The reluctant countess A would-be wallflowers novel

Yasmin Régnier knows a thing or two about what gossip can do to a lady's reputation. Which is why she tries to offer her hard-earned knowledge to Giles Renwick, earl of Lilford, whose younger sister, Lydia, is in danger of ruining her reputation. The last person on earth Giles would ever accept advice from is Yasmin, a woman who encourages her scandalous reputation with her outré sense of fashion and flirtatious ways. Yet each time Giles actually interacts with Yasmin, he discovers beneath her public façade a genuine woman with whom he might actually enjoy spending time. Yasmin is equally surprised to discover that the all-too-proper Giles could be the one man who can get her to believe in love again. With its enchanting, relatably vulnerable heroine and seemingly starchy yet actually irresistibly sexy hero, not to mention graceful writing kissed with a stellar sense of wit, best-selling James' (How to Be a Wallflower, 2022) latest splendidly sensual addition to her Would-Be-Wallflowers series is pure reading bliss.

Scandalous family secrets aren't enough to animate the flimsy second Would-be Wallflowers Regency romance from bestseller James (after How to Be a Wallflower). French Lady Yasmin Régnier, 25, is often the subject of gossip: her mother was Napoleon's mistress and, at 16, she herself was duped into a fake marriage to a fortune hunter. Society cannot completely shun her, however, as her grandfather was a duke. Giles Renwick, British Earl of Lilford, is similarly whispered about, as his mother's promiscuity throws the paternity of Giles and his sister, Lydia, into question. Still, like his peers, Giles keeps Yasmin at a distance--but for him, it's more out of fear of his intense attraction to her than disdain for her checkered past. No longer able to resist, he proposes marriage, taking Yasmin, who's long believed him to hate her, quite by surprise. As Giles works to prove his love, impetuous Lydia works to sabotage the couple. Lydia's strenuous objections to the match feel entirely hypocritical--her own actions are just as likely to bring scandal as an association with Yasmin would--and her mean-spirited antics distract from the romance. The couple has chemistry to spare, making the weak obstacles to their happiness all the more frustrating. This misses the mark. Agent: Kim Witherspoon, InkWell Management. (Nov.)

In James's second "Would-Be Wallflowers" novel (following How To Be a Wallflower), Lady Yasmin Régnier attracts scandal wherever she goes, and the British aristocracy cannot wait to judge her--for being French, her downfall by a rake, risqué fashion choices, or for a mother who was once Bonaparte's mistress. The upstanding Earl of Lilford is determined never to put a foot wrong lest he follow in the footsteps of his parents' impropriety. Regardless, he is obsessed with Yasmin's joyous nature and dances with her at every event of the Season. Yasmin is baffled by Lilford's attention as he abhors frivolousness and gossip, but when Yasmin sees Lilford's younger sister Lydia behaving recklessly with her suitors, she tells Lilford in hopes of preventing Lydia's ruination. After Lilford spends more time with Yasmin, the two embark on a secret affair and later engagement, but society's and Lydia's disapproval may prove to be too much for the couple to endure. VERDICT Readers will admire how Yazmin's positive attitude nullifies the critical voices around her, and her grandfather is an absolute delight. Unfortunately, Lilford's controlling nature and his malicious sister tend to detract from the fun and romance of James's Regency novel.--Eve Stano