How to be a Wallflower is a very hilarious, charming, and engaging story of Cleopatra Lewis (of the famed Lewis commodes) and Jake Addison (who may or may not be of the famed Astors); who discover that love is the greatest wager of all.

First of the bat can I say how much I enjoyed Cleo’s character? She was such a fun person who had lots of agency whilst knowing how to have fun. I loved that her priority never wavered from her “unfashionable” business, her friendship with Gussie, the fact that she was a shrewd businesswoman in other ways, and most importantly that she didn’t lie to herself.

Jake was no slouch either. Truly the two of the made me laugh out loud in many places. I adored the wager and all its ramifications. I also enjoyed that he was the first person to fall and instantly rearranged his life. That gets me every single time.

The two had such amazing chemistry and I will genuinely miss them. I so enjoyed even the final miscommunication act. It was truly well done on Cleo’s part. The side characters are also great. The grandfather and Byng, Yasmin, Merry, even the Earl of Lilford (sure we see more him soon ( )

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Introduction
How To Be A Wallflower is the 1st book in the "Would Be Wallflowers" series. I started this book as an audio and then switched to the ebook. With some historical authors I prefer to do this, as sometimes HR can be hard for me to get into. I will say that if you love fun witty, self made heroes, and American/English pairings then you definitely need to pick this one up. This had all the charm and endearing humor that Eloisa James is capable of. Its a book that intrigued me and I was captivated a bit by these characters. It wasn't a perfect installment, but an lively one that entertained me so much. I definitely had a good ole' time with this one.

Summary
Miss Cleopatra Lewis after reuniting with her grandfather is to be launched into society. But she is determined not to marry and wants to show herself as a ugly wallflower that turns the men away and not drawn them in. Then we have the self made businessman mogul Jacob Astor Addison who has come to England to acquire some businesses to bring back to the America's to launch. But when Cleo steals a costume emporium from him, he is determined to win it back and the lovely lady included because he is charmed for her and even though he is betrothed, Cleo fascinates him in a way a woman never has before. But Cleo has no interest in marriage, so Jacob will have to use all of his charm to win his lady over and her heart.

My Outlook
How To Be a Wallflower was a endearing read. It had me laughing all over the place. I had some issues with the story itself, but, if you are a fan of this authors work, you will definitely see the wit and carefully balanced building of the relationship being showcased within this story. So I want to talk about what I loved the most first and then go into my issues with the story.

What I loved the most in this one, is that, dialogue between Jacob and Cleo. I wouldn't necessarily call this enemies to lovers, but there is conflict between them and a competition between them so you see them bantering with each other back and forth but there is an obvious attraction between them. I also really enjoyed the way that this book was developed with this one here. I loved the way that the hero pines for the heroine and his "courting" of her. I love "courting" romances, and I feel like we don't see them as much in historicals as we used to, so it was so fun to see this being so focused in the story. We get an entry of the Duchess of Trent (loved seeing her connecting this book to the Wildes series. So, it was fun seeing. her have a part in this one, as she is friends with the hero. The romance itself was charming. And there is such a strong sexy vibe to their connection. There are some great smexy moments here. Eloisa James really knows how to build up her steam moments so well with the story itself.

Now to talk about my issues with the book. The first is the heroine. While I enjoy some aspects of her character, it never really made sense why she was so anti marriage in a culture where marriage was such a focus for women. It wasn't ever really explained on a deeper level why she was so against it other than her mother's experiences. Also she didn't seem willing to sacrifice anything for the relationship. It was very one sided of the hero sacrificing everything for her. I didn't like how he had to give up his whole life and career for her when he obviously would be the one bring "home the bacon" haha It just seemed like all the work and dedication in the relationship was one sided and the heroine was just "I guess I love you so we can get married". I like to see both sides giving to the relationship and she didn't give hardly anything to it. For example he chooses her clothes and its attractive, she chooses his clothes, she dresses him like a peacock. Just very disappointing in some of these elements.

Overall View
I found How To Be A Wallflower to be a fascinating read that was enjoyable and pure plain sexy fun! Definitely a witty charming romance to indulge in.

Rating Evaluation:
Plot: 3.5
World Building: 4
Cover:5
Hero: 5
Heroine: 3
Steam: 4
Heart & Feels: 3.5
Ending:3.5
Overall View: 3.5 ( )

Owning and running a business, Lewis Commodes, allows Cleo wealth while her connections to her grandfather give her status. However, when she finds herself in a business conflict with American businessman, Jake Astor Addison, the two find themselves drawn together. Can Cleo remain an unmarried wallflower or will Jake steal her heart?

The main male character's angst went on and on. I also did not care for the way the pl main issue was resolved ( )

This might be rounding up a little, but I quite enjoyed it. There was *some* drama of course, but generally the characters were so reasonable, and the events so chill, that it was only happy emotions and no anger or stress or anything. The focus was strongly set just on the couple falling in love, so no mystery or huge secret or villain to worry about. The main characters are likable and are good together. They also spend time together and get to know each other, and aren't actually just crushing or lusting on the other. And they grow as people. So it's all around nice. The steam could be more explicit in my opinion, but there were many sweet moments to kind of make up for it. ( )