Series: Would-Be Wallflowers, #1
Traits & Tropes: wealthy heroine; working heroine; self-made hero; hero falls first; friends to lovers
Publication Date: 03.29.22
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency, London, England, 1815
Heat Level: 2
Rating: 5 stars
Businesswoman Cleopatra Lewis has no interest in aristocratic society, but she’s prepared to endure one season since it was her mother’s dying wish. With her aging grandfather, a viscount, escorting her around society, Cleo plans to be a proper wallflower, so she visits a costumier with the intention of ordering unflattering gowns to discourage any would-be suitors.
Jacob Astor Addison is in London on business, working on expanding his interests in theaters back in America. He has a wife in mind back in Boston, a biddable, quiet lady to add to his orderly life, and he’s furious when a wily Englishwoman swoops in and buys Quimby’s Costume Emporium out from under him.
Jake and Cleo come to an unorthodox agreement: he’ll design Cleo’s new wardrobe and she’ll create his. Cleo can’t resist the opportunity to make the large American into a proper English dandy, but the competition somehow leads to a strong friendship between them. Jake quickly realizes his feelings go well beyond friendship. He doesn’t belong in Cleo’s cultured world, but that doesn’t lessen his determination to make a life with her, if she feels the same.
This was such an unexpectedly fun and humorous book. Sure, there were moments when Cleo’s hesitance and mistrust got a tiny bit frustrating and maybe slightly repetitive with her fears of marriage, but those fears were well-founded given her mother’s behavior and that’s about the only critique I can come up with for this book. I absolutely adored Jake. He was so uncouth and completely at odds with English high society and yet he somehow fit perfectly and was exactly what Cleo needed even before she realized it herself. I loved that Jake knew almost immediately that Cleo was the one for him and rather than hem and haw and fight his feelings, he went straight to work on his plan to woo her and earn her trust. The whole situation with Jake’s mother was incredibly dramatic but given that it was essentially the only bit of true angst in the whole story, and it didn’t last long, I didn’t mind. In fact, this whole situation allowed Jake to shine more as he efficiently put his mother in her place and continued to patiently give Cleo exactly what she needed in terms of reassurance. I can definitely relate to that insecurity and need to have feelings reaffirmed, so even if Cleo was a little over the top at times, it’s easy to excuse that and it didn’t get in the way of her charm and likability.
Jake may have struggled to produce flowery, romantic words, but he came up with the most thoughtful gifts and thanks to his steadfastness in his pursuit of Cleo, he will probably always be a favorite hero for me. I also appreciated Cleo’s determination to maintain her individual autonomy in marriage as I think this led to open conversations between these two and enabled each to grow comfortable being their true self around the other. Beyond my love for this couple, I was also thoroughly charmed by the secondary characters. Yasmin was a bit of a pill at times, but I still look forward to her book. However, my favorite interaction is perhaps that between Jake and Cleo’s grandfather. I was thoroughly charmed by the older man’s aide of Jake’s campaign for Cleo’s heart and those two had me laughing aloud as I read this. I was utterly charmed by this story and its light-heartedness was just what I needed to read right now. Plus, I do enjoy a hero who falls first and hard for his heroine, especially when his wooing methods are as unconventional as his heroine.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/3039410102
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4534786125
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