Series: Sinful Wallflowers, #3
Traits & Tropes: class difference; protector; hidden identity; childhood friends; damaged hero; self-made hero; hero who's not a rake; scarred hero
Publication Date: 12.28.21
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; London, England, 1822
Heat Level: 4.5
Rating: 5/5
Lady Ophelia Darby may be the overindulged daughter of a powerful marquess, accepted in the highest circles of the ton despite her unconventional ways, but lately she’s been singing in seedy clubs by night as Lady Starlight. She’s protected by mentioning the name of Devlin Byrne, the obscenely wealthy and widely feared scoundrel and gaming club owner. Having learned a long-kept secret of her father’s, Ophelia uses her disguise to find answers, and Devlin is the only man who can help her unearth the information she seeks.
Despite all his wealth and the ability to ruin any nobleman should he so choose; Devlin Byrne will always be relegated to the very fringes of society. No one suspects that he’s built his wealth and reputation with the sole purpose of making Ophelia his, not even Ophelia.
Devlin is most assuredly dangerous, but as Ophelia begins to trust him with more and more of her own heart, she must choose between the life she’s known and one of permanent scandal.
(You may chance some inadvertent, mild spoilers here as I get my thoughts out.) I’m a total sucker for a protective alpha hero and Devlin delivered that and then some. He had the dark, tortured side that made him slightly dangerous, but unlike most heroes I tend to read that have this trait, he also had loving parents who modeled a loving marriage to him as a child. He's also not a rake and he has no shame in admitting his limited experience. These things made Devlin very unique, and I think it earns him a place as one of my favorite heroes of all time. In fact, that’s the reason this book made me nervous at times given how slow Ophelia was to admit her feelings for Devlin and how much she truly seemed to value her position in society. At times, Ophelia comes off sounding just as snobbish and imperious as her parents and that worried me, but other times she’s shrewd and nonjudgmental, then she’d turn back around and once again be a typical aristocrat willing to play games and toy with Devlin’s emotions. This mercuriality in her behavior made me very nervous about Devlin’s heart in Ophelia’s keeping, but she did improve and show immense character growth and I have to give her credit for that and for not backing down from the challenges he placed before her, even when she struggled with wanting to be a dutiful daughter and not break the rules. I kept thinking Devlin deserved more after he shaped his entire life with the goal of marrying Ophelia. Thankfully, she did come through in the end and I was very happy with how their relationship turned out.
What did disappoint me rather a lot was Ophelia’s family and how they are handled in the end. First off, Effie was consistently terrible to Ophelia, condescending and judgmental, not to mention bossy, controlling, and immature, and while Ophelia did put her in her place a time or two, it did no good. Effie continued to be a terrible person under the guise of doing what she felt was best for Ophelia, and she never experienced any sort of backlash or negative effect from it. I have the same complaint of Ophelia’s parents really. They were horrible to her and to Devlin and then somehow every issue they raised against the match just floated away in a very quick resolution in the end. Maybe this is petty, but I wanted to see some comeuppance or at least poetic justice or something for the parents and/or at least Effie and I was left unsatisfied on that score. Overall, her parents were ridiculous, and I really couldn't buy into the supposed closeness of their relationship.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of this book was that we had a case in which both the hero and the heroine are fighting to be together, and they won’t take no for an answer. I think many characters talk a good game, especially when we have a class difference trope in play, but something has to happen to either elevate or lower one of the characters and even out that difference in order for them to come together in the end (i.e., the low-born, self-made hero will be awarded a title for some reason). I was so happy that didn’t happen here and instead we got Devlin and Ophelia both making sacrifices in their own way to be together, and neither experiencing a moment of regret over it. I loved that they prioritized each other and the happy future they knew they wanted together, and they just went for it. That’s what made this novel work for me and that’s why I think, though it's not perfect, it is special.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1331015409
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3791979404
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