Name: The Perks of Loving a Wallflower
ISBN: 9781538719541

Erica Ridley

Fans of Bridgerton will love this "delightful" Regency romp (Julia Quinn, New York Times bestselling author​) in which a proper Society miss recruits a very improper lady grifter in a quest for vengeance, only to find love instead. As a master of disguise, Thomasina Wynchester can be a polite young lady--or a bawdy old man. Anything to solve the case. Her latest assignment unveils a top-secret military cipher covering up an enigma that goes back centuries. But when Tommy's beautiful new client turns out to be the highborn lady she's secretly smitten with, more than her mission is at stake . . . Bluestocking Miss Philippa York doesn't believe in love. Her cold heart didn't pitter-patter when she was betrothed to a duke, nor did it break when he married someone else. All Philippa desires is to rescue her priceless manuscript and decode its clues to unmask a villain. She hates that she needs a man's help--so she's delighted to discover the clever, charming baron at her side is in fact a woman. Her cold heart . . . did it just pitter-patter?

The Perks of Loving a Wallflower

I haven't read anything by Ridley before, but I enjoyed this. However, it was one of those times where I enjoyed the characters more than the plot. I adored the Wynchester siblings and their dynamic. They each have such big personalities and certain skills they bring to the table, and I thought it was so fun that they take on these adventures together. I liked watching Tommy transform into these different characters, and how Philippa played a part in their scheme as well. The two of them worked well together, and I appreciated how Tommy didn't keep her identity from Philippa for too long. She brings her into the fray quite early on, which I liked. Their romance was a bit slow but sweet. Also, it was adorable how Tommy's family didn't even hesitate to include Philippa in their inner circle. As for the plot itself, I never felt invested in it, but I did like how it all wrapped up. Overall, I liked this and am looking forward to picking up the rest of the series.

Heather Harrington

Bhavana N R

I just want to hug this book and keep it like my comfort stuffed animal.

Gays and smarts and heists (kinda). I want a whole series with Phillipa joining the crew and going on heists and being all cute. PLEASE GIVE ME AN OCEAN'S 8-ISH SERIES WITH THESE CHARACTERS.

Anna Agarwal

Karli P

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever/Grand Central Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

It's always harder to review something when you absolutely loved it beyond reason. This was absolutely amazing from start to finish. I read this book without reading the novel or novellas before and while they aren't necessary to understand this one, I will now be going back to read them.

This is the first book by Erica Ridley I have read and even just after one book I can see that she is my favorite historical romance author. This book was DELIGHTFUL. It was charming, it was sweet, it was unexpectedly hilarious. 

Philippa has trouble going after what she wants if she thinks it's going to negatively impact her status or the status of those close to her, to the point where she keeps herself from finding her own happiness. I enjoyed watching her grow throughout the story. I thought that her character arc was incredibly well-done and was rooting for her and Tommy the entire time. 

Now Tommy, I have so many things to say about her. I love that there is a nonbinary sapphic (likely nonbinary lesbian, but the word is only used when Philippa is speculating about her, and is not used by Tommy herself) character in this novel. I don't see that very often and I'm incredibly grateful for the representation. Tommy is a master of disguise who really just wants to be able to be herself, the disguises are fun, but at the end of the day she just wants to be Tommy. Her little quips, especially when she's in a certain disguise, add such great humor to this novel. I love the way this character was handled. 

The FAMILY. They are one of the sweetest, most hilarious, most loving group of siblings I have ever read about. The way that they care for each other and work together to help others is incredibly heartwarming. I am hoping that every single sibling is going to get their own book, that is the way this series seems to be set up, I want to learn more about every single one of them. 

Overall this was an amazing book, I read it in like a day and a half, it was a fast read and so fun and just made me so happy.