In "Wicked and the Wallflower," Lady Felicity Faircloth, a once-prominent member of the ton who has fallen from grace, finds herself entangled with Devil, a man seeking revenge on his estranged half-brother, the Duke of Marwick. As their paths collide, Felicity's quick wit and lockpicking skills captivate Devil, leading to a complex relationship that unfolds against the backdrop of both upper-class society and the gritty streets of Covent Garden. The novel is praised for its well-developed characters, vivid setting, and the gradual evolution of Felicity and Devil's relationship as they navigate societal expectations and personal desires.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The book contains themes related to revenge and familial conflict, which may be sensitive for some readers.
Has Romance?
There is a strong romantic subplot central to the narrative involving complex relationships and emotional development.
From The Publisher:
When Wicked Comes Calling . . .
When a mysterious stranger finds his way into her bedchamber and offers his help in landing a duke, Lady Felicity Faircloth agrees-on one condition. She's seen enough of the world to believe in passion, and won't accept a marriage without it.
The Wallflower Makes a Dangerous Bargain . . .
Bastard son of a duke and king of London's dark streets, Devil has spent a lifetime wielding power and seizing opportunity, and the spinster wallflower is everything he needs to exact a revenge years in the making. All he must do is turn the plain little mouse into an irresistible temptress, set his trap, and destroy his enemy.
For the Promise of Passion . . .
But there's nothing plain about Felicity Faircloth, who quickly decides she'd rather have Devil than another. Soon, Devil's carefully laid plans are in chaos and he must choose between everything he's ever wanted . . . and the only thing he's ever desired.
Ratings (20)
Incredible (7) | |
Loved It (6) | |
Liked It (3) | |
It Was OK (1) | |
Did Not Like (3) |
Reader Stats (31):
Read It (20) | |
Want To Read (7) | |
Not Interested (4) |
6 comment(s)
I ADORED THIS STORY felicity goes through brilliant character development and devil the man that he is with a backstory so painful and yet out of the rubble came the devil part of the bare knuckle bastards sworn to revenge and not caring you he hurts until he meets felicity a wallflower, disgraced and oh so sad and of course an amazing locksmith and realises the lights he’s been missing in his darkness. This story is vulnerable, swoon , sexy , full of angst and heart and god did it sweep me away.
I was surprised for two reasons. One that I had only read only one other books by Sarah MacLean before and gave it 1 stars and two because of that I didn't think that I would enjoy this as much as I did. Was hooked from the start and the ending was great and not to mention the interesting interview with the author at the end. Wish more audiobooks had that little extra! Very excited to read the next book in the series. Been wanting to get invested in a historical romance series for quite some time now but don't seem to be as easy as I thought. But this one is hopefully a winner
***2.5***
Well. This is a Sarah MacLean misfire, imo. I suppose it had to happen eventually. Honestly, I thought it would happen with Haven's book, but no, he won me over.
Devil, however, did not.
I really like Felicity. And for most of the book, I sympathized with Devil, and liked him. But when she threw herself at him for the 294857378945th time and he crushed her and pushed her away, I was fucking done.
This book is 100% Felicity making herself vulnerable, Felicity trying to win over Devil, Felicity bending over backwards to win him. He does nothing - and I mean nothing, because NO,
giving her family money, which in the beginning you said you were planning to do anyway, after you ruined her,
fucking doesn't count for anything. Giving her lockpicks and pretending you wanted to let her choose is yet another fucking lie from Devil, because like her family, he treated her - through this whole book - as if she was too stupid or inconsequential to make up her own mind. She told him at least half a dozen times that she didn't want the aristocracy, that she wanted him ... and his reply, every goddamn time, was to tell her she was wrong. As if he somehow knew her own mind better than she did, and was the only one qualified to choose what her life would be. Sound like anyone else in this book? Yeah, her shitty family, who used her like a fucking prize cow they could sell for money, without ever telling her what was going on. I'll rant more about that in a moment.
By the end of the book, I despised Devil, to a shocking degree. He was a fucking coward, and a high-handed asshole who does nothing to win Felicity. Well, except for
throwing some money at her, but hey, if you're rich, you can buy your way out of any trouble, right?
Fuck him. And fuck her family, because they are the worst. They hold over her head the scandal of Haven's book - her going to compete to be his wife - when her idiot mother DRAGGED her there. They don't tell her what's really going on -
that they are shunned because everyone knows (and remember, Devil says that EVERYONE KNOWS) that they lost their money
- oh no. Better to treat Felicity as the whipping post, blame her for the whole fall of the family and manipulate her into a shitty, hateful marriage just to fix their own fucking problems.
And the fact that, despite telling Felicity that they are trash that are using her, fucking Devil
tells THEM about his feelings, when he's piling money on their superficial, selfish asshole heads, knowing that they'll tell her, in some backhanded manipulative bullshit way to summon her back to his side...
... well, that's the point where I truly, utterly despised him. Like, the heroine treated it as the saving moment, but for me it was the final nail in the shitshow coffin.
Fuck Devil and fuck Felicity's family. I wish she'd have taken all the money and left the country, frankly. Fuck one-sided relationships with one partner hurling themselves at the other and being hurt over and over until he finally goes "okay, I guess I'll take you." Why would I ever believe in this relationship? The truth is, it looks like Felicity will always be bending over backwards to prove her love to Devil, because he's a selfish insecure asshole who will jump on any small thing as if it underscores how she should not be with him. She pretty much had to batter him into the relationship, and in no universe do I believe it will be a good one.
I've DNF'ed quite some HR's in the passed couple of months. This one got me right back into it. Of course, that could be explained by the fact this didn't actually read like a HR. It did drag a bit near the end, but overall an enjoyable read.
I adored this book. It was the perfect mix of romance and action and adventure and brains. Felicity was fantastic. I loved that she was a lockpick and that she continued to use it to Devil's frustration. I loved Devil. He was harsh but sweet. He could be very dramatic though and somewhat repetitive. If I have any complaints is that this book is very long and some of it drags. It makes you just want to slap Devil upside the head to get him to stop being so ridiculous. When he's not though, Felicity and Devil burn hot. The banter between them was snarky and witty and hilarious. There's lots of references to folklore and fairy tales and even some myths and legends - which I loved. There's very little I like more than a good fairy tale romance and this delivered - even if that's not what it's billed as. I was intrigued by the backstory of Devil and Beast and Grace and I was fascinated by the idea of them smuggling booze hidden in ice. I would've liked to see more interaction between Felicity and Grace and Beast. Still, thoroughly enjoyable. 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.
Another great book from Sarah MacLean.
I really like the way MacLean creates her characters. Especially her heroines are strong women, they know what they want. Felicity is certainly one of them. She makes her own decisions and takes her fate into her own hands.
Devil is one of the very tortured heroes typical for this author. His past is quite tragic, and some things were hard to read about. He's also an alpha male, of course, but luckily it wasn't annoying. I like that Devil is not trying to change Felicity and that he sees her as an interesting woman the way she is.
The strong personalities of the main characters make the dialogues really good. Which I always appreciate very much. The whole story has this good rhythm that makes it quick and easy to read. I really did laugh a few times.
However, I'm not entirely convinced by this plotline with Felicity seducing the duke with the help of Devil. As for me, there has always been little sense in this whole scheme. But I was able to get over it because I liked Felicity and Devil as a couple. I think they fit together pretty well. I could easily see the feelings between them.
Whit intrigued me. I'm really curious about his story, so I will probably read this one soon. But I'm not sure I want to read about Evan and Grace. I find this couple strange. And as much as I like second chance romances, I don't quite see them together.
What can you read after
Wicked and the Wallflower?
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