Sparkling eyes captivate!

-
Always the Wallflower (Never the Bride #5) 
by Emilya E K Murdoch       
Wallflower from solid ton background meets rake of first order. Her best friend is his adopted sister. Not that that makes much difference as they barely speak to each other (there's a mystery here!)
Lady Letitia Cavendish is painfully shy in large gatherings. She doesn't dance. Well that's not right. It's just that no-one ever asks her. So she's perfected the hanging out amongst the curtains, loosing herself in a crowd, fading into the background as a way of coping.
Only Edward Wynn, the Viscount of Stulsemere, practiced seducer and rake really notices her when they're forced to dance. He is shocked when he pushes Letitia beyond her painful silence and she leaves him standing in the middle of the ballroom. Rejection is something Wynn's unused to. He's fascinated, and then he's taken by the fact that the shy Letitia is downright gorgeous when she lifts her head and stares him down.
But is that fascination strong enough for a confirmed rake to pay attention to the stirring of his heart and is Letitia brave enough to take what she wants?
I've got to say I cooled off from Wynn. I was rather startled by Letitia's willingness to cosy up with him, in the family home two bedrooms away from her parents! What!! Oh hi, yes here I am, the man of your dreams, standing in your bedroom having just bribed the footman. Yikes!
I warmed to him even less when he reverted to type and sets about playing seductive games in the middle of a ballroom with an attractive heiress, as Letitia looks on! What a cad! Sure he gives an excuse. The sort of, 'Sorry honey I can't seem to go against my base nature--the lure of the chase you know.' A craven meaningless apology.
But back to Wynn's so called adopted sister Mariah, Letitia's best friend, who reads books at social occasions. I am puzzled by her persistence with the reading of A New Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary which she finds riveting and keeps trying to persuade Letitia into reading. A rather strange reoccurrence leading where? Will we find out?
Despite all these strange little threads, this tried and true trope of wallflower and rake is a tad different, and although in my mind I felt it was never quite grounded. I do however look forward to Mariah's story.

A Dragonblade ARC via NetGalley

***

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

The Three Muscateers—three widows, three sets of different circumstances

-
Image
The Widows' Wine Club  by Julia Jarman    ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Different enough to be interesting but I kept losing which character was which. I almost feel I need to read it again to follow who’s who. I do know that three women came together to form a support group, going to the pub for lunch etc. Better than the local widow’s group in the church hall.  All three had recently lost their husbands and now had to find a way to face their new lives. Viv Halliday is a knowledgeable gardener. Zelda Fielding is setting herself up with internet dates and searching the web for her unknown father. Janet had a controlling husband who it turned out was having affairs, and their son is just as controlling. How their lives unfold is the new challenge. A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Read more