A Wallflower Christmas (Wallflowers, Book 5)

I love all the books that Lisa has written ! I'm on about my 18th one so far...and have enjoyed ALL of her characters and the stories surrounding each and every one of them.

This is a beautiful love story. I have never read the previous books. I was still drawn to all the main characters: the wallflowers, Rafe, Natalie, and Hannah. Rafe is a rich, handsome, strong, American man looking for a bride. His family has earned his money instead of inheriting it -- making him in need of someone with "peers". The right pick of a bride will give him great connections. Natalie is such a girl. She has the kind of connections that would help Rafe in business. She would be a fine pick. She has received several proposals and is waiting on the right one. Hannah is an intelligent, but middle class type. She is Natalie's companion. Hannah is unexperienced with men. She has never even been kissed. Rafe comes to meet her while courting Hannah. They both develop feelings for each other. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be considered a good pick for Rafe. Rafe's father decides to disinherit Rafe if he doesn't marry Natalie. Rafe is forced with difficult decisions. Hannah wouldn't dare let Rafe presue a relationship with her considering all he would loose.

A Wallflower Christmas is the fifth book in Lisa Kleypas' WallFlower series. All the lovely ladies and their handsome husbands are back providing a perfect background for a holiday romance. Just like a Christmas Carol an American rake finds the importance of love and sacrifice. Coming to England to claim a bride, his father's choice, and to ensure his place in the family, Rafe Bowman loses his heart for the very first time. Romantic interludes between the characters from the four previous novels, Scandal in Spring, The Devil in Winter, It Happened One Autumn, and Secrets of a Summer Night add spice to this gentle love story. It is not necessary to have read the first for books to enjoy this historical romance. It stands alone. However reading it will make you hungry to know more about the past adventures which have led the wallfowers to this particular holiday. I recommend this book

I am a big fan of the Wallflower series and have been anxiously awaiting this book since I read an excerpt Kleypas had posted. If you know Lillian, Daisy, Annabelle and Evie, you will be pleased to "see" the girls together again. I strongly disagree with the previous reviewer who felt bringing them into the storyline overshadowed the story between Rafe and Hannah. Be aware that this book is only a little over 200 pages - not a full length novel. That did not matter to me because Kleypas can craft a true romance in half the words of a lot of authors - she makes every word count and doesn't overdo the details that can bog down a story - she doesn't have to because of her use of the language. Just don't expect a continuation of the Wallflowers' stories in which there is a focus on the the girls and Sebastian, Simon, Matthew and Westcliff (the hero hotties we all love). This is about the romance between Hannah and Rafe Bowman (brother of Daisy and Lillian). I think if you keep that in mind, you won't be disappointed. This book was a true pleasure to read and I find it hard to believe that any Wallflower fan wouldn't find it satisfying, even if it is a little abbreviated. I thought there was just the right balance between the Wallflowers reunion and the Hannah and Rafe romance. I could feel the romance and the new characters were so well developed that I came to "know" them well. Great read for any Kleypas fan.

This is a delightful, heartwarming love story. Lisa Kleypas has managed to blend together charm and atmosphere and a satisfying story about two people who were not supposed to fall in love. Rafe Bowman and his father have a turbulent past but there is hope that the future will be better for them if Rafe will just meet and propose marriage to the English aristocratic young woman his father has chosen for him. Thomas Bowman has decided that he wants to settle even more firmly within the English upper crust and he can do that by holding a lucrative business arrangement over his son's head. Rafe is a rake, he knows it, his parents know it and his sisters know it. But he also has a very good head for business and he wants to be allowed to run the continental segment of his families soap manufacturing business. If it means marrying the woman his father has chosen, then so be it. He knows he will not love her but he doesn't intend to fight his father's wishes. Then Rafe meets Miss Hannah Appleton, the companion of the woman he is supposed to propose to. The problems begin when Rafe is instantly attracted to Hannah even though she doesn't like him at all. Hannah has been the companion of Natalie Blandford for three years and truly only wants what is best for her. When Hannah is invited to tea at the home of Lady Westcliff she meets the brash American who slouches in his chair and has a terrible accent. This man will never do as a husband for Lady Natalie. He is too vital, too forceful, too audacious and too arrogant. This book brings back the four original women from the Wallflower series in a country home setting at Christmastime. It is really wonderful to see the women together again and reacquaint ourselves with them as wives and mothers. Kleypas manages to insert very touching stories concerning each of the marriages into this new story and it is a pleasant updating. In one part of the story each of the wallflowers gather in an upstairs room to hear what is happening to Hannah and each vows to keep the secret she is sharing with them. But you just know that will never happen. Each one loves her husband too much to ever keep a secret like this from him. Besides, maybe the husbands can help solve the impass involving Rafe, his father, Hannah and Natalie. This wasn't a very complicated plot but it was a very satisfying read. Just the kind of book to bring you up to date on some of your favorite characters, introduce you to several new ones and put you in the Christmas spirit.

Lisa Kleypas, probably the most talented author in romance today, has worked her magic again in this little gem of a novel which both updates curious fans about the fates of the four Wallflowers, ( Annabelle in Secrets of a Summer Night (The Wallflowers, Book 1); Lillian in It Happened One Autumn (The Wallflowers, Book 2); Evie in The Devil in Winter (The Wallflowers, Book 3); and Daisy in Scandal in Spring (The Wallflowers, Book 4)); and presents a new love story about Daisy and Lillian's wonderfully rakish brother, Rafe. In usual charming Kleypas fashion, the course of true love runs rocky, and here the problem is that although Rafe has been brought to England to marry a lady (hopefully the lovely Lady Natalie Blandford), he is drawn to lowly lady's companion and Blandford poor relation, Hannah Appleton. Most unsuitable, and most delicious. The sexy scenes are steamy and the repartee is bright and witty. Reading about the further histories of the wonderfully happy marriages of the four original Wallflowers, Lillian, Annabelle, Evie and Daisy, while following the romantic peccadilloes of the sexy Rafe and the strong-minded Hannah is a tasty Christmas treat for any romance lover. But Kleypas fans will be in heaven.