Review: The Wolf and the Wildflower by Stacy Reid

 

Synopsis

USA Today bestselling author Stacy Reid’s addictive tale of two lost people who are found…by each other.

London is buzzing with the news that James Winters, the Duke of Wulverton—thought lost at sea a decade ago—survived in the harsh wilderness of the Yukon. Now he’s been returned to his family, his responsibilities, and a nightmarish world of artifice and noise. He has three weeks to become a refined, elegant duke for the Queen…or doom the entire family to ruin and scandal.

Promising psychologist Jules Southby knows a lot about disguises. She’s secretly been living as a boy since birth, enjoying the freedoms of men and knowing little about how to behave like a woman. When she meets the alluring duke, she’s unprepared for his raw, masculine beauty and icy intelligence…or that he can see through her darkest secret.

Jules has very little time to transform the duke into a true semblance of an English gentleman. Yet his very presence seems to unravel her in every way. Their attraction is stark and achingly real—and forbidden. But loving the lost duke would mean losing every sacrifice she’s made to earn her freedom…

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Review

It's one of those books that you wouldn't be able to put down. From the beginning, I was drawn in by the characters and the storyline. Both characters have such farfetched backstories that I doubted the author would be able to make it work, but she did. And I'm amazed at how well.

One was lost at sea and missing for ten years. He survived in the wilderness fighting both hunger and the cold. Without any human interaction, he lived for ten years among animals. Now, he is back in civilized society, but not as the same young man. Will society accept him and what about his family?

The other has been pretending to be a man. Her deception is so complete that even her father doesn't know that she is his daughter and not a son. She has been groomed since birth to take her father's place. It has shaped her life and now that she is ready to work beside her father, things are suddenly not as easy as they should be. Can she ever tell her father the truth and face the consequent disappointment?

They have lied to the people in their lives and pretended to be someone they are not, yet when Jules and James meet, they are nothing but honest with each other. Maybe it's easier, to tell the truth when they both have too much to lose. But what will happen when their hearts become entangled and they find it difficult to be apart?

This is a beautifully written story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I find Jules and James adorable and their story to be a real treat. I'd recommend it to all fans of historical romance.

P.S. I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley. But that has nothing to do with my honest review of the book.