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Bad Boys & Wallflowers #2
Wallflower Gone Wild
In the second in Maya Rodale’s delightful Wallflower series, London’s Least Likely to Cause a Scandal is taking Society by storm…
Being good has worked out very badly for Lady Olivia Archer. All she has to show for four seasons on the marriage mart is the nickname Prissy Missy. Her prospects are so bleak that her parents have betrothed her to a stranger with a dire reputation. If Phinneas Cole—aka The Mad Baron—wants a biddable bride, perhaps Olivia can frighten him off by breaking every ladylike rule.
Phinn has admired Olivia’s poise and refinement from afar…qualities that appear to have vanished now that they are officially engaged. This Olivia is flirtatious, provocative, and wickedly irresistible. She’s not at all the woman he bargained for, yet she’s the only one he wants.
He’s determined to woo her. She’s determined to resist. But Olivia is discovering there’s nothing so appealing as a fiancé who’s mad, bad, and dangerously seductive…
Being good has worked out very badly for Lady Olivia Archer. All she has to show for four seasons on the marriage mart is the nickname Prissy Missy. Her prospects are so bleak that her parents have betrothed her to a stranger with a dire reputation. If Phinneas Cole—aka The Mad Baron—wants a biddable bride, perhaps Olivia can frighten him off by breaking every ladylike rule.
Phinn has admired Olivia’s poise and refinement from afar…qualities that appear to have vanished now that they are officially engaged. This Olivia is flirtatious, provocative, and wickedly irresistible. She’s not at all the woman he bargained for, yet she’s the only one he wants.
He’s determined to woo her. She’s determined to resist. But Olivia is discovering there’s nothing so appealing as a fiancé who’s mad, bad, and dangerously seductive…
384 pages, ebook
First published March 25, 2014
96 people are currently reading
1358 people want to read
About the author
Maya Rodale
46 books1,621 followersMaya Rodale is the best-selling and award-winning author of funny, feminist fiction including historical romance, YA and historical fiction. A champion of the romance genre and its readers, she is also the author of Dangerous Books For Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels, Explained. Maya reviews romance for NPR and has appeared in Bustle, Glamour, Shondaland, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post and PBS. She began reading romance novels in college at her mother’s insistence and has never been allowed to forget it.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 327 reviews
June 6, 2016
Certain books are not suitable for ladies, for they might offend a woman’s delicate sensibilities. —COMMONLY HELD BELIEF, TO THE VEXATION OF CURIOUS MAIDENS EVERYWHERE.
I enjoyed this story, for the most part, but I do have an issue with it, namely Olivia and her over-the-top worrying and her utterly horrid attempts to drive Phinn away - who was actually the best part of the story. There came a point I wanted to shout at him that he deserves better than her and to run, far away, as fast as he could.
Sheesh!
Full review to come...maybe.
An ARC was provided by Avon Books.
I enjoyed this story, for the most part, but I do have an issue with it, namely Olivia and her over-the-top worrying and her utterly horrid attempts to drive Phinn away - who was actually the best part of the story. There came a point I wanted to shout at him that he deserves better than her and to run, far away, as fast as he could.
Sheesh!
Full review to come...maybe.
An ARC was provided by Avon Books.
December 23, 2020
Honest rating: 4 stars to 3.5 stars
This one starts off kind of weird with Olivia meeting our hero, Phinn, at a ball and she walks up to him and makes a fool out of herself by commenting on his beautiful green eyes. Mean girls make fun out of her for actually being near a man and she runs off when she hears her mother is near.
This book is also very funny and I found myself laughing a lot. It's heavy with sarcasm and similar to Tessa Dare writing.
There is a mystery as to what happened to Phinn's wife and how she passed away. Throughout the book Olivia is working to solve the mystery and is in fear that she'll die if she were to go with the wedding. However, she can't explain why she feels so flustered around him and there are signs that the hero is actually a good person and not a bad one.
Throughout the book she also tries to break off the engagement and tries to make herself the opposite of 'perfect' and 'prissy' which causes our hero to grow flustered over her unladylike behaviour. I also really like despite her being so strong in determining her own future, she still has vulnerabilities towards being a wallflower and how nobody asked her to go for a dance. Ever. So she felt undesirable and not beautiful.
Phinn is an inventor and works with machinery alongside Blake, the duke in the first book. He's very calculative and knows that his lack of emotions may have caused his first wife's death. He knows that Olivia is scared of her so he wants to properly romance her and convince her that he's not a monster and can win her heart. I felt bad for Phinn a lot of the times because society has this horrible opinion of him and they often interrupted him when he wanted to romance Olivia.
They go to a masquerade ball and she meets a man who saves her from some troubling circumstances. There she confesses that she hates Phinn and does not want to marry him. Little did she know...
Anyways, Phinn is a sweet boy with a dark past and he should be protected. The ending fell a little flat but it was still adorable and super sweet.
THE MOMS IN THIS SERIES ARE SO ANTI-FEMINIST AND PISS ME OFF SO BADLY. THEY ARE EVIL!!! EMOTIONALLY MANIPULATIVE!!
This one starts off kind of weird with Olivia meeting our hero, Phinn, at a ball and she walks up to him and makes a fool out of herself by commenting on his beautiful green eyes. Mean girls make fun out of her for actually being near a man and she runs off when she hears her mother is near.
This book is also very funny and I found myself laughing a lot. It's heavy with sarcasm and similar to Tessa Dare writing.
There is a mystery as to what happened to Phinn's wife and how she passed away. Throughout the book Olivia is working to solve the mystery and is in fear that she'll die if she were to go with the wedding. However, she can't explain why she feels so flustered around him and there are signs that the hero is actually a good person and not a bad one.
Throughout the book she also tries to break off the engagement and tries to make herself the opposite of 'perfect' and 'prissy' which causes our hero to grow flustered over her unladylike behaviour. I also really like despite her being so strong in determining her own future, she still has vulnerabilities towards being a wallflower and how nobody asked her to go for a dance. Ever. So she felt undesirable and not beautiful.
Phinn is an inventor and works with machinery alongside Blake, the duke in the first book. He's very calculative and knows that his lack of emotions may have caused his first wife's death. He knows that Olivia is scared of her so he wants to properly romance her and convince her that he's not a monster and can win her heart. I felt bad for Phinn a lot of the times because society has this horrible opinion of him and they often interrupted him when he wanted to romance Olivia.
They go to a masquerade ball and she meets a man who saves her from some troubling circumstances. There she confesses that she hates Phinn and does not want to marry him. Little did she know...
Anyways, Phinn is a sweet boy with a dark past and he should be protected. The ending fell a little flat but it was still adorable and super sweet.
THE MOMS IN THIS SERIES ARE SO ANTI-FEMINIST AND PISS ME OFF SO BADLY. THEY ARE EVIL!!! EMOTIONALLY MANIPULATIVE!!
October 5, 2021
2 stars. Nope, not a fan of this one. This book started out alright but as it progressed it just got worse and worse. I should have just put it down and not finished it, but I somehow kept hoping it would get better. Spoiler alert: it didn't.
Where do I even begin? The hero is widowed and everyone in the ton thinks that he killed his first wife. Instead of defending himself, or trying to act circumspect, he does everything possible to confirm their suspicions. He's supposed to be a smart man - but clearly his brains only take him so far. The heroine is in her fourth season, and desperate to marry. The hero approaches her parents and makes an offer for her before even officially meeting her. He somehow thinks that it's a good idea to just force her hand, instead of asking her. OFC she doesn't want to marry a man who supposedly killed his wife, and she rebels against it in every way possible. She makes a mockery of herself, hoping that he will be repelled and leave her alone. This doesn't work because he feels some "connection" to her, and is drawn to her no matter how abominably she behaves.
Let me just list a few events that happened in this book that made me want to tear my hair out:
1. The hero, who didn't kill his wife, but blames himself (he literally had no blame in the matter btw) doesn't tell the heroine this until nearly the end of the book. He instead tells her that he is to blame, and leaves her afraid of him. Instead of assuaging her worries, he continues to let her believe the worst until nearly the end. The heroine even asks him directly, but each time they are interrupted from having any kind of normal conversation.
2. The hero and heroine literally do not exchange more than a couple of sentences until almost the end. Their communication skills are worse than my 5 year old's.
3. The heroine is forced to marry the hero because of her own folly, but decides to have one last night to enjoy herself. She and her friends go to a scandalous masquerade party, and she finds some random man to dance with, and then goes with him in the garden to kiss. Unfortunately, the man decides he would rather have his way with her, and attempts to rape her. The hero comes to her rescue because he also decided to randomly attend the same masquerade to "let off some steam" before getting married the next day. I'm sorry, but he wants to marry her and yet goes to some scandalous event the night before? 🤮🤮 The heroine I can almost forgive because she didn't want to marry him. What a nice start to their marriage the next day.
4. Once they are married, the hero spends as little time with her as possible. Every time there's even a tiny issue, he runs away. He doesn't consummate their marriage, he doesn't try to communicate, he doesn't do anything besides avoid his wife.
5. The hero also thinks about his first wife a lot. THIS PART PISSED ME OFF TO NO END. His first wife was an awful woman, and yet he somehow came to care for her? What utter nonsense. He is CONSTANTLY comparing the heroine to his first wife. Every little thing is a chance to compare them. He can't live in the present with the heroine, because his mind is stuck in the past.
6. THEN TO MAKE THIS BOOK EVEN MORE UNBEARABLE, the hero reminisced about how good the sex was with his dead first wife. How combustible they were together and how he awoke every morning completely spent. This wasn't the only time he had similar thoughts... he seemed to come back to his sex life with his first wife quite often. Unfortunately, we never even got a hint that it was somehow better with the heroine. Seriously, fuck this book and this hero.
7. The ending was totally unsatisfying, abrupt, and seemed like a way for the author to just wrap up the book and be done with it.
Needless to say, I didn't like this book. I am disgusted thinking about how the hero kept comparing the heroine to his dead wife. It's a big no-no in romance for me, and this book made it just about as bad as it could possibly get. It could have only been worse if he had also loved his dead wife. I'm fairly sure I'm never going to read another book by this author again. It's unfortunate because I don't think she's a bad writer, but she just doesn't write books that I can enjoy.
SWE most of the issues are listed above, but there's also some mild OM/OW drama with both of them trying to flirt/gain attention from others. Virginal heroine, widowed hero. TW: attempted rape.
Where do I even begin? The hero is widowed and everyone in the ton thinks that he killed his first wife. Instead of defending himself, or trying to act circumspect, he does everything possible to confirm their suspicions. He's supposed to be a smart man - but clearly his brains only take him so far. The heroine is in her fourth season, and desperate to marry. The hero approaches her parents and makes an offer for her before even officially meeting her. He somehow thinks that it's a good idea to just force her hand, instead of asking her. OFC she doesn't want to marry a man who supposedly killed his wife, and she rebels against it in every way possible. She makes a mockery of herself, hoping that he will be repelled and leave her alone. This doesn't work because he feels some "connection" to her, and is drawn to her no matter how abominably she behaves.
Let me just list a few events that happened in this book that made me want to tear my hair out:
1. The hero, who didn't kill his wife, but blames himself (he literally had no blame in the matter btw) doesn't tell the heroine this until nearly the end of the book. He instead tells her that he is to blame, and leaves her afraid of him. Instead of assuaging her worries, he continues to let her believe the worst until nearly the end. The heroine even asks him directly, but each time they are interrupted from having any kind of normal conversation.
2. The hero and heroine literally do not exchange more than a couple of sentences until almost the end. Their communication skills are worse than my 5 year old's.
3. The heroine is forced to marry the hero because of her own folly, but decides to have one last night to enjoy herself. She and her friends go to a scandalous masquerade party, and she finds some random man to dance with, and then goes with him in the garden to kiss. Unfortunately, the man decides he would rather have his way with her, and attempts to rape her. The hero comes to her rescue because he also decided to randomly attend the same masquerade to "let off some steam" before getting married the next day. I'm sorry, but he wants to marry her and yet goes to some scandalous event the night before? 🤮🤮 The heroine I can almost forgive because she didn't want to marry him. What a nice start to their marriage the next day.
4. Once they are married, the hero spends as little time with her as possible. Every time there's even a tiny issue, he runs away. He doesn't consummate their marriage, he doesn't try to communicate, he doesn't do anything besides avoid his wife.
5. The hero also thinks about his first wife a lot. THIS PART PISSED ME OFF TO NO END. His first wife was an awful woman, and yet he somehow came to care for her? What utter nonsense. He is CONSTANTLY comparing the heroine to his first wife. Every little thing is a chance to compare them. He can't live in the present with the heroine, because his mind is stuck in the past.
6. THEN TO MAKE THIS BOOK EVEN MORE UNBEARABLE, the hero reminisced about how good the sex was with his dead first wife. How combustible they were together and how he awoke every morning completely spent. This wasn't the only time he had similar thoughts... he seemed to come back to his sex life with his first wife quite often. Unfortunately, we never even got a hint that it was somehow better with the heroine. Seriously, fuck this book and this hero.
7. The ending was totally unsatisfying, abrupt, and seemed like a way for the author to just wrap up the book and be done with it.
Needless to say, I didn't like this book. I am disgusted thinking about how the hero kept comparing the heroine to his dead wife. It's a big no-no in romance for me, and this book made it just about as bad as it could possibly get. It could have only been worse if he had also loved his dead wife. I'm fairly sure I'm never going to read another book by this author again. It's unfortunate because I don't think she's a bad writer, but she just doesn't write books that I can enjoy.
SWE most of the issues are listed above, but there's also some mild OM/OW drama with both of them trying to flirt/gain attention from others. Virginal heroine, widowed hero. TW: attempted rape.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 22, 2017
Wallflower Gone Wild was my first read of Maya Rodale since I read her debut duo (and loved them). Her Writing Girls series didn't really appeal to me so I waited until reviews for her latest series came out to try again. Needless to say, I have now added her other Wallflower books to my pile. This story was not super historically accurate and had a more modern voice, but there was still enough focus on some of the strictures in society, a touching look at the harm of stereotypes, and a bubbly, fun writing style that I couldn't help but be drawn in.
Rodale explores two characters who have been stuck with stereotypes/nicknames that are both cruel and completely untrue to their natures. Olivia has been labeled as a Prissy Miss, despite her desire to have fun and connect with a man she can marry, while Phinn has been called the Mad Baron because of the mysterious and tragic circumstances that led to his first wife's death. The rumors for each have been burdensome. Olivia has been on the marriage mart for 4 years with no hope, while Phinn has avoided society all together. When they first meet, neither knows the other, and without the labels, the two share a moment of electric connection. Unfortunately, this doesn't last and most of the book then shows how the two of them struggle to connect despite the preconceived notions of the other (Phinn thinks Olivia is a proper, quiet woman, while Olivia thinks Phinn is a murderer).
There is an excess of drama on the part of Olivia as she struggles with whether to take heed of the rumors or to ignore them. In some ways, I understood her dilemma. One of the biggest things that bothered me about this book was how Phinn's temperament was fleshed out. In almost every way, he was NOT what society made him out to be. He wanted Olivia to be happy and he cared about her, even though he often bumbled in the wooing department. HOWEVER, the issue that bothered me was the unresolved presence of Phinn's "temper." He would have period where he would be overcome with anger and would lash out at people. Now, in this story, Olivia keeps him calm, but really, this didn't sit well with me and wasn't fully resolved. I felt like Olivia sometimes went into dramatics over her uncertainty with Phinn, but in this case, her fears were founded and this was my quibble with this book. He never showed any threat to Olivia, but the anger was there .
The quibble about the anger management issue aside, this was a fun book. The friendship of the wallflowers was really fun and I am excited to read about Prudence. The other character who dominated every scene he was in was the Duke of Ashbrooke. Good heavens. Amelia seemed a bit annoying, but the duke...man, I am going to read the first book just for him. It is never good for the hero when a secondary character makes more of an impression in a few scenes than the hero did the entire book. Ashbrooke oozed sex appeal and what he did at one point to save Olivia from herself, simply because she was Amelia's friend and thus he cared, was awesome.
Anyway, this was a fun book and I will be reading the others. I think with Rodale, I will read the books whose plot lines interest me and avoid those that seem to gimmicky or not to my taste. I like Rodale's style so I think if I like the plot, the book will most likely work for me :) Yay for rediscovering a fun author!
Rodale explores two characters who have been stuck with stereotypes/nicknames that are both cruel and completely untrue to their natures. Olivia has been labeled as a Prissy Miss, despite her desire to have fun and connect with a man she can marry, while Phinn has been called the Mad Baron because of the mysterious and tragic circumstances that led to his first wife's death. The rumors for each have been burdensome. Olivia has been on the marriage mart for 4 years with no hope, while Phinn has avoided society all together. When they first meet, neither knows the other, and without the labels, the two share a moment of electric connection. Unfortunately, this doesn't last and most of the book then shows how the two of them struggle to connect despite the preconceived notions of the other (Phinn thinks Olivia is a proper, quiet woman, while Olivia thinks Phinn is a murderer).
There is an excess of drama on the part of Olivia as she struggles with whether to take heed of the rumors or to ignore them. In some ways, I understood her dilemma. One of the biggest things that bothered me about this book was how Phinn's temperament was fleshed out. In almost every way, he was NOT what society made him out to be. He wanted Olivia to be happy and he cared about her, even though he often bumbled in the wooing department. HOWEVER, the issue that bothered me was the unresolved presence of Phinn's "temper." He would have period where he would be overcome with anger and would lash out at people. Now, in this story, Olivia keeps him calm, but really, this didn't sit well with me and wasn't fully resolved. I felt like Olivia sometimes went into dramatics over her uncertainty with Phinn, but in this case, her fears were founded and this was my quibble with this book. He never showed any threat to Olivia, but the anger was there .
The quibble about the anger management issue aside, this was a fun book. The friendship of the wallflowers was really fun and I am excited to read about Prudence. The other character who dominated every scene he was in was the Duke of Ashbrooke. Good heavens. Amelia seemed a bit annoying, but the duke...man, I am going to read the first book just for him. It is never good for the hero when a secondary character makes more of an impression in a few scenes than the hero did the entire book. Ashbrooke oozed sex appeal and what he did at one point to save Olivia from herself, simply because she was Amelia's friend and thus he cared, was awesome.
Anyway, this was a fun book and I will be reading the others. I think with Rodale, I will read the books whose plot lines interest me and avoid those that seem to gimmicky or not to my taste. I like Rodale's style so I think if I like the plot, the book will most likely work for me :) Yay for rediscovering a fun author!
January 31, 2016
While the writing and story of the first Wallflower book wasn't brilliant, I was at least entertained by the chemistry between Blake and Emma and their flirtatious banter. Wallflower Gone Wild lacked all of that, leaving us with pages upon pages where nothing seems to happen.
While Olivia's resistance to the betrothal that's been forced upon her is understandable in the beginning, her fear and immaturity made me less than sympathetic to her cause as the story wore on. I didn't buy that she was this prim and perfect little miss all her life, and then suddenly is able to behave in scandalous (and ridiculous) behavior.
Phinn was a weak leading character. He doesn't stand up for himself, lets Olivia treat him badly, and refuses to dispel the rumors surrounding his previous marriage. The whole "mathematical genius" thing was a poor attempt at explaining his behavior.
With the weak characters and lack of story, this was a long, tedious read.
While Olivia's resistance to the betrothal that's been forced upon her is understandable in the beginning, her fear and immaturity made me less than sympathetic to her cause as the story wore on. I didn't buy that she was this prim and perfect little miss all her life, and then suddenly is able to behave in scandalous (and ridiculous) behavior.
Phinn was a weak leading character. He doesn't stand up for himself, lets Olivia treat him badly, and refuses to dispel the rumors surrounding his previous marriage. The whole "mathematical genius" thing was a poor attempt at explaining his behavior.
With the weak characters and lack of story, this was a long, tedious read.
April 10, 2019
Recently decided to give a few authors I dismissed for having a "bad" book a second chance. In this case, at least, I'm glad I did. It was a fun and light read and I enjoyed every minute of it. Will definitely be checking out Prudence's story.
Update: Maya Rodale reread!!
Update: Maya Rodale reread!!
September 6, 2014
This is more of a 3.5 for me. I honestly just got so tired of Olivia's insistence on 'misbehaving' and Prue's negativity.
+++
Right off the bat, I liked Phinn better then Olivia for the most part. Olivia spent so much time dancing around communication with him that it got to be tiresome. Her attempts at "wild behavior" to deter him got more ludicrous and quite frankly horribly reckless as the book went on. And I'm not entirely sure why. He did not, despite her belief to the contrary, act in a threatening manner. Oh he didn't bother denying the murder charges, but he believed he was the one who caused the murders, even if it wasn't directly.
And while I appreciate the fact Prue was trying to look out for Olivia, she was doing more harm then good.
Really what it boiled down to was that I was finding it hard to see what Phinn saw in Olivia and vice versa. Olivia spends the better part of the book convinced that he's going to kill her and rarely seems to soften towards him. Phinn, who seemed much more cerebral and in his head (which I appreciate in a hero), seemed awfully determined to remain aloof from Olivia. Even with his reputation I would have thought he'd be able to find some plain miss or merchant's daughter to marry if all he wanted was a quiet, proper wife. His insistence at courting Olivia as her behavior grew more reckless didn't speak well of his intellect...
At times the book was thoroughly entertaining; I found Phinn and Olivia to be at their best when discussing his projects. Though she was less then knowledgeable Olivia's interest in what he was doing was enthusiastic (when she let herself just be). It was good to see Emma again, I do think she wanted what was best for Olivia and she did counsel wisely (where as Prue was just...well in hindsight it made sense but at the time it was just awful).
As a Rodale fan this won't be as light-hearted or humorous as her previous books. Olivia is just too frustrating and the circles Rodale has them go in before they wind up together get annoying.
+++
Right off the bat, I liked Phinn better then Olivia for the most part. Olivia spent so much time dancing around communication with him that it got to be tiresome. Her attempts at "wild behavior" to deter him got more ludicrous and quite frankly horribly reckless as the book went on. And I'm not entirely sure why. He did not, despite her belief to the contrary, act in a threatening manner. Oh he didn't bother denying the murder charges, but he believed he was the one who caused the murders, even if it wasn't directly.
And while I appreciate the fact Prue was trying to look out for Olivia, she was doing more harm then good.
Really what it boiled down to was that I was finding it hard to see what Phinn saw in Olivia and vice versa. Olivia spends the better part of the book convinced that he's going to kill her and rarely seems to soften towards him. Phinn, who seemed much more cerebral and in his head (which I appreciate in a hero), seemed awfully determined to remain aloof from Olivia. Even with his reputation I would have thought he'd be able to find some plain miss or merchant's daughter to marry if all he wanted was a quiet, proper wife. His insistence at courting Olivia as her behavior grew more reckless didn't speak well of his intellect...
At times the book was thoroughly entertaining; I found Phinn and Olivia to be at their best when discussing his projects. Though she was less then knowledgeable Olivia's interest in what he was doing was enthusiastic (when she let herself just be). It was good to see Emma again, I do think she wanted what was best for Olivia and she did counsel wisely (where as Prue was just...well in hindsight it made sense but at the time it was just awful).
As a Rodale fan this won't be as light-hearted or humorous as her previous books. Olivia is just too frustrating and the circles Rodale has them go in before they wind up together get annoying.
April 1, 2019
Really, this book deserves 1 star, but as 0 stars isn't an option, reviews tend to be a tad inflated. In other words, this was...not a good book. Let me explain (this is gonna be long and full of spoilers, sorry).
I don't really like historical romances, although every now and then I will try another one looking for something entertaining. But, here's my problem with historical romances: history mostly sucks for women. And this book, which takes place in England's Regency period (I think? That's how invested I was...) does not shy away from the fact that women in the upper crust of society have little to do than hunt for a husband. Let's not forget, of course, they are essentially owned by their fathers, and then will be owned by their husbands, and the only reprieve is becoming a "merry widow." (And I'm not waxing on here, these are things the heroine mentions and worries about in the story.)
I mean, women didn't get the right to vote in England until 1918, didn't get the right to own property until 1926, and didn't legally have the right to say "no" to their husband (aka marital rape) until 1993.
And don't get me wrong, I get the appeal of historical romances, the idea of a young man (in a waistcoat, no less!) saying, "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you" is really appealing. But, yeah, a really good historical romance needs to make me forget all that real life stuff.
So, when I saw the title Wallflower Gone Wild, I was tempted to pick this book up because I imagined a girl who, at one time might be called "good," was doing truly naughty things. Things that would be fun to read. I guess I imagined a Mae West-esque character in Regency period (now that would be a fun story!), pushed by her frustrations, and I'd get to read the antics of a woman trying to make her own way while cavorting. A woman who takes her pleasure into her own hands. Who tries to make something of herself or discovers herself. And the synopsis on the book tantalizingly misleads you into thinking this may be the case.
Boy, was I misled and disappointed. In truth, this is your run-of-the-mill historical romance with the "gone wild" part more like "mildly undomesticated." Olivia isn't "breaking the rules" for herself or any self-discovery, she's doing it to repel would-be husband (I won't call him a suitor since they marry almost immediately), Phinn, because there's this rumor he killed his wife (a booklet was made and everything! It seems to be readily available and is handed out willy-nilly in a few scenes. Which I found really unbelievable, after all the booklet names names despite being untrue, so isn't there libel or hearsay or defamation laws or something?). So, she gets drunk and flirts and such with other men (aka dances with them). There's a scene where she almost does something with a soldier, but it's very quickly all neatly tied up. Of course, once she marries Phinn, the narrative quickly changes to "how will these two people finally admit they like -- no, LURVE -- each other with so many misunderstandings between them? OH NOES!!" So, really, she doesn't change at all; any self-agency she gets from her time being "wild" is given to her by Phinn, who calmly tells her it's okay with him if she tells him what she wants (but, I mean, when you're basically owned by your husband, I guess that's a good thing?) and that she should "make her own rules." Thanks hubby! What does she do with this newfound, permissible agency? Not much. Eventually, she decides to stop embroidering? She paints portraits instead of still lifes? She knows that if her husband hurts her during sex, she can say so?
Yeah, I'm uninterested, too.
Speaking of the romance in this book, and the sex scene...it brings up another issue I have (one I have with many historical romances). The fact that Olivia is a virgin and Phinn really, really likes that is brought up way too much. Okay, being a virgin is one thing, but there's this insidious infantizing of women in many historical romances, and it's there in Wallflower Gone Wild. Phinn just loves the fact that his wife is innocent looking, with those big blonde curls and penchant for white dresses and big blue eyes. This never really changes. The infantizing is not just done sexually, it's also in the way Phinn and his friends talk about women. I think the author was doing it for comedic effect? Or as a "men are from Mars, women are from Venus" type thing? But it wasn't entertaining the number of times something along the lines of "those silly women with their silly minds making huge labyrinthine logic leaps that my strapping male mind will never understand!" were said. At times, I wondered to myself, Does the author know that this is a romance and her primary audience will be women? Is she purposefully trying to make me dislike the male characters? Even if men in Regency period really talked like this, sometimes showing less is more.
Finally, Olivia doesn't try to stop her infantizing. Any pleasure Olivia receives is also through Phinn. What a missed opportunity! Olivia could have experimented with her own body as one of the "wickedly wild" things she does but NOPE (granted, by chapter 10, I was started skipping a lot because I was bored out of my skull but I surmise she doesn't do anything for herself based on the sex scene). Outside of sexual stuff, Olivia could have tried to stop people from infantizing her as a part of her "wickedness." Oftentimes, she comments how she thinks things but never says anything and when she starts saying what's on her mind it's mostly just...meh. If she doesn't like embroidery, fine, but can't there be a scene where she thinks, THIS is what I like to do! But we never get that much character development.
Phinn, for his part, is often lamenting his "horrible temper" which he says he has better control over "when he looks at" Olivia. That's troubling. I'd have liked to see some more character growth where he realizes the temper is NOT a hereditary thing like blue eyes (he claims he has the Cole temper) but a character flaw he should control. He gets close...but not close enough.
He also is extremely possessive of Olivia basically from Day One. And I don't understand why so many romance books think love = possessiveness. It does not. Some guy thinking, "She's mine! No man better touch her because she's mine!" is not love. In fact, the temper in combination with the possessiveness was very unattractive.
Olivia, for her part, was basically written like a teenager in love. I guess, when you're so sheltered, it makes sense? But her "gone wild" plans also read like a teenager's; there's even a scene where lemonade is spiked, like so many teen movies. Like I've said already, I'd have liked to see real agency, real character growth; there was so much that could have been done with a "wildflower gone wild" premise and it wasn't. So disappointing.
And the whole premise does go on for way too long. Phinn's Mysterious Past should have been dealt with much quicker, but it drags on until the very end, and makes for a hollow conflict. After all, the audience knows that Phinn isn't a cold-blooded murderer, he's a romance book hero after all! (Again, that could have been used for some actual character building instead of cheesy misunderstandings.)
So, with that huge rant out of the way, was there anything GOOD? I'd agree with other reviewers: despite my complaints of Phinn, he is the best thing about the book. Olivia never really changes, at least Phinn has moments were he tries. The author never pushes Phinn's self-discoveries far enough, but at least he tries. He learns he needs to include his wife in his life more, at least. And, at least, the writing was light-hearted. There was no questionable consent or rape; the sex scene is actually very good at promoting consent and checking in with your partner. Too bad there weren't more scenes like that.
TL;DR:
- The sex scene shows good examples of consent.
- Olivia is uninteresting and lacks true sense of agency.
- Phinn has his moments, but suffers from the usual issues of male heroes in romance books.
- There's no real "gone wild" moments to be found, unless you count getting drunk.
- The conflict is entirely based on silly misunderstandings that drag out for too long.
- Meh.
I don't really like historical romances, although every now and then I will try another one looking for something entertaining. But, here's my problem with historical romances: history mostly sucks for women. And this book, which takes place in England's Regency period (I think? That's how invested I was...) does not shy away from the fact that women in the upper crust of society have little to do than hunt for a husband. Let's not forget, of course, they are essentially owned by their fathers, and then will be owned by their husbands, and the only reprieve is becoming a "merry widow." (And I'm not waxing on here, these are things the heroine mentions and worries about in the story.)
I mean, women didn't get the right to vote in England until 1918, didn't get the right to own property until 1926, and didn't legally have the right to say "no" to their husband (aka marital rape) until 1993.
And don't get me wrong, I get the appeal of historical romances, the idea of a young man (in a waistcoat, no less!) saying, "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you" is really appealing. But, yeah, a really good historical romance needs to make me forget all that real life stuff.
So, when I saw the title Wallflower Gone Wild, I was tempted to pick this book up because I imagined a girl who, at one time might be called "good," was doing truly naughty things. Things that would be fun to read. I guess I imagined a Mae West-esque character in Regency period (now that would be a fun story!), pushed by her frustrations, and I'd get to read the antics of a woman trying to make her own way while cavorting. A woman who takes her pleasure into her own hands. Who tries to make something of herself or discovers herself. And the synopsis on the book tantalizingly misleads you into thinking this may be the case.
Boy, was I misled and disappointed. In truth, this is your run-of-the-mill historical romance with the "gone wild" part more like "mildly undomesticated." Olivia isn't "breaking the rules" for herself or any self-discovery, she's doing it to repel would-be husband (I won't call him a suitor since they marry almost immediately), Phinn, because there's this rumor he killed his wife (a booklet was made and everything! It seems to be readily available and is handed out willy-nilly in a few scenes. Which I found really unbelievable, after all the booklet names names despite being untrue, so isn't there libel or hearsay or defamation laws or something?). So, she gets drunk and flirts and such with other men (aka dances with them). There's a scene where she almost does something with a soldier, but it's very quickly all neatly tied up. Of course, once she marries Phinn, the narrative quickly changes to "how will these two people finally admit they like -- no, LURVE -- each other with so many misunderstandings between them? OH NOES!!" So, really, she doesn't change at all; any self-agency she gets from her time being "wild" is given to her by Phinn, who calmly tells her it's okay with him if she tells him what she wants (but, I mean, when you're basically owned by your husband, I guess that's a good thing?) and that she should "make her own rules." Thanks hubby! What does she do with this newfound, permissible agency? Not much. Eventually, she decides to stop embroidering? She paints portraits instead of still lifes? She knows that if her husband hurts her during sex, she can say so?
Yeah, I'm uninterested, too.
Speaking of the romance in this book, and the sex scene...it brings up another issue I have (one I have with many historical romances). The fact that Olivia is a virgin and Phinn really, really likes that is brought up way too much. Okay, being a virgin is one thing, but there's this insidious infantizing of women in many historical romances, and it's there in Wallflower Gone Wild. Phinn just loves the fact that his wife is innocent looking, with those big blonde curls and penchant for white dresses and big blue eyes. This never really changes. The infantizing is not just done sexually, it's also in the way Phinn and his friends talk about women. I think the author was doing it for comedic effect? Or as a "men are from Mars, women are from Venus" type thing? But it wasn't entertaining the number of times something along the lines of "those silly women with their silly minds making huge labyrinthine logic leaps that my strapping male mind will never understand!" were said. At times, I wondered to myself, Does the author know that this is a romance and her primary audience will be women? Is she purposefully trying to make me dislike the male characters? Even if men in Regency period really talked like this, sometimes showing less is more.
Finally, Olivia doesn't try to stop her infantizing. Any pleasure Olivia receives is also through Phinn. What a missed opportunity! Olivia could have experimented with her own body as one of the "wickedly wild" things she does but NOPE (granted, by chapter 10, I was started skipping a lot because I was bored out of my skull but I surmise she doesn't do anything for herself based on the sex scene). Outside of sexual stuff, Olivia could have tried to stop people from infantizing her as a part of her "wickedness." Oftentimes, she comments how she thinks things but never says anything and when she starts saying what's on her mind it's mostly just...meh. If she doesn't like embroidery, fine, but can't there be a scene where she thinks, THIS is what I like to do! But we never get that much character development.
Phinn, for his part, is often lamenting his "horrible temper" which he says he has better control over "when he looks at" Olivia. That's troubling. I'd have liked to see some more character growth where he realizes the temper is NOT a hereditary thing like blue eyes (he claims he has the Cole temper) but a character flaw he should control. He gets close...but not close enough.
He also is extremely possessive of Olivia basically from Day One. And I don't understand why so many romance books think love = possessiveness. It does not. Some guy thinking, "She's mine! No man better touch her because she's mine!" is not love. In fact, the temper in combination with the possessiveness was very unattractive.
Olivia, for her part, was basically written like a teenager in love. I guess, when you're so sheltered, it makes sense? But her "gone wild" plans also read like a teenager's; there's even a scene where lemonade is spiked, like so many teen movies. Like I've said already, I'd have liked to see real agency, real character growth; there was so much that could have been done with a "wildflower gone wild" premise and it wasn't. So disappointing.
And the whole premise does go on for way too long. Phinn's Mysterious Past should have been dealt with much quicker, but it drags on until the very end, and makes for a hollow conflict. After all, the audience knows that Phinn isn't a cold-blooded murderer, he's a romance book hero after all! (Again, that could have been used for some actual character building instead of cheesy misunderstandings.)
So, with that huge rant out of the way, was there anything GOOD? I'd agree with other reviewers: despite my complaints of Phinn, he is the best thing about the book. Olivia never really changes, at least Phinn has moments were he tries. The author never pushes Phinn's self-discoveries far enough, but at least he tries. He learns he needs to include his wife in his life more, at least. And, at least, the writing was light-hearted. There was no questionable consent or rape; the sex scene is actually very good at promoting consent and checking in with your partner. Too bad there weren't more scenes like that.
TL;DR:
- The sex scene shows good examples of consent.
- Olivia is uninteresting and lacks true sense of agency.
- Phinn has his moments, but suffers from the usual issues of male heroes in romance books.
- There's no real "gone wild" moments to be found, unless you count getting drunk.
- The conflict is entirely based on silly misunderstandings that drag out for too long.
- Meh.
May 5, 2014
In a historical romance I look for an interesting story, lots of dialogue and sexual tension. Unfortunately this book does not live up to my expectations. I have read many of Ms. Rodale's novels and really enjoyed them. After reading the last Wallflower book I was excited to read Olivia and Prudence's story. This book is Olivia's story. Olivia is scared of Phinn for more than 3/4 of the story (he is thought to be a double-murderer which he does not openly deny) and we are reminded of this time and time again. In order to "scare" Phinn off of offering for her, Olivia sets out to create scandal. I know she is a wallflower and creating scandal would be awkward for her but the scenes where she is "creating" a scandal come off as almost childish. Phinn is boring and definitely not assertive. I know some people like beta heroes but I prefer them to be more assertive than Phinn. I do like that he is intelligent and wants to make a difference in the world. He is not a dandy. That being said, because of Olivia's being scared to death of Phinn (she thinks he might kill her after they are wed) and Phinn's blaise attitude there is NO sexual tension. Isn't that a big part of romance books? Even after they come together as man and wife, she still has a little apprehension about his innocence. She does come to love him (and he her) and there is a HEA.
*SPOILER* One aspect of the story that really bothered me was Phinn's relationship with his deceased wife. He explains that he married her to protect his brother's (who was also murdered) reputation and that he did not even like her. BUT, he remembers all of the hot, angry sex they had and how that was a good part of their relationship. This was brought up more than one time. WHAT? I had a hard time with this part of the story. It was off-putting and almost made me put the book down. *END OF SPOILER*
This all being said, I will read Prudence's story (the write-up for it sounds interesting).
*SPOILER* One aspect of the story that really bothered me was Phinn's relationship with his deceased wife. He explains that he married her to protect his brother's (who was also murdered) reputation and that he did not even like her. BUT, he remembers all of the hot, angry sex they had and how that was a good part of their relationship. This was brought up more than one time. WHAT? I had a hard time with this part of the story. It was off-putting and almost made me put the book down. *END OF SPOILER*
This all being said, I will read Prudence's story (the write-up for it sounds interesting).
June 18, 2015
Do you guys ever have these authors that you keep reading hoping to love, but never managing to? That is the way it is for me and Maya Rodale. I have read a number of her books, and while all of them have been enjoyable, none of them have really left an impression on me, and I always find them lacking that something that makes a novel extra special to me. But I keep trying more of her books, which is why I listened to Wallflower Gone Wild by Maya Rodale. While this was a perfectly acceptable story, I kept waiting for it to become something special.
Wallflower Gone Wild is about Olivia, a wallflower who has always done what is “right” but doesn’t have much to show for it. I must say that I could really relate to that aspect of Olivia’s life. I often feel like that. I have always done well in school, done well in college, gotten a fulltime job as soon as possible and have worked hard. I think I’m a nice person and I’ve never really done anything outrageous. And truthfully, I don’t think I could be any other way. But sometimes I just want to scream because I feel like I’ve done everything the “right” way, and still sometimes I feel like my life isn’t how I want it to be in some aspects.
So that said, I could so understand Olivia’s frustrations with how her life is turning out. And I can understand how she takes a certain opportunity to be a little wild, and behave not how a “proper lady” ought to. But what I couldn’t understand was Olivia’s fear of Phinn, a.k.a. The Mad Baron.
Phinn has quite the reputation. People believe that he killed his first wife, and this rumor is what terrifies Olivia, especially when her parents betroth her to him. Certainly I could understand Olivia’s initial fear. This fear is what sparks her to “go wild” as the title implies, and she stops behaving like the proper miss that everyone believes her to be.
However, it is quite obvious that Phinn is a nice and caring man, who would never deliberately hurt someone, let alone murder his first wife. Having suffered from unfair rumors herself, I thought Olivia should give Phinn the opportunity to explain these accusations to her. But she spends so much of the story being afraid of Phinn, that it really became frustrating.
So, while I could identify with parts of Olivia’s experiences so much, this fear of Phinn that lasted until at least 85% into the story really brought this book down. Wallflower Gone Wild was an enjoyable read, but it just wasn’t amazing. I wanted more romance, more connection between Olivia and Phinn.
Wallflower Gone Wild is about Olivia, a wallflower who has always done what is “right” but doesn’t have much to show for it. I must say that I could really relate to that aspect of Olivia’s life. I often feel like that. I have always done well in school, done well in college, gotten a fulltime job as soon as possible and have worked hard. I think I’m a nice person and I’ve never really done anything outrageous. And truthfully, I don’t think I could be any other way. But sometimes I just want to scream because I feel like I’ve done everything the “right” way, and still sometimes I feel like my life isn’t how I want it to be in some aspects.
So that said, I could so understand Olivia’s frustrations with how her life is turning out. And I can understand how she takes a certain opportunity to be a little wild, and behave not how a “proper lady” ought to. But what I couldn’t understand was Olivia’s fear of Phinn, a.k.a. The Mad Baron.
Phinn has quite the reputation. People believe that he killed his first wife, and this rumor is what terrifies Olivia, especially when her parents betroth her to him. Certainly I could understand Olivia’s initial fear. This fear is what sparks her to “go wild” as the title implies, and she stops behaving like the proper miss that everyone believes her to be.
However, it is quite obvious that Phinn is a nice and caring man, who would never deliberately hurt someone, let alone murder his first wife. Having suffered from unfair rumors herself, I thought Olivia should give Phinn the opportunity to explain these accusations to her. But she spends so much of the story being afraid of Phinn, that it really became frustrating.
So, while I could identify with parts of Olivia’s experiences so much, this fear of Phinn that lasted until at least 85% into the story really brought this book down. Wallflower Gone Wild was an enjoyable read, but it just wasn’t amazing. I wanted more romance, more connection between Olivia and Phinn.
September 20, 2014
DUMB AND DUMBER!!
Lady Olivia know as Prissy Missy by the Ton might be the dumbest spinster wallflower heroine I have ever read. .Oliver sets out to act scandalously to stop her betrothal to The Mad Baron Phinneas Cole, the Baron of Radcliff . The gossips say he murder his wife 6yrs ago and dumb Olivia believes it. I think the author wanted this story to be a Comedy Romance and it might have worked if it wasn't too unrealistic for the era. It would have worked better if Olivia was younger around 17 instead she is more likely around 21 or 22 as she is been out for 4 seasons. The things she does to scandalize herself just weren't funny. At a ball at Almack's she rips off the lace of her gown, ask a gentlemen to waltz with her and she is drunk knocking into other couples.. All HR readers know to do anything untoward at Almack would have gotten your membership revoked and you would never again be recognized by anyone one in the Ton. The women on the governing body of Almack's ruled British society. The story would have worked and their were funny scenes in it, but it went to far toward absurdity. I think this was suppose to be a comedy but even comedy can look ridiculous!! Sorry I really wanted to like this story!!
Lady Olivia know as Prissy Missy by the Ton might be the dumbest spinster wallflower heroine I have ever read. .Oliver sets out to act scandalously to stop her betrothal to The Mad Baron Phinneas Cole, the Baron of Radcliff . The gossips say he murder his wife 6yrs ago and dumb Olivia believes it. I think the author wanted this story to be a Comedy Romance and it might have worked if it wasn't too unrealistic for the era. It would have worked better if Olivia was younger around 17 instead she is more likely around 21 or 22 as she is been out for 4 seasons. The things she does to scandalize herself just weren't funny. At a ball at Almack's she rips off the lace of her gown, ask a gentlemen to waltz with her and she is drunk knocking into other couples.. All HR readers know to do anything untoward at Almack would have gotten your membership revoked and you would never again be recognized by anyone one in the Ton. The women on the governing body of Almack's ruled British society. The story would have worked and their were funny scenes in it, but it went to far toward absurdity. I think this was suppose to be a comedy but even comedy can look ridiculous!! Sorry I really wanted to like this story!!
May 16, 2017
The heroine really annoyed me. Plus the ending dragged on way longer than I felt it should have.
September 18, 2023
Phin is a cinnamon roll of a man who is terribly bad a communicating with women and takes awful courting advice from his best friend.
Olivia doesn’t want to be told what to do anymore and is childishly fearful that Phin will hurt or murder him beviE of rumors about how his first wife died.
This was like a slow but not always unpleasant back and forth of miscommunications. It was a pleasant listen but at no point did my heart or bits flutter.
Olivia doesn’t want to be told what to do anymore and is childishly fearful that Phin will hurt or murder him beviE of rumors about how his first wife died.
This was like a slow but not always unpleasant back and forth of miscommunications. It was a pleasant listen but at no point did my heart or bits flutter.
August 11, 2016
The heroine of this book, the second in Maya Rodale’s Wallflower series is Olivia Archer, a young lady with a reputation for such unbending propriety that she has been nicknamed “London’s Least Likely to Cause a Scandal.”
Now in her fourth season, Olivia despairs of ever finding a husband. She has done everything expected of her, and behaved exactly as a well brought-up young lady should behave, and yet “being good” has got her precisely nowhere, and she is beginning to chafe against the constant strictures imposed by her overbearing mother.
Olivia’s desperation is also felt by her parents who are, by now, anxious to get her married off, as is evident by her father’s willingness to accept an offer for her hand from a man known throughout society as the “Mad Baron”, who is believed to have killed his first wife. Not surprisingly, Olivia is aghast at the prospect, but her protests fall on deaf ears.
Lord Phineas Radcliffe is a widower and a young man of scientific bent who has come to London in order to work with the Duke of Ashbrooke (hero of The Wicked Wallflower) on building his Difference Engine. Phinn has also decided to look about for a second wife, and when, at a ball, he sees Olivia and hears of her reputation for propriety, decides he has found her. He can’t deny that he’s attracted to her physically, but it’s also important to him that he finds a woman who will act with decorum, not cause any gossip or distract him from his work in any way.
Unfortunately, even six years after the event, the rumour that he murdered his first wife is still in circulation – a rumour that he refuses to deny outright, because he feels himself in some way responsible for her death.
Fearing the Mad Baron will marry her, carry her off to his creepy, tumble-down Yorkshire estate and then murder her in her bed, Olivia finally decides that as being a good girl never got her anything she wanted, she will behave so scandalously as to cause Phinn to re-think his intention to court her. Aided by her friend Prudence – and I found myself frequently asking myself what sort of friend Prudence was, given the things she did to “help” Olivia in her quest to scandalise society – Olivia begins to behave outrageously; wearing too much make-up, getting drunk in public and wearing very revealing clothes – but no matter what she does, Phinn is undeterred. He realises that on the inside, Olivia is seething with frustration and resentment, and that she is trying to break free of her conditioning and find out who she really is. Even if she is not the demure miss he was at first led to believe, she is the woman he wants to be with.
Wallflower Gone Wild is a quick, undemanding read, but it lacks the sparkle and humour of The Wicked Wallflower. Olivia is a well-drawn character, a young woman who has spent her whole life being told that being good will ensure rewards, only to discover that life doesn’t work that way and realising she must strike out and “make her own rules” if she’s to have any chance of finding the happiness that has so far eluded her. I found that aspect of her character to be the most realistic and engaging, unlike the part of her that is quick to believe the worst of Phinn, and who spends most of the book being afraid of him – for absolutely no reason other than the rumours – to the extent that she carries a pair of scissors in her reticule in case she needs to defend herself!
There is also rather a lot of telling rather than showing when it comes to Phinn. Rumour has it that he’s a murderer, and we’re told he has a horrible temper – but we never see any evidence to back up either assertion. He loses his rag with a friend of his who has a talent for saying or doing exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time, yes, but I think we’d all be capable of that! We never see Phinn as being anything other than solicitous and understanding towards Olivia, so all she has to go on are six-year-old rumours and the fact that he doesn’t want to talk about his past. He’s very sweet, is not especially confident with women, but is willing to learn how to be a good husband. He listens to Olivia and takes what she says seriously, he asks for her opinions and encourages her to make up her own mind about things – and he refuses to allow her parents to ride roughshod over her when she is unwell. I certainly don’t object to a geeky-scientist hero, but, dare I say it, Phinn is a little dull and when we finally discover the truth behind the scurrilous rumours…well, it’s somewhat of an anti-climax.
I know what I’m getting when I pick up one of Ms Rodale’s books, which are usually funny and full of great dialogue, even though she’s not the most historically accurate author out there. To be fair, however, I noticed fewer anachronisms in this than in The Wicked Wallflower. The writing flows well, and I can’t deny that I was engaged by the book, because I read it in two or three sittings in one day, but it lacks the author’s trademark humour and in the final tally, Wallflower Gone Wild is little more than an average read.
Now in her fourth season, Olivia despairs of ever finding a husband. She has done everything expected of her, and behaved exactly as a well brought-up young lady should behave, and yet “being good” has got her precisely nowhere, and she is beginning to chafe against the constant strictures imposed by her overbearing mother.
Olivia’s desperation is also felt by her parents who are, by now, anxious to get her married off, as is evident by her father’s willingness to accept an offer for her hand from a man known throughout society as the “Mad Baron”, who is believed to have killed his first wife. Not surprisingly, Olivia is aghast at the prospect, but her protests fall on deaf ears.
Lord Phineas Radcliffe is a widower and a young man of scientific bent who has come to London in order to work with the Duke of Ashbrooke (hero of The Wicked Wallflower) on building his Difference Engine. Phinn has also decided to look about for a second wife, and when, at a ball, he sees Olivia and hears of her reputation for propriety, decides he has found her. He can’t deny that he’s attracted to her physically, but it’s also important to him that he finds a woman who will act with decorum, not cause any gossip or distract him from his work in any way.
Unfortunately, even six years after the event, the rumour that he murdered his first wife is still in circulation – a rumour that he refuses to deny outright, because he feels himself in some way responsible for her death.
Fearing the Mad Baron will marry her, carry her off to his creepy, tumble-down Yorkshire estate and then murder her in her bed, Olivia finally decides that as being a good girl never got her anything she wanted, she will behave so scandalously as to cause Phinn to re-think his intention to court her. Aided by her friend Prudence – and I found myself frequently asking myself what sort of friend Prudence was, given the things she did to “help” Olivia in her quest to scandalise society – Olivia begins to behave outrageously; wearing too much make-up, getting drunk in public and wearing very revealing clothes – but no matter what she does, Phinn is undeterred. He realises that on the inside, Olivia is seething with frustration and resentment, and that she is trying to break free of her conditioning and find out who she really is. Even if she is not the demure miss he was at first led to believe, she is the woman he wants to be with.
Wallflower Gone Wild is a quick, undemanding read, but it lacks the sparkle and humour of The Wicked Wallflower. Olivia is a well-drawn character, a young woman who has spent her whole life being told that being good will ensure rewards, only to discover that life doesn’t work that way and realising she must strike out and “make her own rules” if she’s to have any chance of finding the happiness that has so far eluded her. I found that aspect of her character to be the most realistic and engaging, unlike the part of her that is quick to believe the worst of Phinn, and who spends most of the book being afraid of him – for absolutely no reason other than the rumours – to the extent that she carries a pair of scissors in her reticule in case she needs to defend herself!
There is also rather a lot of telling rather than showing when it comes to Phinn. Rumour has it that he’s a murderer, and we’re told he has a horrible temper – but we never see any evidence to back up either assertion. He loses his rag with a friend of his who has a talent for saying or doing exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time, yes, but I think we’d all be capable of that! We never see Phinn as being anything other than solicitous and understanding towards Olivia, so all she has to go on are six-year-old rumours and the fact that he doesn’t want to talk about his past. He’s very sweet, is not especially confident with women, but is willing to learn how to be a good husband. He listens to Olivia and takes what she says seriously, he asks for her opinions and encourages her to make up her own mind about things – and he refuses to allow her parents to ride roughshod over her when she is unwell. I certainly don’t object to a geeky-scientist hero, but, dare I say it, Phinn is a little dull and when we finally discover the truth behind the scurrilous rumours…well, it’s somewhat of an anti-climax.
I know what I’m getting when I pick up one of Ms Rodale’s books, which are usually funny and full of great dialogue, even though she’s not the most historically accurate author out there. To be fair, however, I noticed fewer anachronisms in this than in The Wicked Wallflower. The writing flows well, and I can’t deny that I was engaged by the book, because I read it in two or three sittings in one day, but it lacks the author’s trademark humour and in the final tally, Wallflower Gone Wild is little more than an average read.
March 14, 2019
4 stars - Historical Romance
October 12, 2019
Mein liebstesBuch aus der Reihe. Witzig und spannend.
November 18, 2024
Avec de l’humour en plus!
September 24, 2020
I’m so happy she started using her voice and letting others know how she felt. She was lead to long by her parents wishes.
October 3, 2021
Trigger warnings: death of a spouse (in the past), forced marriage, shitty parenting, death of a sibling (in the past), alcohol abuse.
3.5 stars.
I listened to this on audiobook and in the week since I finished it, almost every single detail of it has floated completely out of my brain. So I'll just have to trust my past self that it was a 3.5 star book because present me has nothing except the lingering sense that if they'd both just USED THEIR FREAKING WORDS, the story could have been over much sooner and much more happily.
3.5 stars.
I listened to this on audiobook and in the week since I finished it, almost every single detail of it has floated completely out of my brain. So I'll just have to trust my past self that it was a 3.5 star book because present me has nothing except the lingering sense that if they'd both just USED THEIR FREAKING WORDS, the story could have been over much sooner and much more happily.
March 20, 2014
Olivia is known as "London's Least Likley" and is known for her poise and following the rules and never stepping out of line, and what has it gotten her, unwed after four season. One evening she meets a man who sizzles her senses just from one look across the ballroom, and she almost kisses him in public. Afterward, she learns her parents have betrothed her to the "Mad Baron", Phineas Cole. She has heard many rumors about this Mad Baron, about how he murdered his wife. Phinn has admired Olivia from afar and knows that her genteel manner is just what he is looking for in a wife. What he doesn't plan on is for scandal after scandal to occur after he decides to marry her. Phinn has no idea what he did to her, but then he learns that she believes the rumors about his late wife, which he didn't ever think it had been gone around as much as it apparently had. Phinn is out to seduce his future bride and show her he isn't the monster she thinks he is, that he can love just as passionately as she dreams of.
Wallflower Gone Wild is the second installment in the Bad Boys and Wallflower series that is the most recent series done by Maya Rodale. I have enjoyed reading her others series and this is the first book I have been able to read from this series. I am a bit disappointed that I have yet to read the first book, especially after loving this title so much. There was so much emotion and drama played out in this story. I couldn't help but fall for this story. From the beginning I was fully engrossed in the story, the longest it took was just a couple of pages and I was hooked completely. Maya Rodale definitely knows how to deliver a charming love story and Wallflower Gone Wild is definitely a new favorite.
In this story we see two people that need each other and are each taught a humbling lesson about Trust. Olivia I liked from the beginning, and I loved how she schemed to make Phinn want to leave her, but all of her work and trying to create one scandal after another only tends to do the opposite reaction, Phinn starts to become more intrigued with Olivia. Olivia fears for her future with Phinn, but there is something so gentle about the way Phinn treats her and the way he is so patient, Olivia starts to slowly change her opinion of him. Despite the dastardly rumors that are flying around, she starts to realize she will have to trust in her true feelings about him, and not what other gossips say about him. Phinn is a scientist and could care less about public opinion, until he meets Olivia. Now he must prove to her that he isn't dangerous or a killer. I also loved seeing the close bond that Olivia has with her fellow friends, and it only made me more intrigued with reading the first book, after seeing her friend and her husband together.
Overall a charming romance that tied me up in knots (but in a very delightful way). Wallflower Gone Wild is packed with romance, desire, engaging plot and characters to worm their way into your heart. A HEARTWARMING TALE!!
Wallflower Gone Wild is the second installment in the Bad Boys and Wallflower series that is the most recent series done by Maya Rodale. I have enjoyed reading her others series and this is the first book I have been able to read from this series. I am a bit disappointed that I have yet to read the first book, especially after loving this title so much. There was so much emotion and drama played out in this story. I couldn't help but fall for this story. From the beginning I was fully engrossed in the story, the longest it took was just a couple of pages and I was hooked completely. Maya Rodale definitely knows how to deliver a charming love story and Wallflower Gone Wild is definitely a new favorite.
In this story we see two people that need each other and are each taught a humbling lesson about Trust. Olivia I liked from the beginning, and I loved how she schemed to make Phinn want to leave her, but all of her work and trying to create one scandal after another only tends to do the opposite reaction, Phinn starts to become more intrigued with Olivia. Olivia fears for her future with Phinn, but there is something so gentle about the way Phinn treats her and the way he is so patient, Olivia starts to slowly change her opinion of him. Despite the dastardly rumors that are flying around, she starts to realize she will have to trust in her true feelings about him, and not what other gossips say about him. Phinn is a scientist and could care less about public opinion, until he meets Olivia. Now he must prove to her that he isn't dangerous or a killer. I also loved seeing the close bond that Olivia has with her fellow friends, and it only made me more intrigued with reading the first book, after seeing her friend and her husband together.
Overall a charming romance that tied me up in knots (but in a very delightful way). Wallflower Gone Wild is packed with romance, desire, engaging plot and characters to worm their way into your heart. A HEARTWARMING TALE!!
January 6, 2019
So recently I read another book by this author, Duchess by Design, and thought to give her another shot. My experience with her previous book was not so happy one..
And this one was going at a steady rate, if nothing remarkable and I just waited for the h to break up into a million possibilities and to be inspired by the new found freedom of her marriage and not being under the thumb of her parents but it just never happens.
She is a total delicate flower that has been so pushed into doing the same old thing that she does not even know what to ask for instead of just complains about all the injustice at being made to behave the certain way and do hobbies she doesn't like. Oh boo-hoo. There are servants working 20 hour days every day and sleeping in cupboards and little miss mistreated over-there is unhappy cuz she has to paint and eat 1 biscuit instead of 10.
And all she does is complain how she wants to do something else other than embroidery and the same old that she had to do as a proper lady and when H gives her out to develop some new interests what does little miss demanding ask for? Entertain me you very busy man with a deadline and revolutionary discovery on the way. Yup. No other interests show up just the needy side of her asking for her husband to put her on a higher pedastal than he already did and just worship her cuz she doesn't have interests of her own so she is bored. Yup. That's Victorian marriage for you.
And she breaks his machine and what does she do? This very broken man is wrecked over with guilt cuz idiot girl meddled with some clearly dangerous machinery, almost got herself killed and it's somehow all his fault. And she just lets him keep on apologizing and stewing in guilt and not even once accepting her own responsibility in this whole thing. And it is like 99% her responsibility. Damn Victorian women were coddled and clueless due to that...
It's just the bubble burst when I suddenly discovered that this suddenly freed woman from this confined world where she was always considered just a young lady that needs to behave and became an independent woman was not gonna explore her now options to their extent and embrace all the possibilities but she just whined, yes whined, about how unfair her life had been so far and now she just doesn't know what to do.
And talk about the most abrupt ending ever. It's like the author lost heart with these two cuz she realized they were way more clueless and it would take way more pages than was gonna be allowed for this book for them to be given the growth that would be needed for a proper satisfying ending. So she just decided to give them a HEA out of the blue, no resolution to their fight from a day before or a proper reflections on their actions. Just some introduction off possible next book h and just some all to easy resolution to this book's h and H's problems and wham bam thank you some nice cash earned for this book.
And this one was going at a steady rate, if nothing remarkable and I just waited for the h to break up into a million possibilities and to be inspired by the new found freedom of her marriage and not being under the thumb of her parents but it just never happens.
She is a total delicate flower that has been so pushed into doing the same old thing that she does not even know what to ask for instead of just complains about all the injustice at being made to behave the certain way and do hobbies she doesn't like. Oh boo-hoo. There are servants working 20 hour days every day and sleeping in cupboards and little miss mistreated over-there is unhappy cuz she has to paint and eat 1 biscuit instead of 10.
And all she does is complain how she wants to do something else other than embroidery and the same old that she had to do as a proper lady and when H gives her out to develop some new interests what does little miss demanding ask for? Entertain me you very busy man with a deadline and revolutionary discovery on the way. Yup. No other interests show up just the needy side of her asking for her husband to put her on a higher pedastal than he already did and just worship her cuz she doesn't have interests of her own so she is bored. Yup. That's Victorian marriage for you.
And she breaks his machine and what does she do? This very broken man is wrecked over with guilt cuz idiot girl meddled with some clearly dangerous machinery, almost got herself killed and it's somehow all his fault. And she just lets him keep on apologizing and stewing in guilt and not even once accepting her own responsibility in this whole thing. And it is like 99% her responsibility. Damn Victorian women were coddled and clueless due to that...
It's just the bubble burst when I suddenly discovered that this suddenly freed woman from this confined world where she was always considered just a young lady that needs to behave and became an independent woman was not gonna explore her now options to their extent and embrace all the possibilities but she just whined, yes whined, about how unfair her life had been so far and now she just doesn't know what to do.
And talk about the most abrupt ending ever. It's like the author lost heart with these two cuz she realized they were way more clueless and it would take way more pages than was gonna be allowed for this book for them to be given the growth that would be needed for a proper satisfying ending. So she just decided to give them a HEA out of the blue, no resolution to their fight from a day before or a proper reflections on their actions. Just some introduction off possible next book h and just some all to easy resolution to this book's h and H's problems and wham bam thank you some nice cash earned for this book.
November 19, 2014
I am very sorry to say that I really did not like this book. I started out amused, and I worked really hard to love it, but ... no. This book defeated me. The characters' complete idiocy defeated me.
At first, I liked it. I liked Olivia. I understood her dilemma: all her life she'd done "the right thing" and it just didn't work out. Her parents were vile, and I failed to see anything appealing there. I liked Phinn, I liked his naivete, his single mindedness.
But the umpteenth time that Phinn walked out on Olivia because he'd said something that he thought (only thought!) would upset her .... the umpteenth time that he blamed himself for something clearly not his fault.... the umpteenth time that easily remedied misunderstandings were only worsened by his bizarre lack of communication .... well. I had had just about enough of him. His childish, manipulative avoidance is VERY unappealing.
Olivia's bizarre insistence on also not communicating really started to tick me off.
I really hated Phinn's "friend," Rogan... I think we are meant to see him as a clueless but well-meaning type, but he came across as an underhanded, devious, manipulative asshole. I began to wonder if perhaps he wanted Phinn all to himself and was intentionally trying to sabotage his marriage.
And then (AND THEN)
The final straw for me was when we were reminded that Phinn had plenty of experience in the sack, but he just loved how inexperienced Olivia was. I'm sorry, who is the intended audience for this tripe?
On top of all that, Olivia is quite chuffed that she's learned to diffuse his anger. This guy is quite the catch! Can't communicate, walks out on conflict, constantly berates himself for things out of his control, AND he can't control his own temper!
I do admit to a certain fondness for the following quote (for obvious reasons):
There was no one more beautiful, charming, and perfect than Nadine.
At first, I liked it. I liked Olivia. I understood her dilemma: all her life she'd done "the right thing" and it just didn't work out. Her parents were vile, and I failed to see anything appealing there. I liked Phinn, I liked his naivete, his single mindedness.
But the umpteenth time that Phinn walked out on Olivia because he'd said something that he thought (only thought!) would upset her .... the umpteenth time that he blamed himself for something clearly not his fault.... the umpteenth time that easily remedied misunderstandings were only worsened by his bizarre lack of communication .... well. I had had just about enough of him. His childish, manipulative avoidance is VERY unappealing.
Olivia's bizarre insistence on also not communicating really started to tick me off.
I really hated Phinn's "friend," Rogan... I think we are meant to see him as a clueless but well-meaning type, but he came across as an underhanded, devious, manipulative asshole. I began to wonder if perhaps he wanted Phinn all to himself and was intentionally trying to sabotage his marriage.
And then (AND THEN)
The final straw for me was when we were reminded that Phinn had plenty of experience in the sack, but he just loved how inexperienced Olivia was. I'm sorry, who is the intended audience for this tripe?
On top of all that, Olivia is quite chuffed that she's learned to diffuse his anger. This guy is quite the catch! Can't communicate, walks out on conflict, constantly berates himself for things out of his control, AND he can't control his own temper!
I do admit to a certain fondness for the following quote (for obvious reasons):
There was no one more beautiful, charming, and perfect than Nadine.
April 12, 2020
Meh. This one was pretty disappointing, to be honest.
It started out okay, but the main problem for me was that Olivia and Phinn never really TALKED to one another, so ridiculous misunderstandings kept going for far longer than they should have.
I didn't like either of the two leads all that much. Olivia was beyond childish at times with her desire to rebel. At first it was funny and kind of worked. It stopped being funny about fifty pages into the book. Unfortunately for the reader, Olivia didn't stop trying to dissuade Phinn from marrying her for FAR too long and it became repetitive and boring.
I started out kind of liking the character of Phinn. I tagged him as possibly on the autism spectrum, although there's no way of really knowing (unless the author comes out at some point and says that he was). There were several characteristics that I picked up (his obsession with machines, his difficulty interpreting social cues, his memorization of jokes and "lines" for later that he still fails to delivery properly, etc), so I'm going to say he's One Of Us. ;) But he was not straightforward with his explanations about his past and kept muddling things up even more. He should have just said, hey, here's what happened back then, just so you know.
Also, really feeling like Nadia got a bad rap in this book.
Meh. I'm going to read the third book in the series mainly because the third book was the whole reason why I started this series, but I'm not going in with high hopes for it.
It started out okay, but the main problem for me was that Olivia and Phinn never really TALKED to one another, so ridiculous misunderstandings kept going for far longer than they should have.
I didn't like either of the two leads all that much. Olivia was beyond childish at times with her desire to rebel. At first it was funny and kind of worked. It stopped being funny about fifty pages into the book. Unfortunately for the reader, Olivia didn't stop trying to dissuade Phinn from marrying her for FAR too long and it became repetitive and boring.
I started out kind of liking the character of Phinn. I tagged him as possibly on the autism spectrum, although there's no way of really knowing (unless the author comes out at some point and says that he was). There were several characteristics that I picked up (his obsession with machines, his difficulty interpreting social cues, his memorization of jokes and "lines" for later that he still fails to delivery properly, etc), so I'm going to say he's One Of Us. ;) But he was not straightforward with his explanations about his past and kept muddling things up even more. He should have just said, hey, here's what happened back then, just so you know.
Also, really feeling like Nadia got a bad rap in this book.
Meh. I'm going to read the third book in the series mainly because the third book was the whole reason why I started this series, but I'm not going in with high hopes for it.
January 12, 2016
Review posted on Got Fiction? http://www.gotfiction.com/wallflower-...
Wow, do I have issues with this book. Well, one issue to be exact. So this is a Big Misunderstanding premise, and I’m okay with that plot device, as long as it isn’t dragged on too long. This time, it was dragged on too long. Until the last pages, to be exact. And the worst part is that it might not have been able to be cleared up with one conversation since Olivia needed to trust Phin, I get that, but there could have been an attempt.
So this is a series where Ms. Rodale pairs each Historical novel with a Contemporary novella. This is the second book, and I like the Historicals better than the Contemps so far.
Quick and dirty is that Olivia is on her fourth Season, so her parents take matters into their own hands and agree to the Baron of Radcliffe aka the Mad Baron. Supposedly he killed his brother for the woman his brother was in love with and then took her for his own wife…and…dun dun dun…killed her! Gasp!
Obviously he didn’t, but he never really tells that to Olivia, hence the Big Misunderstanding.
So Olivia decides to break all the rules. If the Mad Baron chose her because she’s so perfect and follows all the rules, she’ll show him how imperfect she can be as she breaks the rules.
The antics were fun for a bit, but it was too much. After a while it got old, like just grow up already! She acted like she was 15, rather than 22 (I’m guessing but 4th Season, usually debut at 18, 22 sounds about right).
But it isn’t until 65% where we see Olivia turn around. It really bothered me. It’s like a teenage gothic novel and Olivia doesn’t grow up until then. That’s when the actual romance begins. That bothers me a lot since, 100% of this book should have been the romance, not just the last third or so.
In that last third, we see the two of them still dance around the issues keeping them apart, and the whole ending felt rushed. We spent most of the book watching them run in circles.
***ARC courtesy of Avon Books
Wow, do I have issues with this book. Well, one issue to be exact. So this is a Big Misunderstanding premise, and I’m okay with that plot device, as long as it isn’t dragged on too long. This time, it was dragged on too long. Until the last pages, to be exact. And the worst part is that it might not have been able to be cleared up with one conversation since Olivia needed to trust Phin, I get that, but there could have been an attempt.
So this is a series where Ms. Rodale pairs each Historical novel with a Contemporary novella. This is the second book, and I like the Historicals better than the Contemps so far.
Quick and dirty is that Olivia is on her fourth Season, so her parents take matters into their own hands and agree to the Baron of Radcliffe aka the Mad Baron. Supposedly he killed his brother for the woman his brother was in love with and then took her for his own wife…and…dun dun dun…killed her! Gasp!
Obviously he didn’t, but he never really tells that to Olivia, hence the Big Misunderstanding.
So Olivia decides to break all the rules. If the Mad Baron chose her because she’s so perfect and follows all the rules, she’ll show him how imperfect she can be as she breaks the rules.
The antics were fun for a bit, but it was too much. After a while it got old, like just grow up already! She acted like she was 15, rather than 22 (I’m guessing but 4th Season, usually debut at 18, 22 sounds about right).
But it isn’t until 65% where we see Olivia turn around. It really bothered me. It’s like a teenage gothic novel and Olivia doesn’t grow up until then. That’s when the actual romance begins. That bothers me a lot since, 100% of this book should have been the romance, not just the last third or so.
In that last third, we see the two of them still dance around the issues keeping them apart, and the whole ending felt rushed. We spent most of the book watching them run in circles.
***ARC courtesy of Avon Books
July 11, 2017
Fluffy book gone wrong.
This book had a perfect storyline..... wallflower gets betrothed to a Mad Baron, who is a supposed murderer.
It would have been perfect, if the heroine had not been written with the maturity level of a 13 yr old. Really, I think my own 14 yr. old daughter acts more mature that this Olivia girl did, from decision making skills to asinine conversations when with her girlfriends. Definition of TSTL right here.
Once Olivia is informed by her (desperate to marry her off) parents that she has been spoken for by the Mad Baron, she assumes the worst. Instead of even attempting to get to the bottom of any of the rumors surrounding the Mad Baron, she comes up with one stupid antic after another to get the Mad Baron to call off their engagement. The first antic in Chapter 3....(assuming you make it this far into the book) had Olivia's maid applying so much make-up on her face (to displease her intended) that she looks like a clown with horrible raccoon eyes. When she arrives downstairs to meet the Mad Baron for the first time, her parents gasp and become furious with her, but never insist that she return upstairs to wash her face... and they carry on with the tea party.
What happens next reminded me so much of why I disliked book #1 of this series. The author's writing style jumps all over the place. For example, the scene with the tea party I mentioned above, it goes on and on about how furious her parents were, how she knows she will get yelled at once she is alone with them... but you soon realize that the tea party must be over, because the next chapter starts with the Mad Baron suddenly at his buddy's bachelor pad, discussing his idea to get married to Olivia. So many scenes not completed in my opinion. I only assume book #3 will be written the same way....
This book had a perfect storyline..... wallflower gets betrothed to a Mad Baron, who is a supposed murderer.
It would have been perfect, if the heroine had not been written with the maturity level of a 13 yr old. Really, I think my own 14 yr. old daughter acts more mature that this Olivia girl did, from decision making skills to asinine conversations when with her girlfriends. Definition of TSTL right here.
Once Olivia is informed by her (desperate to marry her off) parents that she has been spoken for by the Mad Baron, she assumes the worst. Instead of even attempting to get to the bottom of any of the rumors surrounding the Mad Baron, she comes up with one stupid antic after another to get the Mad Baron to call off their engagement. The first antic in Chapter 3....(assuming you make it this far into the book) had Olivia's maid applying so much make-up on her face (to displease her intended) that she looks like a clown with horrible raccoon eyes. When she arrives downstairs to meet the Mad Baron for the first time, her parents gasp and become furious with her, but never insist that she return upstairs to wash her face... and they carry on with the tea party.
What happens next reminded me so much of why I disliked book #1 of this series. The author's writing style jumps all over the place. For example, the scene with the tea party I mentioned above, it goes on and on about how furious her parents were, how she knows she will get yelled at once she is alone with them... but you soon realize that the tea party must be over, because the next chapter starts with the Mad Baron suddenly at his buddy's bachelor pad, discussing his idea to get married to Olivia. So many scenes not completed in my opinion. I only assume book #3 will be written the same way....
April 1, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. There were many times I actually laughed out loud from scenarios or things being said. I also really liked the hero Phinn. That being said the heroine, Olivia was obnoxious in how she treated Phinn for at least half of the book. I would still recommend this book and I’ve already picked up the first and third books of the series... since I accidentally read the second book first! Oops!
September 27, 2021
I really loved Phinn. He's a total nerd with no social skills, and very relatable. A fun story with Maya's usual humor, steam, and interesting characters. I do, however, never want to hear the phrase "Brendan - or Brandon" ever again.
March 1, 2016
This was delightful and fun - a better follow up to the first book in the series. This is truly lighthearted regency escape, full with humor, steamy moments and some sweet heroes. Recommend!
October 2, 2024
If you’re an avid historical romance reader who enjoys a story with any semblance of historical context. This is not the book for you. If you’re typically a contemporary romance reader, but are sick of the characters always wearing jeans, you will probably love this book. As someone who falls into the former category, I barely finished with my sanity intact. My main issues with this book stemmed from the fact that if you attempt to view the plot in the context of 19th century social norms, it falls about thirty yards short of making any sense. Strap yourselves in kids because I’m about to infodump all over y’all!
In this book, our FMC finds herself forced into a marriage she doesn’t want. This marriage has been arranged by her parents and the author saw fit to make it a point to have a specific scene where the MMC shows up at the FMCs house with his lawyer to show that the engagement is legally binding and that contracts have been negotiated and signed. In the book this is done to show just how trapped our poor FMC is and how she needs to do everything she can to rebel! Her “brilliant” plan is to engage in so much scandalous behavior that her would be fiancé becomes so disgusted with her that he breaks the engagement and lets her off the hook.
In order for this plot point to work, it has to be assumed that the man is the only party with the power to break the engagement. In the 19th century this simply was not the case. Men weren’t the ones with the power to break engagements, women were. My understanding is that it was deeply frowned upon for men to break engagements for two reasons, one, because a man breaking an engagement would do a lot more damage to a woman’s reputation than the other way around (and reputations were everything in the 19th century) and two, because in the 19th century an engagement was often a legally binding contract for a man because it would set up the terms of how he would support his bride for the rest of her life. If he violated that contract by breaking the engagement, he could be sued in Court and have to pay damages to the woman and/or her family. Since many women couldn’t work at the time, their marriage would need to ensure their livelihood for the rest of their lives and engagement contracts were how this was accomplished. If she broke the engagement, the FMC would not be held to the terms the contract the way the MMC would have been because his livelihood was not at stake, only hers was.
That’s right! In the process of this whole scene with the lawyers where the author makes a huge deal about contracts being drawn up to make it seem like the FMC is locked up tight into this marriage by her evil parents, what she ACTUALLY does is lock the MMC into the marriage a helluva lot tighter than her FMC and therefore blows a hole the size of Asia in her plot!! The consequences of breaking the engagement are significantly higher for him than they are for her. Based on 19th century social norms, regardless of how strict her parents are, she could walk away relatively unscathed. Meanwhile, if he walks, her parents could and probably would sue him for breach of contract.
So, in order to make him calling off the engagement plausible, she would have to do something bad enough that he would choose dealing with being dragged through the Courts and having to pay off her parents for the sake of saving his reputation over just dealing with marrying her. Based on the book I read, this FMC absolutely did NOT have that in her, mainly because she’s up against an MMC that doesn’t have a stellar reputation to protect to begin with. Society is already convinced he murdered his first wife. So, regardless of his supposed preference for the FMC having a squeaky clean reputation, marrying her after she causes a scandal isn’t going to devalue his social currency at all. His reputation is already established as being in tatters. Marrying her, scandal or no scandal is not going to change that. There would literally be no reason ever that he would call off this engagement. The fact that the FMC, a supposed woman of her time considered NONE of this while coming up with her “genius” plan and spends half the book convinced it’s possible that he would call it off was absolutely infuriating.
As you can see, I had a lot difficulty with this plot mostly because it’s just not truly a historical romance plot. It’s a contemporary romance plot that I’m trying to pigeonhole through the lens of 19th century social norms with probably varying degrees of success to make it into the historical romance it was sold to me as. The biggest problem with this book really is that the plot just doesn’t fit the genre.
This book was also littered with modern turns of phrase in the narration. For example, this book takes place in 1821. At no point should the phrase “going all the way” enter the MMCs train of thought as a euphemism for sex. That phrase did not come about until the mid-20th century! I do NOT want to see that in my historical romances. There are SO many fun old timey euphemisms for sex out there, there is no excuse for something like that. In my opinion, that is just lazy writing. If you’re going to write historical, do your research and write historical. Don’t write contemporary in period costumes.
In this book, our FMC finds herself forced into a marriage she doesn’t want. This marriage has been arranged by her parents and the author saw fit to make it a point to have a specific scene where the MMC shows up at the FMCs house with his lawyer to show that the engagement is legally binding and that contracts have been negotiated and signed. In the book this is done to show just how trapped our poor FMC is and how she needs to do everything she can to rebel! Her “brilliant” plan is to engage in so much scandalous behavior that her would be fiancé becomes so disgusted with her that he breaks the engagement and lets her off the hook.
In order for this plot point to work, it has to be assumed that the man is the only party with the power to break the engagement. In the 19th century this simply was not the case. Men weren’t the ones with the power to break engagements, women were. My understanding is that it was deeply frowned upon for men to break engagements for two reasons, one, because a man breaking an engagement would do a lot more damage to a woman’s reputation than the other way around (and reputations were everything in the 19th century) and two, because in the 19th century an engagement was often a legally binding contract for a man because it would set up the terms of how he would support his bride for the rest of her life. If he violated that contract by breaking the engagement, he could be sued in Court and have to pay damages to the woman and/or her family. Since many women couldn’t work at the time, their marriage would need to ensure their livelihood for the rest of their lives and engagement contracts were how this was accomplished. If she broke the engagement, the FMC would not be held to the terms the contract the way the MMC would have been because his livelihood was not at stake, only hers was.
That’s right! In the process of this whole scene with the lawyers where the author makes a huge deal about contracts being drawn up to make it seem like the FMC is locked up tight into this marriage by her evil parents, what she ACTUALLY does is lock the MMC into the marriage a helluva lot tighter than her FMC and therefore blows a hole the size of Asia in her plot!! The consequences of breaking the engagement are significantly higher for him than they are for her. Based on 19th century social norms, regardless of how strict her parents are, she could walk away relatively unscathed. Meanwhile, if he walks, her parents could and probably would sue him for breach of contract.
So, in order to make him calling off the engagement plausible, she would have to do something bad enough that he would choose dealing with being dragged through the Courts and having to pay off her parents for the sake of saving his reputation over just dealing with marrying her. Based on the book I read, this FMC absolutely did NOT have that in her, mainly because she’s up against an MMC that doesn’t have a stellar reputation to protect to begin with. Society is already convinced he murdered his first wife. So, regardless of his supposed preference for the FMC having a squeaky clean reputation, marrying her after she causes a scandal isn’t going to devalue his social currency at all. His reputation is already established as being in tatters. Marrying her, scandal or no scandal is not going to change that. There would literally be no reason ever that he would call off this engagement. The fact that the FMC, a supposed woman of her time considered NONE of this while coming up with her “genius” plan and spends half the book convinced it’s possible that he would call it off was absolutely infuriating.
As you can see, I had a lot difficulty with this plot mostly because it’s just not truly a historical romance plot. It’s a contemporary romance plot that I’m trying to pigeonhole through the lens of 19th century social norms with probably varying degrees of success to make it into the historical romance it was sold to me as. The biggest problem with this book really is that the plot just doesn’t fit the genre.
This book was also littered with modern turns of phrase in the narration. For example, this book takes place in 1821. At no point should the phrase “going all the way” enter the MMCs train of thought as a euphemism for sex. That phrase did not come about until the mid-20th century! I do NOT want to see that in my historical romances. There are SO many fun old timey euphemisms for sex out there, there is no excuse for something like that. In my opinion, that is just lazy writing. If you’re going to write historical, do your research and write historical. Don’t write contemporary in period costumes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2023
What a surprise: the lowest rated of this trilogy is tied for second highest by me (not that you-whoever you are-care).
I really loved the layout of this story: very much a light homage to Du Maurier's Rebecca (Phin is attracted to Olivia because she's docile/unassuming, unlike his late wife. His late wife whose death society deems Phin's fault). I liked that the characters reference reading "one too many gothic novels", akin to Austen's unsung heroine Catherine from Northanger Abbey (while I'm no longer an Austenite by any means, that novel holds a special place in my heart for... reasons).
These characters are outcasts in their own ways, and very misunderstood (Olivia is thought to be prissy/too much like her overbearing mother), while Phin is unfairly persecuted for Nadia's death/his "odd" hobby). But the most interesting part of the outcast angle is how they don't revel in it: Olivia wants what "most" girls of her time want: to be loved, have children, and a house of her own. Ditto for Phin. But growth comes when Phin is told by Olivia that since he loves her "docile, embroidery loving" vision of womanhood, he loves a lie. And when he asks "Well, what do you like, then?" she's got to honestly say "I don't know. I've never have and will never have freedom to figure it out if some man I don't know marries me.". That, and the notion that they both did "everything right' in society's eyes (i.e. he married Nadia to save her rep., ever the gentleman, meanwhile Oliva was so proper, society made her a laughingstock) and still get Bupkis really hurt my heart.
While it does take a while, these two finally get some alone time and what does Phin do? Listens to her/takes time getting to know what she likes:
1. Unbeknownst to Olivia, he was her Prince Charming of sorts the week before their wedding. While alone in a garden during a masquerade ball, she talks of being scared to run a house she doesn't know and how London feels safe because her friends are there. And lo and behold, Phin has set them up in a London hotel rather than sequester her away.
2.Oliva is laid up in bed after breaking her ankle in an attempt to look at Phin's Difference Engine. At first, she tries her own embroidery pattern (a stitching of his advice: "make your own rules"), he brings her paint supplies, and takes off his shirt, allowing her to finally paint a nude/semi nude male like she wanted.
3.The scene in the opera house where Phin caresses/finally removes Olivia's gloves in the darkness while they watch the show... oh my giddy, giddy aunt....
These had me chuckling
*Prudence and Emma being "I'd like to meet him. I've never met a murderer before, to my knowledge, anyway." Girls, this is your bestie's fiancé. Some tact would be nice.
*Olivia's response to her mother finding the porno mag upon visiting the newlyweds: Oliva (deadpan): "A wife must oblige her husband." I can't.
*Phin eagerly asking "Did you want to hit something? That always cheers me up", once Olivia's mother leaves. When she says no, he then goes "How about smashing this teacup? Money's no object." And she does... these two are a match made in heaven.
I'm sure many purists scoff at the anachronistic writing, but I kind enjoyed this side of historical romance; there's slight freedom for these women while not being completely thrown to wayside (like a more liberally written Tessa Dare, if you will).
*Side note, Phin was giving me Joe Keery vibes with his green eyes and running his hands through his tousled light brown hair when frustrated. Just sayin'.
I really loved the layout of this story: very much a light homage to Du Maurier's Rebecca (Phin is attracted to Olivia because she's docile/unassuming, unlike his late wife. His late wife whose death society deems Phin's fault). I liked that the characters reference reading "one too many gothic novels", akin to Austen's unsung heroine Catherine from Northanger Abbey (while I'm no longer an Austenite by any means, that novel holds a special place in my heart for... reasons).
These characters are outcasts in their own ways, and very misunderstood (Olivia is thought to be prissy/too much like her overbearing mother), while Phin is unfairly persecuted for Nadia's death/his "odd" hobby). But the most interesting part of the outcast angle is how they don't revel in it: Olivia wants what "most" girls of her time want: to be loved, have children, and a house of her own. Ditto for Phin. But growth comes when Phin is told by Olivia that since he loves her "docile, embroidery loving" vision of womanhood, he loves a lie. And when he asks "Well, what do you like, then?" she's got to honestly say "I don't know. I've never have and will never have freedom to figure it out if some man I don't know marries me.". That, and the notion that they both did "everything right' in society's eyes (i.e. he married Nadia to save her rep., ever the gentleman, meanwhile Oliva was so proper, society made her a laughingstock) and still get Bupkis really hurt my heart.
While it does take a while, these two finally get some alone time and what does Phin do? Listens to her/takes time getting to know what she likes:
1. Unbeknownst to Olivia, he was her Prince Charming of sorts the week before their wedding. While alone in a garden during a masquerade ball, she talks of being scared to run a house she doesn't know and how London feels safe because her friends are there. And lo and behold, Phin has set them up in a London hotel rather than sequester her away.
2.Oliva is laid up in bed after breaking her ankle in an attempt to look at Phin's Difference Engine. At first, she tries her own embroidery pattern (a stitching of his advice: "make your own rules"), he brings her paint supplies, and takes off his shirt, allowing her to finally paint a nude/semi nude male like she wanted.
3.The scene in the opera house where Phin caresses/finally removes Olivia's gloves in the darkness while they watch the show... oh my giddy, giddy aunt....
These had me chuckling
*Prudence and Emma being "I'd like to meet him. I've never met a murderer before, to my knowledge, anyway." Girls, this is your bestie's fiancé. Some tact would be nice.
*Olivia's response to her mother finding the porno mag upon visiting the newlyweds: Oliva (deadpan): "A wife must oblige her husband." I can't.
*Phin eagerly asking "Did you want to hit something? That always cheers me up", once Olivia's mother leaves. When she says no, he then goes "How about smashing this teacup? Money's no object." And she does... these two are a match made in heaven.
I'm sure many purists scoff at the anachronistic writing, but I kind enjoyed this side of historical romance; there's slight freedom for these women while not being completely thrown to wayside (like a more liberally written Tessa Dare, if you will).
*Side note, Phin was giving me Joe Keery vibes with his green eyes and running his hands through his tousled light brown hair when frustrated. Just sayin'.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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