Review: Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean

Series: Bareknuckle Bastards Book #1

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Pages: 396

Rating: 4.5 Stars

How I Got It: Purchased

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Avon

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

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.

Review

I've been going back and forth on whether I should review this or not. I really really enjoyed the story but I'm not sure I can coherently explain my thoughts.

Apparently, I'm going to attempt to try.

This story was pretty angsty and dark. Mostly this tied in with the hero, Devil. However, the heroine-Felicity- thought some things that are a little "extreme" for a traditional romance heroine. I have no issues with her thoughts and would have had the same in her position. Some things are still a little rose-colored, because you know: Romance Novel. But I'm glad Ms. MacLean was willing to take her story where she did.

Speaking of, I'm going to address the use of the word F*ck in this book. I probably wouldn't have even thought about it, but apparently a lot of people were bothered by it and Ms. MacLean posted about it on Instagram. This caused the word to stand out to me. So, if you're bothered by reading an F-bomb, but not explicit sex scenes, don't read this. Personally, I found it's use perfect. If I remember correctly, it's always used by the hero who has been through some serious sh...crap. It would've been inauthentic for him to use other words in those situations. The F-word is a truly versatile word and can add the appropriate amount of spice to a story when used well like it was done here.

The romance was really beautiful. Felicity and Devil complement each other. She is a very positive person who sees beauty in the world. And she wants to see and explore all that beauty. Devil is, understandably, very dark and negative. Their interactions were full of chemistry, push and pull, and felt very organic.

Basically, I just loved this story: the characters, romance, writing-it was all fantastic. And I'm definitely intrigued by the side characters. There is still a lot of unanswered questions and I don't want to wait for them!

Thanks for reading!

Holly