★★★★★Trying to avoid a forced marriage to a man she doesn't want, a wallflower thinks she's found a solution by pretending she's been ruined by a rake.
“For the right gentleman, I would happily relinquish my independence — for he would not cage me, would he? He would want to see me fly. And if I should overreach in my recklessness, the right man would catch me.”
I went into this book totally blind - I knew it was by Stacy Reid and was a Sinful Wallflowers book (I read book 1 in the series when it came out in 2019), but I didn’t read the description and I think that really worked in my favor because the story unfolded very naturally and kind of like a mystery.
I loved Maryann as a heroine. Bespectacled, witty, bookish, smart. She was raised by a father and brother who pushed her to dream and learn, and even when, at 16, her father began treating her like a woman and not the daughter he’d always had, she had her older brother who stepped into the role of a protector.
Nicholas, the Marquess of Rothbury, is one of my favorite types of heroes. One who lets the public think he is one thing to allow that to work to his advantage, while he is another thing entirely. He feels deeply and it scares him.
I have so many highlights from this book. The chemistry between the two of them was just off the charts. From a fencing spat to him nicknaming her a raccoon to her jumping off a balcony into his arms to escape another suitor.
This book was darker than I thought it would be, given the subject that Nicholas is haunted by.
Trigger warning for rape/gang rape - it’s in the past but is recalled often. Not explicitly, but it’s still haunting. Also, attempted suicide for a side character.
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