How to Woo a Wallflower by Virginia Heath Published by Harlequin on August 23, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Family Life / Marriage & Divorce, Fiction / Historical / General, Fiction / Romance / Historical / Regency, Fiction / Sagas
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: Netgalley
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An entertaining, sexy Regency romance
He could have any deb
Except his best friend’s sister…
Jasper, the Earl of Beaufort, hasn’t seen Lady Harriet Fitzroy since her serious riding accident. She has grown into a kind, spirited woman, whose sinful smile plays havoc with his jaded emotions! Hattie’s family disapprove of Jasper’s rakish past, but when she risks her reputation to help him, the least he can do is pull her from the wallflower chairs and out of the shadows…
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Part of a series that worked well as a standalone, we have two self described rescuer MCs who follow their hearts to quickly move from friends-to-lovers. This also features a best friend’s sisters trope, wallflower and rake trope, and looming scandal as an obstacle to them being together.
Overall, this was a fast read that had some heart strings tugging, a small amount of steam, and tight writing. While I never felt like I “knew” the MCs in depth, their friendship and romance was believable and I was invested in their HEA.
I generally liked the characters, the conflict was reasonable and not too angsty, and the banter between characters was entertaining. I also liked the way Hattie’s disability was handled, although aspects may be triggering for some because it does talk about pity/infantilism of differently abled bodies. I thought Hattie grappled with the grief of her injury and her journey with a lot to be respected and admired, however, so it was uplifting in a way that had some meaning for me.
I found some of the language to be anachronistic/prochronistic which was a bit jarring. Similarly, one of the characters, a ten year old orphan who had been working and not educated since he was small, was too well spoken and insightful to be believable. Because I received an ARC, I am hoping some of this was fixed in the published version…but in case it wasn’t, readers who love the history and are annoyed by inaccuracies should probably skip this one.
There were a few intimate scenes, but were not highly graphic, and some mentions of medical procedures/accidents, and some mature content (mistresses, prostitution, gaming). However, the whole thing was fairly vanilla so okay for readers who do not mind a bit of mature content.
It was a solid read with many enjoyable moments, even if the historical details and character depth were missing.
