Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - It Happened One Autumn

It Happened One Autumn is book two in the Wallflowers series and takes place just a few weeks after the epilogue of book one. Having met first Marcus in the Bow Street Runners series and knowing Marcus and Lillian had met in the first of this series, the two do not care for one another. Marcus finds her as a brash American without any manners and Lillian thinks Marcus is dull.

I had a lot of hope for this one having Marcus built up in several previous books and wanting him to find his match. Which he does here and I did like them both but I didn’t like him more for having read his story. There is a bit of a love triangle when Sebastian St. Vincent is added to the mix and can see why so many are charmed with him. Lillian is attracted to both but only has feelings for Marcus but he’s too stubborn to admit to them. I didn’t quite get why marrying an American took so much for Marcus to get over seeing as both of his sisters had and there was no love lost between his mother and memory of his late father - that would’ve despised the notion.

There are three open door encounters.

I listened to the edited version of this book and have an idea of what scenes were removed/re-written. Even trying to not be biased by knowing what was the original intent of this book I felt there so much potential for this book and it ended up falling flat to me.

A side note on the audio: there was a continuous faint beeping sound in the background that finally seemed to have gone away about a 1/3 of the way through.

Content Warnings

buttermellow's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious

3.0

Content Warnings

bingley's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

(240327) Well-realized characters, and an unexpected falling action before resolution! And again, it's that thing where the 2 MCs don't see how perfect they fit each other, but everyone around them does XD.

TLDR: Spirited fighters that fight each other and then fight FOR each other.

When Author started pushing Lillian and St. Vincent together more and more, I was surprised bc I know who St. Vincent ends up with in the other books. I also thought... how is Author gonna redeem him from this callous

kidnapping of the fiance of your CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND

??? That's definitely extreme, and I'm curious to see whether Marcus will try to maintain his friendship, and how...

I'm assuming this is technically an "enemies to lovers", which isn't my favorite trope, but Marcus and Lillian's story is delightful, funny, surprising, and not annoying. The trope annoys me when done superficially, with unrealistic reasons why they can't be together/hate each other, but Lillian-Marcus actually have chemistry and banter that isn't always 24/7 antagonistic. There's diff facets to their relationship with each other, and that's why it works and doesn't tire.

POV: dual, third person
SPICE: Even outside, the library, ooh lala. Also...is this dubcon????? 1st instance, yes. 2nd instance... she's drunk but she says yes, but...! she's drunk. (I was surprised Author chose this.)
CAST OF CHARACTERS: Author has an extended world in her books where characters from one book show up/are related to characters from another, and it totally took me a minute to realize this was the Marcus from Aline-Mckenna's story lmao.
ENDING DECLARATIONS: I swear, Author knows how to write the best ending declarations of love. They feel so genuine, emotional, tender, and heartbreaking/warming. Marcus' is almost as good as Simon's.

Content Warnings

astound's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was such a compelling read. It was incredibly fast-paced and gripping. At times, I feared for the characters, but the story was so sweet and wonderful. So far, this is my favorite Wallflowers couple.

Content Warnings

hollsyy's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

Content Warnings

annahamburger's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Content Warnings

More...