Title: Secrets of a Summer Night Series: Wallflowers #1
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Published: November 28, 2006
Genre(s): Romance: Historical
Page Count: 384
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads: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 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 outmaneuver 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.
Ah, Lisa Kleypas. One of the capital-g Greats of historical romance. At last we meet.
(General disclaimer: I’ve Sugar Daddy, the author’s wildly popular contemporary romance. It was horrid. We will not speak of it. Not today, Satan. Not today.)
To my surprise, there were actually a lot of unique/different/surprising aspects of Secrets of a Summer Night that really caught and maintained my interest. 1) This isn’t a Regency romance. 2) The story not only features a couple with class differences, but focuses on the cultural relevance and impact of them. 3) There are some arguably very positive female friendships going on here. 4) The hero wasn’t an unmitigated asshole. So, hey, if any of that sounds interesting, then 10/10 would recommend this book. (Actually more like 7.5/10, but you get it.)
First, not Regency! Because Kleypas is so popular, and because Regency is also the most popular, I just assumed that’s what would be going down. Which is why I was never in a hurry. Surprise! Secrets of a Summer Night takes place in the early Victorian period, which is a nice change from the norm. And, because Kleypas actually takes the time to explore the historical period she’s writing in, the book is now doubly interesting. I liked reading not only about the simple day-to-day thing (like fashion!) but also that the author gives us a different view of the aristocracy. In 1843, the English nobility are no longer unrivaled in their power. The Industrial Revolution is a-happening, and the nouveau riche are swaming all over London like an infestation of grumpy fleas (trust me, this is bad—my unfortunate dog had the terrible manners of making some flea friends and then decided to unleash hell with his flea army upon my tranquil Book Lair). And this class between stodgy traditionalism and crass enterprise is made completely manifest in the book’s protagonists, Simon and Annabelle.
The son of a unrepentantly middle-class butcher, Simon Hunt has made an unspeakable fortune and is now focusing on manufacturing locomotives. He’s tacky and has no sense of decorum, and Annabelle loathes him. As a famous Elizabeth Bennet once said, “…you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.” (Well, guess what, you two? Mr. Darcy and Mr. Hunt both have the last laugh. Sorry not sorry.)
Anyway. So Annabelle really needs a rich husband, because her family is poor as smol mice, and because her poor mother has been forced to have sex with a nasty man in exchange for paying the bills. (Cheers for Kleypas for featuring that unfortunate reality!) But, because she’s a snob, only a peer will do for Annabelle. So she sets out to trap one into marrying her. But then Simon gets in the way, wretched man—couldn’t he see she was busy with an unscrupulous plot, dammit?
Simon, meanwhile, just really has a boner for Annabelle, and has for years. He wants her. Bad. But he’s willing to wait until she exhausts all her options before he pounces and drags her back to live in squalor for all their days like the shabby commoner he is (oh, the horror!). As noted above, I really was pleased to find that Simon wasn’t an asshole by any measure. He’s a little brash and snarky, but it’s made abundantly clear that he genuinely cares for Annabelle and would do anything for her, even before the big L-word is tossed around. He challenged Annabelle and enjoys antagonizing her, but when she needs him, he’s there. 100%.
I dig that.
I also liked the Wallflowers. Aiding Annabelle in her scheme of entrapping a rich lord are three other unwed, unmarriageable girls who form a friendship and make a pact to see each other happily wed ASAP. I liked them all, found some of them a little grating at times, but am sure that I’ll enjoy their individual novels once they come. It was just really nice to see positive female relationships in a romance novel. So often, the heroine seems to exist in a vacuum where precious few other women exist, and when other female characters do come on-stage, they’re vapid, slutty, or otherwise not great friend material. Yay for a horse of a different color!
So, there’s obviously a lot going on in Secrets of a Summer Night that I absolutely loved and was beyond thrilled about. This is a very strong novel, no question. It’s just that the plot/conflict seemed a little lacking, and I almost feel like Kleypas was just paving the way for the next three novels and their, probably, more memorable and exciting storylines. (Devil in Winter is obviously the Big Book.) In this book, though, Simon and Annabelle get married a little past the halfway mark, and the tension kind of diffuses immediately. Because they both willingly entered into a marriage and clearly like each other, there’s no will-they-won’t-they for the rest of the story. Really, there’s just a lot of great marital sex with a literal explosion of a finale. Which is fine, but not exactly page-turning. Like, guys, I love sex, but there’s a reason I prefer romance over erotica. And while I’m very happy that Simon and Annabelle had a nice honeymoon…I probably didn’t need to read all about it, because it got repetitive.
But anyway, those are honestly just minor quibbles in what was ultimately a satisfying and unique romance novel by one of the true Greats of the genre. I’m glad I attempted to overcome my anti-Kleypas bias, because Secrets of a Summer Night ended up being much, much better than I anticipated. Muchly hyped book: you win this round.
