Trope Round Up: Historical Romance Books with “Wallflower” in the Title

The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare (2019)

Book 3 of the Girl Meets Duke series. Gabriel is a wealthy businessman who worked his way up from the slums and now he’s setting up house in a fancy Mayfair mansion. While he’s fixing it up, he’s irritated by his animal-loving neighbor Penelope. Somehow he’s wrangled her into rehoming all her animals, but she insists that he help her to do that. As they spend more time together, they obviously have a deep attraction for each other. Penelope is odd and spinsterly and prioritizes her care of all creatures. This book is pretty light and humorous, and there’s a parrot who constantly says inappropriate things.

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How to Be a Wallflower by Eloisa James (2022)

Historical romance, Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Would-Be Wallflowers series. Cleo is interested in being a wallflower and plans to order a drab wardrobe. When she visits a costumer, the company has been purchased by an American businessman who wants to move the company out of England. She gets into a confrontation with Jake, the businessman, and declares that she’s purchased the company instead. These two start a competition, and then strike a bargain, and then he starts to court her in earnest. It’s definitely a case of him falling first and changing all his plans, while trying to break down her defenses with her late mother’s fickle behavior and her previous fortune-hunting fiancee. Fun to read and pretty light on the drama and angst.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas (2008)

Book 5 of Wallflowers Series. Rafe Bowman (brother to Lillian and Daisy) is being matched with Lady Natalie Blandford by their collective parents. As he arrives in England to meet the lady, he is distracted by her cousin and companion, Hannah. Rafe needs to choose between the future his father has planned for him with Natalie and the desire he has for Hannah. The plot moves pretty quickly and we get glimpses of how life is faring for all our favorite Wallflowers. Short, sweet, Christmas-time story.

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Temptations of a Wallflower by Eva Leigh (2016)

Book 3 of the Wicked Quills of London series. I’m not exactly sure how these two people have met, but they each have their own secret agendas. Sarah is actually the writer of scandalous novels under the name of A Lady of Dubious Quality, and Jeremy is a vicar tasked by his family to unmask the author. She doesn’t know that he’s after her alter-ego, and he doesn’t know that she’s the writer. Except that he also secretly reads her books and uses them to help him perform more admirably in the marriage bed.

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How the Wallflower Was Won by Eva Leigh (2022)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Last Chance Scoundrels series. At the start of this book, Finn is trying to set up Dom with bluestocking Tabitha, thinking that they would make for an easy marriage-of-convenience. However, Dom is not interested in courting or marrying and Tabitha is completely intimidated by Dom anyway. Plus Finn and Tabitha are clearly drawn to each other. The problem is that Tabitha is a well-read intellectual lady trying to gain entry into a prestigious academic society, while Finn has always been berated and thought to be an imbecile. He’s not, he just has trouble reading, but he’s clever and observant. Finn thinks that he’s no match for Tabitha and is afraid that she will despise him once she finds out the truth about his intellect (or lacktherof). Tabitha is also wary of emotional entanglements because of a hurtful experience in her past, but is slowly opening up to Finn. These two are deeply guarded with their feelings and with each other, but it’s plain to everyone else that they adore each other. I loved how supportive Finn was of Tabitha and that he respected her opinion and knowledge.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean (2018)

Lady Felicity is a spinster wallflower who I guess was ruined by some sort of scandal. Devil seeks her out to set her up with a suitor that he wants revenge on. But she’s negotiates her own deal with Devil for lessons in passion while they’re together. Honestly, I don’t remember much about this story, aside from Devil having some smuggling operation related to shipping ice and that Felicity is really really good at picking locks. The overall premise of the series is interesting though, with the four children of the duke born on the same day and then where they end up as adults.

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Diary of an Accidental Wallflower by Jennifer McQuiston (2015)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Seduction Diaries series. Clare is a viscount’s daughter who is hoping to make a match with a duke’s heir this season but an accidental turn of her ankle sets her on the wallflower line at a ball. She catches the attention of a young doctor named Daniel who is curious about her shuffle and gait. It’s clear from the start that they are totally mismatched in terms of social status, but that doesn’t stop the attraction from developing as Daniel tends to Clare’s ankle over time. Daniel is also very good at managing Clare’s rambunctious younger siblings. It was nice to see the social-climbing Clare realize that her friends are horrible villains, she doesn’t really have a chance with the duke’s heir, and that Daniel is a kind, respectable, and honorable man who is deserving of love and affection.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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How to Win a Wallflower by Samara Parish (2022)

Historical romance, Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the Rebels with a Cause series. We have our duke’s sister Charlotte, who’s the younger sister of the hero from Book 2 and she’s in her like 4th Season and uninterested in any suitors. She mostly spends her time helping her brother’s political causes and charitable causes. Charlotte is the ultimate do-gooder social butterfly and clearly not the wallflower in this story. That goes to our guy John who is Charlotte’s brother’s friend who has spent the past ten years away from the London scene, working on his various scientific inventions. He’s back in town though because his older brother died, leaving him as the new viscount and in a whole a lot of debt. John needs to figure out a way to pay off all these debts, so he can go back to his very solitary lifestyle in a cabin in the woods. Charlotte’s had a crush on John for years and years, so she decides to help him with his debt problem. They need to work together and they get closer, even though our dear brother duke has already warned each person away from the other. We’ll see how that actually turns out…

Advance ebook provided by Forever Books via NetGalley.

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The Wicked Wallflower by Tracy Sumner (2022)

Pippa (a duke’s sister) has an unhealthy attraction to her brother’s friend Xander (a rogue and ex-smuggler). After running into each other enough times, they finally give in to the attraction, even though Xander is working through feelings of not being worthy and swearing off love. A fun adventure for Pippa and Xander, they just keep staring at each other and meeting up.

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