Tackling Mt. TBR

I wasn't sure how Lisa Kleypas was going to redeem St. Vincent after the previous book, but I have to say I think she did a great job of it. I know by the end I had completely forgiven him for his questionable (and I mean seriously questionable) behavior in It Happened One Autumn.

I definitely have to give this book props for having a reformed rake that actually needed reforming. There are a lot of fake rakes out there in Historical Romance Land and thankfully Sebastian is not one of them. He's the real deal. When we first met him in the previous book, he came off as handsome and charming, but also as selfish, shallow and willing to do anything to get what he wanted. It was quite lovely to see the change in him after he married Evie and took over the club.

Evie was for me the most likable of the Wallflowers so far. She was in a desperate situation and did something risky in the hopes of avoiding marriage to her cousin (and possibly something even worse.) I totally understood and was rooting for her the entire time. She was stronger than she even realized.

I appreciated the fact that this book had a completely different feel from the previous books as it took place in a gaming club for the most part. But a little piece of me did miss the house parties, balls and dancing.

All the other Wallflowers appeared in this book at different times, and Westcliff was in it a bit as well (I was pleased that he and St. Vincent began to mend their friendship.) I wondered a bit about Daisy kissing Cam. It seemed to be setting up the next book, but after some checking it appears that Cam's book is actually part of the Hathaway series and Daisy's hero is someone else. So I'm wondering what the purpose of that little scene was.Overall, another wonderful read from this series.

Sidenote: I think these books are best enjoyed in order. There is a lot you would miss about Sebastian and Evie if you don't read the previous books first. Missing that info about Sebastian means you would really miss his character growth.