The Spitfire (Wicked Wallflowers, #5)
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
There is one word to describe this book: mediocre. There is nothing special. I honestly wonder if my reading countless number of historical fiction has made me immune to all the scandals and kind of characters that can be found in nearly all of them.
Clara Winters dreams to open her very own music hall. After a life as a courtesan and a madam, it is the best kind of life she can bring to herself and all those of a lower station. She will become an independent woman, self-made and earning her own keep, away from the sins of the Devil's Den. One night, she finds a man being attacked on the streets, and she rushes to his aid. It is only later on that she finds out the man is nobility: Henry March, the Earl of Waterson. When Henry wakes, he is attracted to his saviour. Through the challenges that this spitfire poses to him, Henry finds himself changing. He finds himself living life more, becoming 'less proper'. But his goals in Parliament remains as top priority, even if it may bring down the dreams of Miss Winters.
The two characters are indeed likeable, albeit typical. We have a man being changed by the woman by so much, that everyone around him continually points it out. Clara is headstrong, and she constantly challenges Henry on how the people belonging to the lower classes live, which in turn caused him to change. But the execution of it left me dubious. In my eyes, Henry is already someone who is sympathetic, drafting laws to end slavery, etc. So how much he has 'changed' was really lost to me. And just from one meeting, Henry is actually able to change so much? It's extremely hard to believe. Yes, he almost lost his life, perhaps causing a paradigm shift, but so much so he can become someone who jokes easily? I don't think so. Plot is so-so; there is something about it that left me quite... bored. I don't find myself compelled to continue the story no matter which point I'm at (other than the beginning, when I'm still getting to learn about our two MCs). What's more, the ending is pretty rushed.
I would say that I would only recommend this to readers who have nothing else to read.
This review is written based on the ARC provided by the publisher through Netgalley.