I read literally hundreds of books a year. Most of them are romance, but many are from other genres. Romance is far and away my favorite and what I read the most. Thus, I've read nearly every trope out there dozens upon dozens of times. I can spot them from a mile away and I can usually tell if I'm going to hate, love, or be indifferent to a book within about the first 10% of the story. I rarely stop reading, by the way. I'm not like my husband who will read to the very bitter end of a book he can't stand and openly loathes, but I'm also not like my brother who will read twenty pages of something and if he's not gripped, walks away. I like to give the author the respect of finishing their work, unless they do something I simply cannot abide.

So, we've established I read a lot. So hopefully you can appreciate that I say this with experience and credibility: TEMPTATIONS OF A WALLFLOWER is a surprising delight. It's not a surprise that an Eva Leigh book is good as I've enjoyed most of her works. What's surprising is how the plot is deployed and developed. This is a marriage of convenience trope, by the way, with a brilliant and brassy heroine and a hero who adores her, but not in a creepy or worshipful way. If that ticks boxes, buy this now.

Our hero Jeremy is a bit of an emotionally frozen dude. Years of being abused and controlled by his absolute dumpster fire of a father has led to a life he has not chosen and is not particularly suited for. This twist alone was fun for me - with the hero of the story placed in the confines the heroine usually is. Leigh's exploration of Jeremy's inner life was wonderful - how he felt about being controlled, how he steeled himself for interactions with his father. We get a lot of heroes in Romanceland who are constrained but still exercise their own agency because they're men dammit and they can do what they please. Jeremy is a good reminder that people rob others of agency in all times, cultures and spaces.

Lady Sarah, our heroine, is also constrained and yet she is at the same time free. Her true fear is her freedom - her secret identity as the best erotic author of the age - would be upended by the reality of her life as a member of the upper classes. She makes small and large choices throughout the book - including the marriage to Jeremy - that give into either freedom or captivity and it's fascinating (and frustrating, as most humans are) to see how she navigates that balance.

TEMPTATIONS OF A WALLFLOWER is recommended for anyone who loves sass in their Regency, secret identities, reconciliation, and people finding freedom where they least expect it.