Two damaged hearts learn there’s a fine line between love and hate in a Wicked Wallflowers novel from USA Today bestselling author Christi Caldwell.Gertrude, the eldest Killoran sister, has spent a lifetime being underestimated—especially by her own family. She may seem as vulnerable as a kitten, but given the chance, she can be as fierce as a tiger. Her adopted brother, Stephen, has just been … Stephen, has just been snatched back by his true father, and she’ll be damned if she relinquishes the boy to the man reviled throughout London as the Mad Marquess.
Still haunted by a deadly tragedy that left him publicly despised, Lord Edwin holds only hatred for the Killorans—the people he believes kidnapped his son. And not one of them will ever see the boy again. But when Gertrude forces her way into the household and stubbornly insists that she remain as Stephen’s governess, Edwin believes he may have found someone madder than himself.
With every moment he shares with the tenderhearted Gertrude, Edwin’s anger softens into admiration…and more. Is it possible that the woman he loathed may be the only person who can heal his broken soul?
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These two learn that love and hate are two sides of the same coin.
Overlooked and under-appreciated even by her own siblings, Gertrude Killoran is seen as weak for her partial blindness and her motherly tendencies and willingness to show compassion. Her adopted brother of the streets, Stephen, has been found and reclaimed by his true father, a man known as the Mad Marquess, who has been threatening Gertrude’s brother, Broderick, for his inadvertent role in Stephen’s initial kidnapping.
Lord Edwin, the Marquess of Maddock, is haunted by the deadly fire that claimed the lives of his wife and unborn child and the resulted in the kidnapping of his son. Now reviled by the ton as a mad murderer, Edwin hides away from the world and has all but forgotten how to interact with people at all. He’s determined to keep his son away from the hated Killorans from now on, until Gertrude muddles his plans by forcing her way into the marquess’ household along with Stephen and stubbornly refusing to leave. Edwin thinks he’s finally found someone more insane than he is but, in the interest of what is best for Stephen, he reluctantly agrees to allow Gertrude to remain and help him select a suitable governess for Stephen. She is only meant to stay for a fortnight per their bargain, but the more time Edwin spends with Gertrude, the more he admires her and his hatred of her morphs into understanding, healing and eventually even deeper feelings and Edwin begins to want her to stay.
I’ve loved this series and each successive hero becomes a new favorite for me. The Mad Marquess has been a villain in other installments of this series and I was so looking forward to his story. I’m a sucker for a tortured hero and Edwin certainly delivered: after a hate filled marriage that ended in tragedy and led to him being even more widely hated and shunned, he was a broken man filled with fear, rage and hatred. Gentle, deceptively strong Gertrude was perfect for him and just what he needed to bring him back into the light.
I devoured this book and couldn’t put it down, but at the same time I kept wanting to slow myself down to savor it. I’ll definitely be rereading. I can’t say enough good thinks about this book! It was fabulous!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I confess I had the previous book in this series but it was lost on its release day because too many books popped up in my kindle at the same time.
But as I was lucky to have been able to receive an ARC for this one book even if I preordered it, i can’t pass it now.
So here it is my first meeting with the Killorans and the Mad Marquess. So everything was new to me.
It was a slow burning story, and while it could have been an angsty and filled with bitterness tale, it was in fact a recital of redemption, forgiveness and faith in the other.
This awesome love story between three persons life has wounded is a fable narrating how they come to care and love another.
It is no love triangle, just how a father robbed of his family gets a second chance and wins his son’s affection with the help of the woman accounted of being part of his kidnapping and on the way finds more than he bargained for.
Gertrude is the kind of heroine as I love them, along the plot she finds her voice and stands for her. Sure I thought her weak at the beginning but as the time unfolds and her past is revealed, I came to see past the facade she has built around her, she fights and faces her fears. And despite the life she has lived, the things she has done, suffered or seen, she keeps her eyes wide open and sees the good where others would pass without a glance, even if it is jaded, she still has an innocence nothing could shatter.
Edwin could have become mad as he is called after everything was stolen from him, as it was more than his family, it was also his place among the ton and his sanity when meddling in society. He has moved as a recluse, so much he is unable to talk or chatter with others, he can just state the obvious or blurts what’s on his mind.
Then there is Stephen the lost son, a too fast grown up kid who twice was robbed of his life and family, he won’t face this third battle without a struggle, in the meantime he hurts Edwin and Gertrude but it is also to protect himself.
I loved how slowly Gertrude became essential to Edwin, how the more he gets to know her, the more she becomes magnificent in his eyes. Gertrude with her gentleness and her skilled sense of observation get Edwin to follow her and leave his cave where he stayed hidden for years and confront his fears of the crowd, the crowd of his peers.
I found no fault in this tale, even their mistakes and stubbornness as it will result in the cementing of their love for another, all three.
I will now have to read the previous one in this series now!
There is just no other way to say it “I loved this story”!! I have waited for Gertrude’s chance for her own freedom and maybe, happiness. I you have followed the series, you know that Stephen/August was the son of Edwin Warwick, Marquess of Maddock, was kidnapped from his home several years ago. Stephen’s mother and his unborn sibling died in the intentionally set fire while his father was not at home. Edwin searches, hires investigators and finally finds his son living with the Killoran’s. He blames them for setting the fire, stealing his son – the hate running deep and he can’t wait to get Stephen/August away from their hold on him.
There are so many emotions in book and it seemed like I was teary eyed a lot of the time. You have Edwin who was blamed, blackballed from society and nicknamed The Mad Marquess – he has become mostly a hermit and knows he will never be able to love or trust anyone again after a terrible marriage, horrible in-laws and the loss of the unborn child and mostly his son.
Stephen grew up in St. Giles where he learned the art of pick pocketing, gambling and living at the gambling hell the Killoran’s owned. Now at 11 years old, but is much older from growing up on the streets and being in an adult world, they want to take him away from the only family he has ever known, the Killoran’s. Can a boy from St Giles make it in society and can he ever accept his true father?
Gertrude is kind, tender, quiet and rescues homeless animals – right now she has a number of cats and 1 white mouse. She is the oldest, is almost blind in one eye and if she was ever given the chance was outspoken and stronger that any of her sisters. She oversees the younger siblings and when Stephen comes to the family as a new orphaned little brother, she tutors him and is basically his mother figure.
Stephen must return to Edwin’s home and Gertrude accompanies him but the fact that he doesn’t want to leave his Killoran family was causing tremendous problems- when they arrive at Edwin’s Gertrude has decided she will not leave Stephen and will stay until a proper governess/tutor is found for him. Edwin fights her but in the end he knows that she is the answer to help bring Stephen to accept him and society.
The hate Edwin feels for Gertrude’s father Mac Diggory, who gave the order to kidnapped Stephen, runs deep and he therefore gives his hate on to his daughter, Gertrude and the Killoran’s. This is a very emotional read with sad, happy, fun and romantic times. I was gifted this ARC and I am so happy I can tell you how wonderful Christi Caldwell’s story and characters are – I will remember this book for a long time.