Maya Rodale: The Wicked Wallflower

‘Tis the Season to nestle down and plow through a pile of books. Happily for DH, my pile is now neatly stored on my simple B&W Nook, so a little less to dust come Sunday’s housecleaning day.

Another bonus of going digital…I can quickly download another book while still in the bathtub or in bed. Ah, the wonders of the digital age.

I had never read Maya Rodale before, but the description was enticing:

Maya Rodale’s captivating new series introduces London’s Least Likely—three wallflowers who are about to become the toast of the ton . . .

Lady Emma Avery has accidentally announced her engagement—to the most eligible man in England. As soon as it’s discovered that Emma has never actually met the infamously attractive Duke of Ashbrooke, she’ll no longer be a wallflower; she’ll be a laughingstock. And then Ashbrooke does something Emma never expected. He plays along with her charade.

A temporary betrothal to the irreproachable Lady Avery could be just the thing to repair Ashbrooke’s tattered reputation. Seducing her is simply a bonus. And then Emma does what he never expected: she refuses his advances. It’s unprecedented. Inconceivable. Quite damnably alluring.

London’s Least Likely to Misbehave has aroused the curiosity—among other things—of London’s most notorious rogue. Now nothing will suffice but to uncover Emma’s wanton side and prove there’s nothing so satisfying as two perfect strangers . . . being perfectly scandalous together.

I am a bit of a sucker for the wallflower plot line. And this one had a nice twist, in that the heroine has a beloved and would-be-fiancée, and is absolutely not “discovered” by the rakehell Duke.

Throw in a house party ala Survivor with a substantial inheritance prize, and you have the makings for a fun Reg Rom.

Rodale doesn’t disappoint. Entertaining, interesting characters, sparkling dialogue, and engaging scenes are the order of the day in this fast paced fun read.

And one big bone to pick. Maya, please, please puh-leaze stop overusing comma that after particular sentiments (as in Annoying, that.)

Having one character in their head space do it is stylistic. Having all them think that way comes off like a lazy way to try and make your characters sound authentically British.

It got to the point of distraction, pulling me out of the story and almost making me stop reading.

However, I persevered and was not disappointed.

Its a well developed romance with a nice message, clever plot twists and likable H/h. The Duke has a brilliant passion in trying to develop essentially a calculator, and wants to use the extra funds to do so. Emma wants to use the money to fund her marriage to her would-be suitor whose papa has insisted he marry an heiress. In the meantime, they are playing at being affianced to curry favor with the wealthy Aunt Agatha.

Yes, there are some slight liberties taken with the time period. The fact that Emma and the Duke adventure unchaperoned to a house party is a bit eyebrow raising, and the fact that they have a lot of convenient alone time is certainly a stretch. However, this book from the Avon classic cover in fuchsia to the character names and dialogue within the first few pages clearly signals to the reader The Wicked Wallflower is not a traditional Reg Rom.

There are some steamy scenes, naturally, Emma being wicked and all, so don’t expect a clean read. While mostly vanilla, with light mature content, its definitely a book for older teens only (mostly because I think younger teens would find a lot of the chemistry a bit un-relatable and boring)

That said, I sincerely look forward to reading more Rodale, especially future Wallflower stories.

5 Stars 4 out of 6 Likeable characters, unique take on a familiar plot.