Review - Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean

Do you ever read a book and think, "that was a good book," then later go back and read it again and realize you were wrong, and it's actually amazing? Because that's exactly what I did with Wicked and the Wallflower, by Sarah MacLean.

When the Bareknuckle Bastards were brought up in Day of the Duchess (another amazing read), they seemed like bullies and I distinctly remember not being that excited to read their books, convinced that they couldn't be compassionate protagonists. Boy, am I glad to be wrong!

This book, Wicked and the Wallflower, centers on Devil, one of the kings of Covent Garden. Together with his brother and sister, Devil runs a highly successful smuggling business while at the same time making their corner of Covent Garden a safer, happier place for all.

Through a bit of highly intriguing backstory, Devil lands at the Mayfair mansion of the Duke of Marwick, eager to send him a message. There he meets Lady Felicity Faircloth, once a darling of the ton, now an aging spinster wallflower. When she declares to the ton's biggest gossips that she is affianced to the Duke of Marwick (who she in fact has never met), she's sure that she is ruined. Devil, however, offers to arrange the impossible by making it true.

I truly don't know how MacLean is able to create such vivid, three-dimensional characters as are in this book, and able to weave them together so seamlessly that their not being together seems incomprehensible. This story is full of all the right moments - sweet, playful, steamy, angsty, and everything in between.

Seriously, go read this book.

5 of 5 stars