A Wallflower Christmas [Mass Market Paperback]

In order to secure an interest in his father's company Rafe Bowman, eldest brother of Lillian and Daisy, has come to England for a Christmas holiday to meet the English lady his social climbing parents want him to wed. The independently wealthy Wall Street mogul is a typical American -brash, crude and downright improper. And its Miss Hannah Applegate's opinion that the brutish rogue would never make as acceptable husband for her gentle and beautiful charge. He's entirely too outspoken, direct and has no manners. So the stubborn companion blocks all his efforts in courtship. But Rafe is up for the challenge and no managing miss, no matter how tempting and beguiling she may be, is going to get in the way of his financial goals. And soon Hannah realizes that she might have been in fact wrong about Rafe. Beneath his uncivilized exterior lies a lonely and wounded child looking for happiness. Much to her dismay Hannah is falling in love with this imperfect man. But this handsome enigmatic man could never want a poor relation with no social ties such as herself, especially if it meant forfeiting his stakes in his father's company. Or could he?

After highly anticipating The Wallflower Christmas, I'm both happy and disappointed with the results. The book itself is *extremely short* merely 210 pages. So the romance, while excellent, reads more like those shorter anthology books (multiple stories by different authors) rather than a full blown historical romance. And while there's fair development of the delicious lovable rogue Rafe's character, Hannah's is sadly underdone. For example we find out barley anything about her family background. Happily though their romance is filled with the trademark Kleypas sexual tension with plenty of swoon worthy scenes. As far as the Wallflowers are concerned there are two very good parts with Sebastian & Evie The Devil in Winter (The Wallflowers, Book 3) and Marcus & Lillian It Happened One Autumn (The Wallflowers, Book 2), but they are very short (only a few pages each :( ). And Simon and Matthew might as well have been statues for all the attention they get.

So while I enjoyed the romance and the Wallflower update (technically not an update since the book takes place a few months after Daisy's book and well before Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, Book 1)) I hesitate to recommend this due to the steep price. Her novels normally run about 1/2 the price and this is nowhere near the caliber of novel Kleypas usually writes. And I feel like the publishers counted on the fact that the readers would fork over extra just to read updates about their beloved characters. OK -you can make me pay more BUT give me more! Thats just not the case here.

Really a nice Christmas romance with a small treat for die-hard Sebastian and Marcus fans. And although its a very good short romance and frankly anything with Sebastian (*sigh*) is a keeper IMHO, I suggest checking this one out throughly at the bookstore or library before you buy.

The reading order of Wallflower and Hathaway books-
Secrets of a Summer Night (The Wallflowers, Book 1)
It Happened One Autumn (The Wallflowers, Book 2)
The Devil in Winter (The Wallflowers, Book 3)
Scandal in Spring (The Wallflowers, Book 4)
A Wallflower Christmas
Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, Book 1)
Seduce Me at Sunrise (The Hathaways, Book 2)

It's Christmas in London and Hannah Appleton has been given the task of finding out whether the brash American, Rafe Bowman, will be a suitable match for her charge, Lady Natalie. What she finds is a ruggedly sexy, outspoken man with shockingly American ways who irks her in a way no man has before.

In order to gain his inheritance in his father's company, Rafe Bowman must marry the blue blooded and very proper Lady Natalie. Although pretty and kind, it's her chaperone Hannah that draws Rafe's eye. At a house party at Stony Cross Park the Wallflowers play matchmaker with some unexpected consequences that will make it a Christmas to remember.

It pains me to have to only give a Lisa Kleypas book 3 stars but there are a few problems that have stopped this book being nearly as good as her other historical books.

Firstly, I thoroughly enjoyed the Wallflower books and was anticipating hearing about how all the previous characters had progressed. There was a nice little bit about Evie and Sebastian (Devil in Winter) and another about Lillian and Marcus (It Happened One Autumn) but barely anything about Daisy and Matthew (Scandal in Spring) or Annabel and Simon (Secrets of a Summer Night). This is disappointing as with the book being so short, I feel another couple of sections could easily have been added, making it more the size of a normal romance.

The story of Rafe and Hannah was sweet but slightly underdeveloped. I didn't feel I ever got to know either character particularly well and I was surprised when the declarations of love came as I honestly thought they were too soon to be believable. There was still lots of excellent romance and good interactions between the pair.

If I'm honest, I don't really think that this book is worth the high, hardback price. It was a nice diversion and I always enjoy catching up on well-loved characters but overall it did leave me feeling slightly dissatisfied. Unfortunately only 3 stars.

Lisa Kleypas is definitely one of my 'must read authors'; her contemporary Friday Harbour series has already found a special place in my heart. However, this was the first historical romance I had read by her. A Wallflower Christmas is the fifth and final book in the Wallflower series set around a group of young ladies searching for true love in a Victorian London. As you can see, I read the fifth book in the series and in no way did I feel I needed to read the other four to enjoy this series. Having said that by the time I had finished this book, it made me want to go back and read the previous four as I truly enjoyed this one, unleashing a new love in historical romance within me.
I would describe this book as a Victorian Christmas Cinderella, as the poor girl gets her Prince. Hannah is sweet, innocent and walked over by the superior members of her family, she cannot see herself rising very far in society and has resigned herself to a fairly decent marriage without love. Until she meets her cousin's betrothed, hot womanising, American stud Rafe, who needs an English wife to please his father, who will disinherit him if he doesn't marry into aristocracy. Rafe has other ideas of how he would like to live his life and I loved watching him pursue his choice of bride. He is the all American bad boy!
The four main women from the previous books all appear in this one and as you read on you realise they have happily moved on with their lives after finding the loves of their lives. Their husbands may be upper class members of society, but their is nothing cold about them, they are all full of heat and testorone (one of the main reasons I now want to go back and read the rest of the series!) I really liked all the Wallflowers straight away, these were not women to be walked over - head strong and determined, they would definitely have stood out in Victorian society.
The love is a little bit too instant for most people's liking, but hell I didn't give a damn!
The book is full of snippets of how the Victorian's celebrated Christmas which I found adorable and really added to the authenticity of this period drama. I would have loved to live during those times when they all came together for a couple of weeks and celebrated Christmas as a huge group, flitting off to balls and midnight sleigh rides. It was just so wonderfully written and absorbing. *sighs*
This book is rather steamy in parts but it fitted the story so well. Rafe is devilishly gorgeous , you will instantly fall for his boyish charms. Hannah glows with innocence which just adds to her beauty. A gorgeous festive book, that will make you glow inside.