Wallflower Most Wanted

January 1, 2018
In Collins’s third Studies in Scandal Regency (after Duke with Benefits), mystery and romance intertwine when an artist and a vicar search for a forger. Miss Sophia Hastings, a talented and forward-thinking painter, is one of the four bluestocking heiresses of Beauchamp House, an isolated estate in early-19th-century England. While painting outdoors, Sophia falls and sprains her ankle; she’s rescued by the very handsome vicar of Little Seaford, Rev. Lord Benedick Lisle. Though there’s plenty of mutual attraction, Sophia lacks the demure nature that she believes would be required of a proper vicar’s wife, so she doesn’t pursue it, but Ben is forthright in his admiration of her art. Sophia and Ben believe that someone nearby is forging art, and their investigation leads them to discover a murdered man, putting them both in danger. The magnetic appeal between Ben and Sophia is powerful and believable, based not only upon their mutual physical attraction but on similar philosophies and admiration of each other’s talents and pursuits. As the romance blossoms, the mystery takes a very unexpected twist, making for a magnetic, fast-paced story.

January 15, 2018
A lady artist falls off a cliff and then falls in love.A few young women in the town of Little Seaford have thrown themselves at the vicar, Lord Benedick Lisle, but when Miss Sophia Hastings tumbles off a cliff in front of him, she's the first to be so literal about it. Even with the pain of a sprained ankle, she notices his "almost too fittingly angelic" face, and Ben doubts that "the Archbishop of Canterbury himself would be able to resist" her charms, so when he scoops her up to carry her home, it should be the start of a simple love story. Unfortunately, their easy chemistry is disrupted by a conversation they overhear after her fall, between two men plotting to take another's life, which Sophia insists on investigating despite her injury. Ben agrees to assist, and it's not long before they uncover several village secrets, including an art forgery scheme. A talented painter, Sophia has an artistic spirit that wins over Benedick despite his belief that a vicar needs a more grounded wife, and though her devotion to solving the mystery is powerful, just a few chapters into the book, there's no mystery about whether they'll end up together. Sophia is the third of the Beauchamp heiresses to find a love match in Collins' Studies in Scandal series and also the third to find herself in grave danger. Sophia and Ben's investigation takes nearly the entire book, and as their sleuthing gives the pair many opportunities to be alone, they steal many passionate moments that would tempt even a less holy man. These scenes, and the continued development of the close relationship among the four bluestocking heiresses, provide many high notes in another concentrated and intelligent story from Collins.A heart-stopping Regency celebrating a genius and the man who can't resist her.

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