The Wicked Wallflower audiobook

4.5 starsThis was such a fun romance! Thanks to Lisa for forcing me to read another great historical romance!In this one, Emma is a wallflower with her two best friends. They're in their third (or fourth?) season and Emma is actually in love with a man who has to marry rich, which she is not. Her friends are talking about their situations as wallflowers and they all write a fake announcement that Emma is engaged to the notorious rake, The Duke of Ashbrooke. The letter is accidentally sent and Blake decides to go along with the engagement so that he can fix his reputation and acquire funds for a special project he's working on. I really loved how Emma was so adamant that she was in love with Benedict but she couldn't deny the rising attraction and infuriating banter she had with Blake. They had to go to his relative's estate to play in a game to compete for her inheritance. I love a good fake dating story and this one did it so well! I will say, Emma's adamance that she was in love with Benedict got old by the end of the book. I just wanted her to forget him and go with Blake already. I know she was very insecure and thought a Duke like Blake could never love a plain wallflower like her, but I wanted her to just get over Benedict much quicker, especially when he failed to show her what he'd put on the line for her (aka nothing). Some people might see this as cheating since Emma is supposedly still "with" Benedict while she's falling for Blake, but I didn't really see it that way. Overall, I really loved watching Emma and Blake fake date and fall for each other and Blake realize that he's really in love with Emma. I can't wait to continue on with this series and watch Emma's friends fall in love!

THIS BOOK!!! Honest rating 4.5 stars!It's about two opposites who are working together to fool his great aunt/grandma (i forgot her relation) to 'fortune games'. Whoever wins the game as the strongest couple will win her wealth and along the way, this couple falls hopelessly in love.I love how Emma is so vulnerable and rightfully so. The entire town has read articles about her being the least likely to be married and everyone turning her down so she has very low self-esteem when it comes to Blake, who is handsome and a playboy. Despite her thinking she's inferior to him, she doesn't let the opinion of others bring her soul down as she's strong, witty, and ready to make her own path.Blake has his own troubles too with him growing up as an orphan and loving his great aunt a lot but being taught that emotions--are useless. So he hides every emotion behind sarcasm. (view spoiler)[I really liked the angst and tension between these two as both are so scared to let each other know that the feelings are real now as they don't want to get rejected. Emma, confused and saddened that Blake may not ever love her, decides it's best to go forward with her pursuit to marry her long-time crush, Benedict.The reason why this is not a perfect book is because it gets a little bit dramatic towards the end with the involvement of her mom and her friends who stick their toes in her fake relationship. It ends up making him disappointed and not wanting to pursue something but she's able to win him back in the end. (hide spoiler)]

3.5☆☆☆☆This was a delightful book. I enjoyed the heroine quite a lot and the Hero was refreshing as well. A smart and cocky Rake that is caught up by love.There were some funny moments and some hot stuff happening but... the writing style was a bit messy for my taste. Another downside was the fact that this was quite the insta love happening in a week or two, which is unlikely to be "real love" but "real lust". Nevertheless, I can believe this couple could stand the pass of time, they were both smart, weren't awkward with eachother and I'm sure at least they won't get bored together. It would've been wonderful to see a bit more of Blake, he was such a complex character and his potential was quite wasted from my pov. He was made to seem like a one dimensional character but there was so much depth that was left unexplored. Too bad.Emma was very brave for a girl in that period, she was quite between two "loves" (at least I see a heroine in this situation and not only the hero) and we can see her struggle to make the right choice. I liked her wit but she, as well lacked some depth and we could have used seeing more of her and Blake. I kinda feel that the author opened a lot of "doors" regarding the main characters personality, experience and wants but those were just let flat, were present and that was it. I wanted to see more, where it led, how they helped eachother to grow etc.All in all I liked it against all the odds but I won't be reading the rest of the series, at least not anytime soon .

I won't lie, I almost labeled this one as a DNF. I wasn't the biggest fan of the beginning. Both characters were kind of annoying and I wasn't really digging the way the scenes kept switching back and forth. But I kept reading because I usually love Maya Rodale's work and I am so glad that I did. Once I got to the halfway point I just couldn't put this book down. I loved the banter and humor between Blake and Emma and I found myself really falling for Blake. Once he became aware of his feelings for Emma I loved watching how he dealt with everything. I think what I liked most about these two characters was their intelligence and their sly sense of humor. I really learned to love these two. I can't wait to read more.

I adored this book. Clever and fun!!

This book is ridiculously fun.Now. Let's get this out of the way: for people who are sticklers for historical accuracy, skip it. The Fortune Games are such a leap that you'll probably never get past it.For people who just like a good story, though, and don't particularly care about genre rules... it's a hell of a lot of fun. I loved the characters, the wit, the banter, the twists and turns and grand gestures. I was barely able to put this book down to go to work, because it was so engrossing.So incredibly much fun.

This will go down as one of my favorite romances. I loved the two main characters but I also loved Aunt Agatha—she was so fantastic! Loved the banter and the romantic gestures. So glad I gave this author a try!!

Utterly romantic story of a wallflower, Lady Emma 'Least Likely to Misbehave' and how London's most notorious rogue, the Duke of Ashbrooke falls for her. I enjoyed how Emma refused to fall to the Ashbrooke Effect but finds herself unable to stop thinking about him...or kissing him. Her lack of confidence in herself was a bit frustrating but Ashbrooke strives to help her see who she truly is, how he sees her (some very romantic gestures happen). We also see more to Ashbrooke than the rogue...he is deeply attached to eccentric aunt and has a deep desire to have his mathematical machine be produced. I was a bit unsure about the contemporary tie in Maya Rodale has for this new series but now I am very excited to read it as well as the next historicals featuring the other two wallflowers we are introduced to in this book! Really enjoyed this one! It was fun (laughed quite a bit at the banter), sexy (Ashbrooke seems to just want one kiss...often) and swoon-worthy romantic. (Though I did wonder where the chaperone was during a house party). 4 1/2 stars