Lucy Morris’ How the Wallflower Wins a Duke is a standalone historical romance featuring Miss Marina Fletcher, pianist and daughter of an architect, and Brook, Duke of Framlingham. Brook was never brought up to be a duke, but the deaths of his father and his brother have thrust him into a position that doesn’t fit with his plans to travel the world, and Marina wants nothing more than to play her music in peace. A fake engagement might just get them both what they need, even if it isn’t necessarily what they want.

Marina attends a house party with her family, and on one evening, the dinner guests include her architect father’s main rival and his family. Marina vigorously defends her father whenever his rival slights him, and on this occasion she is overheard by Brook, who admires her spirit and finds her interesting in spite of himself and in spite of his matchmaking mother. Marina’s mother suggests she play the pianoforte for everyone despite knowing of Marina’s secret shame: she recently became carried away while playing and embarrassed herself in front of most of the ton. When Brook and Marina both find themselves unable to sleep they end up in the library in the middle of the night, where Brook proposes they become engaged to satisfy his mother and to allow Marina to stop being bothered by unwanted suitors. She refuses him and he retreats. 

Some time later while Brook and Marina are arguing outside, her brother arrives from the same school Brook was forced to go to, and finally admits he – like Brook – is being badly bullied. On the carriage ride back to Brook’s estate, he and Marina share their secrets: he tells her about his awful school days, and she tells him how her former fiancé made fun of her for becoming lost in her music, and that she overheard him saying he was only going to marry her for her father’s money. Shortly after, she agrees to pretend to be his fiancée. 

I am a huge fan of Lucy Morris’ writing and was expecting great things from this title. I am happy to repport those expectations were mostly met (even if I missed there being a Viking!), but this story didn’t work quite as well for me as her other books. I liked that Marina and Brook don’t become engaged until well into the first half of the book, and that this means there is time for their relationship to develop; they become friends before becoming more. While there is attraction from the very beginning, there is no instalust. Brook and Marina actually spend time together getting to know one another, and their attraction deepens with time. While this is not an action-packed story, I was never bored as there was always something happening. 

How the Wallflower Wins a Duke is probably not the most original historical romance out there, but I enjoyed it and would recommend it as an enjoyable way to spend a lazy afternoon.