Once Upon a Wallflower

This book is a little confusing, but it is supposed to be. Let me explain. To gain an inheritance from their father, both Fitzhenry brothers named their daughters Mirabella. That way if the inheritance was left in name to one, they both would inherit. With me so far? It is because these two are both named Mirabella that the surviving Fitzhenry brother is able to fulfill his gambling debt by offering his niece’s hand in marriage instead of his much prettier daughter. So, Mira is off to marry a man she’s never met. A man who has been accused of murdering his last fiancé and two other women. Nicholas, Viscount Ashfield, is scarred and expecting to scare his fiancé away within five minutes. He is a very solitary sort, but Mira is an unexpected delight he welcomes into his life. The two keep saying to themselves one or the other will call the whole marriage off, but as the days go by and they try to figure out the mystery of the slain women, they fall in love. Watson has a great gift for storytelling and weaves a brilliant mystery in the love story of Mira and Nicholas. I loved that I was guessing who the villain was throughout the story. I was sure five different people were the murderer at different points, but in the end only one was finally revealed. While this story was released in 2013 and I don’t see any follow up written by this author, I truly hope she will give her readers another wonderful historical romance mystery in the future. I received Once Upon A Wallflower for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

No punishment for the mean and calculating cousin and half brother? I find it really disappointing when the villains grace so many pages with their villainy then only a short note in the end to show for their punishment. Even worse is when there's no punishment at all.

Caught my attention right away. I loved Nicolas and Mira and enjoyed the other characters. I wished that the ending was not so rushed. I would have loved an epilogue.