With Diary of an Accidental Wallflower, New York Times bestseller Jennifer McQuiston begins her new Victorian-era series, The Seduction Diaries, with a bang. I adore discovering new-to-me authors, and oh my, did I hit the mother lode with this one!
Pretty, popular Clare Westmore suspects she’s close to receiving a proposal from the future Duke of Harrington. Between steering him away from her eccentric family, putting copious amounts of effort into bringing the Duke up to snuff and staying vigilant to disguise her improper love of learning, she’s worked devilishly hard for this match. But matters turn topsy-turvy when she injures her ankle and finds herself in a ballroom’s Wallflower section, watching her so-called friend waltz off with her beau. To add insult to injury, she has to contend with Dr. Daniel Merial. Yes, he’s—wildly!—attractive, but he's also a commoner.
Daniel has been feverishly pursuing a way to safely administer an anesthesia to bring to the underserved, poverty-stricken patients surrounding St. Bartholomew’s Teaching Hospital. When he first meets Clare, he thinks she is a typical shallow, self-absorbed member of the ton. Yet, to his dismay, he’s highly aware of her. Only after finding himself appointed her doctor does he begin to discover the real woman behind the facade.
Clare and Daniel struggle to deny their mutual attraction, because it just isn’t proper for a Viscount’s daughter to socialize with a Romany doctor. But again and again, they find themselves gravitating toward each other, and rather than being put off by their radically different positions in the social order, with every encounter they discover more common ground.
McQuiston has penned a novel filled with complex family relationships and allows an engaging, unique peek into London’s ton. She peoples her story with a marvelously likable hero, an inquisitive, open-minded heroine and a host of fully realized supporting characters. This book is fast, fun and contains more twists and turns than the rookeries of St. Giles.
