In search of a bodice ripper (Reviews 27 – 31)

Well it just got a bit saucy up in here. I was looking for something light and sexy. Something that I can burn through. Preferably with corsets and bodices. And Mrs. Julien provided exactly the list I needed in her post So You Want to Read A Historical Romance provided me with exactly the information I needed to get started. In fact, not only is that list awesome, but her review of these books is far superior to my own, so you can go check that out here instead of reading the below.

After looking through Mrs. Julien’s post, I decided to check out the Wallflowers, a series that follows a group of four women in Victoria England who are for various reasons, undesirable as wives. Each, is missing either the class, the money, or the refinement that, combined, land a woman a member of the British peerage, a titled, wealthy man (AKA a peer). The four are, season after season, relegated to wallflower status while the single, wealthy men around them select women with the desirable combination of husband-catching traits. It should go without saying that not finding a husband is the worst possible fate for women in these types of books. In some cases this is because their families have lost their money and are relying on a good marriage to lit them up. In others, their parents will marry them off to an ugly rich old man if they can’t find someone themselves. In others, because they need titles to go along with their bags of money. Kleypas does an excellent job of demonstrating why a good marriage is essential to these women, while having a bit of a hint of humour about their position as avid husband hunters.

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