How to Win a Wallflower

October 1, 2022

Lady Charlotte Stirling is sister to a duke, close cousin to the King of England, and a very busy woman about town. She has longed for solitary inventor John Barnesworth for ages and turned down the most proposals any debutante has received in two decades because his was not among them. When he inherits his brother's title, he not only becomes Lord Harrow but the holder of a vast amount of debt. Good thing Charlotte's house is just on the other side of his garden wall as he will need a woman who can plan her way out of most problems. As befits Charlotte's whirlwind ways, their story is plot-full and buzzes along as the two fall deeply in love and navigate her family's concerns, his vulnerabilities, and a host of issues and roadblocks, some treated with too little cognizance of their real-world harm. VERDICT In her third "Rebels with a Cause" Regency romance (following How To Deceive a Duke), Parish wields a deft hand with dialogue, characterization, and plotting. Readers will quickly fall into the love story of this extrovert/introvert pair and become emotionally caught up in their personal struggles. The novel assumes familiarity with the series, so start readers with the first installment, How To Survive a Scandal.--Neal Wyatt

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Starred review from October 10, 2022
A British ex-pat seeks help navigating the machinations of London society when he’s abruptly called home in Parish’s bewitching third Rebels with a Cause Regency romance (after How to Deceive a Duke). After Americanized John Barnesworth’s brother dies, John inherits the title of Viscount Harrow, all his brother’s debts—and even his surly fiancée, Luella, whose marriage contract states that she is to wed the viscount. John has no desire to yolk himself to a woman who despises him, but Luella’s dowry is his best bet to save his estate—until his best friend’s sister, the spirited Lady Charlotte Stirling, steps in. Charlotte’s had feelings for John since they were children, and her brother, knowing this, forbids her from solving John’s financial crisis by entering a marriage of convenience with him. Instead, Charlotte must devise another scheme to keep Luella, her long-established nemesis, from marrying the hapless man she loves. It’s easy to crush on bookish John, whose speech impediment keeps him more comfortable on the sidelines, and root for his convivial leading lady. Their opposites-attract dynamic works so well because of the things they do share, most notably a mutual love of science. The thoughtful romance is buoyed by drama, with threats from the seedier sides of London, the appearance of lost relations, and passionate rendezvous in abundance. This is sure to win the heart of any hopeless romantic. Agent: Rebecca Strauss, DeFiore & Co.

November 1, 2022
As the new Viscount Harrow, John Barnesworth inherits not only his late brother's debts but also his financially well-endowed fianc�e, Lady Luella Tarlington. While Charlotte Stirling understands that her old childhood friend might need to wed an heiress, there is no way on earth she will let John get hitched for life to a viper-tongued harridan like her arch-nemesis Luella. The problem? Charlotte's brother refuses to even consider the idea of his best friend John marrying her instead, which leaves Charlotte gambling on another way to help John get the money he needs. Readers who crave historical romances with high-stakes, high-drama plotting that includes a wickedly clever twist and lots of sensual sizzle will snap up the latest endlessly entertaining entry in Parish's (How to Deceive a Duke, 2022) impeccably crafted Rebels with a Cause Regency-set series.

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