Part of a trilogy and, certainly, it is so readable that I cannot wait to read the remaining books! Widowed Carrie and her two sisters in law set up a small cottage industry making bonnets for the Quality. Carrie meets Lord Avery and decides to ask him to instruct her in lovemaking as her husband had married her for her money and immediately left for the war, only to be killed, so she is still a virgin.
The wooing of Lord Avery is delightful, as is his determination to help Carrie's self confidence grow. He, himself, had been rejected by his father. So, two hurt people drawn together in love. A good basis for a beautiful love story.
A delightful tale!

A Lord For The Wallflower Widow is the first book in The Widows of Westram series (Mills & Boon Historical) by Ann Lethbridge.

It has been a long time since I have read a book where not only did I not want to put it down, I could not put it down until I finished reading it. Yes, I read it in one sitting despite that meaning I read into the wee hours of the morning. The story is just so good.

Lady Carrie and her two sisters-in-law are widowed and rather than live under their brother's roof they managed to get him to agree to them staying in a cottage in the country living within their means. What he didn't know is that to do that the ladies designed and made beautiful bonnets, fans, and gloves which Carrie rented a shop in London to sell. She stayed there during the week and returned home on the weekends. The store is new and not on the main shopping street so isn't doing any business at all. That is until Lord Avery Gilmore, foxed, enters her shop in order to buy the silk flowers from a bonnet. She sells him both the flowers and a beautiful handkerchief.

Avery is a second son and a disappointment to his father who has demanded that he marry. A demand that he refuses and therefore is cut off from his father and his money. His sister has been cut off too for marrying a commoner and Avery does his best to make sure she has enough money to live on while her husband is trying to start a career as a lawyer. To do that he gambles and normally wins, plus he escorts women shopping, or to balls while their husbands are absent. When they hear rumours of their wives being seen with a young handsome man they soon return from where they have gone and start paying attention to their wives. Avery also takes the women to particular shops where he earns a commission from any sales that are made to the women. It's a job that he quite enjoys.

When Avery realises that he is very much attracted to Carrie he decides to take one of his ladies to her shop to buy a bonnet and from there their relationship flourishes. So much so that Carrie, believing him to be an escort who beds his clients, has a wild moment where she offers to pay for his services. After explaining that he would like very much to spend time with her and for them to see where it might lead they also come to the conclusion that for her to be seen wearing the bonnets from the store while out with him would bring clients to the store. They start their scheme, and one of the places they go was such a delight to read about, no spoilers but it involved an elephant! Everything seems to be going swimmingly until Carrie realises that she might be falling in love with Avery. A stupid thing to have happened when he is only helping her out as a friend, isn't he?

This was a remarkable story of two people who come from very different backgrounds, both with emotional scarring that is working to keep them from wanting a commitment from each other. The more time they spend together the more they help each other to realise that perhaps they can overcome their pasts and perhaps even have a future together. I love reading how Avery helped Carrie realise that she was a woman worthy of a man's attention...and what attention he gave her! When they gave in to their mutual attraction the lovemaking was sizzling hot yet written beautifully, no crudeness, just a very justified giving in to the desires they tried so hard to hold back on.

All in all, I cannot fault this book, it was a pleasure to read from the first page to the last. I can and do happily recommend it.

The first part of The Widows of Westram trilogy two sisters and their sister-in-law, Redford Greystoke, Earl of Westram sends the three women to live in seclusion after their husbands joined up to Wellington’s army and were all killed at Badajoz. Carrie Greystoke is his sister in law. Johnathan Greystoke married Carrie for her dowry in order to pay off his gambling debts then straight after the wedding joined up, leaving her reliant upon his family and still a virgin. Redford allows the three of them to move to Westram cottage in Kent and gives them small allowances. The three women, however, are determined to be self sufficient and set up a bonnet shop in London which is run by Carrie whilst the two sisters stay behind and make the bonnets and other fripperies for the shop.
Carrie meets charming Lord Avery Gilmore, she is shocked by her intense reaction to him.
I found the book a little slow to begin with & thought it would take me a while to read but the more I read the more I liked it. Carrie is lacking in self esteem & sees herself as a tall plain woman who no man could want afterall her husband didn’t even kiss her. Avery is the second son of a duke who has made his own way after an argument with his father meant his allowance has been stopped. The pace of the book picked up & by the time I was a third of the way through I was engrossed in Avery & Carries, liking each other & falling in love. The characters were well fleshed & likeable. I look forward to Marguerite & Petra’s stories as they are both hiding something.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

“There were a great many things he liked about Carrie Greystoke. If he hadn’t sworn off marriage altogether, she was just the sort of woman e might have liked for a wife.”

Widowed Carrie Greystoke and her sisters in law are determined to become independent following the death of their husbands. Opening a small hat shop off Bond Street, Carrie’s plans are changed when she meets Lord Avery Gilmore, a confirmed bachelor who makes his living escorting ladies around town by day, and attending gambling halls by night.
The attraction between the two is instant, and we follow Carrie and Avery as they plan a no strings attached flirtation whereby Avery will be seen out and about with Carrie modelling the hats from her shop in a bid to boost business.
In Carrie and Avery, Ann Lethbridge has created two likeable and believable characters who have not always had an easy life, and, despite their protestations that marriage is not for them, both find themselves struggling to contemplate a future without the other, impossible as it may seem.
The scenes where Avery takes Carrie out to display her hats to the ladies of the ton are well written and well suited to the characters, and through these trips we learn a lot about Avery’s background and his travels, which prompts Carrie to let her guard down, and eventually reveal the sad truth about her first husband. The tea shop visit and the trip to the menagerie where Carrie encounters an elephant are particularly enjoyable, and it is at moments like this where you sense a change in Avery’s attitudes the arrangement, and, as a reader, you really do begin to root for him to tell Carrie how he really feels about her.
Enjoyable, romantic and heartwarming, this is likeable, well written book with solid characters and a believable story about finding love when you aren’t really looking for it. The book has some humorous moments (Carrie’s first meeting with Avery is quite memorable), and is also entertaining as you wonder if Carrie and Avery will let their pride stand in the way of their deserved happy ending.
As this is the first book in the Widows of Westram mini series, there are a few hints about Carrie’s sisters in law, Petra and Marguerite, and I look forward to catching up with Carrie and Avery in the other books in the series

One of the things I really enjoy about historical romance series is seeing how they manage to connect the books (since each book should, of course, end with a happy ending for the main couple). Here, the connecting thread is that we will follow two sisters and their sister-in-law, after they have all been widowed simultaneously when their husbands died in battle. It’s a little far-fetched, but provides an interesting background and a range of emotions to deal with, so I’m interested to see the stories of the other two widows!

Carrie, the sister-in-law, is the heroine of this book, and I really, really liked her. She’s not so much a wallflower as a very determined woman who refuses to worry about society’s opinion of her. When she and her sisters-in-law are widowed, rather than immediately searching for new husbands (the socially approved, and indeed, sensible thing to do), she leads them in setting up a shop in London to sell their handmade bonnets and other accessories. I liked that Carrie’s family history of trade meant that she had no qualms about becoming a shop owner – she does face some prejudice against her because of it, but her no-nonsense attitude is very endearing. She’s also smart, both street smart and book smart, which makes her much more interesting to read about.

Lord Avery is a fairly standard rake-with-a-heart-of-gold character, but what was interesting about him was that he didn’t just seduce women in his rakishness. Rather, he sets himself up as a sort of cicisbeo, a companion who accompanies married women to their engagements while their husbands are out of town, which has two benefits: firstly, the husbands get jealous, come home and pay more attention to their wives, and secondly, Avery gets a cut of the profits from any shop owner that his women buy from in his company. It’s a pretty clever system, and doesn’t actually involve any seduction anywhere, though I can see how he got his reputation!

Avery’s ‘job’, though, is a nice counterpoint to Carrie’s business, and you can see how these two determined people, who don’t mind bending the rules of society, would be a great fit for each other. They have instant chemistry, although neither of them is looking for love, and it’s fun to watch them completely fail to realise they’ve fallen for each other until it’s too late. I very much enjoyed watching their stubbornness play out at the end of the book, which I won’t spoil, but suffice to say that I was absolutely beaming as I read as it was just so cute!

Overall, this is a really fun romance that should leave a smile on your face. Best enjoyed wrapped up in a blanket with a nice cup of tea on a quiet afternoon – it’s well worth looking out for, and I’m going to be checking out some more of the author’s books! Four out of five stars..

What a delightful story of sexy, romantic, antics, set amongst the sense and sensibility era. Where ingenuity and a woman's place in business are not necessarily the done thing. A nice heart warming adventurous tale.

A Lord For The Wallflower Widow is the first instalment of the Widows of Westram series and is written by Ann Lethbridge. Redford Greystoke, Earl of Westram sends his two sisters and sister to live in seclusion after their husbands joined up to Wellington’s army and were all killed at the battle Waterloo. Carrie Greystoke is his sister in law. Johnathan Greystoke married Carrie for her dowry in order to pay off his gambling debts then straight after the wedding joined up, leaving her reliant upon his family and still a virgin. Redford allows the three of them to move to Westram cottage in Kent and gives them small allowances. The three women, however, are determined to be self sufficient and set up a bonnet shop in London which is run by Carrie whilst the two sisters stay behind and make the bonnets andbother fripperies.

Carrie first meets Lord Avery Gilmore when he is escorting a lady into her shop to try on her bonnets. She assumes he is an escort of a very different nature when in reality he just takes a cut of the sale. He is quite offended when later on she suggests she should pay him to take her out etc. Eventually Redford finds out about the women’s venture and insists it is shut down. Carrie has just turned down Avery’s proposal but realised she will be able to continue if she marries him. They love each other but just won’t admit it! Will they get their HEA or will misunderstandings stand in the way of their happiness?

I enjoyed this book immensely. Carrie is not the traditional historical romance heroine. Tall, stubborn, determined to be self sufficient after being let down by her husband, and from a trade background whilst Avery is a gambler, womaniser and estranged from his father who is a Duke. The characters work well together and there is humour abound in the book. I look forward to reading the other books in this mini series.

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley

My thanks to Net Galley and Mills and Boon for giving me the opportunity of reading A Lord for the Wallflower Widow. I loved the premise of this novel; ladies in peril striding out and taking on the world. When Lady Carrie Greystoke is widowed her husband leaves her with nothing, less than nothing because he spent her money on his gaming debts before he went to war for a bet and was killed. Their marriage wasn't consummated before he left, his choice it would seem, leaving Carrie feeling less than a woman. But when she meets Lord Avery Gilmore she is determined her life will change...and she is the one to change it.
A sumptuous tale of an independent woman's awakening to pleasure...and love.