How to Be a Wallflower: A Would-Be Wallflowers Novel

Written by Eloisa James

Narrated by Susan Duerden

From New York Times bestseller Eloisa James, a new Regency-set novel in which a heiress with the goal of being a wallflower engages a rugged American in a scorchingly sensual, witty wager that tests whether clothing does indeed make the man—or the wallflower! A perfect companion story to Eloisa's My American Duchess.

Miss Cleopatra Lewis is about to be launched in society by her aristocratic grandfather. But since she has no intention of marrying, she visits a costume emporium specifically to order unflattering dresses guaranteed to put off any prospective suitors.

Powerful and charismatic Jacob Astor Addison is in London, acquiring businesses to add to his theatrical holdings in America—as well as buying an emerald for a young lady back in Boston. He’s furious when a she-devil masquerading as an English lady steals Quimby’s Costume Emporium from under his nose.

Jake strikes a devil’s bargain, offering to design her “wallflower wardrobe” and giving Cleo the chance to design his. Cleo can’t resist the fun of clothing the rough-hewn American in feathers and flowers. And somehow in the middle of their lively competition, Jake becomes her closest friend.

It isn’t until Cleo becomes the toast of all society that Jake realizes she’s stolen his fiercely guarded heart. But unlike the noblemen at her feet, he doesn’t belong in her refined and cultured world.

Caught between the demands of honor and desire, Jake would give up everything to be with the woman he loves—if she’ll have him!

Cleo's unconventional background and Jake's American roots cause a stir in the rigid social hierarchy of Regency England.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Mar 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9780063139558

Eloisa James

Eloisa James is a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author and professor of English literature, who lives with her family in New York, but can sometimes be found in Paris or Italy. She is the mother of two and, in a particularly delicious irony for a romance writer, is married to a genuine Italian knight.

Reviews for How to Be a Wallflower

[Sara · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Essentially nothing happens in this whole story but the worst part of the audiobook is definitely the narration as it’s SO overly exaggerated. The line will say “she opened the door” and be read as “SHE OPENED the dOooOoOorrr”. Strange.

[UchennaEzeh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eloisa James at her finest. Loved the book from start to finish. From rivals to lovers to a married couple happy forever

[addictofromance · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.IntroductionHow To Be A Wallflower is the 1st book in the "Would Be Wallflowers" series. I started this book as an audio and then switched to the ebook. With some historical authors I prefer to do this, as sometimes HR can be hard for me to get into. I will say that if you love fun witty, self made heroes, and American/English pairings then you definitely need to pick this one up. This had all the charm and endearing humor that Eloisa James is capable of. Its a book that intrigued me and I was captivated a bit by these characters. It wasn't a perfect installment, but an lively one that entertained me so much. I definitely had a good ole' time with this one.SummaryMiss Cleopatra Lewis after reuniting with her grandfather is to be launched into society. But she is determined not to marry and wants to show herself as a ugly wallflower that turns the men away and not drawn them in. Then we have the self made businessman mogul Jacob Astor Addison who has come to England to acquire some businesses to bring back to the America's to launch. But when Cleo steals a costume emporium from him, he is determined to win it back and the lovely lady included because he is charmed for her and even though he is betrothed, Cleo fascinates him in a way a woman never has before. But Cleo has no interest in marriage, so Jacob will have to use all of his charm to win his lady over and her heart.My OutlookHow To Be a Wallflower was a endearing read. It had me laughing all over the place. I had some issues with the story itself, but, if you are a fan of this authors work, you will definitely see the wit and carefully balanced building of the relationship being showcased within this story. So I want to talk about what I loved the most first and then go into my issues with the story.What I loved the most in this one, is that, dialogue between Jacob and Cleo. I wouldn't necessarily call this enemies to lovers, but there is conflict between them and a competition between them so you see them bantering with each other back and forth but there is an obvious attraction between them. I also really enjoyed the way that this book was developed with this one here. I loved the way that the hero pines for the heroine and his "courting" of her. I love "courting" romances, and I feel like we don't see them as much in historicals as we used to, so it was so fun to see this being so focused in the story. We get an entry of the Duchess of Trent (loved seeing her connecting this book to the Wildes series. So, it was fun seeing. her have a part in this one, as she is friends with the hero. The romance itself was charming. And there is such a strong sexy vibe to their connection. There are some great smexy moments here. Eloisa James really knows how to build up her steam moments so well with the story itself.Now to talk about my issues with the book. The first is the heroine. While I enjoy some aspects of her character, it never really made sense why she was so anti marriage in a culture where marriage was such a focus for women. It wasn't ever really explained on a deeper level why she was so against it other than her mother's experiences. Also she didn't seem willing to sacrifice anything for the relationship. It was very one sided of the hero sacrificing everything for her. I didn't like how he had to give up his whole life and career for her when he obviously would be the one bring "home the bacon" haha It just seemed like all the work and dedication in the relationship was one sided and the heroine was just "I guess I love you so we can get married". I like to see both sides giving to the relationship and she didn't give hardly anything to it. For example he chooses her clothes and its attractive, she chooses his clothes, she dresses him like a peacock. Just very disappointing in some of these elements.Overall ViewI found How To Be A Wallflower to be a fascinating read that was enjoyable and pure plain sexy fun! Definitely a witty charming romance to indulge in.Rating Evaluation:Plot: 3.5World Building: 4Cover:5Hero: 5Heroine: 3Steam: 4Heart & Feels: 3.5Ending:3.5Overall View: 3.5

[jorgeousjotts · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This might be rounding up a little, but I quite enjoyed it. There was *some* drama of course, but generally the characters were so reasonable, and the events so chill, that it was only happy emotions and no anger or stress or anything. The focus was strongly set just on the couple falling in love, so no mystery or huge secret or villain to worry about. The main characters are likable and are good together. They also spend time together and get to know each other, and aren't actually just crushing or lusting on the other. And they grow as people. So it's all around nice. The steam could be more explicit in my opinion, but there were many sweet moments to kind of make up for it.

[narshkite · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Charming romance of the quality one expects from Eloisa James -- though perhaps more references to placket popping erections than I recall from earlier books. I love her historical notes. I always learn something. Jake and Cleo are delightful characters, if more evolved than strictly seems possible for the time. If you like your romance angsty, this is not the book for you. There is no real tension, no significant roadblocks, just a touch of insecurity, a couple minor crossed signals, and grown ups falling in love.

[jennybeast · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Highly entertaining match between the spirited heiress of a toilet company and a complicated American gentleman. They spar over buying a theatrical costuming concern and find themselves on either side of a bet to determine the winner. Fun, full of interesting characters and a great start to a new series.

Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Edelweiss.

[n.w.moors-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Eloisa James is one of those authors that I sometimes love and other times find just meh in her writing. Sometimes the romance is just too superficial, and I found that to be the case here.Cleo is a businesswoman who decides to buy the same costume shop as American Jake. They're both likable characters with interesting backgrounds, but I didn't feel a lot of chemistry between them. The side characters are fun and add to the story.The idea of Cleo using costumes to become a wallflower was never really developed as she's fairly popular. And the ending felt too predictable and rushed. So, not my favorite of Ms. James work but still enjoyable.

[barbararogers-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Goodness – what can I say except – I LOVE it! This was an excellent introduction to the series and I cannot wait for future books. I absolutely adored Jacob Astor Addison from the first moment he graced the page and that love just grew and grew as the pages fled by. Then, there is Cleopatra (Cleo) Lewis, whom I also loved – she was so very likable and strong and self-reliant and – well – she ran her own company. We had two outstanding lead characters surrounded by excellent supporting characters – not a clinker in the bunch. The story is a wonderful romance with wit, humor, and a heroine who has real issues with relationships. Once you read the book, you’ll understand why.Jake has come to London in search of costumers, actors, actresses, etc. to relocate to America and work for his several theaters across the country. He doesn’t even particularly like the theater, but his father’s unfulfilled dream was to be an actor on the stage, and since his position wouldn’t allow that – he bought the theaters instead. Jake just hasn’t had the heart to divest himself of them, so he has a new business plan for them. While he’s in London, he’s also visiting with his good friend and fellow American, Merry, Duchess of Trent. Jake thinks he’s found the perfect costumer, Martha Quimby of Quimby’s Emporium, and her solicitor has her agreement to move her and her business to the US. Or … does he REALLY have her agreement? Imagine his shock when he arrives at the emporium to get the final papers signed and discovers that somebody else has just bought the interest right out from under him. Why – the unmitigated gall of that woman.Cleo is the sole proprietor of Lewis Commodes company. The company was started by her father who had several inventions – one of which was the valve that allowed commodes to work. Cleo learned the business at her father’s knee – and inherited it when he passed away when she was only fourteen. She has actively run the business since then. Her father deliberately left the business to Cleo rather than her mother because her mother was flighty, undisciplined, and well – more of a free spirit than anyone you’ve read lately. As you read through the story, you’ll realize what a huge impact her mother’s lifestyle had on Cleo. It isn’t that Cleo doesn’t exactly trust men – it is that she doesn’t trust any relationship with men. Her mother’s lifestyle has always haunted Cleo because her mother wasn’t only blatant in her lifestyle, she left Cleo to clean up her messes. Cleo is terrified she’s like her mother, so she just doesn’t do relationships at all.Cleo is in London to visit her grandfather whom she’s never met. Her mother eloped and never returned to her family or visited with them. Not because her family wouldn’t have loved and accepted her – just because her mother doesn’t seem to have had any capacity for love. So, upon her mother’s death Cleo went to meet him – and even have a bit of a season – although her version of a season was to be a wallflower. When she accompanied her ‘dresser’ to Quimby’s Emporium to commission a suitable ‘wallflower’ wardrobe, they found everyone in Quimby’s in near hysterics because they thought they were going to have to relocate to the US. Cleo decided to thwart the brash American who thought he could just come in a do as he liked with a good English company. She’d just show him!The give and take – and one-upmanship – between Cleo and Jake is priceless. The wit and humor are outstanding and the HEA – including a wonderful epilogue – is absolutely perfect. I did, however, think Cleo hung on to her ‘relationship-itis’ a tad too long and there was a bit of needless drama introduced near the end.I hope you will read and enjoy this book as much as I did. I can highly recommend the read.I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[cats57_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel was a charming ( and steamy) romance with quite a bit of humor. I was a bit shocked, considering not too many historical romance writers add humor to their works. I can compare this particular book to some of those by author Katie MacAlister's, Noble Intentions Noble Intentions (Noble, #1) by Katie MacAlister for one. Perhaps How to Be a Wallflower is far less slapstick but funny nonetheless.Take one female owner of Lewis Commodes and one newly arrive American of the Astor family (Yes, THOSE Astor's), throw them together a bit accidentally, let them make a bet, and see sparks fly. Oh, and did I mention that Miss Cleopatra Lewis, who is soon to be launched in society has sworn never to marry and decides that she must remain a wallflower?A comedy of (minor) errors, and shocking intentions, that I thoroughly enjoyed.*ARC Supplied by the publisher Avon, NetGalley, and the author.