Secrets of a Summer Night (The Wallflowers, #1)

by Lisa Kleypas

From the New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas comes Secrets of a Summer Night, the first title in the beloved romance series The Wallflowers - perfect for fans of Sarah MacLean, Julia Quinn and Eloisa James.

'Lisa Kleypas is the best' Sarah MacLean

The Wallflowers: four young ladies at the side of the ballroom make a pact to help each other find husbands . . . no matter what it takes

Proud and beautiful Annabelle Peyton could have her pick of suitors - if only she had a dowry. Her family is on the brink of disaster, and the only way Annabelle can save them is to marry a very wealthy man. Unfortunately, her most persistent admirer is the brash Simon Hunt, a handsome and ambitious entrepreneur who wants her as his mistress.

Annabelle is determined to resist Simon's wicked propositions, but she can't deny her attraction to the boldly seductive rogue, any more than he can resist the challenge she presents. As they try to outmanoeuvre each other, they find themselves surrendering to a love more powerful than they could have ever imagined. But fate may have other plans - and it will take all of Annabelle's courage to face a peril that could destroy everything she holds dear.

'Kleypas can make you laugh and cry - on the same page' Julia Quinn

The Wallflowers:
Secrets of a Summer Night
It Happened One Autumn
The Devil in Winter
Scandal in Spring
A Wallflower Christmas

Praise for Lisa Kleypas:

'Lushly sexy and thoroughly romantic . . . superbly crafted characters and an intriguing plot blend together brilliantly in this splendid romance' Booklist

'Intricately and elegantly crafted, intensely romantic . . . from a not-to-be-missed romance author' Kirkus Reviews

'Witty, often hilarious, and delightfully passionate' Library Journal, starred review

'An unforgettable story peopled with remarkable characters and a depth of emotion that will leave you breathless' Romantic Times BOOKreviews

'Is it possible to give a book 6 stars? . . . [This] story has all of the forbidden romance, witty banter, and sigh-inducing declarations of love that you deserve' That's Normal

• ISBN10: 0060791896
• ISBN13: 9780060791896
• Publish Date: 26 October 2004
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[stacey_is_sassy]

Awesome narrator enhanced the story.

I love this series and was excited to try out the audio version. The narrator does a fabulous job and I never struggled to decipher which character was talking. This is the first book in the series and my second favourite but only by a smidge. I love the rough around the edges, Simon Hunt. I don't particularly enjoy seeing the class distinction and resulting snobbery.

I will definitely be listening to the rest of the series in the future.

[Katie King]

Fell apart at the end. What was the point of the last 100 pages?

[Amanda]

My "thrown back to the library gods" shelf was created for books like Secrets of a Summer Night. Not because I didn't finish it -- I did finish. No, because I spent a good chunk of the book experiencing reading deja vu.

Because I had read the book except Goodreads said I hadn't. And that poses problems. For my sanity. It created all sorts of questions.

"Did I read this book in some past life?"

"Have I read so many historical romances they're all blurring together?"

"Am I thinking of a different historical romance book with similar characters and circumstances?"

"Did I read it and not mark it in Goodreads?"

Quite the dilemma I had, especially since this isn't the first time I've experienced something similar. Near I can figure, I have read Secrets of a Summer Night before -- at least about half of it -- but for some reason, never finished. Because the ending, I am quite sure, is not anything I remember.

And I remember the endings. Because the endings are why you read. Well, most of why. Okay, part of why. You get the idea. I suspect I gave up (if I'm not going crazy and really have read part of this book before) because there was a lull in the second half and I wasn't sure why the book had to continue for so long.

I've done this before when the marriage isn't the end of the book. There's always a change in the tension and I probably got bored, set the book down, and didn't pick it up. In case it's not obvious, I powered through this time.

I'm glad I did because the ending was EXPLOSIVE. Yeah, I'm punning here. Anyway! Annabelle. And Simon. I was kind of disappointed we didn't get more Simon's POV, because I liked him, standard historical romance hero that he was. Annabelle I was less enamored of, mainly because she struck me as rather snobby even though things like character development happen.

Annabelle just gets a lot of page time. And sometimes, I like witnessing the man's downfall from his perspective. It's so much more delicious that way.

Secrets of a Summer Night is definitely a "read in one day" sort of books, purely for pleasure, that you don't put a lot of critical thought to. I'm determined to plow forward with this series because, as everyone has told me, Devil in Winter is worth it.

[rakesandrogues]

Heroine: I like that Annabelle is willing to marry to save her family from ruin. I like that she has her family in mind, but she isn’t desperate enough to be someone’s mistress. I like that she was still able to hold on to whatever dignity she has left even if she doesn’t have much money.

Hero: I like that Simon didn’t come from the nobility class. It was refreshing and different, and I liked how it reflected the changing environment in England due to science and technology. However, one thing that bothered me about his character is the fact that it took him basically the whole book to tell Annabelle what he really wanted was marriage. For someone that’s so set on Annabelle, I don’t know why he didn’t make his intentions clear in the beginning.

Supporting Cast: I really love the Wallflowers and this group of friends – it makes me wonder why I didn’t choose to read this sooner!

Plot: I love the concept of the Wallflowers coming together to find husbands for each other. Furthermore, I really enjoyed that the story doesn’t end at the marriage. We get a glimpse into their married life, which usually doesn’t happen in romance novels. I think it worked for Secrets of a Summer Night, and I never felt once that the resolution was too stretched out.

Romance: I looked forward to a lot of the Simon/Annabelle interactions. I’m already a fan of Li