Saturday, December 27, 2008

Lisa Kleypas: Scandal in Spring

Here is my review of the fourth Wallflower novel from a couple months ago, being reposted for LK extravaganza!

Okay, I really want to do a reread of it now. ASAP.




Scandal in Spring: A
Daisy Bowman & Matthew Swift
The Wallflower series 4 (last)


“I want you to do everything you’ve ever imagined doing with me…” With those scandalous words, Daisy Bowman, the sole “Wallflowre” yet to be married, seals her fate with the last man she ever expected to tempt her.


After spending three London seasons searching for a husband, Daisy Bowman’s father has told her in no uncertain terms that she must find a husband. Now. And if Daisy can’t snare an appropriate suitor, she will marry the man he chooses – the ruthless and aloof Matthew Swift.


Daisy is horrified. A Bowman never admits defeat, and she decides to do whatever it takes to marry someone…anyone… other than Matthew. But she doesn’t count on Matthew’s unexpected charm…or the blazing sensuality that soon flares beyond both their control. And Daisy discovers that the man she has always hated just might turn out to be the man of her dreams. But right at the moment of sweet surrender, a scandalous secret is uncovered…one that could destroy both Matthew and a love more passionate and irresistible than Daisy’s wildest fantasies.


Since I’ve been proclaiming my love for Lisa Kleypas, I’ve decided to write a haiku dedicated to her.


Oh, Lisa Kleypas
Please write your novels faster
I love your stories


I should become a poet, you say? So I’ve been told my entire life. I’m kidding. But I do love 99% of Ms. Kleypas’s stories, and Scandal in Spring was a fabulous end to the Wallflower series.


Daisy is romantic. She loves to read. She is also very short. (At this point, I’m thinking I can substitute in Daisy’s name and put in Alice.) Her father is a mean hag. (What’s the male form of hag?) He orders that she marry – soon. Or else she will have to marry the self-made super-wealthy American Matthew Swift.


It can’t be too bad, right?
It isn’t, except for the fact that her father ordered her to do it.


So her lovely (but kinda naggy and kinda bossy) older sister Lillian (book 3: It Happened One Autumn) hosts a hunting/fishing/ some-sort of a cool party where lots of eligible gentlemen (and few ladies) are invited for Daisy’s choosing pleasure. It’s been three years since Daisy has last seen Matthew, and to her, he remains an awkward but ambitiously avaricious type of fellow, one who reminds her greatly of her own unpleasant father.


But when she finds out the mysterious man who has been on her mind is Matthew – her mind is opened to a world of possibilities. She and …Matthew…!


I love how Daisy and Matthew meet – it’s a bit of a tease and sigh-worthy.
I love how there is chemistry in the air between them – you can practically hear crackling.
I love how she seduces him – hot hot hot!


Spoiler:

The whole locking-the-door, dropping key-down-bodice was so hot. Seriously!! Ingenious of Daisy and something I so would not have the guts for, unfortunately.


End notes


I love how he’s loved her ever since way back when – aw!!
I love how he tries to stop himself from loving her because he’s so damn honorable. Okay, I don’t really love this, but it’s still endearing.
I love how they love each other.
I also love the little cameos of the other Wallflowers.
I don’t particularly particularly love it when the scandal explodes since it was a little predictable, but I still kind-of love it because well… I just do!


Read this book and the other Wallflower books. (Well, you might be able to skip the first because I remember not being so fond of it, but I might have to re-read it. I might have been delusional.)


The Wallflower series


  1. Secrets of a Summer Night - Annabelle
  2. It Happened One Autumn - Lillian
  3. The Devil in Winter - Evie
  4. Scandal in Spring - Daisy


Have fun reading! Cheers to good friends and great books.


5 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm going with delusional since I *heart* Annabelle and Simon in Secrets of a Summer Night. ;-) So happy to hear that you are loving LK, she does write amazing historicals.

Alice said...

I truly might be delusional!! LOL, I will really have to re-read..!!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely loved these two characters. Especially how he's loved her from the beginning, and even kept her bottun.

Sarah MacLean said...

i don't think there's a better romance than DEVIL IN WINTER, though. it was the first time I've ever actually fantasized about a fictional character. Sebastian is HAWT.

Holly said...

I have to go with DIW being THE BEST, but I thought this one was really cute, too. And you're so right about the key down the bodice thing. So hot.