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<From The Wall, Sunday, October 19, 2008 >
Violet, hurled A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas against The Wall.
The reasons were:
If you are a fan of Kleypas' Wallflower series, please avoid this book. It will only leave you angry and frustrated. The very short novel (216 pages, in hardcover, with a hardcover price!) is ostensibly about Rafe Bowman (the older brother of two of the Wallflowers) coming to England to find a bride. This event provides an opportunity for the Wallflowers to reunite and assist Rafe in this endeavour, and supposedly for readers to get a glimpse into the Wallflowers' happy lives. Readers, you are better off leaving their lives to your own imagining than reading about them here! Everything is a cliche (e.g., one Wallflower begins to doubt her husband's love and fidelity, but this instance, like all others, is resolved in a superficial, unsatisfactory, "Silly woman, it's all a misunderstanding" manner). Rafe's character and storyline is actually a step backward for romance. He behaves in a manner than is completely unacceptable in the 19th century (or in the 21st century masquerading as the 19th century as romance novels often are these days). He is boorish and unappealing and behaves as if a woman who says "no" is actually saying "yes." Between Rafe and the now-doormat-like Wallflowers, I thought I was reading a book published in the 1980s! Sample dialogue upon Rafe's first meeting his intended's companion: "This is how we court girls in America. We grab them and kiss them. And if they don't like it, we do it again, harder and longer, until they surrender. It saves us hours of witty repartee." Yes, accosting the companion of the woman one intends to court--in your sister's home no less--is what passes for acceptable, leading-man behavior. I think Kleypas was going for amusing; she succeeding only in evoking feelings of disgust on my part. Readers, if after all this, you still want to read the book (because what can you do, you are still a fan of the Wallflowers), then I suggest you get the book out of the library and save your hard-earned $16.95 plus tax. But I think you'll still hurl the book even if it is a library book.
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Violet added:
Yes, it's truly that bad, and I speak as a fan of the Wallflowers (esp. Lillian and Marcus). I think authors run into trouble when they try a special hardcover edition after publishing in paperback (like this one tied to the Christmas season). They are rarely well written or edited.
Sarah added:
Really? LK so rarely disappoints. It's truly that bad.
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