Leigh's How the Wallflower Was Won (NO SPOILERS - ARC review)

How the Wallflower Was Won (Last Chance Scoundrels Book 2)

Eva Leigh

Stars:  Excellent ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(diverse cast; smart woman; hero you fall in love with immediately; gaming hells; good friends who stick together)

Oh, Eva Leigh, what have you done to me? Just as I was swearing that Keiran and Celeste’s story from book one was the most magical thing ever, you spring this upon me! As you know, I love me some Eva Leigh. As you also know, I just reviewed the first book in this series, and shouted my love for it from the high heavens. Well, the ARCGods bestowed upon this undeserving mortal a copy of the second book, and I, AGAIN, stayed up until I finished it. I will NOT be turning my camera on in any Zoom meetings today, let me tell you. But was it worth it? OMG, yes.

So, I already had a soft spot for Finn from the previous book. If you’ve read The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes (or my recap), you’ll know that Kieran and Finn grew up in a dysfunctional household, proving that all the money in the world won’t make a difference when your parents cannot stand each other (or, apparently their younger sons) and don’t care to give love to their children. They treat Kieran and Finn terribly, which has caused them to, essentially, raise themselves. And man, they make a hash of it. I’ve said it before: these boys are Worldstar level wild. Kieran was a lothario and Finn is high roller gambler. Short version: The boys have seen what it’s like to have a marriage without love, and don’t want that for themselves or for their sister, who is supposed to marry their best friend, but Willa (sister) and Dom (the bestie) just don’t seem to be feeling it. So Kieran and Finn find a way to stop the wedding, thinking they are doing the best thing for Willa and Dom. Shorter version: This was a terrible idea; the parents are ticked; Willa is devastated; all three boys’ parents have decided they are going to cut them all off unless Finn, Kieran, and Dom all find appropriate wives within a year. The first book was about Kieran finding love with Dom’s sister Celeste.

This book is focused on Finn. Though you might not know it, as it begins with Finn trying to hook Dom up with the heroine, Miss Tabitha Seaton. We met her in the previous book—she’s a brainy bluestocking who is heading into spinster territory and would rather read books than go to balls. Finn is immediately obsessed with her . . . marrying Dom. He starts in the end of the last book trying to set them up. It makes sense that he wouldn’t be angling for her himself—people, particularly his parents, think Finn is a dullard (if you’ve read the first book, you know this is not the case). And anyway, Finn really doesn’t want to get married, and neither does Tabitha . . . but that’s exactly what happens to these two (put down the pitchforks, I’m only telling you what’s in the promotional description, not spoiling anything). She needs to be married to join the Sterling Society, which she’s wanted to do forever (and her admittance will also benefit her good friends from the Benezra Library (remember it from My Fake Rake?), he needs to be married to fulfill his parents’ wishes (also, she’s the only woman who has intrigued him like this). But will it be a true marriage of convenience, as they keep telling themselves? Yeah, no. These two remind me of the old Reese’s commercials (You got chocolate in my peanut butter. You got peanut butter in my chocolate? Doesn’t matter, because, together, it’s DELICIOUS). Squirrel just dated herself, didn’t she?

Eva Leigh is one of the top storytellers in the game, and you want to savor every word. All of her books are engaging, and this is no exception. I have loved Finn since the last book and just adore Tabitha, so I was totally invested. The way she writes these characters make you root for them from start to finish. Eva Leigh is wonderful about including “unconventional” characters, and you’ll find people of color, and gay and lesbian characters, as well as people with disabilities. Eva Leigh is great at presenting the secondary characters in 3D, and making you care about even the most peripheral folks in the background. We see some folks from previous books, which was a delight. She makes you CARE about her characters—sometimes I ended up teary-eyed and sniffling, as well as cheering and shouting YES! to an empty house.

Heat rating:   🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 This story also gets a 5-flame spicy rating. It was HOT and I was there for it. Because this is the spoiler-free review, and not the maelstrom of pure Squirrel insanity that is the after-publication recap, there’s no Sex-and-Spoilers section. But I promise you, those 5 flames are well-deserved. And you’ll get that recap sometime in October (the book is planned for September publication).

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. When you see an Eva Leigh preorder pop up, hit that button. Tell ‘em Squirrel sent ya!