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A review by prudence_aubergine
Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas
5.0
4.5/5
This was very different in tone from 'Devil in Winter', but I still LOVED it!! Simon Hunt can GET. IT.
I started this series with book three ('Devil in Winter') and loved it, so I decided to continue on by starting at the beginning. Here we meet our four wallflowers: Annabelle, Lillian, Evie, and Daisy.
This story follows Annabelle, a woman of the peerage with no dowry, who is desperately seeking a husband to help support herself and her family. It's a pretty difficult task as all the men pass her by because of her lack of wealth- everyone except for Simon Hunt, that is. Simon is not noble nor is he a gentleman; he is a self-made man who started off working for his father, a butcher, and who made smart investments along the way to acquire the massive amount of wealth he now has. But Annabelle can't stand him! She refuses to marry him (even if he were the marrying kind), and she absolutely cannot fathom becoming his mistress. So what's a girl to do? Find and marry the richest man around, obviously. Too bad that just so happens to be none other than Simon.
Oddly enough, even though this book is clearly older than the third book, this felt more contemporary in its writing style. I loved the women's friendship and their banter- Lillian and Daisy are sisters and they were freaking hilarious! They made me miss my siblings and the way we teased each other growing up. I loved that they all had actual personalities and adequate 'screen time' and not just enough to set them up for their own books later on in the series. (Evie had the least amount, but it makes sense with her story - I've already read it, so I know- and I'm sure that will change in the next book.)
Simon, like I said earlier, can get it. He was a freaking DREAM. He had so many amazing lines, I don't know how Annabelle didn't fall for him right away. She's clearly stronger than I am! He was caring, daring, and I can't think of another word that rhymes but HE WAS GREAT. He was the poster boy for playing the long con- except his 'con' was actually not a con, but just incredible self-confidence and faith that they would be together. Just... wow.
Annabelle had real family problems to deal with, and I appreciated that she had a good head on her shoulders. She was sensible and mature and I was rooting for her from the beginning.
This book had way less steam than 'Devil in Winter', but I still couldn't put it down! Steaminess doesn't usually make or break a book for me, but I just had an expectation because of the other book of hers I'd read. However, what was there was lovely.
Just like 'Devil in Winter', I ate this shit up. On to the next Wallflowers book!
This was very different in tone from 'Devil in Winter', but I still LOVED it!! Simon Hunt can GET. IT.
I started this series with book three ('Devil in Winter') and loved it, so I decided to continue on by starting at the beginning. Here we meet our four wallflowers: Annabelle, Lillian, Evie, and Daisy.
This story follows Annabelle, a woman of the peerage with no dowry, who is desperately seeking a husband to help support herself and her family. It's a pretty difficult task as all the men pass her by because of her lack of wealth- everyone except for Simon Hunt, that is. Simon is not noble nor is he a gentleman; he is a self-made man who started off working for his father, a butcher, and who made smart investments along the way to acquire the massive amount of wealth he now has. But Annabelle can't stand him! She refuses to marry him (even if he were the marrying kind), and she absolutely cannot fathom becoming his mistress. So what's a girl to do? Find and marry the richest man around, obviously. Too bad that just so happens to be none other than Simon.
Oddly enough, even though this book is clearly older than the third book, this felt more contemporary in its writing style. I loved the women's friendship and their banter- Lillian and Daisy are sisters and they were freaking hilarious! They made me miss my siblings and the way we teased each other growing up. I loved that they all had actual personalities and adequate 'screen time' and not just enough to set them up for their own books later on in the series. (Evie had the least amount, but it makes sense with her story - I've already read it, so I know- and I'm sure that will change in the next book.)
Simon, like I said earlier, can get it. He was a freaking DREAM. He had so many amazing lines, I don't know how Annabelle didn't fall for him right away. She's clearly stronger than I am! He was caring, daring, and I can't think of another word that rhymes but HE WAS GREAT. He was the poster boy for playing the long con- except his 'con' was actually not a con, but just incredible self-confidence and faith that they would be together. Just... wow.
Annabelle had real family problems to deal with, and I appreciated that she had a good head on her shoulders. She was sensible and mature and I was rooting for her from the beginning.
This book had way less steam than 'Devil in Winter', but I still couldn't put it down! Steaminess doesn't usually make or break a book for me, but I just had an expectation because of the other book of hers I'd read. However, what was there was lovely.
Spoiler
My only real complaint with this book is the way the plot/conflict was structured towards the last third of the book. It seemed that the conflict was finding a husband, but it was really something else, so once she and Simon were married and we still had like 25% to go, I was really confused as to what the conflict could possibly be. Everything was fine in the end, but I did think it was a bit of an odd choice to structure the story this way.Just like 'Devil in Winter', I ate this shit up. On to the next Wallflowers book!