Liviania’s Duckies Do Series reviews of The Wallflowers Series by Lisa Kleypas
Historical romances released by Avon Oct 2004 – Jul 2006

Four girls approach the Season no longer believing they have any real chance.  It is not their first and they still have no prospects.  Annabelle Peyton has beauty, but no money.  Lillian and Daisy Bowman have scads of money, but they are uncouth Americans.  Evangeline Jenner has money, but she is also common – as well as exceedingly shy.  But these wallflowers make a pact: from oldest to youngest, they’ll help each other find a husband. 

Secrets of a Summer Night (Book 1)
Released 26 Oct 04

Together, they manage an invite to Lord Westcliff’s country estate.  Annabelle knows this is her last chance to catch a husband.  There are no end of offers for her to be a lord’s mistress, but she’d work any job before that.  Especially before becoming Lord Hodgeham’s mistress.  Her mother has been sleeping with him to pay the bills, but he wants to move onto the younger model.  Neither Annabelle nor her mother has any intention of allowing that to happen.  Of course, the husband hunting would be easier if her brother Jeremy’s former peer Simon Hunt didn’t keep getting in the way.

This was my introduction to Lisa Kleypas after hearing all the other ducks rave about her, and it’s a good place to start.  The Wallflowers are hilarious, especially Lillian Bowman.  Annabelle is a great heroine.  She’s practical and strong-willed.  She knows what men want from her and she also knows not to sell herself short.  There are some jobs she could take.  She wants to marry more to help keep her brother and mother afloat as well than to just provide for herself.  It’s nice to see a heroine with dedication to her family who knows not to martyr herself for them.

Simon Hunt is a good match for her, since he pairs sensibility with romanticism as well.  (He is unfortunately blind to the fact Annabelle intends to become no man’s mistress.)  And the men get dialogue as snappy as the women.

“Westcliff,” Simon asked conversationally, “does it ever occur to you that you might occasionally be wrong?  About anything?”

The earl looked perplexed by the question.  “Actually, no.”

It’s a nice, straightforward romance that manages to capture the historical feel quite well.  Simon and Annabelle’s relationship is cute, as are their friendly and familial relationships.   Kleypas does inject the right amount of drama with the loathsome Lord Hodgeham and some last minute fireworks.  Secrets of a Summer Night isn’t revolutionary, but it is solid.

Grade: B+

Summary:
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Four young ladies enter London society with one common goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband. So a daring husband-hunting scheme is born.
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Annabelle Peyton, determined to save her family from disaster, decides to use her beauty and wit to tempt a suitable nobleman into making an offer of marriage. But Annabelle’s most intriguing–and persistent– admirer, wealthy, powerful Simon Hunt, has made it clear that while he will introduce her to irresistible pleasure he will not offer marriage. Annabelle is determined to resist his unthinkable proposition… but it is impossible in the face of such skillful seduction.
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Her friends, looking to help, conspire to entice a more suitable gentleman to offer for Annabelle, for only then will she be safe from Simon–and her own longings. But on one summer night, Annabelle succumbs to Simon’s passionate embrace and tempting kisses… and she discovers that love is the most dangerous game of all.
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Read an excerpt here.

It Happened One Autumn (Book 2)
Released 27 Sept 05

With Annabelle happily married, it’s Lillian’s turn to find a husband.  “Marry Lillian; you’ll get a million,” the saying goes.  But her mother wants nothing less than a titled husband for her.  Lillian would prefer love. And she just received a magic perfume made from the Lady of the Night orchid, and she and the other Wallflowers are eager to test it out.

I do love Lillian.  She boldly states her opinions, though they might go over easier if she were less rude.  Her dialogue is full of zingers that play well off of the other’s conversation.  It wouldn’t be a fun story if she fell for a man without her strength of will.  So who can avoid being steamrolled by Lillian?

None other than equally steamroller-like, but more staid, Marcus Westcliff.  He hasn’t thought much of Lillian’s character since he caught her playing Rounders-in-Knickers, but he has thought of her.  It’s fun to watch the controlled man come undone over his attraction.  He could end up being a total prig, but Kleypas both lets the reader into his mind and allows him to come alive in his scenes with Lillian.  And it is fun seeing that kind of character set back on his heels, as Lillian puts it.

On the other hand, Lillian has another viable suitor – the handsome and charming Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent.  He’s a rake and after her money, but they do enjoy each other’s company.  He definitely has the turn of phrase down to match wits with her.  You can see why Lillian is tempted by his offer of marriage even as she falls in love with Westcliff.

I enjoyed the love triangle, but one of the faults of the romance genre is that it’s pretty easy to tell which man will win even without knowing which one is the hero of the next novel beforehand.  This one definitely wasn’t my favorite entry in the series.  Kleypas does a good job with him, but I just don’t like Westcliff as much as the other heroes.

Grade: B-

Summary:
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It Happened One Autumn is the story of Lillian Bowman, a bold and headstrong American heiress, and Marcus, Lord Westcliff, the most eligible peer in England. But even though Lillian is hunting for a husband, Marcus is the last man she would ever consider marrying.
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Read an excerpt here.

The Devil in Winter (Book 3)
Released 28 Feb 06

I had high expectations for this one since I’ve heard Sybil’s praise of it (and St. Vincent).  Unlike most stories, it opens with the marriage.  Evie can’t stand living with her abusive relatives one moment longer – especially since they’re going to marry her to a loathsome cousin so that they can control her money.  She also wants to be with her father as his final days approach.  The only way for her to escape is to marry.  She knows St. Vincent needs money enough to accept her offer, so the two head off to Gretna Green.  The only catch is that she’ll only sleep with him once.

Evie is a total sweetheart, though Kleypas puts steel under her caring exterior.  Evie needs it in order to escape her family and live in her father’s gambling hall.  She deserves someone who will watch out for her, so it’s very nice to watch St. Vincent mature into the role.

While St. Vincent has done some villainy in the past, he can be redeemed.  And it’s not a cliché, love of a good woman redemption, though Evie’s love does factor in.  St. Vincent flourishes when given responsibility, as he begins to pay attention to the gambling hall he will inherit and adapts his skills to the task of bringing in new and more respectable customers.  When given something to do other than drink and go wenching, he rises to the task.

It’s easy to see why this one ranks so high on Sybil’s list.  Evie and St. Vincent have tangible chemistry as well as being great characters in their own rights.  There’s a stronger plot running alongside the romance than in the other Wallflower books, due to Evie’s variety of family troubles.  It adds some moments of danger throughout the novel.  In addition, I like the character of Cam Rohan, the gypsy Evie grew up with.  I even bought a copy of his story, Mine Til Midnight.  (As of writing this review I haven’t read it, but I do look forward to it.)

I did notice, while reading Devil in Winter, how good Kleypas is with continuity.  She strings little details like Evie’s cold feet throughout the story, mentioning it enough that it sticks in your mind without becoming intrusive.  Those details are part of what makes her characters so attractive.

Grade: A-

Summary:
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A devil’s bargain…
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Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!
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Sebastian’s reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden’s good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.
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But Evie’s proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine’s callously discarded broken hearts — which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions…or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.
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Read an excerpt here.

Scandal in Spring (Book 4)
Released 25 July 06

The youngest Wallflower finally gets her chance to marry, though it may come sooner than she wants when her father gives her an ultimatum.  If she doesn’t have a fiancé in two months she must marry his protégé Matthew Swift.  As Daisy recalls, he’s coldly ambitious, not to mention scrawny and pale.  Once more the Wallflowers set out to Westcliff’s estate to gather eligible men together for Daisy to choose from.

At this point I realized that I’m confused by the titles of the series.  Annabelle was summer, so she can have a just born baby in spring.  But Lillian was autumn, so she can’t physically have a healthy baby in spring – there’s only six months between the two.  So I’ll choose to ignore the titles since I was mostly ignoring the timeline anyway.  It’s just one of those things that bothers me if I think about it.

I empathize with Daisy, who is the Wallflower I’m probably most like.  She enjoys reading fiction and is not grounded in reality sometimes.  She’s the least practical of the Wallflowers and wants romance, rather than an arrangement with a business associate of her father.  However, she is pleasantly surprised when she becomes reacquainted with Matthew.

Matthew has grown up and filled out.  (Though he’s secretly still a total dork, since he’s been in love with Daisy for as long as he’s known her.)  Though Daisy realizes she’s not all that adverse to marrying him, he doesn’t want to marry her due to the secrets of his past.  And even if he does clear up the troubles from his past, Lillian doesn’t approve of the match.  She’s hormonal, protective, and holds a grudge.

Reading about Matthew and Daisy falling in love and then working to be able to marry is fun, though Scandal in Spring is not as dramatic as Devil in Winter.  Matthew balances Daisy well, as many of the characters note.  It’s a strong finish to the tales of the Wallflowers, as all four previously unmarriageable ladies end up with love matches.

Grade: B

Summary:
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After spending three London seasons searching for a husband, Daisy Bowman’s father has told her in no uncertain terms that she must find a husband. Now. And if Daisy can’t snare an appropriate suitor, she will marry the man he chooses—the ruthless and aloof Matthew Swift.
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Daisy is horrified. A Bowman never admits defeat, and she decides to do whatever it takes to marry someone . . . anyone . . . other than Matthew. But she doesn’t count on Matthew’s unexpected charm . . . or the blazing sensuality that soon flares beyond both their control. And Daisy discovers that the man she has always hated just might turn out to be the man of her dreams.
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But right at the moment of sweet surrender, a scandalous secret is uncovered . . . one that could destroy both Matthew and a love more passionate and irresistible than Daisy’s wildest fantasies.
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Read an excerpt here.

I’m glad I gave Lisa Kleypas a chance.  The Wallflowers series is composed of four solid historical romances that showcase a nice variety of heroes and heroines.  I love the friendship the heroines form as well as the one that already exists among Simon, Westcliff, and St. Vincent.  This series also made me want to find copies of Kleypas’s contemporaries.

Overall grade: B+

Shannon C.’s review of Secrets of a Summer Night (The Wallflowers, Book 1) by Lisa Kleypas
Historical romance released by Avon 26 Oct 04

This year I decided I would try and do a mini reading challenge that I like to call the “Year of the Kleypas.” The idea, of course, is to read 12 books from Lisa Kleypas’s backlist. I decided to start out with the Wallflower series and then work my way through her contemporaries. We’ll see what happens from there. As for my first entry into the Year of the Kleypas challenge, it went quite well.

The premise is quite simple, but it’s one I love. Four wallflowers need to land husbands, and so they decide to work together to see that they’re all married. We have Annabelle, the heroine of this book, who is impoverished and needs to land someone wealthy, the Bowman sisters, Lilian and Daisy, whose mother is set on them marrying peers, and Evie Jenner, an awkward, shy girl with a stammer who also needs to marry well.

The Wallflowers decide that Annabelle is the most desperate of them, and Annabelle, for her part, has a list of qualities she wants in a husband. Those qualities preclude the blunt-spoken, if wealthy, Simon Hunt, because he’s too gauche, even though every time Annabelle sees him, her heart goes pitter-pat, and he has, after all, been the first man she’s kissed. Things come to a head at a house party, when Annabelle must decide how far she’s willing to go to make sure she lands a good husband.

The best part about this book is there are four women who are friends. I absolutely love it when books actually bother showing female friendship, because, you know, it exists in real life. I really felt the Wallflowers themselves were a tight-knit group, and even though I think I would have preferred a less hasty progression of their friendship, what I got was quite satisfying. I’m not quite sure if the interactions between the girls pass the Bechtel Test (which requires that a work has at least two women in it who talk to each other about something other than men), but, for example, the rounders game was one of the best scenes of female friendship I’ve read in a while.

Then there’s Annabelle herself. She drove me absolutely insane for the first half of the book, and there was a scene that I pretty much had to read through with clenched teeth and indignant muttering to myself, because I was so irritated. I mean, her family is in dire straights financially. She really shouldn’t be insisting on marrying a titled man, and if she hadn’t removed the stick from her posterior, she probably would have actually achieved her goal a lot faster.

Simon had the patience of a saint. I don’t know if I’d have kept on pursuing Annabelle, especially after all the times she so roundly rebuffs him, but he does. I liked that Simon was an industrialist, and so there were actually scenes discussing how he’d made his money. I liked that he didn’t care much what people thought, and I found him a nice contrast to the somewhat shallow Annabelle. I loved the way he took care of her whenever she needed it, and the scene that Limecello quoted on our recent giveaway with the new boots was one of the best parts of the book for me. Once Annabelle redeems herself–which does eventually happen–I loved their romance, and the climax of the novel was heartrending.

Ms. Kleypas writes a compelling story that is not overburdened with excess characters and which is set up so that the series elements flow naturally. I’ve only ever read one book of hers, the classic Dreaming of You, but I can tell already that this Year of the Kleypas is not going to be disappointing. Indeed, if not for the heroine, this would have easily been an A book for me. But as it is, I still recommend it highly.

Grade: B+

Read other thoughts and musings on the Wallflower series by clicking on its tag.

Summary:
Four young ladies enter London society with one common goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband. So a daring husband-hunting scheme is born. Annabelle Peyton, determined to save her family from disaster, decides to use her beauty and wit to tempt a suitable nobleman into making an offer of marriage. But Annabelle’s most intriguing–and persistent–admirer, wealthy, powerful Simon Hunt, has made it clear that while he will introduce her to irresistible pleasure he will not offer marriage. Annabelle is determined to resist his unthinkable proposition … but it is impossible in the face of such skillful seduction. Her friends, looking to help, conspire to entice a more suitable gentleman to offer for Annabelle, for only then will she be safe from Simon–and her own longings. But on one summer night, Annabelle succumbs to Simon’s passionate embrace and tempting kisses … and she discovers that love is the most dangerous game of all.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

I really like Lisa Kleypas‘s novels. I’m sure you all know that. I don’t know Ms. Kleypas as a person, but I’m sure I’d like her in real life as well. Regardless, I can wax poetic on a number of her novels. Prince of Dreams, Dreaming of You, Suddenly You, and Because You’re Mine are some of my favorites.

But this is a post about the Wallflower Series. (I suppose I could talk about the most recent A Wallflower Christmas, but … why when you can win one and find out for yourself?)

Opinions seem to differ vastly about this series… but I really like Secrets of a Summer Night. Maybe because I’m traditional, or I just have major positive association with it because it was first. Accordingly, I’ve found a passage I liked. (Ok, I admit I basically thumbed through pages, and stopped, and voila! But it is cute. Not a sexy tension filled scene, but pretty adorable all the same.)

“Mr. Hunt,” she said carefully, “there is something I must ask you…”

“Yes?” His eyes were definitely his most attractive feature, Annabelle thought distractedly. Vibrant and full of life, they made her wonder why people generally preferred blue eyes to dark ones. No shade of blue could ever convey the simmering intelligence that lurked in the depths of Simon Hunt’s sable eyes.

Try as she might, Annabelle could think of no subtle way to ask him. After grappling silently with a variety of phrases, she finally settled for a blunt question. “Were you responsible for the boots?”

His expression gave nothing away. “Boots? I’m afraid I don’t take your meaning, Miss Peyton. Are you speaking in metaphor, or are we talking about actual footwear?”

“Ankle boots,” Annabelle said, staring at him with open suspicion. “A new pair that was left inside the door of my room yesterday.”

“Delighted as I am to discuss any part of your wardrobe, Miss Peyton, I’m afraid I know nothing about a pair of boots. However, I am relieved that you have managed to acquire some. Unless, of course, you wished to continue acting as a strolling buffet to the wildlife of Hampshire.”

Annabelle regarded him for a long moment. Despite his denial, there was something lurking behind his neutral facade…some playful spark in his eyes… “Then you deny having given the boots to me?”

“Most emphatically I deny it.”

“But I wonder…if some one wished to have a pair of boots made up for a lady without her knowledge… how would he be able to learn the precise size of her feet?”

“That would be a relatively simple task…” he mused. “I imagine that some enterprising person would simply ask a housemaid to trace the soles of the lady’s discarded slippers. Then he could take the pattern to the local cobbler. And make it worth the cobbler’s while to delay his other work in favor of crafting the new shoes immediately.”

“That is quite a lot of trouble for someone to go through,” Annabelle murmured.

Hunt’s gaze was lit with sudden mischief. “Rather less trouble than having to haul an injured woman up three flights of stairs every time she goes out walking in her slippers.”

Annabelle realized that he would never admit to giving her the boots-which would allow her to keep them, but would also ensure that she would never be able to thank him. And she knew he had-she could see it in his face.

“Mr. Hunt,” she said earnestly, “I …I wish…” She paused, unable to find words, and stared helplessly at him.

Taking pity on her, Hunt stood and went to the side of the room, picking up a small circular game table. It was only about two feet in diameter, constructed with a clever mechanism to allow a player to flip the top from a chessboard to a draughtsboard. “Do you play?” he asked casually, setting the table in front of her.

“Draughts? Yes, occasionally-”

“No, not draughts. Chess.”

Annabelle shook her head, shrinking back into the corner of the settee. “No, I’ve never played chess. And I don’t wish to sound uncooperative, but… the way I feel at present, I have no desire to try something as difficult as-”

“It’s time for you to learn, then,” Hunt said, heading to a niche of shelves to retrieve a polished burl-wood box. “It’s been said that you can never really know someone until you play chess with him.”

Annabelle watched him cautiously, feeling nervous at the prospect of being alone with him …and yet she was thoroughly beguiled by his deliberate gentleness. It seemed almost as if he were trying to coax her to trust him. There was a softness in his manner that seemed utterly at odds with the cynical rake she had always known him to be.

“Do you believe that?” she asked.

“Of course not.” Hunt brought the box to the table and opened it to reveal a set of onyx and ivory chessmen, carved in scrupulous detail. He slid her a provocative glance. “The truth is, you can never really know a man until you’ve loaned him money. And you can never know a woman until you’ve slept in her bed.”

Next, is It Happened One Autumn. I’m not sure why but Lillian and Westcliff, while great, aren’t my favorite characters. I think Lillian’s personality is way too different/foreign from mine. And Westcliff while “perfect” isn’t that personable. But there’s definitely one part that comes to mind.

“My lord.”

…”Yes, Salter,” he said brusquely, resenting the interruption.

“There is a…a situation, my lord, that I felt certain you would wish to be informed of.”

“What kind of situation?”

“It involves one of the guests, my lord.”

“Well?” Marcus demanded, annoyed by the butler’s diffidence. “Who is it? And what is he doing?”

“I am afraid the person is a ‘she,’ my lord. One of the footmen has just informed me that he saw Miss Bowman in the library, and she is…not well.”

Marcus stood so suddenly that his chair nearly toppled over. “Which Miss Bowman?”

“I do not know, my lord.”

“What do you mean, ‘not well’? Is anyone with her?”

“I do not believe so, my lord.”

“Is she hurt? Is she ill?”

Salter gave him a mildly harried stare. “Neither, my lord. Merely …not well.”

…His hands gripped into white-knuckled balls, and his pace quickened. It seemed to take forever to reach the library. By the time he crossed the threshold, his heart was driving in sharp blows inside his chest …a rhythm that owed nothing to exertion and everything to panic. What he saw caused him to stop short in the center of the large room.

Lillian stood before a row of books, with a pile of them surrounding her on the floor. She was pulling rare volumes from the shelves one by one, examining each with a puzzled frown and then tossing it heedlessly behind her. She seemed oddly languid, as if she were moving under water. And her hair was slipping from its pins. She didn’t look ill, precisely. In fact, she looked…

Becoming aware of his presence, Lillian glanced over her shoulder with a lopsided smile. “Oh. It’s you,” she said, her voice slurred. Her attention wandered back to the shelves. “I can’t find anything. All these books are so deadly dull…”

Frowning in concern, Marcus approached her while she continued to chatter and sort through the books. “Not this one…nor this one…oh no, no, no, this one’s not even in English…”

Marcus’s panic transformed rapidly into outrage, followed swiftly by amusement. Damnation. If he had required additional proof that Lillian Bowman was utterly wrong for him, this was it. The wife of a Marsden would never sneak into the library and drink until she was, as his mother would phrase it, “a trifle disguised.” Staring into her drowsy dark eyes and flushed face, Marcus amended the phrase. Lillian was not disguised. She was foxed, staggering, tap-hackled, top-heavy, shot-in-the-neck, staggering drunk.

More books sailed through the air, one of them narrowly missing his ear.

“Perhaps I could help,” Marcus suggested pleasantly, stopping beside her. “If you would tell me what you’re looking for.”

“Something romantic. Something with a happy ending. There should always be a happy ending, shouldn’ there?”

Marcus reached out to finger a trailing lock of her hair, his thumb sliding along the glowing satin filaments. He had never thought of himself as a particularly tactile man, but it seemed impossible to keep from touching her when she was near. The pleasure he derived from the simplest contact with her set all his nerves alight. “Not always,” he said in reply to her question.

Lillian let out a bubbling laugh. “How very English of you. How you all love to suffer, with your stiff… stiff…” She peered at the book in her hands, distracted by the gilt on its cover. “…upper lips,” she finished absently.

“We don’t like to suffer.”

“Yes, you do. At the very least, you go out of your way to avoid enjoying something.”

By now Marcus was becoming accustomed to the unique mixture of lust and amusement that she always managed to arouse in him. “There’s nothing wrong with keeping one’s enjoyments private.”

Dropping the book in her hands, Lillian turned to face him. The abruptness of the movement resulted in a sharp wobble, and she swayed back against the shelves even as he moved to steady her with his hands at her waist. Her tip-tilted eyes sparkled like an array of diamonds scattered over brown velvet. “It has nothing to do with privacy,” she informed him. “The truth is that you don’t want to be happy, bec-” She hiccupped gently. “Because it would undermine your dignity. Poor Wes’cliff.” She regarded him compassionately.

At the moment, preserving his dignity was the last thing on Marcus’s mind. He grasped the frame of the bookcase on either side of her, encompassing her in the half circle of his arms. As he caught a whiff of her breath, he shook his head and murmured, “Little one…what have you been drinking?”

“Oh…” She ducked beneath his arm and careened to the sideboard a few feet away. “I’ll show you… wonderful, wonderful stuff… this.” Triumphantly she plucked a nearly empty brandy bottle from the edge of the sideboard and held it by the neck. “Look what someone did…a pear, right inside! Isn’ that clever?” Bringing the bottle close to her face, she squinted at the imprisoned fruit. “It wasn’ very good at first. But it improved after a while. I suppose it’s an ac”-another delicate hiccup- “acquired taste.”

“It appears you’ve succeeded in acquiring it,” Marcus remarked, following her.

“You won’ tell anyone, will you?”

“No,” he promised gravely. “But I’m afraid they’re going to know regardless. Unless we can sober you in the next two or three hours before they return. Lillian, my angel …how much was in the bottle when you started?”

Showing him the bottle, she put her finger a third of the way from the bottom. “It was there when I started. I think. Or maybe there.” She frowned sadly at the bottle. “Now all that’s left is the pear.” She swirled the bottle, making the plump fruit slosh juicily at the bottom. “I want to eat it,” she announced.

“It’s not meant to be eaten. It’s only there to infuse the-Lillian, give the damned thing to me.”

“I am going to eat it.” Lillian tottered drunkenly away from him as she shook the bottle with increasing resolve. “If I can just get it out…”

“You can’t. It’s impossible.”

“Impossible?” she scoffed, lurching to face him. “You have servants who can pull the brains from a calf’s head, but they couldn’ get one little pear out of a bottle? I doubt that. Send for one of your under-butlers-just give a whistle, and-oh, I forgot. You can’t whistle.” She focused on him, her eyes narrowing as she stared at his mouth. “That’s the sillies’ thing I ever heard. Everyone can whistle. I’ll teach you. Right now. Pucker your lips. Like this. Pucker… see?”

Marcus caught her in his arms as she swayed before him. Staring down at her adorably pursed lips, he felt an insistent warmth invading his heart, overflowing and spilling past its fretted barriers. God in heaven, he was tired of fighting his desire for her. It was exhausting to struggle against something so overwhelming. Like trying not to breathe.

Lillian stared at him earnestly, seeming puzzled by his refusal to comply. “No, no, not like that. Like this.” The bottle dropped to the carpet. She reached up to his mouth and tried to shape his lips with her fingers. “Rest your tongue on the edge of your teeth and…it’s all about the tongue, really. If you’re agile with your tongue, you’ll be a very, very good”-she was temporarily interrupted as he covered her mouth with a brief, ravening kiss-”whistler. My lord, I can’t talk when you-” He fitted his mouth to hers again, devouring the sweet brandied taste of her.

She leaned against him helplessly, her fingers sliding into his hair, while her breath struck his cheek in rapid, delicate puffs. A tide of sensual urgency rolled through him as the kiss deepened into full-blown compulsion. The memory of their encounter in the hidden garden had haunted him for days …the delicacy of her skin beneath his hands, her small, exquisite breasts, the enticing strength of her legs. He wanted to feel her wrapped around him, her hands clutching his back, her knees clamped around his hips…the silky-wet caress of her body as he moved inside her.

Pulling her head back, Lillian stared at him with wondering eyes, her lips damp and reddened. Her hands left his hair, her fingertips coming to the hard angles of his cheekbones, delicate strokes of coolness on the blazing heat of his skin. He bent his head, nuzzling his jaw against the pale silk of her palm. “Lillian,” he whispered, “I’ve tried to leave you alone. But I can’t do it anymore. In the past two weeks I’ve had to stop myself a thousand times from coming to you. No matter how often I tell myself that you are the most inappropriate…” He paused as she squirmed suddenly, twisting and craning her neck to look down at the floor. “No matter what I-Lillian, are you listening to me? What the devil are you looking for?”

“My pear. I dropped it, and-oh, there it is.” She broke free of him and sank to her hands and knees, reaching beneath a chair. Pulling out the brandy bottle, she sat on the floor and held it in her lap.

“Lillian, forget the damned pear.”

“How did it get in there, d’you think?” She poked her finger experimentally into the neck of the bottle. “I don’ see how something so big could fit into a hole that small.”

Marcus closed his eyes against a surge of aggravated passion, and his voice cracked as he replied. “They… they put it directly on the tree. The bud grows …inside…” He slitted his eyes open and squeezed them shut again as he saw her finger intruding deeper into the bottle. “Grows…” he forced himself to continue, “until the fruit is ripe.”

Lillian seemed rather too impressed by the information. “They do? That is the cleverest, cleverest …a pear in its own little…oh no.”

“What?” Marcus asked through clenched teeth.

“My finger’s stuck.”

… and you know, the rest gets even better

Ok – I can’t resist. One more impassioned paragraph.

“It wasn’t a meaningless act for me either,” Marcus said, his raspy whisper tickling her ear. “Yesterday I finally realized that all the things I thought were wrong about you were actually the things I enjoyed most. I don’t give a damn what you do, so long as it pleases you. Run barefoot on the front lawn. Eat pudding with your fingers. Tell me to go to hell as often as you like. I want you just as you are. After all, you’re the only woman aside from my sisters who has ever dared to tell me to my face that I’m an arrogant ass. How could I resist you?” His mouth moved to the soft cushion of her cheek. “My dearest Lillian,” he whispered, easing her head back to kiss her eyelids. “If I had the gift of poetry, I would shower you with sonnets. But words have always been difficult for me when my feelings are strongest. And there is one word in particular that I can’t bring myself to say to you…‘goodbye.’ I couldn’t bear the sight of you walking away from me. If you won’t marry me for the sake of your own honor, then do it for the sake of everyone who would have to tolerate me otherwise. Marry me because I need someone who will help me to laugh at myself. Because someone has to teach me how to whistle. Marry me, Lillian…because I have the most irresistible fascination for your ears.”

Now… Devil in Winter is my favorite of the series. Evie is so likable, and St. Vincent – well, enough said there, yes? Without further ado… here is your [naughty] excerpt:

Sebastian pulled Evie inside the club, where the silence was startling after the tumult of the alley. She labored to keep pace with his ground-eating strides, her own breath coming fast by the time they reached the reading room on the main floor. The built-in mahogany shelves were filled with leather volumes. Against the walls, a multitude of papers and periodicals were draped over racks made with rows of clever movable dowels. Pushing Evie into the room, Sebastian closed them both inside with a decisive slam.

“Were you hurt?” he asked roughly.

“No.” Evie tried to hold back her next words, but they came out in a burst of resentment. “Why were you gone for so long? I needed you, and you weren’t here!”

“You had thirty employees to protect you. Why did you go downstairs in the first place? You should have stayed upstairs until you knew for certain who was outside.”

“Mr. Bullard told me that Annabelle Hunt was waiting for me. And then when I saw that it was my uncle, Bullard wouldn’t let me back inside the club. He pushed me right into my uncle’s arms.”

“My God.” Sebastian’s eyes widened. “I’m going to disembowel him, the gutter scum-”

“And while all that was happening,” Evie continued wrathfully, “you were in bed with a prostitute!” As the words left her lips, she realized that to her, this was the crux of the matter…even more important than Bullard’s betrayal, or her uncles’ assault, her emotions were roiling at the fact that Sebastian had betrayed her so soon with another woman.

Sebastian focused on her with an alert gaze. “I wasn’t.”

“Don’t lie,” Evie said, while their mutual fury seethed in the air. “I know you were.”

“Why are you so bloody certain?”

“Because you stayed at Madam Bradshaw’s for more than two hours!”

“I was talking about business. Talking, Evie! If you don’t believe that, then you can go to hell. Because if I had slept with someone, I guarantee you that I would be a lot more relaxed than I am now.”

Staring into Sebastian’s eyes, which were as hard as a frozen pond, Evie felt her outrage begin to drain away. She had no choice but to believe him-his offended anger was obvious.

“Oh,” she muttered.

“Oh? That’s all you have to say?”

“I suppose…I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. But knowing what I do of your past…I assumed…”

Her lame attempt at an apology seemed to erode the remnants of Sebastian’s self-control. “Well, your assumption was wrong! If you haven’t yet noticed, I’m busier than the devil in a high wind, every minute of the day. I don’t have the damned time for a tumble. And if I did-” He stopped abruptly. All semblance of the elegant viscount Evie had once watched from afar in Lord Westcliff’s drawing room had vanished. He was rumpled and bruised and furious. And he wasn’t breathing at all well. “If I did-” He broke off again, a flush crossing the crests of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

Evie saw the exact moment when his self-restraint snapped. Alarm jolted through her, and she lurched toward the closed door. Before she had even made a step, she found herself seized and pinned against the wall by his body and hands. The smell of sweat-dampened linen and healthy, aroused male filled her nostrils.

Once he had caught her, Sebastian pressed his parted lips against the thin skin of her temple. His breath snagged. Another moment of stillness. Evie felt the electrifying touch of his tongue at the very tip of her eyebrow. He breathed against the tiny wet spot, a waft of hellfire that sent chills through her entire body. Slowly he brought his mouth to her ear, and traced the intricate inner edges.

His whisper seemed to come from the darkest recesses of her own mind. “If I did, Evie…then by now I would have shredded your clothes with my hands and teeth until you were naked. By now I would have pushed you down to the carpet, and put my hands beneath your breasts and lifted them up to my mouth. I would be kissing them…licking them…until the tips were like hard little berries, and then I would bite them so gently…”

Evie felt herself drift into a slow half swoon as he continued in a ragged murmur. “…I would kiss my way down to your thighs…inch by inch…and when I reached those sweet red curls, I would lick through them, deeper and deeper, until I found the little pearl of your clitoris…and I would rest my tongue on it until I felt it throb. I would circle it, and stroke it…I’d lick until you started to beg. And then I would suck you. But not hard. I wouldn’t be that kind. I would do it so lightly, so tenderly, that you would start screaming with the need to come…I would put my tongue inside you…taste you…eat you. I wouldn’t stop until your entire body was wet and shaking. And when I had tortured you enough, I would open your legs and come inside you, and take you…take you…”

Sebastian stopped, anchoring her against the wall while they both remained frozen, aroused, panting.

At length, he spoke in a nearly inaudible voice. “You’re wet, aren’t you?”

(And if you head to Ms. Kleypas’s website, the excerpt is pretty much what follows this immediately.)

And… now I’m starting to creep myself out, because some of my favorite scenes are right around/the same as the excerpts posted on Ms. Kleypas’s site, so now… here’s more bang for the… well not buck because it’s free – but this is the scene right after the excerpt (sexcerpt? for Scandal in Spring)

Matthew knew it was wrong the instant their lips met. Because nothing would ever equal the perfection of Daisy in his arms. He was ruined for life. God help him, he didn’t care.

Her mouth was soft and hot, like sunshine, like the white blaze of a heartwood fire. She gasped as he touched her lower lip with the tip of his tongue. Slowly her hands came to his shoulders, and then he felt her fingers at the back of his head, sliding into his hair to keep him from pulling away. There wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening. Nothing could have made him stop.

A tremor shook his fingers as he bracketed the exquisite line of her jaw in the open framework of his hand, gently angling her face upward. The flavor of her mouth, sweet and elusive, fueled a hunger that threatened to rage out of control…he searched the damp silk beyond her lips, deeper, harder, until she began to breathe in long sighs, her body molding against his.

He let her feel how much stronger he was, how much heavier, one muscular arm clamped along her back, his feet spread to hold her between the powerful length of his thighs. Her upper half was bound in a laced and padded corset. He was almost overcome by a savage desire to tear away the stays and quilting and find the tender flesh beneath.

Instead he sank his fingers into her pinned-up hair and tugged it backward until the weight of her head was cradled in his hand, and her pale throat was exposed. He searched for the pulse he had seen earlier, his lips dragging softly along the secret pathway of nerves beneath her skin. When he reached a sensitive spot, he felt the vibration of her suppressed moan against his mouth.

This was what it would be like to make love to her, he thought dazedly…the sweet shivering of her flesh as he entered her, the delicate chaos of her breath, the helpless sounds that rustled in her throat. Her skin, warm and female, scented like tea and talcum and a trace of salt. He found her mouth again, opened it, delving into wet silk, heat, and an intimate flavor that drove him mad.

She should have struggled, but there was only yielding and more softness, driving him past all limits. He began to ravish her mouth with deep, twisting kisses, bringing her body rhythmically against his. He felt her legs part beneath her gown, his thigh fitting neatly between them. She squirmed with innocent desire, her face blooming with the color of late summer poppies. Had she understood exactly what he wanted from her, she would have done more than blush. She would have fainted on the spot.

Lifting his mouth from hers, Matthew pressed his jaw against the side of her head. “I think,” he said raggedly, “this puts to rest any question of whether I find you desirable or not.”

So there you go – some of my favorite parts from the excellent “Wallflower” series. And… for those of you who read to the end (unless you skipped to the end and then you CHEATED, YOU WHORE) … we’re having a contest! We have a few copies of A Wallflower Christmas to give away… and also an ARC of Smooth Talking Stranger. Believe me, I’m jealous. (More posts will follow about how to get the ARC, so stick around.)

Now most importantly – how do you win A Wallflower Christmas? Comment on any post at TGTBTU that is about the Wallflowers series, or (here’s the catch) my Who Will Win pondering – but on that one you must follow the rules. And obviously this post. Let’s talk some LK love. Tell me about your favorite Wallflower, a quote, scene, etc.

There! Easy peasy! Good luck everyone, and Happy New Year!

[And remember © Lisa Kleypas. All rights reserved]

Lawson’s review of A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas
Historical romance released by St. Martin’s 14 Oct 08

A warm return to the lives of the four “Wallflowers” from Secrets of a Summer Night, It Happened One Autumn, The Devil in Winter and Scandal in Spring, and there’s also a new Wallflower introduced in A Wallflower Christmas. Though the four Wallflowers are all part of this story, this story is about Rafe Bowman, Lillian and Daisy’s brother, who has come to England to marry a debutante chosen by his domineering father.

Rafe isn’t very happy about his father trying to control him, but he wants shares in Bowman’s soap operations in Europe. He may even find some form of contentment with the chosen bride and Rafe is happy to be able to stay with his sister Lillian during the proceedings. To get an idea of the prospective bride, Lillian invites her companion, Hannah Appleton, to tea to test the waters where Natalie Parr, debutante is concerned.

The Wallflowers like Hannah and Rafe is instantly attracted to her, though she dresses in drab gowns and isn’t as open as American women. Rafe and Hannah meet again at Stony Cross Park, the Westcliff estate, for the Christmas holidays where it is hoped that Rafe and Natalie will form an attachment. Though he finds Natalie charming, pretty, and amiable, Rafe is instead drawn to Hannah and finds himself opening to her caring and warmth during the holiday season.

Hannah is made into an honorary Wallflower and she does fit well with the other four. She does have a motherly tendency, but as a companion to Natalie, this isn’t very surprising. In one scene, Hannah reads parts of a Christmas Carol to a group of children that is very charming and sweet and shows all her good caring characteristics in the best light, and of course that’s when Rafe really falls hard for her.

Rafe has some of his own issues with caring about people, due mostly to his parents. He’s a rake mainly because the only happiness in his life is making money in speculation and he has a hard relationship with his father. What Rafe sees in Hannah breaks some of the shell around his heart and when he does confess his love it is very passionate and shows a side to Rafe that probably has been buried for a long time.

What was hinted at, but not really explored until this book was the domineering nature and overall controlling aspect of the Bowman patriarch. He’s not happy with himself, his wife, his children and even making money doesn’t seem to bring him any happy feeling. That Rafe, Lillian, and Daisy have been able to be the characters they are with that sort of father and family life shows the depth of each of them to a greater extent.

Unfortunately, things to get a little short. The story is rushed, and it seems more time could have been spent with Rafe and Hannah. There are token appearances from all the Wallflowers and their spouses, which is nice, but again, the whole book is short. It felt as though there was too much being crammed in 220 pages. It’s a cute Christmas story though, and Wallflower fans will enjoy the time with all four in happy endings.

Grade: B-

The Wallflowers are four young ladies in London who banded together in their wild and wickedly wonderful searches for true love. Now happily married, they join together once again to help one of the world’s most notorious rogues realize that happiness might be right under the mistletoe.…

It’s Christmastime in London and Rafe Bowman has arrived from America for his arranged meeting with Natalie Blandford, the very proper and beautiful daughter of Lady and Lord Blandford. His chiseled good looks and imposing physique are sure to impress the lady in waiting and, if it weren’t for his shocking American ways and wild reputation, her hand would already be guaranteed. Before the courtship can begin, Rafe realizes he must learn the rules of London society. But when four former Wallflowers try their hand at matchmaking, no one knows what will happen. And winning a bride turns out to be more complicated than Rafe Bowman anticipated, especially for a man accustomed to getting anything he wants. However, Christmas works in the most unexpected ways, changing a cynic to a romantic and inspiring passion in the most timid of hearts.

A Wallflower Christmas takes a trip to Victorian London, under the mistletoe, and on a journey of the heart. With her trademark charm, sensuality, and unforgettable characters, there’s no one like Lisa Kleypas to make you believe in the magic of Christmas.

Other books in this series:

Wendy isn’t around don’t worry, tis ok *eg*

What Xmas themed books are you looking forward to? Since they seem to come out in Oct

A Wallflower excerpt here

A Wallflower Christmas is the story of Rafe Bowman, an American businessman who comes to London to marry an English bride. All the original wallflowers appear in the novel, and at Sybil’s request I’m sharing a clip of a scene between Evie and Sebastian

[Ed note: happy sigh].

Evie has been separated from the notorious Lord St. Vincent, while he has gone to visit his ailing father. In spite of the comfort of familiar friends, Evie is lonely and longing for her wicked husband . . .

[poor evie... doesn't your heart just break for her...]

And now for some what you have been waiting for – the devil himself – Sebastian Lord St. Vincent

E-X-C-E-R-P-T

A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas **Oct 14, 2008**

Back in the comfort of her guest room at Stony Cross Manor, Evie bathed in a small portable tub by the hearth, sighing in relief at the feel of the hot water against her stiff, aching limbs. Sleigh rides, she reflected, were one of those activities that always sounded better in theory than they turned out to be in reality. The seats on the sleigh had been hard and lumpy, and her feet had been cold.

She heard a tap at the door, and the sound of someone entering the room. Since she was shielded from view by a standing fabric screen, Evie leaned back and peek around the screen’s wooden frame.

A housemaid was hefting a dripping metal can with rags tied at the handles. “More hot water, milady?” she asked.

“Y-yes, please.”

Carefully the maid poured the steaming water at the end near Evie’s feet, and Evie sank deeper into the bath. “Oh, thank you.”

“Shall I come back with a warming pan to take the chill from the bed, milady?” The long-handled covered pan was filled with live coals and run between the sheets just before bedtime.

Evie nodded.

The maid left, and Evie stayed in the bath until the heat began to dissipate. Reluctantly she stepped from the tub and dried herself. The thought of going to bed alone—again—filled her with melancholy. She was trying not to pine for St Vincent. But she woke up every morning searching for him, her arm stretched across the empty place beside her.

St. Vincent was the opposite of everything Evie was . . . elegant, dazzlingly articulate, cool and self-possessed . . . and so wicked that it had once been universally agreed he would be an absolutely terrible husband.

No one but Evie knew how tender and devoted he was in private. Of course, his friends such as Westcliff and Mr. Hunt were aware that St. Vincent had reformed his former villainous ways. And he was doing a remarkable job managing the gaming club she had inherited from her father, rebuilding a faltering empire while at the same time making light of the responsibilities he had assumed.

He was still a scoundrel, though, she thought with a private grin.

Standing from the bath, Evie dried herself and donned a velvet robe that buttoned along the front. She heard the door open again. “Back to w-warm the bed?” she asked.

But the voice that answered wasn’t the maid’s.

“As a matter of fact . . . yes.”

Evie stilled at the sound of a deep, silky murmur.

“I passed the maid on the stairs and told her she wouldn’t be needed tonight,” he continued. “‘If there’s one thing I do well,’ I told her, ‘it’s warming my wife’s bed.’”

By this time Evie was fumbling to push the screen aside, nearly pushing it over.

St. Vincent reached her in a few graceful strides, folding her in his arms. “Easy, love. No need for haste. Believe me, I’m not going anywhere.”

They stood together for a long, wordless moment, breathing, holding tight.

Eventually St. Vincent tilted Evie’s head back and stared down at her. He was tawny and golden-haired, his pale blue eyes glittering like gems in the face of a fallen angel. He was a long, lean-framed man, always exquisitely dressed and groomed. But he had not been sleeping well, she saw. There were faint shadows beneath his eyes, and signs of weariness on his face. The touches of human vulnerability, however, only served to make him more handsome, softening what might otherwise have been a gleaming, godlike remoteness.

“Your f-father,” she began, staring at him in concern. “Is he . . .”

St. Vincent cast an exasperated glance heavenward. “He’ll be fine. The doctors can’t find a thing wrong with him, other than indigestion brought on by rich food and wine. When I left, he was leering and pinching the housemaids, and welcoming a score of obsequious relations who want to sponge off him for Christmas.” His hands moved lightly over her velvet-covered back. His voice was very soft. “Have you been a good girl in my absence?”

“Yes, of course,” she said breathlessly.

St. Vincent gave her a disapproving glance and kissed her with a seductive gentleness that sent her pulse racing. “We’ll have to remedy that immediately. I refuse to tolerate proper behavior from my wife.”

She touched his face, smiling as he nipped at her exploring fingertips. “I’ve missed you, Sebastian.”

“Have you, love?” He unfastened the buttons of her robe, the light eyes glittering with heat as her skin was revealed. “What part did you miss the most?”

“Your mind,” she said, and smiled at his expression.

“I was hoping for a far more depraved answer than that.”

“Your mind is depraved,” she told him solemnly.

He gave a husky laugh. “True.”

She gasped as his gentle, experienced hand slipped inside her robe. “What part of m-me did you miss the most?”

“I missed you from head to toe. I missed every freckle. I missed the taste of you . . . the feel of your hair in my hands . . . Evie, my love, you are shamefully overdressed.”

And he picked her up and carried her to bed . . .

© Lisa Kleypas. All rights reserved

Alicia’s Lightning Reviews of The Wallflower Series by Lisa Kleypas
Historical romance series released by Avon from Nov 04 thru Jul 06

In February I read the entire Wallflower series by Lisa Kleypas. I am so glad I did. I had gotten bogged down after reading a couple of blah books. When I found myself folding laundry to put off picking up the book I was reading, I knew I needed to read a Kleypas or two.  Or four.  Here are four short reviews of the four books in the Wallflower series…

Summary of the series:

Four young ladies enter London society with one necessary goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband. So they band together, and a daring husband-hunting scheme is born.

Secrets of a Summer Night (The Wallflowers, Book 1)
Released 26 Nov 04
SUMMARY: Annabelle Peyton, determined to save her family from disaster, decides to use her beauty and wit to tempt a suitable nobleman into making an offer of marriage. But Annabelle’s most intriguing—and persistent—admirer, wealthy, powerful Simon Hunt, has made it clear that while he will introduce her to irresistible pleasure he will not offer marriage. Annabelle is determined to resist his unthinkable proposition . . . but it is impossible in the face of such skillful seduction.

     Her friends, looking to help, conspire to entice a more suitable gentleman to offer for Annabelle, for only then will she be safe from Simon—and her own longings. But on one summer night, Annabelle succumbs to Simon’s passionate embrace and tempting kisses . . . and she discovers that love is the most dangerous game of all.

     Read an excerpt.

Annabelle shows a lot of growth as she has to face the truth of, first, her own marriage schemes, then of her very real snobbery. Simon is, by turns, sympathetic and cold. It is all in character, though. He has the dilemma of wanting a woman he knows is coldly manipulating other men to reach her goal.

There is a battle between the hero and heroine which is quite enjoyable to follow. This book introduces the other three “Wallflowers”, as well. The bond between these friends is, for me, one of the highlights of this book. The ending is powerful.

Grade: B+

It Happened One Autumn (The Wallflowers, Book 2)
Released 27 Sep 05

SUMMARY: It Happened at the Ball…  Where beautiful but bold Lillian Bowman quickly learned that her independent American ways weren’t entirely “the thing.” And the most disapproving of all was insufferable, snobbish, and impossible Marcus, Lord Westcliff, London’s most eligible aristocrat.

     It Happened in the Garden… When Marcus shockingly — and dangerously–swept her into his arms. Lillian was overcome with a consuming passion for a man she didn’t even like. Time stood still; it was as if no one else existed…thank goodness they weren’t caught very nearly in the act!

     It Happened One Autumn…  Marcus was a man in charge of his own emotions, a bedrock of stability. But with Lillian, every touch was exquisite torture, every kiss an enticement for more. Yet how could he consider taking a woman so blatantly unsuitable…as his bride?

     Read an excerpt.

Lillian Bowman is a firecracker! She’s so outrageous I couldn’t help but love her. Marcus can’t either. He is literally unable to keep himself away from her and it’s wonderful! Her cold father and domineering mother don’t stand a chance against him.

Lillian has been the protector all her life and she holds her tough shell dear. She can cuss with the best sailor and instigated the game of “rounders in knickers” in the first book. Marcus is the one who caught the ladies in the game and was not amused. He is known for being a straight arrow. He is also well known for being forgiving, though. Lillian is wonderfully, um, “forgiven” before long.

This one is powerful all the way through.

Grade: A

The Devil in Winter (The Wallflowers, Book 3)
Released 28 Feb 06

SUMMARY:  A devil’s bargain… Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!

     Sebastian’s reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden’s good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.

     But Evie’s proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine’s callously discarded broken hearts — which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions…or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.

     Read an excerpt.

Ok, I know most of you have never heard of Sebastian St. Vincent, before. Sybil has certainly never mentioned him. *VBG* Well, I was the scandalous duckie who had never read Devil in Winter, until now. I hope I have a reputation for giving objective opinions because I have no choice, here, but to sigh and squee right along with her!

The romance made It happened One Autumn an “A”. St. Vincent did it for Devil in Winter. Not that I didn’t like Evie. I did. St. Vincent is just such a perfect reformed villain.

Evie is young but she comes into her own and finds strength she didn’t know she had. The other Wallflowers are here as well as a great gypsy character who I’d love to see, again. The evil relations are well done. But, really, everyone should read this book because of Sebastian St. Vincent.

Grade: A

Scandal in Spring (The Wallflowers, Book 4)
Released 25 Jul 06

SUMMARY:  After spending three London seasons searching for a husband, Daisy Bowman’s father has told her in no uncertain terms that she must find a husband. Now. And if Daisy can’t snare an appropriate suitor, she will marry the man he chooses- the ruthless and aloof Matthew Swift.

     Daisy is horrified. A Bowman never admits defeat, and she decides to do whatever it takes to marry someone . . . anyone . . . other than Matthew. But she doesn’t count on Matthew’s unexpected charm . . . or the blazing sensuality that soon flares beyond both their control. And Daisy discovers that the man she has always hated just might turn out to be the man of her dreams.

     But right at the moment of sweet surrender, a scandalous secret is uncovered… one that could destroy both Matthew and a love more passionate and irresistible than Daisy’s wildest fantasies.

     Read an excerpt.

Daisy always was the most romantic of the wallflowers. She doesn’t have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into love. She wants to marry for love, wishes for it. When her father gives her an extremely short deadline to find it, though, she decides to quickly settle for someone she can live with.

This story is one where the hero is not what the heroine thinks he is. Matthew has worked hard to help her father build his business, but he’s nothing like her father beyond that. He’s also loved her from afar for a long, long time.

I just love books where the hero is besotted from before the start. The ones where there is something outside of himself that keeps him from making his claim. This book had every chance of being my favorite book in this series. The end was built up for a wonderful climax… but then was a little flat.

It is still an excellent book in itself and a wonderful resolution to the series.

Grade: B+

Overall Grade: A-

first reposted March 14, 2007
first posted March 30, 2006

DEVIL IN WINTER, by Lisa Kleypas. To escape her unscrupulous relatives, Evie Jenner proposes marriage to a notorious libertine.

Have I said lately how much I loved this book? No?

ohhh I must do that… sound like way more fun than cover letters. Have I said how much I HATE doing cover letters? And my resume, not on the disk I thought. sucks

But I did find a copy of the one before on a disk and a hard copy so it was easy enough to update.

With that I leave you with one of my fave scenes in DiW… takes place right after they tie the knot in GG.

St. Vincent began on the front fastenings of her gown. “Are we going to…” he repeated, and followed her gaze to the bed. “Good God, no.” His fingers moved rapidly along her bodice, freeing the row of buttons. “Delectable as you are, my love, I’m too tired. I’ve never said this in my entire life-but at the moment I would much rather sleep than fuck.”

Overwhelmed with relief, Evie let out an unsteady sigh. She was forced to clutch at him for balance as he pushed the loosened gown down over her hips. “I don’t like that word,” she said in a muffled voice.

“Well, you had better get used to it,” came his caustic reply. “That word is said frequently at your father’s club. God knows how you managed to escape hearing it before.”

“I did,” she said indignantly, stepping out of the discarded gown. “I just didn’t know what it meant until now.”

St. Vincent bent to untie her shoes, his broad shoulders quivering. A curious gasping, choking noise came from him. At first Evie wondered anxiously if he had suddenly been taken ill, and then she realized that he was laughing. It was the first genuine laughter she had ever heard from him, and she had no idea what he found so funny. Standing over him in her chemise and drawers, she crossed her arms over her front and frowned.

Still snorting with quiet amusement, St. Vincent removed her shoes one at a time, tossing them aside. Her stockings were rolled down her legs with swift efficiency. “Take your bath, pet,” he finally managed to say. “You’re safe from me tonight. I may look, but I won’t touch. Go on.”

Really I have no clue why but this just makes me giggle every time I read it. I love the dialog between Sebastian and Evie. And I love how matter of fact he is about everything. Just so in your face and unapologetic.

le sigh…

August 1….

Scandal in Spring not sure if I want this to come out or not… I mean who knows when we will get the next Kleypas historical. So I shall not start counting down yet

UPDATED October 5th:
Well I guess that wasn’t that long of a wait as Lisa Kleypas’s next historical was published October 2nd, 2007. Yep that would be last Tuesday *g*.

Have you picked up your copy of Mine Till Midnight yet? If not, you must sez I! If you don’t do it for Cam do it for Sebastian. Cuz you know… he rocks.

And you can do it with no worry of WHEN there will be another Kleypas historical. Really and true. If you think about it the panic, maybe that was just me, that Lisa would leave us for that genre called womens fiction and forget all about us… go mainstream and toss aside romance… pretend like we never ever were there… uh sorry… where was I? Oh yes that panic was jumping the gun just a touch.

Lisa Kleypas has yet to go a year without a historical novel. So where it would be nifty fun to have TWO in a year, I suppose we can share her with the contemporary crowd – although I wouldn’t cry over the loss of the 1st person thing…

From what I hear Blue-Eyed Devil is beyond grand and I will have a summary of her NEXT historical later in the day. So go forth and read Mine Till Midnight with no worries. Kleypas has a few historical tricks left up her sleeves.

Loved it! WAY loved it!

Review to come later… prolly much later

a couple fave quotes (not really too spoilerish if you know anything about the book):
one I have rereread in the excerpt and still made me grin when I read the book

“My father, the duke, has failed in his one responsibility in life: to keep the family fortune intact so that he can pass it on to me. My responsibility, on the other hand, is to pass my time in profligate idleness and wait for him to die. I’ve been doing my job splendidly. The duke, however, has not. He’s made a botch of managing the family finances, and at present he is unforgivably poor and even worse, healthy.”
yes that is the hero Sebastian

“The only love match is between St. Vincent and himself”
Cam

I really wish LK had known she wasn’t going to make Cam the hero in the next book before this one went off to print. He is a great character. Of course maybe that will give her a want to do another historical .

“It’s a mistake, you know. You have no idea of what you’ll be exposed to… the obscenities and lewd comments, the lecherous gazes, the groping and pinching… and that’s just at my house. Imagine what it would be like here.”
Sebastian

“Oh, stop protesting. I didn’t make nearly this much of a fuss after our wedding, and I was a virgin.”
Evie

Really I could quote the book, loved Sebastian and Eve, and their banter is wonderful. Sebastian is who he is and makes no bones about it, Eve knows it and doesn’t try to hide it. Of course one does have to giggle at her “I don’t like that word”. comments. I do adore the ‘fuck’ comment but won’t quote yet…

I can see some not loving this book but I think it just might be my favorite Kleypas novel. I look forward to reading what everyone thinks .