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Regency
The Wallflower Duchess
No other woman will do for the determined duke…
To Lily Hightower, Edge is still the adventurous boy she grew up with, even though he's now become the formidable Duke of Edgeworth. So when he doesn't propose to her sister as everyone expects, shy Lily marches right up to him to ask why…
Wallflower Lily is amazed to learn that she is the duke's true choice. She's hiding a secret that, if he found out, could threaten everything. But Lily is the duchess of his dreams—and Edge is determined to make her his!
To Lily Hightower, Edge is still the adventurous boy she grew up with, even though he's now become the formidable Duke of Edgeworth. So when he doesn't propose to her sister as everyone expects, shy Lily marches right up to him to ask why…
Wallflower Lily is amazed to learn that she is the duke's true choice. She's hiding a secret that, if he found out, could threaten everything. But Lily is the duchess of his dreams—and Edge is determined to make her his!
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 2017
About the author
Liz Tyner
95 books41 followers In fifth grade, Liz's teacher encouraged the students to write plays, and allowed them to cast their classmates as the characters. Then the students stood in front of the class and read their lines. Liz scribbled as fast as she could to finish her Little Red Riding hood series by the end of the year. She was writing plays she knew would be produced and she could cast any of her friends in the roles. In a rural Oklahoma town of approximately 500 people, it was an incredible experience, particularly because the actors couldn't refuse their parts and the audience was already assembled.
Liz always planned to write a novel, but she believed that only people from an imaginary world in which Stephen King, Hemmingway or the Bronte sisters lived could become writers. Getting a book published felt like an impossible dream but it came true for Liz when Harlequin Historical published her debut novel.
Now Liz writes from her home on a small acreage and takes breaks from plotting to walk in the woods while taking photos of wildflowers and nature. No wolves are in the area—she hopes—and her stories still have a similar theme to the ones she penned in fifth grade...a heroine who triumphs and a happily ever after!
Liz always planned to write a novel, but she believed that only people from an imaginary world in which Stephen King, Hemmingway or the Bronte sisters lived could become writers. Getting a book published felt like an impossible dream but it came true for Liz when Harlequin Historical published her debut novel.
Now Liz writes from her home on a small acreage and takes breaks from plotting to walk in the woods while taking photos of wildflowers and nature. No wolves are in the area—she hopes—and her stories still have a similar theme to the ones she penned in fifth grade...a heroine who triumphs and a happily ever after!
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 28, 2018
I somehow managed not to post this here when I originally wrote it in April 2017.
Being a fan of friends-to-lovers stories, The Wallflower Duchess sounded as though it would be right up my alley; a fairly simple story about two long-time friends and neighbours starting to see each other in a new light and falling in love. That is, in essence, exactly what it is, but I was less than enthralled by the execution; the writing is quite disjointed in places and the central characters are barely two-dimensional. Neither of them made much of an impression on me, making it impossible for me to really get invested in their rather lukewarm romance.
Ever since he was old enough to understand, Lord Lionel, heir to the Duke of Edgeworth, knew what it meant to be a duke. He has been raised to be mindful of his responsibilities for those who depend on him; to display impeccable manners and good breeding at all times – in short, to be perfect. But after he became the duke, he began to realise that perhaps his father’s insistence on perfection had removed him too far from the people in his charge. Unfortunately, however, an accident when he ventured to move among his tenants to see what their lives were like led to Edgeworth – Edge to his intimates, of which there are not many – being so badly burned (on his legs) that at one point, his life was in jeopardy.
Upon his recovery, he discovers that the accident – and another recent life-threatening incident in which he was thrown from his horse - has somewhat altered his perspective on life. He knows that his father had always intended him to marry Miss Abigail Hightower, the younger daughter of their life-long neighbours, but secretly had always preferred the elder daughter, Lily, with whom he had sometimes played when they were children. Two brushes with death mean that Edge isn’t going to put off asking for her hand any longer, and he does so, in full confidence of his being accepted.
But Lily isn’t going to fall into his arms so readily. First of all, she had no idea that Edge had any interest in her, given that she believed he was destined for her sister, and second of all, she doesn’t want to be married to as high profile a figure as a duke. Lily has her own reasons for wanting to blend into the background and live a quiet life, not least of which is her belief that she is illegitimate; and her parents’ disastrous marriage, which often led to scenes of high drama and histrionics on the part of her highly strung mother, has most definitely given her a distaste for the institution, which she insists, is not for her.
Edge is not particularly upset by her refusal, and calmly goes about the business of changing her mind, his first step being to prove that the man she calls father really IS her father, and that her illegitimacy was a cruel taunt made by her mother when her parents were in the midst of a particularly vitriolic row. Lily finds it difficult to believe the truth, and is, naturally, hurt at the discovery that even her own father hadn’t bothered to disabuse her of her belief that she was the daughter of the local blacksmith.
With this barrier to her acceptance of Edge removed, Lily does start to soften her attitude towards him, and to allow herself to acknowledge the truth, which is that she is deeply attracted to him and always has been. His gentle persuasion gradually erodes her resistance to his suit and she agrees to marry him, even though she is still keeping one rather large and important secret from him. Unfortunately, the uncovering of one secret leads to the uncovering of others, one of which is like a slap in the face for Edge, who had never envisaged that the woman he has loved for so long could effect such a betrayal.
What should have been a fairly simple “hero-in-pursuit” story of two childhood friends realising they belong together is, sadly, marred by the fact that the book is overly busy. Lily comes from a difficult family – her parents were forever arguing and when her mother eventually left, it was relief Lily felt, rather than pain. Believing, herself to be “outside” the family (because she thought she was not her father’s child), Lily assumed the role of guardian to her younger sister and tried to protect her from the emotional fallout and the gossip, while she decided that becoming emotionally involved with anyone would only lead to misery. And while Edge’s early life was more settled than Lily’s he also had to adjust to the fact that his family wasn’t as perfect as he had believed it to be, and now has to face up to what he now regards as a serious mistake in the way he dealt with the effect of the revelations that split his family apart.
The biggest problem with the book, however, is that the two central characters are very poorly defined, in spite of all their emotional baggage. Lily is a mass of insecurities who just seems to want to hide away all the time, and Edge, while clearly the product of enormous privilege is fairly bland. There is almost zero chemistry between them; in fact the first sex scene (of two – and they’re both little more than a paragraph, really) happens pretty much out of the blue in the sense that there is no emotional build up to it at all, and no discussion of possible consequences or even why they are going to bed together.
I also didn’t find the writing style to be especially engaging; at the beginning of the book in particular, it’s choppy in the way the author jumps from scene to scene without really telling me what was happening, so I felt rather adrift for the first few chapters. Things are hinted at and alluded to, but not in a way that enabled me to get a firm grasp on either events or characters. The second half works better, and for all that Edge’s character is underdeveloped, I discovered him to be quite sweet in an awkward kind of way, while Lily’s insistence on believing she was like her mother was patently ridiculous and got very annoying very quickly.
Lily and Edge both had the potential to be interesting and attractive, but lacked depth and were instead pretty much one-note characters I didn’t really warm to. The number of plot elements introduced made the book perhaps a little too busy, and this, together with the lack of romantic chemistry and weak characterisation made The Wallflower Duchess a bit of a disappointment overall.
Being a fan of friends-to-lovers stories, The Wallflower Duchess sounded as though it would be right up my alley; a fairly simple story about two long-time friends and neighbours starting to see each other in a new light and falling in love. That is, in essence, exactly what it is, but I was less than enthralled by the execution; the writing is quite disjointed in places and the central characters are barely two-dimensional. Neither of them made much of an impression on me, making it impossible for me to really get invested in their rather lukewarm romance.
Ever since he was old enough to understand, Lord Lionel, heir to the Duke of Edgeworth, knew what it meant to be a duke. He has been raised to be mindful of his responsibilities for those who depend on him; to display impeccable manners and good breeding at all times – in short, to be perfect. But after he became the duke, he began to realise that perhaps his father’s insistence on perfection had removed him too far from the people in his charge. Unfortunately, however, an accident when he ventured to move among his tenants to see what their lives were like led to Edgeworth – Edge to his intimates, of which there are not many – being so badly burned (on his legs) that at one point, his life was in jeopardy.
Upon his recovery, he discovers that the accident – and another recent life-threatening incident in which he was thrown from his horse - has somewhat altered his perspective on life. He knows that his father had always intended him to marry Miss Abigail Hightower, the younger daughter of their life-long neighbours, but secretly had always preferred the elder daughter, Lily, with whom he had sometimes played when they were children. Two brushes with death mean that Edge isn’t going to put off asking for her hand any longer, and he does so, in full confidence of his being accepted.
But Lily isn’t going to fall into his arms so readily. First of all, she had no idea that Edge had any interest in her, given that she believed he was destined for her sister, and second of all, she doesn’t want to be married to as high profile a figure as a duke. Lily has her own reasons for wanting to blend into the background and live a quiet life, not least of which is her belief that she is illegitimate; and her parents’ disastrous marriage, which often led to scenes of high drama and histrionics on the part of her highly strung mother, has most definitely given her a distaste for the institution, which she insists, is not for her.
Edge is not particularly upset by her refusal, and calmly goes about the business of changing her mind, his first step being to prove that the man she calls father really IS her father, and that her illegitimacy was a cruel taunt made by her mother when her parents were in the midst of a particularly vitriolic row. Lily finds it difficult to believe the truth, and is, naturally, hurt at the discovery that even her own father hadn’t bothered to disabuse her of her belief that she was the daughter of the local blacksmith.
With this barrier to her acceptance of Edge removed, Lily does start to soften her attitude towards him, and to allow herself to acknowledge the truth, which is that she is deeply attracted to him and always has been. His gentle persuasion gradually erodes her resistance to his suit and she agrees to marry him, even though she is still keeping one rather large and important secret from him. Unfortunately, the uncovering of one secret leads to the uncovering of others, one of which is like a slap in the face for Edge, who had never envisaged that the woman he has loved for so long could effect such a betrayal.
What should have been a fairly simple “hero-in-pursuit” story of two childhood friends realising they belong together is, sadly, marred by the fact that the book is overly busy. Lily comes from a difficult family – her parents were forever arguing and when her mother eventually left, it was relief Lily felt, rather than pain. Believing, herself to be “outside” the family (because she thought she was not her father’s child), Lily assumed the role of guardian to her younger sister and tried to protect her from the emotional fallout and the gossip, while she decided that becoming emotionally involved with anyone would only lead to misery. And while Edge’s early life was more settled than Lily’s he also had to adjust to the fact that his family wasn’t as perfect as he had believed it to be, and now has to face up to what he now regards as a serious mistake in the way he dealt with the effect of the revelations that split his family apart.
The biggest problem with the book, however, is that the two central characters are very poorly defined, in spite of all their emotional baggage. Lily is a mass of insecurities who just seems to want to hide away all the time, and Edge, while clearly the product of enormous privilege is fairly bland. There is almost zero chemistry between them; in fact the first sex scene (of two – and they’re both little more than a paragraph, really) happens pretty much out of the blue in the sense that there is no emotional build up to it at all, and no discussion of possible consequences or even why they are going to bed together.
I also didn’t find the writing style to be especially engaging; at the beginning of the book in particular, it’s choppy in the way the author jumps from scene to scene without really telling me what was happening, so I felt rather adrift for the first few chapters. Things are hinted at and alluded to, but not in a way that enabled me to get a firm grasp on either events or characters. The second half works better, and for all that Edge’s character is underdeveloped, I discovered him to be quite sweet in an awkward kind of way, while Lily’s insistence on believing she was like her mother was patently ridiculous and got very annoying very quickly.
Lily and Edge both had the potential to be interesting and attractive, but lacked depth and were instead pretty much one-note characters I didn’t really warm to. The number of plot elements introduced made the book perhaps a little too busy, and this, together with the lack of romantic chemistry and weak characterisation made The Wallflower Duchess a bit of a disappointment overall.
October 9, 2019
I was very disappointed in this story. At a few moments I even wanted to stop reading.
Want to read
April 3, 2017Not sure I can read a Regency-era book where the hero goes by the name "Edge". How about we let our historical characters be historical; not vampire-gun-gangster-navy SEAL types...
January 10, 2018
I was excited to read this book, it sounded like a promising romance novel. The book as a whole was alright, but it was very predictable. The romantic aspect of the story was pretty much decided by the first 5 chapters and it was obvious that Edge would have no problem getting the girl. And the reasoning behind Lili not wanting to marry him was the same, over and over. Every time he said it didn't matter she kept going on and on about the same things. I just got sort of annoyed by it. I was content to have a happy ending, but if you're looking for a book with nail biting plot twists and cliff hangers, this is nooot exactly it.
5/10
5/10
May 29, 2017
i don't read romance novels as much as i use to but when i see a synopsis of a good romance book, i'm willing to dive in. alas, this story had the outline to be a real page turner but didn't turn out that way. The story centers around lily and edge, childhood friends. Edge is suppose to marry Lily's sister, Abigail, but instead he wants to marry Lily. Lily is shocked when she learns this and then we spend the next 50% of the book having Edge try to convince Lily that she is worthy of being a duchess; we also spend that 50% having to piece together Lily's questionable paternal background. What bothered me about this was it seemed like this was all-consuming for Lily but why was it just now that she decided to figure it out? Then we get this really wacky back story of how Lily's mother and father have this love/hate relationship that sours Lily towards the institute of marriage. yet we never really know what is Lily's mother's background, how did she spin into her father's realm and the other big gap I couldn't understand is if Lily's mother was of a higher class background, why did she start hanging out with the blacksmith? Wouldn't they have been of different classes??
I will say this author definitely has potential, she can write a good dialog, the interaction between Edge and Lily was good, but there was just to much of it, we spend most of the book just having conversations between the two characters. There needed to be more meat and potatoes to the story; the girls going to big society balls, shopping, afternoon teas, the Duke doing other things besides just mooning over Lily, maybe going to Whites, doing business, suprising Lily at a dance when she is being flirted on by another man.
Would only recommend for time passing on a plane or train perhaps.
I will say this author definitely has potential, she can write a good dialog, the interaction between Edge and Lily was good, but there was just to much of it, we spend most of the book just having conversations between the two characters. There needed to be more meat and potatoes to the story; the girls going to big society balls, shopping, afternoon teas, the Duke doing other things besides just mooning over Lily, maybe going to Whites, doing business, suprising Lily at a dance when she is being flirted on by another man.
Would only recommend for time passing on a plane or train perhaps.
April 8, 2017
took a bit of patience
The author's writing style took awhile to get use to. At first it felt stilted and repetitive. However, it also had some wonderful romantic passages. The Hero is a Duke who has been brought up to believe he must be perfect. The heroine has been a neighbor and childhood friend. They both have imperfect families which they need to come to terms with.
The author's writing style took awhile to get use to. At first it felt stilted and repetitive. However, it also had some wonderful romantic passages. The Hero is a Duke who has been brought up to believe he must be perfect. The heroine has been a neighbor and childhood friend. They both have imperfect families which they need to come to terms with.
August 19, 2022
I read this book in a hotel on holiday and really only decided to continue after the first chapter because I liked the style.
- The time doesn't fit with the mannerisms. I don't know a lot about olden thymes, but I do know middle fingers were probably not a thing. People also weren't as formal as expected.
- The love interest just keeps pushing for a relationship even when the MC says no. At one point he initiaties sex even though she's hesitant. The argumentation is that she needs to do it to realise she wanted it. Or something. He also sees it as a way of getting to know each other better.
- The MC is very upset that her mother and other women were unfaithful to their husbands and had sex outside of marriage, then she does it herself even while continuing to speak ill of unfaithful women. When her sister warns her about what she's doing, she actually gets mad at her and defends herself. Like girl have some self-awareness.
- You only have to tell me once or twice that "he smells like man". Don't rub my face in it.
- The love interest had a mistress and it's shoved off as not very important.
- The little sister is really annoying.
- At one point, the love interest is talking to somebody who makes him mad and thinks "one fist could have killed the man." Yeah that's healthy and attractive.
- The MC is very disrespectful in her interactions with her mother.
- The love interest is interested in "normal people" and feels like he should be kinder to them, be more involved with daily life, etc. and then nothing really comes of it.
- People give lots of excuses for their bad behaviour and no decent apologies.
- The time doesn't fit with the mannerisms. I don't know a lot about olden thymes, but I do know middle fingers were probably not a thing. People also weren't as formal as expected.
- The love interest just keeps pushing for a relationship even when the MC says no. At one point he initiaties sex even though she's hesitant. The argumentation is that she needs to do it to realise she wanted it. Or something. He also sees it as a way of getting to know each other better.
- The MC is very upset that her mother and other women were unfaithful to their husbands and had sex outside of marriage, then she does it herself even while continuing to speak ill of unfaithful women. When her sister warns her about what she's doing, she actually gets mad at her and defends herself. Like girl have some self-awareness.
- You only have to tell me once or twice that "he smells like man". Don't rub my face in it.
- The love interest had a mistress and it's shoved off as not very important.
- The little sister is really annoying.
- At one point, the love interest is talking to somebody who makes him mad and thinks "one fist could have killed the man." Yeah that's healthy and attractive.
- The MC is very disrespectful in her interactions with her mother.
- The love interest is interested in "normal people" and feels like he should be kinder to them, be more involved with daily life, etc. and then nothing really comes of it.
- People give lots of excuses for their bad behaviour and no decent apologies.
July 4, 2020
Pretty good. There are again plot points that I wish could be explored in detail...but it’s a situation where the author has so much space with the monthly romances. Then again, a book often is just a snippet of life...so I guess makes sense. I speak mostly of the apparent illness of either Alzheimer’s or some dementia. Regency period and illness being what it was, there may not have been a point on dwelling. I also can’t figure if the mother of our heroine has mania.
So far, there has been some type of serious illness, threat of death from accidents, or some type of health issue in the 3 books I have read by this author. It is interesting to note.
This book is a nice romance, and while it does have a sex scene...not terribly grafic.
So far, there has been some type of serious illness, threat of death from accidents, or some type of health issue in the 3 books I have read by this author. It is interesting to note.
This book is a nice romance, and while it does have a sex scene...not terribly grafic.
June 18, 2017
3.5 - This was an interesting read for me, I enjoyed Lily's character, her strength, wit and dedication. One of my favorite type of plots is where the hero and heroine have been friends for a long time and fall in love so that drew me in. I especially liked reading the flashbacks from when they were children. Although at times I got frustrated with some of the things that kept holding Lily back. This novel makes me curious to read the previous (the notorious countess) and hear Andrew and Beatrice's story. I'd also like to see if any other family members (mainly Foxworthy or Abigail) receive their own story in the future.
June 20, 2017
I have read a book by this author before. It was part of a four book series by four different authors. I did like it, but had to re-read it to really get the most out of it. I have to say the same about this story. The two main characters, even in their own mental musings, don't clearly explain much. The story line takes so many twists and turns, many of them blind turns you don't see coming, that it is difficult to follow along. Yes, there is a happy ending, yes, it is a good story, but sometime too complex to be a relaxing one.
March 8, 2022
I couldn’t get past the first few chapters. It was so painful to read I just had to put the book down. I picked it up several times but 200 pages into the book I gave up. The author’s writing style is truly bizarre. I think she’s going for poetic but it just comes out strange. I felt no connection to the characters, so much self-loathing, so much self-deprecation and martyrdom. It’s extremely rare that I don’t finish a book, so it speaks volumes that I couldn’t finish this one.
July 24, 2017
I thought the plot was interesting, however, it just did not deliver. It was too slow. It lacked chemistry between the two main characters. Unfortunately, it missed its mark.
February 7, 2018
The Duck of Edgeworth was too boring and a micromanager. Lily was too sarcastic and immature. The book wasn't as enjoyable as the author's other books.
2.5 stars rounded up.
2.5 stars rounded up.
Read
April 14, 2017"A headstrong heroine, a determined hero, secrets, family squabbles and a large dose of pride propel this plotline. Tyner solves one problem for her engaging characters and then finds more to push this couple together and pull them apart. ... readers who desire a beta hero, a quick pace and loads of twists should grab this for a fast, enjoyable read" (RT Book Reviews).
March 6, 2019
Really enjoyed reading this book.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews