Scandal in Spring (The Wallflowers, Book 4)

It is easy to like Americans Matthew Swift and Daisy Bowman. This couple just grows on you with every page. Matthew is completely in love with Daisy but has kept it hidden from her for years. As a trusted employee of her father's company, Matthew would never think that Daisy was within his reach. She is beautiful and rich, plus he has a past that should never be revealed. Also he has been awkward, tongue tied and ungainly around her. When Daisy claps eyes on him years later at her sister's home in England she is stunned by his transformation into a handsome, virile man. He is the quintessential ugly duckling turned into a beautiful swan. Daisy is in love with love and wants to find that special someone. Someone who is just like her, idealistic, poetic and artistic. She is the last of the remaining wallflowers in Kleypas's series, those heiresses looking for good British matches. She doesn't realize Matthew is the perfect man for her. He balances her idealist world view with down to earth pragmatism. Their verbal exchanges are witty without ever falling into the cruel and ugly exchanges so often seen in romances. (You know those I hate you, I loathe you, repartees between main characters) They are competitive, a bit arrogant but always kind and thoughtful to others. When they finally succumb to their desires, it is sweet and passionate. Daisy knows what she wants and nothing is going to stand in her way, not her sister (whom I found to be a major annoyance, stubborn and at times mean and selfish), not her mother and certainly not Matthew's past. Matthew's affection and love for Daisy are never in question. He desires her but believes he is still unworthy of her. When his past comes back with a vengeance, it is Daisy and her stubborn, loveable family who stand by his side. How refreshing to end this series with Daisy not making the perfect match with a British nobleman but with a Boston commoner!

Scandal in Spring wraps up Lisa Kleypas' Wallflower series with the story of Daisy Bowman. After three seasons in London, Daisy's father has decided that since she has yet to bring a suitor up to scratch that he will choose one for her. His choice is his business partner and protege Matthew Swift, an American who will be arriving soon from New York. Though she hasn't seen Swift in several years, Daisy's recollections of him are that he is an overgrown bag of bones whose singular focus is on succeeding in business. She wants to marry anyone but him and she and the other Wallflowers hatch a plan to get her engaged before she can be forced to carry out her father's wishes. However, all of this is before she sees Swift again and realizes that he has changed in the years since she's seen him. He's grown into his lanky frame, his looks have matured, and now his singular focus is in winning the affection of one Miss Bowman. This was story was a wonderful end to one of my favorite romantic series. I love the fact that Kleypas gave each of these spectacular women a man who might not seem like the right one, but who was bound and determined to show these ladies that they were more than just the wallflowers on the edge of the ballroom. Daisy was one of my favorites with her bookworm exterior and dreamer's nature and I was sure that somehow Mr. Rohan from Evie's story (Devil In Winter) would somehow make an appearance in this book and sweep her off her feet. Even though that wasn't the case, I loved Matthew Swift and I loved how in love he was with Daisy. The two had a chemistry from the moment they saw each other again and I couldn't wait for them to get together. This was a fitting end to an excellent series that displays that true love is possible for everyone, even the Wallflowers. I'd highly recommend the other books in the series which are (in order): Secrets of a Summer Night, It Happened One Autumn, and Devil in Winter. If you like Kleypas' Wallflower series I can also recommend the Julia Quinn Bridgerton series beginning with the Duke and I.

I LOVE IT! I was so happy the past characters were through this last book. Honestly Daisy least favorite character in this series but she shined in Scandal in Spring. I couldn't put this book down. The series is wonderful. The chemistry between Matthew & Daisy was very sensual and immediate.There are interesting plot twists and we get to know several secondary characters well. The secondary characters are not boring. Wonderful love story, great characters with an emotionally scarred hero and strong but vulnerable heroine, unique setting, intriguing plot, heart-tugging emotion, excellent writing, intense sensual love scenes, and a superb ending. The plot was interesting and it kept you interested in what was going to happen next. It has intrigue, passion, revenge, and "wow" sensual tension. Most of all is the great character development. I love stories that are character driven and not just about lust. The Scandal in Spring is an exquisitely written and sensuous historical this reviewer could not put down! If you what a book that will rock your socks here one!!!!!

As I finished the wonderful conclusion in Kleypas's wallflowers series, I found myself wondering, where will she go from here? I can honestly say that she has penned one of the dearest series of books ever to come across these well-read romantic eyes. The detail of Daisy's story was a masterfully done wrap-up to a heartwarming group of reads. Daisy Bowman is a fresh breeze amongst the rougher backdrop that is her family. Her innocent ways have done her no favors though, as she's looked on with much affection by her sister Lillian and friends, just not with much sense. When her father demands she choose a husband, or else marry a man she detests, not even her fellow wallflowers can save her. Not one to back down from a challenge, Daisy is rather dismayed when the very man her father wishes her to marry, Matthew Swift, appears on the scene. He's much changed from the man she remembers and she's not sure how to deal with the attractive businessman. Chance finds them often together in the following days and Matthew turns out to be far more than the money hungry employee of her father than she first thought. As all-consuming passion buds between them, a tragic secret from Matthew's past threatens their hopes. What has carried throughout this entire series to date, the strong characters, still reins supreme as the most enticing factor in the last installment. Daisy has appeared before as the witty youngest amongst the wallflowers, a fierce supporter of them and their heart's desires. To see their fervent support of her this time solidified my admiriation for their friendship. Daisy is brought forth in her own story as a sweet innocent, a woman bursting with the hope of love and someone to share it with. She found her true love in the form of Matthew, a heart throbbing man who seemed very real and compellingly sexy. The other wallflowers, Annabelle, Lillian and Evie, all have recurring roles, along with their spouses, and that element of friendship is as strong in this installment as it is in previous ones, though not overpowering Daisy and Matthew's romance. Romance that comes from a direction Daisy least expects, wonderful characters, poignant writing--it all meshed together perfectly. A very satisfying ending to a wonderful series, one I look forward to rereading for many years to come. Thank you, Ms. Kleypas, for a wonderful three years of romance. K. Montgomery Official Reviewer for The Mystic Castle

Scandal in Spring, the final installment of Kleypas's wallflower series, (Secrets of a Summer Night, It Happened One Autumn, and Devil in Winter) tells the story of Daisy Bowman's search for love. The youngest of the four friends who once dubbed themselves the "wallflowers", Daisy is a wealthy American heiress who desperately needs to find an English husband before her father marries her off to his protegee Mathew Swift. Daisy remembers Mr. Swift as a cold, ambitious "bag of bones" with the same temperament as her domineering father, but when Mr. Swift arrives in England, Daisy is shocked to discover that he has grown into a handsome and thoughtful man. Through a series of touching encounters, Daisy realizes that the last man she ever wanted to marry is the one man she can't live without. Unfortunately Mr. Swift is keeping a secret that he knows will destroy whatever tenderness Daisy might come to have for him. Though he has adored Ms. Bowman from afar for years, he cannot let himself act on his feelings for fear of dragging his love into the darkness that threatens to track him down. But the more time he spends with the whimsical and charming Daisy the more he comes to realize that love is worth the risk of discovery. Kleypas does a wonderful job of giving the last "wallflower" her own special love story. Daisy's romantic nature and Matthew's practicality compliment each other nicely. Daisy manages to keep an open mind about Matthew and he never disappoints her, even when his "secret" is revealed. As in all romance novels their needs to be SOME reason that the hero and heroine can't fall madly in love with each other in the first 10 pages. Daisy's prejudice against Mr. Swift based on her father's approval of him was a very legitimate reason. As for Matthew's part, his "deep dark secret" (which most readers will have figured out after the first time it is mentioned in the book) seemed somewhat contrived, though, as a literary device it served it's purpose. Readers who enjoyed the first three wallflower books will enjoy seeing all of the friends back together again with their dotting husbands. As always, Kleypas has a true gift for writing likable and believable characters that deserve to fall in love and live happily ever after.