How the Wallflower Was Won: Last Chance Scoundrels, Book 2

I love historical romance, but I haven't read one in quite a while so when Kathryn Nolan recommended new to me author Eva Leigh's How The Wallflower Was Won, I jumped on it!!By the time Finn realizes he has no other choice but to marry Tabitha, he also realizes something equally important. He is falling for Tabitha, which leads to an even bigger problem. He doesn't want Tabitha to know he thinks he's not smart enough for her, so he suggests a plan. They marry for convenience only, no love which is JUST fine with Tabitha unbeknownst to Finn.Tabitha agrees to marry Finn, but there will be no feelings. This is the ONLY way Tabitha believes she and Finn can survive a marriage, especially as Finn wants a real marriage, just no feelings and he'll make sure she gets into The Sterling Society.Of course both of them start having feelings almost immediately, and Tabitha's way to avoid this is to 'escape' their bed each night after some of the HOTTEST smexy times I've read in historical romance in a while! And Finn is destroyed every time she leaves, so he turns the tables and goes and does what he's best at - visits the gambling houses.I adored this angsty section of the book, there were times I was in tears watching them push each other away not really knowing what the other was doing or why, it just was such a delicious pain!When Tabitha discovers why Finn has been holding himself apart she does everything she can to fix their situation and show him what she really thinks of him, but is it too little too late?The side characters in How The Wallflower Was Won are absolutely sinful! Two female characters that are basically married to each other, BiPoc Characters that I felt were written with great respect, while at the same time showing the misogyny and racism they were suffering through, it was truly a wonderfully written book and definitely won't be my last book by Eva Leigh!! Five out of Five stars for two characters with such great intelligence, and one written so well with a disability that is rarely discussed then or now. I am truly in love!!

How the Wallflower Was Won started out very promisingly. I was enjoying the interactions between Finn and Tabitha. But after the wedding, things seemed to go off for me. The disconnect outside the bedroom lasted more than necessary (in my opinion) and some of the conflict felt manufactured. I really enjoyed the previous book and was looking forward to Finn’s story. I wish I were able to like it more.In all fairness, I was reading How the Wallflower Was Won during a very stressful and worrying time personally, so I fear that may have affected my enjoyment. I am taking this into consideration as well as my great enjoyment of previous Eva Leigh books when rating this romance.

Why, why, why do authors always have to give us the 85% complication? Sometimes it's built up to make perfect sense; other times, it grates against the characters as we know them. How the Wallflower Was Won was firing on all cylinders for me, headed for a five-star rating. Finn and Tabitha are delicious; they can't help but keep coming together, and seeing them grow from friendship to companionship to love was fantastic.But then that dread "but there must be a last-act complication" moment arose. The reason for it was completely flimsy IMHO, and because of that the actions taken by Finn and Tabitha felt jarringly out of character for both.There's nothing more frustrating than having a book go astray in the last quarter. Having said that, I still loved this book. The delight that Finn and Tabitha create for themselves is infectious to readers, and Leigh has created a (almost) brilliant read in How the Wallflower Was Won.

I loved how this book was modern in a way . I appreciated that it really avoided the things I don't like about recency romance

Finn, his brother Kieran, and their friend Dominic must all three marry within a year, ordered by their respective fathers in penalty for helping Dom jilt their sister, Willa.Wallflower Tabitha is keen to marry so she can join an intellectual society. professional gambler Finn gets the idea for Tabitha to marry Dom, but the man wants no part of the plan. So Finn offers marriage. They agree it will be a business arrangement, no emotions involved. Except it's obvious that they suit each other.Finn is rather self-conscious about what he perceives to be his lack of intellect because he can't read very well. I think he has dyslexia perhaps. And he can't see how he can really fit in with a wife as intellectual as Tabitha. Thankfully she sees his worth and she sees that despite not being able to read well he is a intelligent man and he wouldn't be able to be a professional gambler if he didn't know math.The big crisis that comes towards the end of the story that brings to doubt their HEA involves one of my least favorite plot devices, the hero being held accountable for something he didn't know about. And I'm surprised to admit this but their might be too much sexy times. Still this is an enjoyable read.

Finn needs to marry before the year is up by order of his parents. Tabitha wants to marry so she can join an intellectual society meant for men. The best part of this book is the slow build to how their mutual respect and admiration develop for each other. I did cringe when Tabitha hurt Finn by her words. I just love the thought of how they put the time and effort in to make each other happy.

Now this was a great book! Finn and Tabitha became what the other needed to get over their fears, they helped bolster their confidence to go after what they really wanted to accomplish. She married to get into an all man Society and got turned away because she had too radical of ideas so she and Finn started their own Society and helped Parliament see that changes needed to be made to go forward. I highly recommend this book! 👍👍👍👍👍👍❤❤❤❤❤❤

I enjoyed this tale and am looking forward to the next book in the series even though it espouses some very modern views