A review by heathermollauthor
How to Woo a Wallflower, by Virginia Heath
3.0
I wanted to review this because I’ve never read a harlequin. I know. All the regency romance and not one harlequin. But I liked this author’s Merriwell sisters series, so I figured this was a safe bet.
Jasper, the Earl of Beaufort, hasn’t seen Lady Harriet Fitzroy, his best friend’s sister, since before her life-changing riding accident. Hattie is now disabled and walks with pain and with a limp. Most people disapprove of Jasper’s scandalous past and his Reprobate’s Club, even though he’s clawed his way out of his family’s debt with his business. He’s recently found himself the guardian of his former mistress’s child.
Hattie is direct but rambles when she’s nervous and knows she has a life to live after her accident, but her justifiable feelings of exclusion were well represented. She’s a fully fledged character. Jasper is struggling between his old ways and his new path and how people view him. He’s not as well developed but that’s only by comparison to Hattie.
It’s nice seeing disability rep in a historical, especially with a female character. It’s usually the male MC who’s injured in a war and now disabled. Hattie used humor to deflect pity and is honest about her good and bad moments.
The language is not accurate and the period’s social setting is not any better. The pacing was a little slow, even for a slow burn. There’s a lot of telling in certain sections—including a supposedly romantic letter at the end that we never see—and the misunderstanding too drawn out for two people who had talked out everything else so well.
I received an arc from NetGalley
Jasper, the Earl of Beaufort, hasn’t seen Lady Harriet Fitzroy, his best friend’s sister, since before her life-changing riding accident. Hattie is now disabled and walks with pain and with a limp. Most people disapprove of Jasper’s scandalous past and his Reprobate’s Club, even though he’s clawed his way out of his family’s debt with his business. He’s recently found himself the guardian of his former mistress’s child.
Hattie is direct but rambles when she’s nervous and knows she has a life to live after her accident, but her justifiable feelings of exclusion were well represented. She’s a fully fledged character. Jasper is struggling between his old ways and his new path and how people view him. He’s not as well developed but that’s only by comparison to Hattie.
It’s nice seeing disability rep in a historical, especially with a female character. It’s usually the male MC who’s injured in a war and now disabled. Hattie used humor to deflect pity and is honest about her good and bad moments.
The language is not accurate and the period’s social setting is not any better. The pacing was a little slow, even for a slow burn. There’s a lot of telling in certain sections—including a supposedly romantic letter at the end that we never see—and the misunderstanding too drawn out for two people who had talked out everything else so well.
I received an arc from NetGalley