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A Wallflower Christmas
By Lisa Kleypas

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The Wallflowers are four young ladies in London who banded together in their wild and wickedly wonderful searches for true love. Now happily married, they join together once again to help one of the world’s most notorious rogues realize that happiness might be right under the mistletoe.…

It’s Christmastime in London and Rafe Bowman has arrived from America for his arranged meeting with Natalie Blandford, the very proper and beautiful daughter of Lady and Lord Blandford. His chiseled good looks and imposing physique are sure to impress the lady in waiting and, if it weren’t for his shocking American ways and wild reputation, her hand would already be guaranteed. Before the courtship can begin, Rafe realizes he must learn the rules of London society. But when four former Wallflowers try their hand at matchmaking, no one knows what will happen. And winning a bride turns out to be more complicated than Rafe Bowman anticipated, especially for a man accustomed to getting anything he wants. However, Christmas works in the most unexpected ways, changing a cynic to a romantic and inspiring passion in the most timid of hearts.

A Wallflower Christmas takes a trip to Victorian London, under the mistletoe, and on a journey of the heart. With her trademark charm, sensuality, and unforgettable characters, there’s no one like Lisa Kleypas to make you believe in the magic of Christmas.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #10205 in Books
Published on: 2008-10-14
Released on: 2008-10-14
Original language: English
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
224 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
American cad Rafe Bowman goes bride shopping in London and must choose between love and money in Kleypas's coy Christmas romance. Rafe is wealthy in his own right, but his grossly wealthy father demands he marry the uninteresting Lady Natalie. Rafe, naturally, falls in love with someone else: Natalie's commoner cousin, Hannah. As his courtship of Natalie progresses, Rafe keeps returning to Hannah, who rejects his courtship because she thinks he is destined to marry her cousin. As Christmas draws closer, Rafe must choose between the woman he is falling in love with and his father's fortune. Throughout, veteran romancier Kleypas gracefully balances Regency mores, light humor and a dash of Christmas magic, and even if Rafe and Hannah hew too closely to genre archetypes, the book passes muster as a holiday bonbon. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Lisa Kleypas is the RITA Award--winning author of twenty novels. Her books have been published in fourteen languages and are bestsellers all over the world. She lives in Washington State with her husband and two children. Visit www.lisakleypas.com.

PROLOGUE

Once there were four young ladies who sat at the side of every ball, soiree, and party during the London season. Waiting night after night in a row of chairs, the wall- flowers eventually struck up a conversation. They realized that although they were in competition for the same group of gentlemen, there was more to be gained from being friends rather than adversaries. And even more than that, they liked one another. They decided to band together to find husbands, starting with the oldest, Annabelle, and working down to the youngest, Daisy.

Annabelle was unquestionably the most beautiful wallflower, but she was virtually penniless, which put her at the greatest disadvantage. Although most London

bachelors hoped for a wife with a pretty face, they usually settled for one with a handsome dowry.

Evie was unconventionally attractive, with flaming hair and abundant freckles. It was well- known that someday she would inherit a fortune from her father. However, her father was a common- born ex- boxer who owned a gambling club, and such a disreputable background was a difficult obstacle for a young lady to surmount. Even worse, Evie was cripplingly shy and had a stammer. Any man who tried to talk to her would later describe the encounter as an act of torture.

Lillian and Daisy were sisters from New York. Their family, the Bowmans, were astonishingly, vulgarly, almost unimaginably wealthy, having made their fortune with a soap manufacturing business. They had no good blood, no manners, and no social patrons. Lillian was a fiercely loving friend, but also strong- willed and bossy. And Daisy was a dreamer who often fretted that real life was never quite as interesting as the novels she read so voraciously.

As the wallflowers helped one another navigate the perils of London society, and consoled and supported one another through very real dangers, sorrows, and joys, they each found a husband, and no one referred to them as wallflowers anymore.

In every social season, however, there was no shortage of new wallflowers. (Then, as now, there were always girls who were overlooked and ignored by gentlemen who really should have known better.)

But then there was the Christmas when Rafe Bowman, Lillian and Daisy’s oldest brother, came to En gland. After that, life for one London wallflower would never be the same. . . .

Excerpted from A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas

Published in 2008 by St. Martin's Press

All rights reserved. This work is protected under copyright laws and reproduction is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce the material in any manner or medium must be secured from the Publisher.

Customer Reviews

A nice Wallflower series update plus an extra new romance -but at a price
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 $8 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)

Ok if you are a Kleypas fan - Skip if you are not!
I've enjoyed the Lisa Kleypas "Wallflower" series. I think because I have enjoyed following the stories of the women, this book became an extension of characters already known and was - therefore - just ok. Felt very much like a rush to get a Holiday story out and quality in storytelling suffered for it.

Rafe Bowman comes from the rough and tumble Americas to win the hand of titled woman (Natalie Blandford) and secure a place for him in his family fortune. Hannah (Natalie's cousin) is absolutely certain this is not a proper man for Natalie. And so begins the hunt toward truth.... He is not the man for Natalie, but perhaps he is the man for someone else. Question is... will either of them realize it in time.

It is an easy ready. It is good if you've read the rest of the wallflower series. Other than that.... I found myself disappointed at the way this book felt like it was phoned in for Christmas.

All because of a tea cup
While a little overly descriptive and flowery at the beginning, this book really got rolling the further you read. While I haven't read the other books in this series, Secrets of a Summer Night (The Wallflowers, Book 1), I was able to enjoy this installment once I got to know Hannah and Rafe. In one early scene the author actually had me laugh out loud while reading, which is a rare thing. I wish the book was longer, allowing for the characters to be fleshed out more but I did enjoy the tidbits of information on when & where Christmas traditions started in England and by whom.