Once Upon a Wallflower, Book 1
From the publisher:
She’s about to make a beast of a bargain in this clever and deliciously engaging fairytale twist, from USA Today bestselling author Eva Devon…
All of London gossips about the Duke of Montrose. A recluse. Inflicted with a terrible disease. A gargoyle with a terrible temper. But he’s also the most important patron of the centuries-old book shop that belongs to Miss Elizabeth Sharpe’s family. Now she’s been charged with delivering books to the Gargoyle of London herself—or risk their shop falling into ruin. But surely a duke can’t be that ghastly…
Garrett Maximilian doesn’t give a tinker’s damn what society says about him. Most of them are sycophants, bowing and scraping in his presence. But not this proud, redheaded spitfire of a woman standing before him. In fact, nothing makes him feel more alive than Miss Elizabeth tartly criticizing his books. Perhaps he just needs a plan to keep her close…
The duke’s glower doesn’t terrify Elizabeth as much as it fascinates her. And worse, he looks at her with a dark hunger that should make her shake with fear—not desire. But Elizabeth’s father has sinister plans in store for his daughter…and this beastly duke might be her only salvation.
https://amzn.to/3XkswyO
I love when I start a new series with a book as good as this one. I’ve enjoyed other books from this author, so it was a no-brainer to pick up this one.
Elizabeth helps her father run their family-owned business, a bookstore. In reality, ever since her mother died, her father has taken to the bottle, leaving Elizabeth to do everything in the store. Much to her amazement, one day the Duke of Montrose comes to the store. Her father has been delivering books every week to the Duke’s home forever, so she can’t imagine why he’s come to the shop. Until he tells her – her father hasn’t been making his deliveries, and Elizabeth wasn’t aware of that. The Duke is their biggest and best client – he basically keeps the store afloat, so without his patronage, there is little hope for the store to remain solvent.
Out of desperation, Elizabeth starts making the deliveries herself and thoroughly enjoys discussing books with the Duke. He has a terrible reputation as a recluse and a man of little to no patience. But to his amazement, she has no qualms about standing up to him, and he greatly enjoys their conversations. As they get to know one another, other feelings emerge, and while Elizabeth knows that nothing could ever happen with their class differences, nonetheless, she falls for the Duke.
Then her father gets the idea of marrying her off for enough money to keep the shop going a little longer. Elizabeth is horrified by the man he wants her to marry but doesn’t seem to have much say in the matter. But then her father gets an even worse idea.
It’s easy to see that the solution to Elizabeth’s dilemma would be if the Duke offered for her, but forcing him into that position is next to impossible. Until he decides it’s the best idea he’s ever had…
This was a good story – I’m all in any time there are books central to the plot! There are some steamy scenes between the Duke and Elizabeth, but their romance is what makes the pages sing. This is a short book at 240 pages, but the characters come to life on the page, and while it’s a fast read, it never feels like anything is missing. That is no easy feat for a short book like this, but Devon has the story-telling chops to pull it off. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series; The Duke and the Dressmaker comes out in August.
6/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THE BEAST AND THE BOOKSELLER by Eva Devon. Entangled: Amara (June 5, 2023). ISBN: 979-8397765213. 240p.
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