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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What I can say about this book is that I was riveted from the very beginning. It held my attention from page one till the end. This is filled with real life emotional realities burdened upon people who did and did not deserve them. Through it all there was hate, derision, contempt, scorn now replaced with hope, love, forgiveness. It was never easy to achieve. But with gentle and calm direction it was accomplished. I felt emotionally moved by this book. I smiled through a lot of it. There were sober and painful parts but the upside was as I mentioned before was that I smiled while reading it. An excellent book and I highly recommend it. I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Christi I loved the dedication to your mom.
Christi Caldwell never fails to amaze me and she really upped the ante in this story. An extraordinary story that not only involves two damaged souls but includes a third – a child. As always, Ms. Caldwell’s characters have flaws and an unexceptional strength to their characters. From the heart wrenching first sentence to the happily ever after last sentence this book will keep you engaged. Just be sure and have the hankies handy!
I loved this tale. Caldwell is seriously one of the most gifted writers that I have read. She draws you in and doesn’t let go until the end. In the end you still want more. I loved these characters and the plot. I don’t do a synopsis of any book but I tell you, you can’t go wrong with this one or any other she has written. Go buy it!
St. Giles, London 1826 “It was as though someone had died. And in a way, someone had. This would be a physical loss felt throughout the club, leaving the unlikely home silent in ways it had never been.” Gertrude Killoran was having a difficult time facing that Stephen was actually going to live with this real father, Lord Edwin, known as the Mad Marquess. The one who he had been snatched from and brought into the Diggerty gang in St Giles and made to do unspeakable things just as all of the others had. Gertrude, who felt more like a mother to Stephen, was considered the weaker one in the group. But she seemed to find her strength when it seemed Stephen would have to go alone to his new life.
For the last seven years, Lord Edwin has been tortured by the loss of his family. A broken man, he finds out his son lives and brings him back home, wanting none of the “gang” he has been living with to ever see his son again. But it is difficult when Stephen comes because they are strangers and when Gertrude request she come with him, he allows it. She has a special bond with Stephen and as they spend time together, he sees she was a victim just like his son.
I am always excited when a story of Christi’s comes out because I know it will touch my heart, plus my eyes crying and pulling all the emotions out. The characters become real people that you can feel their emotions and they become my own. To see Gertrude come to life after being so long in the shadows and Rowan find his way back to actually feel something was almost overpowering.
As all of the books written by this author, it will forever go on my shelf of treasured books that will stay in my mind and heart for a long time.
Such a good, heart-warming story. I also enjoyed the historical stories that Gertrude told throughout the book. I received an ARC of this book.
In this book we finally see why Steven is so hurt and antagonistic even towards those that love him, he finally finds out that his real father,is Edwin, the Marquess which they call the “Mad Marquess”. And that his father will have his brother hanged and his sisters lives totally ruined if Broderick doesn’t give Steven back.
So when Edwin even says that they can’t say a last goodbye at the Marquess’s house that they must also give all familiar feelings over for Steven’s life from that day forward never to darken his life again. This to the Killorens is so hard they love him so much as he is more their brother than blood …but the Marquess doesn’t care.
Enters, Gertrude she is much more than a sister to Steven a mother in her heart to him, has always let her sisters and Broderick dictate to her what was best for her even though she didn’t put much into fighting them she always felt that her disability of being blind in one eye, was why they were so protective of her.
She decides that Steven isn’t going alone that she will stay till Steven can get along with his father. She also brings her pets, a cat and a mouse .
When Edwin and Gertrude finally come to terms, in that she stays more terms are brought forward from both sides as they fall in love with each other and Steven has a help in it from hiding Steven’s weapons, to special made furniture, to trips to the ice cream store to even skipping stones on the pond in Hyde’s Park.
With all this going on you have negative actions coming from a person who was friends with Edwin, and you have grandparents with giving everything to their spoiled daughter to showing so much hatred to Edwin but still wanted to have a relationship with their grandson and this is where Gertrude was helping Edwin prove that he wasn’t “mad” that he was scared and that he was so hurt. But that he can be a wonderful father to Steven even though it will be hard.
In this, Christi brought together basically a whole family of mixed relations, different stations of life and even the love between a father and son long in the making together into one big family.
I really enjoyed this book where an insecure man who went gathering stray and non-stray cats to keep a woman he loved and even commissioned a cage for her pet mouse. And a woman that wanted love for so long but felt that no one would want her with a disability, let alone that her father was a thief, killer, and kidnapper. Still gave a man the strength to live for his son, his in-laws, and to be able to leave his house which brought her and his family all together.
Each book just gets better and better. The Bluestocking by Christi Caldwell is no exception. In my opinion, this is the best of the series.
This is the 4th book in the Wicked Wallflowers Series. It can be read as a standalone, but so much better if you read all the books in the series. Every book in the series has been amazing and better than the previous book! The 3rd book gives the readers a peek at Lord Maddock (also known as the “Mad Marquess”) and all the anger and grief he has had in losing his wife and children. Then Stephen, his son was found to be living with the Killoran family after being kidnapped. Stephen is returned to his father but isn’t happy about the changes in his life. Gertrude was the sister that the Killoran family tried to protect, but she came into her own in this story. I was so excited to finally read her story and I was not disappointed. This was my favorite book in the series. The three characters made the reader experience so many emotions; fear, regrets, hope, grief, and anger. It was an amazing story of enemies putting the past behind them, forgiving and going forward.
From first paragraph to last this book had me captivated. Every character was depicted with relatable feelings. Hopes, fears, desires, regrets, all written in ways that you feel as you read. The changes the characters go through are realistically shown so you can believe in the transition from enemies to friends.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily reviewed it and the comments are my own.
Lord Edwin, known in London as the “Mad Marquess”, lost it all in a fire a few year earlier: his wife, son, and unborn child. Who could blame a man for being “mad”? But it was no accident. It was the work of an evil man.
Seven years later, with a diligent search, and the help of an excellent investigator, Edwin is told his son actually survived, but now he must have the boy returned to him.
Gertrude has a connection to the boy who is Edwin’s son, and to the man who took the child from his father with the disastrous arson that changed his future. She loves this young boy named Steven who must go back, after several years, to a father of whom he has no memory.
Despite Lord Edwin’s righteous anger at those connections, she is determined to help the boy and his father come to know and accept each other as Steven goes home.
This book is absolutely wonderful! Edwin is determined to hang on to his rage at his loss, while Gertrude is equally mired in teaching him forgiveness through example. Having never had a child of her own, she is still able to show Edwin how he can be the parent he so desperately wants to be for the boy he loved and lost. Now that he’s found his child, Edwin fears his ability to help the boy fit into the society to which he was born. To assist both father and son, Gertrude selflessly gives, that’s who she is, but not without cost to herself.
I loved Gertrude, and Edwin; these two characters are perfect in their imperfection as people.
This story is poignant, passionate, and has something to say about the freedom forgiveness brings. I cannot recommend it enough, it is a true gem.
Oh my this book by Christi Caldwell just made my heart so full of love and emotion. What a beautiful story of two loss souls that find very much needed happiness and true love in their lives. Gertrude Killoran and Edwin The Marquees of Maddock reminds you to never judge a book by it cover or in their case a people you don’t know by rumors and how they lived their lives and what others think.
Gertrude put herlonely life in the club owned by her brother Broderick Killoran in the seeded Streets of St. Giles aside to help her younger brother Stephen. Her younger brother must meet and live with the father he never knew he had.
Edwin has been known by high Society has the Mad Marquees since he loss his wife and son in a house fire that was not his fault but he blames himself since he could not same them. His heart grew with so much hate and bitterness he withdrew from society. There is so much to this Hero and Herioness and their past but so want the readers to learn by themself. Makes the book so much more fun to read without spoilers and the book will mean so much more to you.
Don’t miss out on this beautiful love story that made me laugh and cry and smile it so worth the ride. Christi Caldwell out did herself with this wonderful story and characters plus you get to visit old friends in this book too.
I have SO many feelings about this book and I don’t even know where to begin. This books can work as a standalone, but it would be a disservice to it not to read all the previous ones that lead into it. From the series, we’ve learned to love all the Killorans, and to understand the tragic pasts and suffering that have led to their lives and their mistakes. I expected to love and defend Gertrude fiercely (and I do) but I didn’t expect to land myself so strongly on Edwin’s corner for this book.
The conflict between them seems insurmountable. It really does. Albeit unknowingly, her family is responsible of his pain and suffering and there is an angry little boy caught in the middle. And yet Christi does a magnificent job navigating all of those feelings and validating both character’s perspectives. Even when there is a fallout, there are no rights or wrongs. I appreciate that the hero was as wounded as the heroine and his feelings were validated and justified as well. I really admire how craftily the author is able to give us a happy ending to a love story that seemed doomed from the start.
And Stephen is just a delightful, multidimensional little boy that gets to have his entire family back.
Once again, a wonderful love story from an author that doesn’t disappoint!
The Bluestocking is the fourth in the series but can also be read as a stand alone. Christi Caldwell has a talent for making the imperfect perfect. This is a story of how you let the past define your present and future, and overcoming the anger of the past to find the peace and happiness of the future. I absolutely adored Gertrude. She is a strong, passionate, loving character that teaches Edwin and Stephen how to rise above the bitterness of circumstances of the past and find forgiveness to move on in the their present and future relationship. Edwin is the ultimate tragic hero, who thought his entire family lost but has now been reunited with his son. He is learning how to interact with others and learning how to trust again. This is a wonderfully written story that takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster to the happily ever after.
I received an advanced reader copy from the author but all thoughts and feelings are my own.
The Bluestocking
Another fantastic read by Christi Caldwell. This is a story of redemption and how easy it is to underestimate the true value of a person. Gertrude is the forgotten Killoran, oh they love her but do not believe she has the skills & strength of her sisters. We find out however that when everyone else believes that all hope is lost she displays fortitude & a will of iron. Edwin is who the Ton has labeled the Mad Marquess, he lost himself in his grief & anger and has forgotten how to live. Now they have come together to help Stephen find his way in his new life. Slowly as they get to know one another they realise that the preconceptions they had were wrong. These two scarred people find friendship and ultimately love. Of course it’s not all plain sailing as you would expect but that is what makes Christi’s stories so enjoyable, no one wants easy. Great love is fought for and won. This whole series has been brilliant and I can’t recommend it enough.
Yeah for Christi Caldwell! This is one of my favorite series. Two scarred heroes getting their happily ever after. Gertrude is considered the weakest link of the gang. Now she stands up and surprises everyone. Maddock has kept himself hidden for years until she barges in and forces him into the light. This is a magnificent story of redemption and grace. The author is as always magnificent in her storytelling.
The Bluestocking by Christi Caldwell is book 4 in the Wicked Wallflowers Series. This is the story of Gertrude Killoran and Edwin Warwick, Marquess of Maddock. I have read the previous books (and Loved them!!) which I think helped with my enjoyment of this book and series since there is a underlining story going on but with that said I do feel you can easily make this a standalone book if you wish to do so.
Edwin’s wife, son and unborn child died in a fire that left him mad and of course very upset. The town whispered that he was to blame and started calling him the ‘Mad Marquess’ which he added to that by drinking and letting his anger take over. Broderick Killoran and his ‘siblings’ have survived the harsh streets along with being taken into street gang run by Mac Diggory where they most all were abused or touched by Diggory’s harshness.
Gertrude is the eldest ‘Killoran’ Sister who has always been thought to be weaker and kept protected. Stephen was the youngest of the ‘adopted’ siblings. When it is learned that Edwind’s son actually was kidnapped and didn’t die in the fire by Diggory but is now living with Broderick Edwin wants his son. Edwin blames Broderick and all the Killoran siblings for his son being taken and kept from him. Edwin deals with Broderick saying he is taking his son and no one from Killoran is to contact them or he will seek his revenge.
Gertrude of course can’t let Stephen just go on his very own with the ‘Mad Marquess’ who Stephen doesn’t really remember him, so she sneaks into the carriage to go with them.
Of course this sets off their story line that for me took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. Which is the reason Ms. Caldwell is one of my Top Ten Favorite Authors. Ms. Caldwell brings you into their story building up your emotions so that when the characters hurt you hurt, when they are happy you are happy and so on. In addition to that her books are one you will not be able to put down because you can stop mind story and you need to see what is going to happen next in their story. I would recommend this book along with any books written by this author!
Loved it!
Gertrude Edwin
Another brilliantly written story by this author. She has been tempting readers with the mad Marquess and the mystery surrounding his bitterness, anger and drive for revenge. A captivating tale that raises many unanswered questions about the Killoran family, especially Stephen, the son they are accused of stealing from Lord Edwin Maddock. Loved Edwin, but the real star is an intelligent, smart, and caring bluestocking, a member of the Killoran family, who is so underestimated and unrecognized by all. She will become the unseen force and true hope for the answers and solutions needed to right wrongs and begin a healing for so many of the individuals involved.
Gertrude Killoran is an amazing heroine, and the way Christi Caldwell reveals the many qualities and levels of her character is beautiful. When this strong, fierce Lord and quiet yet stubborn lady meet, a whirlwind of emotions and long hidden secrets emerge and make for a very excellent love story, tense and veiled at times and uplifting and gentle at other times. That’s one of the many draws of this very talented writer as the journey of her flawed characters is never easy and more than a little rocky before the outcome is known.
Filled with highly charged personalities and tearfully tender emotions, I strongly recommend “The Bluestocking”. I received an arc for my honest opinion which is given here, but I also purchase for my own collection.
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, is due to return to live with his true father Edwin Warwick, the Marquis of Maddock, and she’ll be damned if she relinquishes the boy to the man reviled throughout London as the Mad Marquis. Still haunted by a deadly tragedy that left him publicly despised, Edwin holds only hatred for the Killorans, the people he believes kidnapped his son. 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.
Each time I read a book by the author I don’t believe it will be as good as the last one & each time it’s either as good if not better. I’ve loved every book in the series & this book could well be my favourite so far. Extremely well written, wonderful characters & a truly lovely story. It wasn’t the gut wrenching story like some of the other stories but whilst it did take me on a gamut of emotions my overall feeling was of the joy of the relationships between Edwin & Gertrude & Edwin & Stephen. The way those relationships developed & moved from dark to light was masterful & made for a captivating, engrossing & enthralling read. This is one of the loveliest books I’ve read in quite a while & I’ve no hesitation in highly recommending it.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Every time I think Ms. Caldwell can’t possibly get any better, she proves me wrong. Every book is better than the last. I can’t put her books down. The Bluestocking #4 in her Wicked Wallflower series was no exception. Oh the feels! For all 3 main characters. Gertrude, Edwin, and young Stephen. I don’t think I cried so much in one book. In a good way. This story was heartbreaking and absolutely beautiful. Classic Christi Caldwell.
You will be hooked as soon as the first chapter. The Blue Stocking is a story of love healing people. It is about family. It is about a Father’s love for his son. It is about the healing of hurt. It is about blame and guilt. It is about a growing love and trust between all characters.
Christi Caldwell writing gets you so into her books, that I could not wait for Gertrude’s story and I was not disappointed. Gertrude never thought she was strong or brave, until she proved to herself that she was as strong and brave as anyone in her family. My heart went out to Edwin, he was broken after loosing his family, but the love he had/has for his son is so strong you can feel it and feel you were going through the heartache with him.
This book is part of a series which can be read alone. This is the second book I have read in the series, but I am glad I read The Governess before this book because I feel it helped me understand some of the characters better. I would love for Steven to grow up and get his story.