind, he of course falls in love with Tamsin Archer who has even worse luck than Garrett. Her father was impressed by the British Navy and died, her stepfather died in a dock accident, her mother lost an arm in a factory accident, her younger brother and sister was sold by their landlord to a chimney sweep human trafficker, and she and her mother are one misstep away from living under a bridge. Tamsin has been desperately trying to raise the funds to buy her siblings freedom but no matter what she does, her goal seems to be sliding further and further away.
Garrett and Tamsin have a meet cute during a failed robbery (Tamsin was doing the robbing) and spend the rest of the book trying to deny their attraction to each other; Garrett because he needs an heiress, and Tamsin because she needs to focus on saving her siblings, not the peer that she fell in love with because he was kind to her two years ago. The tension between Garrett and Tamsin is very thick, and they can’t stop seeking each other out. Garrett is a bit of a rake in the beginning but you can see that he is a really kind person throughout the book (including the incident that forced him to leave the navy) and he genuinely wants to help Tamsin, not just get in her pants. Tamsin is an interesting female lead because she felt so different from most FMCs in historical romance. Tamsin felt like a real working class girl, tough as nails, smart, fiercely loyal to her family and she was not doing needlepoint in her spare time. Stereotypical leads are maybe feisty but more like riding horses feisty, not robbing houses and fighting kidnappers feisty.
I liked this book a lot. I feel like a lot of romance novels, the leads are either nobility or daughters of wealthy merchants that have been training to marry up. Occasionally you’ll get a down on their luck lead but she’s almost always educated and from “good” families. I liked how this book made the class (and wealth) disparity feel like a true barrier to their relationship, rather than a conflict between them. There are serious issues in this book, such as poverty, abuse, human trafficking, but there is also humor to balance it, a lot of it coming from Garrett’s brothers. Garrett’s brothers are also on quests to find an heiress during the events of this book so I’m curious to read the rest of the series.
This isn’t a fluffy rom com romance novel but a slightly grittier traditional historical romance with a satisfying HEA and if that is your thing, you will enjoy it as much as I did.
4 out of 5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.
Garrett and Tamsin have a meet cute during a failed robbery (Tamsin was doing the robbing) and spend the rest of the book trying to deny their attraction to each other; Garrett because he needs an heiress, and Tamsin because she needs to focus on saving her siblings, not the peer that she fell in love with because he was kind to her two years ago. The tension between Garrett and Tamsin is very thick, and they can’t stop seeking each other out. Garrett is a bit of a rake in the beginning but you can see that he is a really kind person throughout the book (including the incident that forced him to leave the navy) and he genuinely wants to help Tamsin, not just get in her pants. Tamsin is an interesting female lead because she felt so different from most FMCs in historical romance. Tamsin felt like a real working class girl, tough as nails, smart, fiercely loyal to her family and she was not doing needlepoint in her spare time. Stereotypical leads are maybe feisty but more like riding horses feisty, not robbing houses and fighting kidnappers feisty.
I liked this book a lot. I feel like a lot of romance novels, the leads are either nobility or daughters of wealthy merchants that have been training to marry up. Occasionally you’ll get a down on their luck lead but she’s almost always educated and from “good” families. I liked how this book made the class (and wealth) disparity feel like a true barrier to their relationship, rather than a conflict between them. There are serious issues in this book, such as poverty, abuse, human trafficking, but there is also humor to balance it, a lot of it coming from Garrett’s brothers. Garrett’s brothers are also on quests to find an heiress during the events of this book so I’m curious to read the rest of the series.
This isn’t a fluffy rom com romance novel but a slightly grittier traditional historical romance with a satisfying HEA and if that is your thing, you will enjoy it as much as I did.
4 out of 5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Shop girl’s guide to wooing a lord
By Shana Galen
Oh my goodness. What an absolutely wonderful inspiring and unforgettable romance. I read a lot of books this year (probably not anywhere near what you’ve read) and a lot of them were excellent and deserved the 5 star review I gave them. And while I’m sure I’m probably not thinking of all of them but I have to say this book was the best I’ve read in quite awhile. Such a mark of excellence from Shana. Extremely well done of her. I’ve been a fan for years but I think now she’s gone beyond my little fandom and hopefully is read by the masses. Should be a bestseller. Congratulations, so well done.
By Shana Galen
Oh my goodness. What an absolutely wonderful inspiring and unforgettable romance. I read a lot of books this year (probably not anywhere near what you’ve read) and a lot of them were excellent and deserved the 5 star review I gave them. And while I’m sure I’m probably not thinking of all of them but I have to say this book was the best I’ve read in quite awhile. Such a mark of excellence from Shana. Extremely well done of her. I’ve been a fan for years but I think now she’s gone beyond my little fandom and hopefully is read by the masses. Should be a bestseller. Congratulations, so well done.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I absolutely loved this story of Tamsin and Garrett. The author does such an amazing job of getting the reader invested in Tamsin’s journey to ensuring her family is safe and back together. Although Tamsin and Garrett are from completely different stations in life, they are struggling with similar things as they are willing to do whatever it takes for their family. Highly recommend!
December 13, 2025
I hope this is the first in a series! I enjoyed this story from beginning to end.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews