Again the Magic (Wallflowers, #0)

My heart is in pieces and it shall never recover. I am undone by the hero after the torture the heroine puts us through. The angst is so achingly delicious, why can't they just be together?! All my favourite things: childhood friends to lovers, forbidden love, class difference and they see each other again 12 years later.

3.5 stars

Two love stories are going on in this book. Although the main story is between Aline and McKenna, I found the story between Aline’s sister Livia and McKenna’s friend Gideon to be captivating. In fact, because they didn’t have a whole past to unpack, it was easier to sink into their story.

While I enjoyed this book and felt the connection between Aline and McKenna, for some reason I wasn’t getting the warm fuzzies I’m always looking for in my romance reading. Yet, some scenes made me swoon. I’m sure that doesn’t make sense to you since it doesn’t make sense to me. Perhaps it’s because I find it hard to get past McKenna having hatred for Aline when he’s otherwise such a smart man. But I guess love is blind. I couldn’t trust McKenna’s actions, not sure if he was enacting revenge or having true feelings.

When it came to Aline, I wasn’t happy about her secret-keeping but I could understand where she was coming from. I wasn’t sure where my feelings were with Aline’s brother, but there is a wonderful and touching scene with him toward the end that made me forgive any of his misdeeds (always done with good intentions) along the way.

There were some definite reservations when it came to Livia and Gideon. He has some demons that I was afraid would be swept away when he found love. Rest assured, that is not what happens here. The author responsibly handled Gideon’s problems, especially considering he is not the main character of this book. Of course, it’s still a bit too easy and not how things would play out in reality. But it also wasn’t swept under the rug. This is, after all, a fictional story.

All in all this book brought me enjoyment. Especially the last handful of chapters. I’m not sure how much this story ties into the other Wallflowers books, but I’m assuming it will take place in the same world.

You can find more of my reviews at All In Good Time.

I'm being lazy and reviewing the entire series as one. Also many of my thoughts apply to all the books. I've never been a big romance person but I've never been opposed to them either. I discovered this series on a list for top romance series when I needed something for the 2013 Challenge Group Februray Challenge. Spoilers for the series follow:


One thing I didn't like about each book was, with one exception, every single female was a virgin and every single male had had plenty of partners (and in the cases where the male was already attracted to her, he thought of her when with the person). The reason some of the proposals happened was because he had "compromised" her (loved that phrase). Yet the men never had that worry about all the other women they had been with?

Past that these books were fun and I enjoyed each one. I was happy I read Again the Magic first since then I had a prior knowledge of the Westcliffs and in particular Marcus. I was sad that Aline and McKenna never appeared in the rest of the series. McKenna's proposal was probably my favorite of all the couples.

Simon and Annabelle were probably my favorite couple overall. I was surprised that many other reviewers labelled her as snobbish. I understand at the beginning she was hellbent on marrying a peer but primarily for the money for her family. I don't see anything wrong with that. Simon only went after her as a mistress and that was why I felt she ignored him. Once he did actually propose she almost instantly accepted him. Loved that he kept trying to compromise her afterwards in order to make sure she would marry him. After the marriage she did have trouble accepting the change in her life but she never blamed him. I adored the ending with her going after him and Westcliff saving them both and the two of them finally getting along.

Westcliff is probably my favorite male character and I did really like Lillian. Their book was not my favorite because I felt it borrowed too much from Pride and Prejudice, which I adore. The two stubborn lovers with the male as an upper class aristocrat, a bad first proposal, a wedding obsessed mother, and a conniving countess. Loved the ending again with Westcliff beating the shit out of St. Vincent. Hilarious! This book did have my favorite passage:

"You may set your mind at ease with the knowledge that I do not find you desireable in any way whatsoever."
"I understand. Enough said, my lord."
"If the two of us were left alone on a deserted island, I would have absolutely no thought of approaching you."
"I realize that," she said shortly. "You don't have to go on and on about it."
"I just want to make it clear that what I did was a complete aberration. You are not the kind of woman wom I would ever be attracted to."
"All right."
"In fact-"
"You've made yourself quite clear, my lord."

St. Vincent and Evie's story was enjoyable and I thoguht they worked quite well together. I was sad that none of the other wallflowers showed up till over halfway through the book. I also didn't realize that Evie's father appears in an earlier series, so I may have to pick that up next.

Scandal in Spring was my least favorite of the four wallflower series. I liked the concept but I figured out basically what Matthew's secret was from the start and kept getting annoyed that he put off telling her till it was too late. The game between the two of them was interesting and I enjoyed seeing how protective Westcliff had become of Daisy.

Wallflower Christmas was fun but I did not enjoy it as much as the previous five books.

3.5