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So, I decided to try something new with this book – I didn’t read the synopsis before getting started.
But I got a glimpse of the author’s bio and found out that she’s actually a medieval historian.
What I love about academics writing romance novels is that their books are usually very historically accurate, and they bring a sort of academic flair to the table that is always so alluring.
We get this in spades in this lovely historical romp about two people finding home with each other.
Teddy and Sylvia are two people who essentially have no family.
For Teddy, he has no idea who his father is, so he’s sort of floating through life. For Sylvia, she was plucked from Antigua by her father – a man who had a brief affair with her mother before abandoning them.
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When he brought her to London, he effectively abandoned her again when he realized his legal wife wouldn’t tolerate her presence.
She was then sent to the Wallflower Academy, which – just as the name implies – is a school where wallflowers are trained in the art of motherhood and taught how to survive in English polite society.
But Sylvia isn’t a wallflower, no matter how you twist it. She has tried to escape so many times, and it’s during one of her escape attempts that she meets Teddy – and mistakenly assumes he is a duke.
I won’t give too many details so I don’t spoil the rest of the story, but essentially, both of them have their own goals. Teddy wants to learn more about his heritage, while Sylvia wants to find a way to navigate society without the proprietress of the Wallflower Academy selling her off.
Her ultimate goal is to get back to Antigua and reunite with her mother. So, they decide to start a fake relationship, and in the process, their love develops.
If I’m being honest, I was a little hesitant about the storyline when it first started unfolding. This is probably the opposite of what you’d expect because normally, I’d be excited.
But based on my recent reads, I was just a little worried about where it was going – though, in the end, this wasn’t really an issue.
What was an issue for me, though, was Sylvia. I know we all say we want characters who feel real, who have flaws, and who actually grow over the course of the story. But I’ll say right now – I do not want an unlikeable main character, and Sylvia was exactly that.
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She isn’t a wallflower, but she looks down on people a lot, and I absolutely couldn’t stand it. The way she talks about other wallflowers – including her own friends – the way she’s deliberately mean, and the way she’s so impulsive just didn’t sit right with me.
Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because at the end of the day, the goal of a book is to evoke emotions in the reader, and the author definitely succeeded in that. So, bravo.
I also appreciate that this author doesn’t rely on misunderstandings to drive the plot forward. Every misunderstanding, every lie, and every miscommunication gets straightened out early on, so our characters truly know each other in ways others don’t. That’s what makes their romance feel so genuine – they truly see each other.
At the beginning, I genuinely thought this was an opposites-attract romance. Sylvia is quite the chatterbox, while Teddy is very reserved. She doesn’t care about social etiquette, while he wants to be proper and do the right thing.
He wants to protect her, but by the time they get comfortable with each other, it’s almost as though he emerges from his shell. You guys, he literally becomes a chatterbox, and I loved it.
It was so clear that he had grown comfortable with his identity, himself, and the love he found with Sylvia, and that was just the most beautiful thing ever.
I’ll wrap up this review by saying that this was actually a very beautiful book.
My only complaint is that I just don’t like Sylvia. Even by the end, she and Teddy were a perfect fit, but I don’t know if I’d be friends with her in real life.
That said, this book has one of the loveliest historical romance covers I’ve seen in a long time. I’ve noticed a trend where every book cover is animated now, and I don’t think I’m on board with that.
I love those good old-fashioned bodice-ripper historical romance covers, and in fact, those are the books I’ve been reading recently.
Anyway, do check out this book if you want a level-three steamy historical romance novel about two people who find home, happiness, family, and love with each other.
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