Sunday, November 16, 2008

Series Sunday - The Wallflowers



Since I had a few people show an interest in A Wallflower Christmas, I thought I would do a follow up post on the Wallflower Series by Lisa Kleypas. This has to be one of my favorite historical series to date. I love Lisa Kleypas. Her writing is just absolutely delicious. Her characters are so very lovable and appealing. There is just enough angst to keep the reader guessing, but not enough for them to want to bang their head against a wall. Her books are very well balanced and I can't get enough.

The Wallflower series consists of four books, with a bonus Christmas story. I don't know if Lisa plans to continue the series in the future. As far as I know, it will just be these books. The wallflowers are a group of women who seemed to find themselves sitting on the sidelines while other more popular women had their dance cards filled. The girls noticed that it was the same people always remaining in shadow. Annabelle, Evie, Lillian and Daisy all formed a tight-knit group who became the best of friends. They were determined that each in the group would make a love match.

It is my personal opinion that each book should be read in order. Each woman has her own book, but all the women appear in every book. Some of the stories are interconnected. They could be read as stand alone, but I think the reader will get more out of the series if it is read in order. My personal favorite would be Annabelle's story, closely followed by Lillian's. All the books are very well written and this is a very strong series.

1. Secrets of a Summer Night (Annabelle and Simon)
2. It Happened One Autumn (Lillian and Marcus)
3. Devil in Winter (Evie and Sebastian)
4. Scandal in Spring (Daisy and Matthew)
5. A Wallflower Christmas (Hannah and Rafe)

*Fun Factoid*
For those of you who are fans of Marcus, Lord Westcliff from It Happened One Autumn, he actually made an appearance before the wallflower series originated. He was Charlotte's employer in Worth Any Price and he was also Aline's older brother in Again the Magic.

Cam Rohan, the hero from Mine Till Midnight first appeared in Evie and Sebastian's story Devil in Winter.

I am just going to go ahead and say it. For those of you who haven't read Lisa Kleypas, you might as well brace yourself and set aside some time. She has an extensive backlist and all of the books are wonderful. You might as well just start with her first book and keep on going until you have read them all. She was my most glommed author last year and I believe I read a total of 17 books by her.

9 comments:

nath said...

I thought this series was okay... As I said in previous posts, all the ladies aren't actually wallflowers... as all of them are actually pretty!

I liked book 1 and 3 well enough... but didn't enjoy the Bowan siblings as much.

Lady of the Review said...

I love her too. Secrets of a Summer's Night is probably my very favorite of hers. It made my list over on DIK...if you're interested. I don't know how to do a linky in html, so I'm just going to give you the whole thing.


http://dikladiesrule.blogspot.com. I'm under Bridget, cuz that's my pseudonym. :)

Tracy said...

I've not started this series because I can't say that the premise really grabs me. Wallflowers??? But then Nath just said that their pretty. I thought only homely women were wallflowers way back when. Maybe I need to read it and check it out for myself.

Marg said...

Yes, they are pretty, but they are wallflowers for other reasons!

LK is one of my most glommed authors as well. I think I have only a couple of hard to find books to track down and read by her, and basically I have to wait for each and every new book to come out!

As to this series, my favourite is Devil in Winter!

Jill D. said...

Nath, I liked Lillian, but I can see where her spunkiness could get annoying. I think Annabelle was my favorite.

Hi Lady of the Review, Thanks for the link. I am not html savvy myself. I have a lot to learn :)

Tracy, Have you read any other Kleypas books? She is really good. I think you would like her. The wallflowers are pretty, but the reason why they are wallflowers is because some are American and some don't have money and others have money, but they aren't peers. Anyway, all the characters are very relatable. At least I though so.

Marg, I am right there with you. I can't wait for Smooth Talking Stranger to come out. I believe there are some anthology stories which I haven't read yet that might tie me over until then.

Tracy said...

Hey Jill - I've read Kleypas's contemps. and I've read Someone to Watch Over Me but that's it. I've been told a million times what to read but I just haven't done it. I will, I swear! lol

Thanks for clearing up the whole Wallflower question. They sound interesting.

Jill D. said...

Tracy, Hah, nothing like lots of pressure to get a girl reading! But I swear, you will really enjoy Kleypas. You are in for a real treat with her!

Tracy said...

oh.the.pressure! lol I have soooo many on my TBR it's a bit overwhelming right now. I'll get to her sometime, uh, soon. :)

Marissa said...

I recently read the Wallflowers, and yes Cam did catch my eye, I now can't wait to read the Hathaways! I never read any book by Kleypas before but now I am hooked!