Rachel Reads & Reviews

For those who want writers to be romanced as well as duchesses and wallflowers, this one’s for you.

1. Temptations of a Wallflower: This was my top book because I related to Lady Sarah so much as a writer. Shy, dreamy, always concocting exciting scenarios in my head, but unable to put them into action. Also always thinking of how to put something from life into the story. Yeah, I got Lady Sarah and I’m sure many romance readers related to her too as she dives into her erotic psyudenom as the Lady of Dubious Quality. Her excerpts were top-notch. Yet even though she was an erotic novelist, her relationship with the vicar, Jeremy, was very wholesome. They got to learn to enjoy sex together. She sees how combining it with someone you love makes missionary even more exciting than doing it outdoors or whatever scenario she could come up with (don’t worry, there are still creative scenarios like when they tried old-timey role play). Plus I couldn’t help, but smile too when she realizes Jeremy had been reading her novels to get sex tips. Jeremy begins to question his morality-minded father’s creeds on degeneracy when he sees how erotic novels help to normalize sex as a place of pleasure for a couple. The way he stands up for her and her writing was just so sweet. Same when she stood up to her father for marrying Jeremy even though he was only the third son. Just the best book out of the bunch.

1. Forever Your Earl: A fun romp through the pleasure dens of London, I enjoyed seeing the dissolute side combined with the pathos and urgency in Daniel’s mission to find his friend. It lightly tackles the topic of PTSD and how horrible people handled it back then, causing tremendous guilt in Daniel for missing the signs. Eleanor’s pride in her gossip column was well-done too, and I liked how she stood up to his snobbery that she could be doing something better with her talent. This is what she likes and has complete control of her newspaper, and she should be proud of it. Oh, and the slowburn romance worked too.
2. Scandal Takes the Stage: While this was a very interesting book that tackles writer’s block and the anxiety of making a good sequel (with a whole theater of performers depending on you or else you’re all out of a job), I felt the romance between Maggie and Cameron was more by the numbers. Starting from instalove on Cameron’s part to the disdain Maggie has towards all aristos because of her former lover is a common enough backstory. The invitation Cameron issues of having her stay at his house to get writing inspiration for her rakes was like a rehash of Eleanor’s story. I didn’t feel the extra spark that made them distinct or unique. Although the fencing foreplay was very good.