Review: The Peacock and the Wallflower by Laura Greenwood

The Peacock and the Wallflower (The Shifter Season #2)
Laura Greenwood

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Paranormal Historical Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
Esther’s expectations from the Season are low, even if her parents seem intent on controlling every aspect of it, including who she might marry.

Peacock shifter Laurence has grown tired of the attention being one of the most desirable catches of the marriage market and wants nothing more than to be left in peace.

When the two of them enter a fake courtship with the intention of taking attention away from them, they discover that not every lie is based on a falsehood.

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The Peacock and the Wallflower is a paranormal Regency romance with peafowl shifters. It is part of the Shifter Season series. It has an m/f romance and is Esther and Laurence’s complete story.

My Review

I’ve been really enjoying this series and after reading 3 different books in this series I decided to go back and read the two books that I missed. When I was having a stressful week I picked this one up as I know I can always expect a light and sweet romantic read from Laura Greenwood and this book was exactly the type of read I needed.

I am not a big fan of fake romances and I have to say this book’s blurb didn’t really grab me as much of some of the others in this series. But as I’ve been enjoying the other books in the series I wanted to read this one as well. I ended up really enjoying this one. This is one of the best fake romance books I read as they both enter the fake courtship with their eyes open and both getting something of it, along the way they find themselves enjoying each others company. And quite quickly after realizing that they open up about that and it turns into a real courtship, it doesn’t get dragged out and I liked how that got resolved. There is little drama, just two great characters getting to know each other and falling in love.

I liked reading about Esther and Laurence. They both have their struggles, Esther with her controlling mother and Laurence with having too many women interested in him as he’s seen as a desirable catch. I liked how their fake courtship helped deal with these issues and I liked how they got to spend more time together and get to know each other. They are both very open and honest with the other and I really enjoyed their banter and conversations. I thought they made for a great couple and really enjoyed reading about them.

There are some mentions of the couple of book 1 as well as they introduced to pair from this book to each other. They also help out on several occasions which was fun to see. There are also mentions of the main character of book 3 and I look forward to reading that book soon!

I am enjoying the unique mix of historical romance with shifters in this series. There was a fun scene with the characters in their peafowl form in this book as well as some references to peacock feathers and the significance one of Laurence’s feathers plays in their romance.

To summarize: I has such a great time reading this book. Fake dating is not a trope I usually like, but this was maybe my favorite book with this trope ever due to the way it was written. They both enter the fake courtship with their eyes open and are honest and open with each other from the start. When they develop feelings it doesn’t get dragged out and they open up to the other and it turns into a real courtship. I liked how there was no drama, just two people who grow fond of each other and then fall in love. I really liked reading about both Esther and Laurence and they made for a great couple. The blend between historical romance and shifters continues to work really well for this series and I enjoyed reading about peafowl shifters in this one.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.