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Title: Secrets of a Summer
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Published: October 13th 2009
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books
Pages: 384
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Four young ladies at the side of the ballroom make a pact to help each other find husbands . . . no matter what it takes
Proud and beautiful Annabelle Peyton could have her pick of suitors—if only she had a dowry. Her family is on the brink of disaster, and the only way Annabelle can save them is to marry a wealthy man. Unfortunately her most persistent admirer is the brash Simon Hunt, a handsome and ambitious entrepreneur who wants her as his mistress.
Annabelle is determined to resist Simon's wicked propositions, but she can't deny her attraction to the boldly seductive rogue, any more than he can resist the challenge she presents. As they try to outmaneuver each other, they find themselves surrendering to a love more powerful than they could have ever imagined. But fate may have other plans—and it will take all of Annabelle's courage to face a peril that could destroy everything she holds dear.
My Review:
''I spent most of my youth hauling sides of beef and pork to my father's shop. Carrying you is far more enjoyable."
"How sweet," Annabelle mumbled sickly, her eyes closed. "Every woman dreams of being told that she's preferable to a dead cow.''
The Wallflowers are group of four young women who, for various reasons, seem to be unable to attract the interest of gentlemen to dance with them at balls or ask for their hand in marriage. For a couple of seasons, they had ignored each other and sat alone on the sides watching and wishing. One day they break their silence and a wonderful friendship begins. They plot and plan and decide as a group they can come up with plans to get each other wed. Each Wallflower has her own book.
Secrets of a Summer Night was about the oldest and most difficult wallflower, Annabelle Peyton. Her family was penniless and facing the possibility of being turned into a life of servitude if Annabelle didn’t marry well. She was in her last season of husband-hunting because she was just getting too old to attempt another. Annabelle was desperate to marry a well off member of the nobility to rescue her family. She has no dowry and her family is hanging on hoping her beauty will attract an offer. Sadly, the men looking for wives know what the situation is and, their offers will not be for matrimony. But with the help of her “new friends,” Annabelle may just have a chance. Annabelle and the other Wallflowers came up with a scheme to compromise and trap a young Lord into marriage. However, Annabelle wasn’t counting on the attraction she felt for Simon Hunt, a common businessman who happened to be wealthy beyond measure. Hunt seemed to find amusement as he watched Annabelle fumble and regroup time and time again.
What I loved most about this book were the characters. They come to life is such an extraordinary way I felt I knew them well as their personalities unfolded.
Simon was an amazing romantic hero, a self-made man. He doesn’t care about the opinions of the aristocracy. He was born a butcher’s son, and he is proud of the fact he came from humble beginnings. It’s obvious from page one he is taken with Annabelle, but the complications of social status put him at a peculiar disadvantage.
I loved Annabelle as a heroine. She was smart and funny, materialistic, and makes no pretense about the fact she needs to marry a wealthy man. I thought Kleypas did a good job with this character trait because it made Annabelle more acceptable and whole. No one is perfect. Annabelle actually had to spend time working toward her good ending.
All the Wallflowers are great in this story, the way they gather together and have all these bonding moments. You can just picture it all happening in front of you. Each one has a highly special personality and they are entertaining when they get together. There are many funny moments that made me laugh out loud and dramatic moments.
Lisa Kleypas knows how to write a historical romance that is detailed, yet never boring. She doesn’t put 21st-century standards onto her characters, which may sometimes make what they are thinking and feeling less relatable, but it gives us a more clear picture of the time. She also does a great job of showing the struggles of women of the late 1800s while keeping her characters strong and in control.
The book is very refined and well written, the dialogue, the interactions between the characters are superb, sometimes funny, sometimes intense and other times romantic. The language is elegant and seems very much in keeping with the language of the day, this isn’t a contemporary book dressed in a historical setting.
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