Scandal in Spring, by Lisa Kleypas
Jul 31
2006
Scandal in Spring isn’t Lisa Kleypas’s Best Book Ever, but (like everything she writes) it’s highly entertaining. It has more humor than I’ve seen in her earlier novels, the romance is enjoyable, and it’s a satisfying conclusion to the "Wallflowers" quartet.
In the three previous novels in this series, Annabelle Peyton, Lillian Bowman, and Evangeline Jenner have overcome various social disadvantages and made successful marriages. Unfortunately, despite three years of husband-hunting, Lillian’s sister Daisy remains unwed, and now her father has given her an ultimatum: she has one month to wrestle a proposal out of someone, or he’s going to marry her off to his protégé, Matthew Swift.
In her last book, The Devil in Winter, Kleypas linked Daisy with another male character, and I was surprised to discover that he wasn’t the hero of this book—it’s rare for a historical romance heroine to experience sexual interest in someone other than her eventual spouse. Instead, Daisy is paired off with Swift, a calculating young man with a take-no-prisoners attitude. Daisy has known about (and despised) Swift’s relentless ambition for years, so when he refuses to marry her, despite her lavish dowry, she’s compelled to find out to find the reason why.
The most gratifying parts of this book were the scenes featuring Annabelle, Evie, Lillian, and Daisy. One of my favorite aspects of this series has been following the deepening friendship between the four heroines, and this novel highlights their relationship. At the beginning of Scandal in Spring, Annabelle has an infant daughter and Lillian is heavily pregnant, and I found watching Daisy evaluating her budding romance with Swift in the light of her friends’ marriages to be a pleasantly realistic touch.
This book wasn’t perfect. It was tough to get a clear sense of Swift’s character, and we’ve seen some of these plot bunnies before. But, minor complaints aside, this is yet another excellent book from Kleypas, who has produced a steady stream of them. Really, the only downside to reading her novels is how terrible they make the rest of the genre look in comparison—it’s depressingly obvious that Kleypas could probably out-write most of today’s historical romance novelists in her sleep.
In the three previous novels in this series, Annabelle Peyton, Lillian Bowman, and Evangeline Jenner have overcome various social disadvantages and made successful marriages. Unfortunately, despite three years of husband-hunting, Lillian’s sister Daisy remains unwed, and now her father has given her an ultimatum: she has one month to wrestle a proposal out of someone, or he’s going to marry her off to his protégé, Matthew Swift.
In her last book, The Devil in Winter, Kleypas linked Daisy with another male character, and I was surprised to discover that he wasn’t the hero of this book—it’s rare for a historical romance heroine to experience sexual interest in someone other than her eventual spouse. Instead, Daisy is paired off with Swift, a calculating young man with a take-no-prisoners attitude. Daisy has known about (and despised) Swift’s relentless ambition for years, so when he refuses to marry her, despite her lavish dowry, she’s compelled to find out to find the reason why.
The most gratifying parts of this book were the scenes featuring Annabelle, Evie, Lillian, and Daisy. One of my favorite aspects of this series has been following the deepening friendship between the four heroines, and this novel highlights their relationship. At the beginning of Scandal in Spring, Annabelle has an infant daughter and Lillian is heavily pregnant, and I found watching Daisy evaluating her budding romance with Swift in the light of her friends’ marriages to be a pleasantly realistic touch.
This book wasn’t perfect. It was tough to get a clear sense of Swift’s character, and we’ve seen some of these plot bunnies before. But, minor complaints aside, this is yet another excellent book from Kleypas, who has produced a steady stream of them. Really, the only downside to reading her novels is how terrible they make the rest of the genre look in comparison—it’s depressingly obvious that Kleypas could probably out-write most of today’s historical romance novelists in her sleep.
Posted by: Julia, Last edit by: Julianka
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