Lady Sylvia Elton was widowed when pregnant with her son. Her marriage was not a happy one and she felt she was only a responsibility to her husband. She decides to create the Mismatch Society promoting the idea of marriage, if needed at all, as more of a partnership and less of an arrangement. It is throwing a wrench in the marriage market and annoying the peerage who wants to continue with the status quo.

Viscount St. John (Clayton) is pushed by his peers to infiltrate the society to shut it down. When he interrupts a meeting he finds Lady Sylvia. He has loved her since before she married his best friend. Lady Sylvia invites him to join the society to stop gossip about the purpose of the group. It allows Clayton and Sylvia time to meet together.

This is my first Caldwell book and the first of a new series. (She has numerous other books.) I enjoyed the story but had a harder time with the writing style. It didn't flow easily for me. I did enjoy the discussions on marriage and what options were available to women in the time. But it got repetitive. I liked the society members themselves. I was also confused that a lot of story referenced storylines that must have been from another series because it isn't part of this one. Clayton seems stiff at first but I warmed up to his character and his devotion to his family and Sylvia.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Someone Wanton His Way Comes is the story of Clayton and Sylvia. Clayton has been in love with Sylvia since they first met, but believes in a curse, so he encourages her to be with his best friend. Sylvia is now a young widow with a son to care for and completely against marriage. She forms the "Mismatch Society" along with some of her friends and they crusade to empower women to stand up against marriage and stand for equality with the aristocracy.

This is one of my favorite Historical Romance authors but this one fell a little flat for me. I enjoyed Clayton and his family as the "hero" of the story but had a hard time with Sylvia's storyline. As someone who spent half the book crusading adamantly against marriage, only to sleep around and essentially enjoy men as a married woman would have back in Regency times. This was not my favorite Christi Caldwell book. I always enjoy her writing, and will always pick up her latest book, but this one fell short for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my review and honest opinion.

I almost lost interest in the book. I say almost because after picking it up again the third time to finish what I started, I found myself embroiled in everything that was happening in the book. I enjoyed the characters so much. i could be friends with. This was a very enjoyable read!

Christi is one of my top go to author. Absolutely love love her. This was a Great book, amazing characters !

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately this historical romance novel by this popular author fell flat for me. Uninteresting characters despite the scandals. Just not what I was expecting.

I love Christi Caldwell and I enjoyed this book, however I did find some parts of it a bit problematic.

Don't get me wrong, I love historical romances that have strong female characters that are progressive and fighting for a change for women but these women really went throughthe first half of this book saying that marriage was a shit idea and that all women should avoid it and that men should be the ones to marry... Who exactly were they expecting these men to marry?!

I also didn't like the fact that this book referenced a lot of things that had happened previous to this book which, considering this is the first book in a new series, was very annoying. I didn't love the lost lords series and only read one and a half of the books so to keep referring to what had happened in those books, namely in Lila's story, made it a little hard to keep up.

Ultimately, I love Ms. Caldwell's writing enough to give the next book a try but, for me, this really wasn't her best work.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Missed chances. Sylvia and Clayton have known eachother since her come out. He did not think he was worthy and his best friend swept her off her feet. But that was just to get the heir. Now she is a widow and he gets another chance., Aslow build to an HEA.

3.5 stars

I like Christi's writing so I wanted to like this story unconditionally. I liked the hero, Clayton. He was modest, caring sibling, good provider and because of family curse had given up his relationship with the heroine Sylvia, to his good looking best friend in an altruistic act. This backfired when he found that Norfolk had a mistress and he was going to desert both his heir and his marriage to Sylvia. Norfolk is killed and this is where the story went a bit awry. I had read a previous book about Lila, Sylvia's sister (Lost Lords of London) and the fighting club and this has a part to play in this book, though I couldn't find the pdf file on Christi's web site which helps show this interconnectivity! I found the plot with Norfolk's mother a bit over the top and if I'm honest not credible. Sylvia the heroine is an odd mix. On one level keen to be self sufficent andd promoting a life without husbands and then keen to jump sexually on Clayton every opportunity she's got. I think it's Sylvia's character which for me lets the story down, perhaps I just didn't relate to her.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Christi Caldwell is one of my favorite authors so I was excited to read this book. This book was a great read! I really liked Sylvia and the society (not club, ha) that she helped to create. I understood how her first marriage made her wary of men and remarriage. I felt for her and all she had to go through. I did not like Clayton as much (thus the reason for the one-star deduction) as I felt he was a little cowardly in his life and decisions. I also remember that a family curse was a plot line in one of Caldwell’s other stories and I did not like to see it reappear here. But other than those minor issues, I really enjoyed the book. I wish there were an epilogue, but I’ll settle with hearing about Clayton and Sylvia in future books. This was a read I’d recommend!

*4.5 Not only is the title clever. The entire book is just as clever. Sylvia was married to Viscount St. John's friend Norfolk but he loved her. He was upset when Norfolk decided to leave her. Clayton and Sylvia are basically broken friends with benefits in denial. There's tons of heat wrapped in confusion. Slyvia finds a way to help empower women. The Kearsley's are a great family and help them along the way. Second chance lovers trope. The book is definitely worth the read and have some laugh out loud moments. I don't want to be spoiler, so you'll just have to read it for yourself.


I received an ARC in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Sylvia is a widow of a man that never loved her. She becomes involved in trying to better a woman’s rights. Clay, who has always loved her, gets a second chance at love. I thought Clay was too weak a character who was easily manipulated by the many women in his life. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Montlake for my honest review.

To be honest, this was not one of my favourite Christi Caldwell's stories, it just seemed to drag and it was the same thing over and over again. It really was a struggle to keep my interest in the book. Saying that, I did like the characters, especially Clayton's sisters, they were a hoot!

Clayton has been in love with Sylvia from the first time he met her but with the thought of the curse that he'll die young like the rest of his male ancestry, he pushes her towards his best friend. Years later, she's now a widow with a young son and completely against remarrying again. Clayton tries to stay away but soon finds himself confronting her about her "Mismatch Society" that she's formed and that some of his sisters, even his mother, are attending the meetings. After all, it just won't do for the ladies to take themselves away from the marriage mart and expect equality with the men!

Between saying they are "just friends" and yet having sex all over the place, Clayton and Sylvia's relationship is a bit confusing, especially when she says she's going to find him a wife right after one such episode! Oh well, maybe it's just me but this just didn't feel like the usual Christi Caldwell story.

3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

In the novel we see our main protagonist Sylvia make the bold move of moving out with two of her unmarried friends. The scandal of such an action leads her to be sought out by other women, who feel trapped and in need of empowerment, and come together to create the Mismatch Society or Wantons as they come to be known. I must admit that I experienced a devilish glee in reading about the impact this society was having on the aristocratic men, who suddenly face women willing to stand up to them or refuse proposals. It led to some great scenes.

In fact while the heart of the novel deals with the emotional impact of betrayal, trauma and fear in both the heroine and hero, the reader is provided with some wonderfully farcical scenes that had me really laughing. A real strength of Christi Caldwell's writing is how power in writing clever and amusing dialogues as well as her amazing characterisation. Her characterisation means that the reader is swept into the lives of more than just the main protagonists but in many, if not most of the secondary characters. You care about them and want to read their stories. Some of the star secondary characters are the tragic Annalee, and all of the Kearsley sisters who are a real source of energy and comedy. I hope to read more about them in the future.

I found the hero Clayton very enjoyable and charming, his natural awkwardness and love for his family was a nice change from the normal rogue you encounter. Sylvia, the heroine, is strong and has an understandable bitterness towards men, very much formed by her experiences, and it takes time to discover the character under the protective shell she's created for herself. They make a great couple, with lots of chemistry and hot scenes.

The narrative starts off lighter and full of humour as we are introduced to the characters and world and then starts to deepen and explore the repressed emotions and fears of the main characters leading to a dramatic and tense cathartic ending. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys romance, social humour or just a good enjoyable read,

The cover? HOT. The story? LIT. The Characters? AWESOME. The plot? HITS.
This one is real good you guys. I know, I know, I say it all the time. Christi is amazing. Seriously, I think they're just getting better. I really loved this one. I LOVE this new family, the Kearsleys. Christi always gives us great families, but this one is by far my favorite. There are six sisters and one brother. Shenanigans. For. Days. I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am to read more about this family. I want them all to have a story! (Especially Daria, who is obviously my favorite.)


This book hits all the right notes. The characters are awesome. They feel very real. While I do love a good redeemed rogue, sometimes what you need is just a genuinely good hero. *happy sigh* Clayton is just a good hero. Is he perfect? Of course not. He messes up. He is human, after all. He is a genuine good guy. Sylvia is also a great character. She has quite a journey of self discovery. I loved every second of it.


The side characters are (as usual) my particular favorites. I especially love Sylvia's butler. All of the "Wantons" are excellent as well. I can't wait to read the rest of this series! This is a very auspicious beginning to what is sure to be an excellent series.

I really enjoyed this book. Whereas I didn’t love Lila and Hugh’s story, I really loved Sylvia’s story. Claytons family had Bridgerton vibes which I really enjoyed. It was a really beautiful story.

Received an ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I liked the premise as outlined in the blurb but I'm sorry to say I thought the execution was poor and the storytelling was far too much 'telling' and not enough 'showing.

The hero believed in a curse that said he'd die young, so he allowed his friend to marry the girl he loved. The husband was awful and left her but then was killed. In the meantime, the heroine is working with this organization to stop young girls being abused by the marriage mart situation. I found all of that side of the story to be wildly improbable and rather boring.

There seemed to be far too many characters and far too much meandering. I'm sorry but I just couldn't get into this - I found the characters unengaging. Not my cup of tea I'm afraid.

Christi Caldwell's writing is always well done and for that I would give 5 stars to this story but one of the conflicts made for the lower rating.

In the first of the Wantons of Waverton series, we are introduced to the Mismatch Society, formed after Lady Sylvia Elton's husband had left her while pregnant only to die and leave her widowed that very same night. She is over the institution of marriage and finds many other women who feel the same.

Clayton Kearsley, the Viscount St. John, was a friend of Sylvia's husband, Norfolk, but broke off his friendship when Norfolk told him of his plans to leave her. Clayton couldn't understand how he didn't love his wife when Clayton had from the moment he met her. The only reason he stepped out of the way was because of a family curse in which he believed he would die young.

This is the crux of my disappointment of the conflict between the characters. If there was any other reason to have kept Clayton from Sylvia, I would have been sold. A grown man making life-altering decisions on such a far-fetched belief didn't fit his character. In fact, Clayton was one of my favorite characters but buying into this notion of his family curse, made him appear weak.

I also thought Sylvia had some issues to resolve herself. To speak of how shattering being cheated on was, to the point she hated all men (at first), but then having such open arms towards Norfolk's mistress didn't pass muster.

With that said, I adore Clayton's family (understatement) and also appreciated the healed relationship between Sylvia and her mom. Neither changed their personality but they were willing to accept and love one another in their own way.

The blurb drew me in. The hero in love with the heroine for years while she was married to his best friend who turned out to be unfaithful and was going to leave the heroine. However for me it was too much show and not enough tell. I felt we were constantly rehashing the story in the characters heads. I end up skimming a lot to get to the end because so much of it was repetitive.

Interesting story but I think the execution was a little off.

A story i loved . It made me laugh , cry and understand who the women back in the 19th century felt . The hero loves the heroine from afar . Because of a family curse he believed that he will die young and he let her marry his best friend . She does not believe that she will ever marry again but real love always win . We have some charachers from previous books .
I reveived this novel from netgalley and the publicer as an arc . All thoughts and opinions are my own .