I have not had the chance to read many of Manda Collins books, but I really enjoyed this one.
Miss Sophia Hastings is a painter. But she finds out about danger for another painter and wants to help even if it means help from the local vicar. Reverend Lord Benedick Lisle knows Sophia and does not want her to be in danger and wants to help. I did enjoy the characters in this book and the plot was good.

Wallflower Most Wanted (Studies in Scandal, #3)
by Manda Collins

While it was okay for a light read, I must admit this one did not do a lot for me. While I am enjoying the series to a point. The Vicar having out of marriage sex was a definite not for me type of writing. I can say the characters are interesting as well as the plot. It was only that point as well as the formal writing and slow start that made it a no go for me. Okay for a beach read maybe. I was given this book in return for an honest review. Anna Swedenmom

While I generally like books by Manda Collins I have felt so so about this series. I think each book in the series has gotten better than the last. I love seeing Ben’s brother Freddie again. My problem with this book it that it keeps talking about a conversation that was overheard by Sophia and Ben at the villains ball but I, as the reader never was made aware of this happening except in retrospect. I have no idea what they heard except little snippets they drop. It is bizarre that it seemed like there was a whole piece of the plot missing. I don’t know if it’s because it is an unedited advanced copy or it has something to do with it being an ebook but it is really annoying. Otherwise I really liked the story.

A grand romance with great plot and characters. I truly enjoyed this historical romance.

Sophia Hastings isn't concerned with finding Mr. Right, but when Benedick Lisle comes to her rescue she cannot help but be attracted. Benedick is just the person to help Sophia solver her mystery and their story is one you will find delightful to read.

Wallflower Most Wanted by Manda Collins

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Despite some slow spots, this title was still pretty enjoyable.

Miss Sophia Hastings is yet another talented young lady who is co-owner to Beauchamp House. Sophia is a talented painted whose works are considered scandalous by some. Still, she is determined to put them on display in a local art show.

Reverend Lord Benedick Lisle is rather open-minded and is impressed with Sophia's talent...and her beauty. When it becomes clear her controversial artwork has landed her in the middle of trouble, Ben realizes that the last woman he thought he should marry is the only one he wants.

I personally get kind of sick of the "rogue that's slept with EVERY woman who would have him" trope so a vicar was a nice change. Ben is a very sweet man and I enjoyed reading about him. As someone else pointed out, anytime Ben's day-to-day life was brought up it was usually glossed over with "vicarage business" rather than actually telling what he was doing.

I liked Sophia, too. She was a very determined and independent woman. I did find her stubbornness at wanting to be involved with the mystery to her own detriment to be a little off-putting.

In all honesty, the mystery that was the main plot of the novel wasn't that engaging even though I had no clue who the culprit was. All the action regarding the mystery happened near the end of the novel and I skimmed quite a bit to get to it.

I will definitely be checking out the next title in this series.

Another scholarly sort. Another murder mystery to solve. Wallflower Most Wanted returns to Beauchamp heiresses with Sophia's story. A painter, her work tends to cause a bit of a stir and she finds herself in the midst of a art forgery ring that she intends to stop with the help of the local vicar, Benedick.

Having read the first two books already (Ready Set Rogue and Duke with Benefits), I have to say that this one was a bit disappointing. It lacked that certain extra something to keep me hooked from beginning to end. Perhaps it's because the plot has become predictable for these books or the fact that the characters fell flat. Or both.

Probably both.

Sophia wasn't a badly written heroine so much as a boring one. I liked that she was an artist but that's all that she really had going for her. And the vicar would call her "Wallflower" all the time which I didn't get either because she definitely didn't strike me as such (which also left a disconnect with the title). Ben wasn't really Mr. Personality either. He and Sophia have known each other for a while now and suddenly he's lusting after her and it just felt a bit sudden and wasn't working for me. On that note, the romance was bland. I don't need explicit scenes in a romance to feel the chemistry between characters but there was nothing between these two. The most I got was a mutual respect which is great and all but not what's going to make me ship these characters. It is a romance, after all.

I did like the twist with the antagonist of this story. I had a few guesses but thought that the execution leading up to the big reveal played out well and felt both believable from the stance of a reader following this story but also surprising in the good way.

The whole potential murder and forgery ring storyline was pretty bland for me. Which is sad because when you hear those two phrases I doubt you'd think "boring" but it felt like background noise to the romance that wasn't really happening on the page. Honestly, I felt more chemistry between Gemma and Cam (who you'll briefly meet in this one) and really hope he's the one in the next book with Gemma because I want to read that one.

Wallflower Most Wanted left me wanted a LOT more. Disappointing since the previous two books were decent and I love the idea of a house full of "bluestockings" in this day and age. Good premise and plenty of potential but the execution this time around wasn't up to par unfortunately.

Good story very good read. Interesting characters def would recommend

Sophia Hastings is an artist and fairly well known. She is also one of the four ladies to inherit a mansion and were called Beauchamp House Heiresses. Lord Benedick Lisle, is the second son of a duke and a vicar. He finds Sophia charming.
There is a mystery, that came from Ben's brother, Frederick. There appears to be a forging ring of priceless paintings, occuring in their town of Little Seaford. The home Office was concerned. Since Ben lived there, they hoped he would look into it for them.
Four women inherit land, and each is talented in a different field. As you can tell the characters are exactly that, they are funny, kind, loving and fiesty. There are a couple of surprises, mixed in, but this is a well thought out tale. It is well written and engages your interest thru out the whole book. I enjoyed it.
I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

I wasn't that impressed with the story of Ben and Sophia. They started out as a cute couple and the story looked to be well written, until a vicar had sex with a woman and they weren't yet married. It Totally lost me at that point. I read romance and am used to the whole sex before marriage trope, but with a Vicar it lost me right there. 3 stars for the story up until that point. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC, and this is my review of it.

Manda Collins books keep getting better and better! I cannot wait for the next book in this series! I have told all of my fellow romance novel lovers about this series!

Wallflower Most Wanted is the third book in Manda Collins series Studies in Scandal. Ready Set Rogue and Duke with Benefits are the first two books. The series is about four heiresses who are left Beauchamp house because they are blue stockings who are pursuing fields that interestedLady Celeste Beauchamp.
I enjoyed this book as much as I did the others and this might be my favorite of the three. I love the heiresses and Sophia was as much fun to read about as the other girls. The hero is Ben the local vicar and I am glad to say he was not held back in his pursuing Sophia due to being the local vicar.
Fans of historical romance will enjoy this book and I enjoyed the added mystery in all the books in the series. Even though it is part of the series, you can read it as a standalone.

I did not read the first two books but was sad about Celeste's murder in the previous book. I think the description when Ben and Sophia overhear men discussing a murder was unclear and could have more descriptive. The romance and mystery evolve well but there were a couple of loose ends to me. I would have liked to know that the gallery owner was the target, that Morgan admitted to the crimes and what was result for Ryder. Were all forgers identified because at one point there were supposed to be several but I guess it was evident but still would like finality. All in all a good book, thanks.

Third in the 'Studies In Scandal' series...and just as wonderful as the first two.
Miss Sophia Hastings is an artist who paints provoking paintings. An accident sees her end up in the arms of handsome Lord Benedick Lyle, the neighborhood vicar. They've overheard something that may be a murder plot, someone is in dangerand they don't know who, so they proactively snoop for clues.
She also finds out she had been left a letter from her benefactor, asking her to complete a task...one that's not easy.
Plenty of clues turn out not to be, but more show there is definitely something going on in the village.....but not enough to act on.
Told with intrigue, humor and sensual romance, this tale is a must read for Historical romance fans.
I requested and received a NetGalley ARC to my delight.

Sophia Hastings is an unconventional lady and an artist. In fact, she's out painting on the cliffs when she accidentally falls off and onto our hero, Reverend Ben Lisle. Mid-rescue, they both overhear a nefarious and criminal conversation and so starts their investigation, which will lead them through danger, forgeries and historic crimes.

The book was a slow starter, and I found myself skimming through pages at the beginning. While I understand it's important to build a setting, atmosphere and characterisation, I found it frustrating the much of the book happens with Sophia and Ben apart - I don't pick up a romance because I want to read about the hero and heroine's separate family dynamics. I wanted to see a lot more of Sophia and Ben getting to know each other, rather than us getting to know them in unnecessary detail.

Overall, another good, fun read from Manda Collins and certainly not an entirely predictable villain at the end! A dash of drama and passion, some quirky side characters and a good amount of humorous banter thread through the whole story.

WOW what a fabulous book. There was so much going on in this and what a wonderful array of different characters. It's the kind of story that makes you stop and think about what really matters. I laughed and I cried as it was full of emotion too.

Not the best of the series, but non the worst either, still this series of Manda Collins seems so slow compared to her former works. Maybe it's just me. Anyway I think this is the first regency romance that I read where the main character is involved with a vicar, which was interesting enough. Let's wait for the sister book.

Non il migliore della serie, ma nemmeno il peggiore, ciononostante, questa serie di Manda Collins stenta a decollare, almeno per quello che mi riguarda, é veramente molto lenta, ma magari la colpa é la mia. A parte questo sono quasi sicura che questo sia il primo regency romance dove l'eroina s'innamora di un vicario di campagna, cosa che lo rende comunque diverso dai soliti, e ora aspetto l'ultimo libro sulla sorella.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

I did not enjoy the book for the following reasons:

- The pacing was very inconsistent which lead to several unrealistic plot points
- Characters were bland and utterly boring.
- No character growth.
- Weak plot

***I received an ARC of this book for an honest review***

This was a miss for me. It took me a while to get into this one due to the formalistic, nearly prissy writing. I know that I just came off a RomCom and a YA spy novel, and that may have contributed. But the first 20% of this book was an uphill climb. It smoothed out some in the middle, but by then I was exhausted and over it. The end was a rushed blur of all the action - that I would have appreciated earlier on in the story.

<b>"'How can our joy in one another be a sin? We haven't yet wed in the church, but in our hearts we are and have been since that day in your studio.'"</b>

Sophia and Ben know each other from their small town. She's an artist living in a house with other brilliant woman. He's the vicar. A mysterious conversation about murder upon which they both eavesdrop throws them into closer proximity, and they become drawn to one another.

The story lacked the spark that made it worth all the work to read it.


*I'm going to assume that the significant editorial issues will be fixed by the time the book is released. They didn't factor in on my rating decision.

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I received an ARC for an honest review.

I can't begin to say how much I enjoyed this book in the Studies in Scandal series and it has easily become my favorite out of the first three.

This book is about Sophia, the painter of the bluestockings, and the local vicar Ben. The attraction between the two is instant and I enjoyed reading their interactions with each other how they fell in love. The book only takes place over the course of a few days but the pacing only feels slightly rushed between the two. Their love story is believable and I enjoyed that they realized quickly and easily that they wanted to be together.

Even though Ben is the vicar his character isn't bogged down by piousness and he does not deal with a conflict between being attracted to Sophie and being the local vicar. We see a few of his family members in this book, his father and two of his brothers, but Ms. Collins wrote this story in a way that does not make it feel crowded and gives some tie-ins to other series by Ms. Collins.

Something different about this book from the first two is that the other bluestockings do not appear as much as they did previously even though they all live in the same house. They are still present and help the story move along, but I think that putting them more in the background was a good decision and allowed the reader to focus more on Sophia and Ben. We get to see how close Sophia and her sister Gemma are and even get a glimpse at who the hero in Gemma's story could be. <spoiler>Ben's younger brother Cam</spoiler>

The mystery that Sophia was given to solve wasn't as interesting to me as the mysteries in the previous books were. It added a lot of throw-away characters that were confusing to keep track of at times.

Overall, I give this book 4.5 stars. It is enjoyable and engaging and I cannot wait to read the final book in this series.