Wallflower Gone Wild

I was looking forward to reading Olivia's story after meeting her in the previous book in the series (The Wicked Wallflower). In that book, Olivia was an interesting woman and I loved the friendship between the three wallflowers.However, this book was nothing but annoying. Olivia becomes a whining one-dimensional character while the "hero", Phin, doesn't seem to get more than a basic treatment. I wanted to like him, but he came off a bit lackluster/pathetic and I couldn't understand why he'd put up with Olivia at all. I would have thrown her to the curb and found another wallflower.I read to the end, hoping the book would somehow redeem itself and I'd care about Olivia and Phin, but that never happened. By the end, I was still more interested in what was happening with the couple from the previous book.I was far more invested in their continued happiness than the plot of this book.At this point, I don't know if I have it in me to read the third book in the series anymore. This book is a dud and ruined everything I enjoyed about the first book in the series.

There may be some spoilers ahead, just a warning!!!!Ok, so this is a fairly new author for me. I dont really have much to go on about the talent of the author since these is my second book by her. However, The Wicked Wallflower was an entertaining read, and I truly enjoyed it. Then I decided to continue with the series and bought this train wreck. There are not that many nice words to describe this book. The h was boring, exasperating and annoying, she was not true to her character. A spinster (or getting there), who actually wants love, children and a home of her own (as described in the several inner monologues we as readers are exposed to in the book), a girl who (according to her, once more) has little to no marital prospects thanks to her overbearing mother who makes her recite her "talents" and follow etiquete at all times, and rejects the first guy whom she actually feels attracted to, who wants to marry her, out of certain rumors?????..... she was not worthy of this book, of the H's interest in her. She went on and on as to why she was scared of him, when he never did anything to her to show her he was actually dangerous. She based her opinions on a long ago rumor and she went from there and made both their lives miserable. This were not the actions of a smart heroine, these were not the actions of an appealing heroine. I kept on questioning his interest in her, she was an annoying brat, certainly not worth the trouble and she deserved staying alone, living the rest of her days with her overbearing parents. A less unlikely heroine I have yet to read about. She kept twisting things according to what she thought was the truth and it became exasperating. Another thing, who ever thought that a drunk heroine was attractive or cute???? The first drinking episode was ok, but then , during the picnic she also went on and got stupidly drunk, i mean, who does that???? on that day and age..... seriously???? and then she was alarmed because everyone saw her. I do not mind if stories are mostly based on fiction and not on reality for the sake of a book, however, her antics were too far fetched for the era in which the book was written, she would have been ruined just by taking off half her dress in the middle of the ballroom, not to mention her consorting with rakes and the likes. I have not finish the book at this point and strongly doubt that I ever will. Furthermore, it needs to be said that while she was annoying, the Mad Baron was a bore. These two characters were not only wrong for each other but also for us, the readers, who expect to encounter swoon-worthy heroes. Phinn, poor guy, had nothing to recommend him. He was boring, a recluse, had no initiative when it came to wooing his intended and had to be depending on others for advice. What he saw in her, bewilders me, but why she was scared of him bewilders me even more because he was that boring. Maybe, the h secretly created all that drama not out of fear for her life but fear of boredom. She was immature and he was just : blahhhhh. Actually, the whole book was a big blahh.

The first installment in the series was somewhat enjoyable. This book was not enjoyable. (spoilers) I nearly stopped reading three times. The heroine was such a ninny! I lost all patience with her fairly soon. The Hero went out of his way to please her. She keeps drinking to excess, hiding behind her fear of him based on tabloid stories and then destroys his machine right before the Great Exhibition because she's curious and wants to see how it works. Her character was silly and inconsistent and other than Emma (from book one) the other characters are barely even one dimensional.

I was really disappointed in this book. I was looking forward to it so much as reading the first one in the series and this one was such a let down. I loved the premise of the "Mad Baron" but it just didn't go anywhere. I felt like it was 325 pages of filler and only about 25 pages of actual good story. I didn't like some of the silly antics Olivia got up to, some were good but some were just too over done. Also I kept wanting to have the H & h connect on a deeper level that they never seemed to.Then there are her parents, they don't seem to care for Olivia much at all except when they do. Too much wishy-washiness with them. I can't pin point one specific thing that turned me off, just the book as a whole really wasn't up to par. I would have like it to have more depth to it and more character development.

I've really enjoyed this series. This is number two and Olivia is a funny, likeable heroine. The Mad Baron is an equally strong character and there are lots of humorous and warm moments between them. I agree with the previous review that Phinn probably isn't quite as engaging as Ashbrook, but I still enjoyed it and if you like Eloise James, Sarah Maclean etc, then I think you'll like this series too.

Really fun book that hits all the right notes. Love Maya Rodale.

Good fun. Easy to read. I liked the characters. Well written good book. I kept my attention and I read it straight through.

Enjoyable

Lord Radcliffe, Phinneas Cole ist bekannt im ton als "The Mad Baron" weil er möglicherweise seine erste Frau umgebracht haben soll. Ein Gerücht, welchem leider Olivia nur zu gerne Glauben schenkt. Sie ist als Mauerblümchen bekannt und die selbst in Ihrer 4. Season keinen Mann abbekommt. Phinneas hat sie als seine neue Frau ausgesucht, weil sie als perfekte Lady und "Least likely to Cause Trouble" bekannt ist, er bitte bei ihren Eltern um ihre Hand und die stimmen sofort zu, ohne dass Olivia den Lord überhaupt kennen gelernt hat. Schließlich hat er einen Titel, Geld und sein Anwesen ist in kurzer Reisenähe zu ihren Eltern, so dass diese sie oft besuchen Können... Die Hölle für Olivia und sie weiß nicht, ob der Tod wirklich schlimmer ist als diese Zukunft Aussicht, für eine junge Lady, die doch immer brav und gehorsam war.Phinneas hat sich über Olivia erkundigt und sie mehr oder weniger aus der Ferne "bewundert". Er ist mehr seiner Wissenschaft zugetan, als dem üblichen ton Kramm, denn seine Standesgenossen genießen. Er benötigt eine Frau, die ihn nicht von seiner Wissenschaft und Arbeit ablenkt. Doch weil Olivia ihn dazu bringen will die Verlobung zu lösen, stellt sie alle Regeln, die sie auf der Schule für Ladies gelernt hat auf den Kopf.Ihr Ziel: Entweder ist Phinneas nun abgestoßen und heiratet sie nicht, dann kann sie mit einem ruiniert Ruf eben mit ihrer Freundin Penelope ein Spinsterhaus beziehen, oder er heiratet sie und sie lebt, als 2. Frau des "Mad Baron", nicht lange genug um die böse Gerüchteküche und die Besuche ihrer Eltern ertragen zu müssen, dafür hatte sie aber einen gute Zeit, alle Regeln gebrochen zu haben. Doch Phinneas ist nicht abgestoßen... er weiß nur nicht, wie er sich verhalten soll... eben ganz Wissenschaftler und nicht Liebhaber.Zugegeben, es hat seine Längen und es dauert auch fast zu lange, bis Olivia sich endlich Phinneas zuwendet, aber das Zusammenspiel der beiden ist toll erzählt und seeeehr unterhaltsam. Die Dialoge spritzig und viel und alles recht nachvollziehbar. Beide Protagonisten sind zum mögen und keine Übermenschen. Sie passen zusammen, auch wenn die beiden etwas benötigen, damit sie das auch so sehen.Die Geschichte des ersten Teils wiederholt sich nicht, was ja bei Mehrteilern meist der Fall ist. Auch ohne Kenntnis des ersten Teils verständlich, wenn es auch schade ist, ihn nicht gelesen zu haben, denn auch der 2. Teil enttäuscht nicht was Witz, Spannung in der Entwicklung angeht. Ich bin schon gespannt, wie der dritte Teil verlaufen wird, in welchem das letzte "most likely" Mauerblümchen ihre Liebe findet.Teil 1 "The Wicked Wallflower"Teil 2 "Wallflower Gone Wild"Teil 3 "What a Wallflower Wants"