BLURB
USA Today bestselling author Vivienne Lorret revisits her Wallflower Wedding series with a delightful tale of friends-to-lovers, just in time for Christmas.
Penelope Rutledge longs for passion, but only with the man of her dreams: the brilliant, dashing Ethan Weatherstone. If only her longtime neighbor would open his eyes and realize how much she loves him. If only they weren’t best friends with so much at stake. Penelope knows her future—and their friendship—is in her hands, but is she willing to take the biggest risk of all on the man she loves?
If it were up to Ethan, life and love would be as predictable as the figures in his ledgers—certainly nothing like the adventures Penelope longs for. Yet his childhood friend has grown into a beautiful, feisty woman blissfully unaware of the danger she causes when near. Ethan knows he must save Penelope and her reputation … but can he save himself from the temptation of her lips?
MY THOUGHTS
After spending some time with her younger, married sister and her nephew, Penelope Rutledge begins to question her decision to never marry, and maintain her regimented, adventure-free existence. The only spark in her day-to-day life comes from her interactions with her best friend and neighbor, Ethan Weatherstone, who knows her like the back of his hand. But the frustrating man refuses to deviate from his orderly, unchanging habits and acknowledge the deeper, steamier feelings between them. Terrified by the prospect of spending the rest of her life doing needlepoint by the fire and having weekly dinners with Ethan and his mother but never having more, Penelope gets the urge to hop on the next mail coach in search of adventure.
After having lost his father at a very young age and meeting and connecting with Penelope who had shared a similar loss, Ethan has found a routine that he enjoys—dinners with the Ruthledges and morning chats with his best friend, Penelope. She knows him better than anyone else and he can always predict her response in turn. But her foolish talk of running off in search of a thrill and her questioning her decision to forgo having her own children leaves him worried that his orderly life is about to be turned upside down. Add to the mix his ever more frequent thoughts of kissing Pen and his fear that their friendship would be irrevocably damaged and Ethan's structured existence becomes a lot more complicated.
When two long-time friends who fear risks finally take the plunge, you get a story that's sweet, amusing and entirely engrossing. I'm a huge fan of the Friends-to-Lovers trope in romance and think that Penelope and Ethan made a wonderful transition, filled with the perfect amount of frustrating push-and-pull and banter to keep things lively.
I absolutely loved the main characters and felt a strong connection with them. I lost my own father when I was just 9 years old and have struggled with the same maddening combination of fear and restlessness as Clio for quite a while. It's hard to create such a strong bond between the reader and the characters in a short novella but Vivienne Lorret did a fantastic job of fleshing out the characters and really making you understand their quirky relationship.
Even though I would have loved a longer, more drawn out story about Penelope and Ethan (because I genuinely enjoyed the characters), I think the novella was perfectly paced and a great addition to the Wallflower Wedding Series. If you're a fan of historical romances and wallflowers this short read is not to be missed. I can't wait to see what Ms. Lorret has in store for us in her next series!
Disclaimer: As an Avon Addict, I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions shared are my own.
AUTHOR INFO-
USA TODAY Bestselling Author, Vivienne Lorret loves romance novels, her pink laptop, her husband, and her two sons (not necessarily in that order ... but there are days). Transforming copious amounts of tea into words, she is proud to be an Avon Impulse author of works including: Tempting Mr. Weatherstone, The Wallflower Wedding Series, and The Rakes of Fallow Hall Series.
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