THE WICKED WALLFLOWER
Maya Rodale
Avon Publishing
ISBN# 978-0-06-223114-7
November 2013
Historical Romance

A fun read about two people who make the most of a situation neither had anticipated. When Lady Emma Avery, London's most boring and least likely to do anything, suddenly finds herself engaged to the Duke of Ashbrooke by accident, she figures her future as anything but a laughing stock is finished. Yet, she is surprised to discover that the Duke actually accepts this and gets her to agree to play along. For Lady Emma, though, she wants to be engaged to the man she loves, Benedict, who for the past several years has failed to come up to scratch. He needs an heiress and Lady Emma is definitely not one of those. The Duke, Blake, has a proposition for her: pretend to be engaged so that he can attend his aunt's famous Fortune Games - a yearly event that has the winner declared her sole heir - if she happens to pass away that year. This year might be the last and the winner will take all. If Emma agrees and they win, Blake will split the money - she can have her winnings and perhaps Benedict can marry her after all! She agrees. Blake, even though he starts out using Emma as a means to an end, finds himself slowly drawn to her. He can't possible fall in love with her, but what if he does? How can he compete for her heart when it's already engaged elsewhere?

Enjoyable banter, especially with Blake's feisty old aunt, keep this romance lively and quick. Blake did some self-studying and changed during this book, which was great to read. Emma, however, was the only weak link, as she continually fought against her feelings for Blake, even to the point of ....well, don't want to give away any spoilers, but suffice to say she rather got on my nerves. All in all, a lovely book, minus the heroine (at times).

Rating: 4
Reviewed by: Jennifer Jones