This story starts with the introduction of over a dozen characters in the first two chapters alone. I was a bit taken aback but all the moving parts came together in a wonderfully witty yarn.

The two main characters Tommy (and her alter egos) and Philippa are infinitely loveable. Their chosen families and friends combine to be a group willing to take on the world with them- except Philippa's mother. With the love and support from Tommy's family, the Wynchesters more than make up for the lack thereof Philippa's.

The secondary characters all play important roles in the development of the story and most of them deserve their own story. (Hint, hint.) The villains were vile enough for me to hate and cheer when they received their deserved comeuppance.

I enjoyed this novel and look forward to the future of this series.

I received an advanced copy of this work from the publisher/author via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts expressed above are my own.

***** I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*****

When I stumbled onto the summary of this book I knew I needed to read it. Before I put in my request for the arc I devoured "The Duke Heist" which is the first book in the Wild Wynchesters series. The world Erica has written us is full of found family, love, understanding, and acceptance for who one truly is. If you love stories about finding out who you are and who you want to be...this is a book for you!

If you read "The Duke Heist" you'll have already met Miss Phillipa York as well as Thomasina "Tommy" Wynchester. In TPoLaW we get to understand Phillipa and her mannerisms more. We also get to see how Phillipa discovers that it isn't that she lacks passion or sexual attraction to others it's merely that she requires an emotional connection and feelings of trust before she's able to feel a physical/sexual attraction to someone else.

In Tommy, we see someone who's had a lifetime of loved ones leaving. Although happy now in the found Wynchester family Tommy still feels all the pain, and fear, of future abandonment. Tommy has had a lifetime of fun putting on countless personalities and costumes in order to assist in family projects and shenanigans but longs to find someone, outside her family, to love them for who they are.

If set in modern times we would say that Phillipa is demisexual and Tommy is nonbinary but as those words weren't around in those historical times I love the way Erica writes the way in which Phillipa and Tommy see themselves and each other. Erica lets us see Phillipa's slow discovery of connection and attraction as well as how Tommy doesn't see themselves as male or female just themselves.

This book was such a fun read that had me giggling and smiling along with Tommy's antics as well as Phillipa's growing confidence. The way in which Tommy and Phillipa fall for each other, trust one another and choose each other had me swooning.

I do wish the cover better portrayed Phillipa and Tommy. The entire book we know that Phillipa lives and breathes lace gowns. We also know, when not disguised, Tommy naturally has short brown hair and prefers shirts and comfortable pants as opposed to dresses.

If you're looking for a sweet sapphic romance full of found family, exposing a fraud, and finding who you truly are and who you want to be...look no further!

So much going on...

In a very good way.
We met Philippa when she was engaged to the duke (who married Tommy's sister). She wasn't bothered much (or at all) when he married someone else. She's a bluestocking who actually cares about a manuscript and giving credit where credit is due.

Tommy is a Winchester. A rag-tag band of misfits who are a made family. Tommy is the master of disguise (she particularly enjoys play the gent). So, she's cross-dressing as the man to help Philippa.

Close quarters and a sexual awakening between these two ladies.
Recommend.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought Tommy (Thomasina) and Phillipa's book was a very beautiful love story with lots of feels. I found these characters very easy to like and root for. Sweetness is balanced equally with poignancy to create a book that gave my heart a workout.

The Wynchester family: an adorable group of siblings at heart set to helping people in need. I love this new series which features all sorts of varied characters and I look forward to reading every and each story! In this book the main character is Thomasina, aka Tommy. Her skill is disguising as an old lady, a fisherman, a Baron or whatever she needs to be to carry out her assignments, but deep down she longs to be loved for who she is, even if she’s scared to be herself. She’s smitten by Philippa, a woman she met thanks to her sister Chloe in the previous book, but she’s afraid to even speak to her...
Philippa is a bluestocking: she loves books and science and run a circle of bluestocking friends. Her parents want to see her married with a titled gentleman, so she has to suffer through the Season. But she’s never been attracted to anyone before and she’s quite worried by her own indifference to the men she met so far…
This was my first F/F book and I liked it very much. Erica Ridley does a good job at fleshing out her characters and in depicting the sapphic world of the Regency era. And the book is both funny (I laughed out loud a lot of times at the Wynchester siblings’ antics, but also at Philippa’s helplessness in society) and moving at the same time. Definitively worth reading.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sometimes you come across a book that feels like it belongs to you in some way, even just a tiny piece of it. That it’s just you and this book and no one could possibly understand, experience, or even consume this book the way that you do. That you and this book went a journey of souls and you were both changed irreparably by the experience and now it is yours and your are its. But that’s silly because this is a book that someone else wrote. That came out of someone else’s brain and shepherded by a whole amazing, talented team and is now just out in the world, unchangeable, and lots and lots of other people get to read and experience and understand the book too.

This is how this book feels to me.

I love this book packed with longing and loving, packed with meddling families and chosen family and powerful friendships, packed with thoughtful and joyful conversation about gender and identity. At its core, this is a book about being yourself, and loving someone wholly for being themself. Tommy - who describes herself as “neither man nor woman, and both at the same time” - loves to put on disguises and costumes and play with society’s expectation of her. But all she really wants is to be seen for who she is beneath all of that, and loved for it above all else. And Phillipa is so good at loving. This is a book about putting in the work to learn how to love someone you already love and getting better at loving yourself.

Also it is very sexy.

I feel weird assigning modern day identities to these characters who exist in a world and a time period with its own nuanced definitions and understandings of queerness, which is such a fascinating thing about queer historicals. But it was written today, by someone in our world and time period, so if I had to I would say that Phillipa talks about herself in a way that aligns with modern understandings of demisexuality and lesbianism, and Tommy’s discussion of her gender reads like the modern conversations around genderqueer/genderfluid identity. It is such a fun, wonderful book of queerness and queer love. There are such great things happening in queer historicals these days, and I am so excited.

I love this book.

I will say I find myself frustrated with this cover. It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong. And I realize that Covid has made clinch covers nearly impossible to shoot. But Tommy is a genderqueer/genderfluid person who repeatedly talks in the book about how wearing dresses feels like a costume, not like her true self. It hurts my butch little heart for Tommy to be in a "costume" on the cover of her own romance, and especially one that is so intrinsically about being oneself. I want more butch sapphics in romance, and I want them on the cover. This choice to make her this femme, to put her in a dress and make her dainty, is disrespectful to Tommy and is disrespectful to butches who read and love romance. Butchphobia is real and present, even (especially?) in romancelandia.

A million thank yous to NetGalley and Forever for this ARC!

CW: Homophobia, unsupportive families, misogyny, death

I love absolutely everything about the Wynchesters, and this book only makes them greater in my estimation. I’m not sure I have the right language to explain just how amazing this book is or why I feel that way. Tommy and Philippa are strong, smart, capable young women during a time when none of those attributes are admired in women. But those aren’t the only things setting them apart from their peers. Neither of them aspires to ‘land’ a husband or have his children. Tommy knows she prefers the company of women, yet Philippa’s not sure if wants anyone’s company at all. This was such a beautiful story of love and hope and empowerment. I’m not even going to begin to guess what the author might be planning for the Wynchester family, but I’m already excited to get my hands on their next adventure.
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the author through NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read an early copy!

This book was a delight from start to finish. Tommy Wynchester is a master of disguise who's been pining for Miss Philippa York for years, and Phillipa is a bluestocking who's never had the slightest flicker of interest in any of the men her parents want her to court, not even the charming Baron Vanderbean...who soon reveals he is Tommy Wynchester...make that Thomasina Wynchester, a woman who puts on personas every day but just wants to be loved for herself. The story effortlessly overturns so many of the gross tropes that come with "girl dresses as boy" storylines and the main plot delightfully intersects with this book's heist. Philippa and Tommy are wonderful together -- so much pining! Such lovely chemistry! And the Wynchester family continues to be the core of the series, a fantastic team and loving found family.

The epilogue starts to set up another story and I want to know more! Wynchesters forever!

By the way, Philippa and Tommy have a prequel novella called The Rake Mistake that is not really alluded to here, but is a chance for more shenanigans and pining, highly recommended!

I recently read the prequel to this series and found it a bit all over the place and a bit strange. This is book 2 which I received as an Arc and it was better and in my opinion much more structured.

The Wynchester’s were all orphans taken in by a Baron and they run a detective type business. Tommy (Thomasina) Wynchester’s role in the business is to find out information by disguising herself as others. She has a crush on Philippa York but cant bring herself to talk to her as herself so disguised herself as Horace Wynchester, Baron Vanderbean. She tells Philippa the truth quite quickly about her identity and they agree to a pretend courtship to help placate Philippa’s parents in their hopes of getting a suitor for her.

Philippa and her group of blue stockings are outraged that a man is going to get recognition in the form of being recognised as a Viscount for stealing the work one of their friends is responsible for. The Wynchesters take on the case to help prove that Captain Northrup is falsely claiming that this is his work.

Philippa and Tommy grow closer and explore their feelings for one another however can Philippa go against her parents and societies expectations and have a relationship with a woman?

The book series is not one of my favourites by the author but I definitely enjoyed this one more than the prequel. It covers a female / non binary relationship which is not my usual go to but I felt this was brave and well written especially in the historical time setting.

The book also has a feminist take in terms of the case being an advocate for women getting recognition for their achievements rather than a man.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Author Erica Ridley for my advanced copy of #ThePerksofLovingaWallflower

Publish date 26 October

I really enjoyed Tommy and Philippa's story. This is my first F/F story and I didn't know if I would like it or not. But being a huge fan of Ridley's, I knew I had to read it. I throughly enjoyed watching these two find their HEA!

This charming Regency romance is the second book in the Wild Wynchesters series by one of my favorite romance authors, Erica Ridley. While the stories interconnect, each book focuses on one couple and can be enjoyed on its own.

The Wynchesters are a delightful family of memorably idiosyncratic characters, all orphans adopted by a baron from a small foreign country. This book, and the entire Wild Wynchesters series, is populated with delightfully quirky, smart, funny characters who are each in their own way trying to do good. I adore them all.

The main characters of this story are Tommy Wynchester and her bluestocking crush, Miss Philippa York. Tommy is a master of disguise who describes herself as both and neither gender. What she most longs for is someone who will love and accept her as herself. Philippa is a proper society miss trying to be a dutiful daughter, but she longs for adventure and a sense of being in command of her own life. Is there a way for both of them to get what they want?

It is always a pleasure to watch the Wynchesters and Philippa’s highly accomplished circle of bluestockings engaging in wild hijinks to solve crimes and right wrongs. This was also a very sweet Sapphic romance. I found both aspects of the plot enjoyable.

The story is told in chapters alternating between Tommy and Philippa’s perspective, which worked well. Note that there are explicit scenes of Sapphic sexuality. If that doesn’t bother you, then I highly recommend this book for fans of Regency romance and LBTQ romance.

I was provided an unproofed ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.

First of all, I think the title should be "The Perks of Loving a Bluestocking" rather than a wallflower, since that is who Phillippa is, and what Tommy adoringly loves her for. Second, I WISH the cover portrays the women better. Tommy has short hair, and I don't see Tommy wearing that kind of dress, not with how she can transform to be anyone she wants.

But anyway, YAY for returning with the Whynchesters!! I adore this family so much and having Tommy in the second book is a delight. Tommy has been having a crush for Phillipa but she is scared of talking to her. So, in the beginning Tommy pretends to be the new Baron Vanderbean to flirt and gets close to Phillipa - but of course, she plans to be more of that.

Phillipa, the wonderfully smart Miss York, never really feel attracted towards men. She prefers to be with her circle of bluestocking friends. However, her parents needs Phillipa to marry well, so they can "elevate" their status in the Polite Society. Phillipa's mother thinks the foreign baron can be a great stepping stones. But after finding out Vanderbean is really Tommy, Phillipa can feel her heart flutters.

I LOVED the progress of Tommy and Phillipa together. Tommy is charming and she's wonderful in playing all of those characters. But Tommy longs for someone who loves her for HER not the so many characters of her. She hopes Phillipa is the one, that they can be together forever at the House of Wynchesters. Phillipa's best attribute is her brain, and her dream to empower ladies with books and knowledge. Phillipa also longs to be herself since that attribute is not what her mother "allows" her to shine. I think they are good together!

Oh, and there's also this adventure since Tommy (and the rest of the Wynchesters) is helping Phillipa to proof that one of her friend's uncle is up to no good. Tht was also fun to read...

The only HUGE DOWNER for the story for me is PHILLIPA'S MOTHER. MY GOD I WANT TO SLAP THAT WOMAN! This kind of matron character is one I DESPISE in his-rom. Well, scratch that, this kind of PARENTS! I hate to read of parents who wants nothing from their daughter except MARRIAGE. Unfortunately, Phillipa's mother seem to have so many page-time, and every single time she chastises Phillipa and tells her what to do, so she can attract duke, viscount, lord, whatever, I felt my blood boils.

Next book will be about the third sibling, GRAHAM the former circus performer. That will be awesome read too, I believe.



The ARC is provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.

It’s been a long time since I found a historical romance novel that I’ve really loved, and I adored this one. I have also just started to read more LGBQT+ romance novels, and this was well written, had strong characters, and a great romance to go along with it. The story flowed well. I loved Tommy and Phillipa, and I loved how each became comfortable in being their own person. Tommy was my favorite character, their story made me cry. I absolutely would recommend this to anyone looking for a lovely romance novel. This has become my new favorite!

I would like to thank Erica Ridley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have read a few queer/sapphic romances and this one is the best one yet!
I loved how their relationship developed. There’s a twist on the fake dating trope and it works really well in the story. The topics of acceptance and queer women in society at that time are not swept under the rug but are addressed which is refreshing and realistic.
I think the found family trope is one of the best parts of this book/series. It provides a place of acceptance and love where perhaps there wasn’t before.
The writing was addictive and funny.
I will be impatiently waiting for the third book.

The premise of this is great: a sapphic regency romance. Bluestocking spinster (my fave type of protagonist), found family and secret adventures. I was really excited.

Someone told me this could stand alone and I trusted them, but I'd you're considering that, you need to know that there will be significant gaps if you don't read the first book! I was a little lost so it look me more than half of the book to get in to it.

I liked the characters and the story and definitely will go back and start at the beginning to get the whole experience!

Honestly - I am not always a soft story fan but I adored - ADORED Tommy and Philippa. Even when I was just getting to know them and didn't understand their motivations - I adored how real they were. Tommy specifically tugged at my heart strings with their honesty about not knowing where they start and their costumes end, pining so deeply and also just being shy as heck unless they are defending the weak. There are awesome discussions of gender as a construct, gender roles, sexuality and wanting to love someone openly for exactly who they are not to mention - wanting the same in return. And while this isn’t a fast read - definitely took me a minute to get in to it - I adored it so much! I also can’t wait for more of the Wynchesters!


Stars: Five Giant Stars
Steam: slow burn but very intimate and sweet, some of the hottest kisses!
Tropes: ladies in pants, be gay do crimes, wallflower, interclass romance
For Fans Of: Hellion’s Waltz, Kit Webb or One Last Stop
Theme Song: She Keeps me Warm by Mary Lambert
Subgenre: historic romance - sapphic
CW/ TW: mentions of food insecurity, death of parents, toxic family situations, extreme gender roles, being closeted, exploring sexuality

Thank you to the author and publisher for my complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

After the first book in this series, I was absolutely dying to see this romance come to life, and I was not disappointed! The chemistry was already flying off the pages before, and I was eager to see these two finally get the happy ending they both clearly deserved. It was wonderful seeing the whole Wynchester clan again, and I am just as much filled with joy at seeing them now as I was the first time meeting them. Each member of the family is so full of laughter and joy, it makes you wish every family could be like theirs. Everyone deserves a family like the Wynchesters.

Tommy Wynchester has loved Philippa York from afar ever since she first saw her, yet she was never able to bring herself to act on her feelings. She knew nothing could come of it, due to society constraints put on same sex couples and Philippa's goal of marrying well for the sake of her family. Tommy has no place in Philippa's world. When her siblings dare her to don the disguise of Baron Vanderbean, their fictitious cousin who allowed the Wynchesters to retain their family home after their guardian died, she agrees to speak to Philippa for twenty minutes. That's all it takes to complete the dare and then move on with her life. Except once she begins talking to her, she can't stop. Soon she is seeing Philippa more often, and when Philippa learns that Baron Vanderbean is actually Thomasina Wynchester, she comes up with a plan. Tommy will continue to be the Baron to help Philippa attract a suitor. With bittersweet acceptance, she agrees to the plan. Philippa has never felt anything vaguely romantic for anyone...so why does she feel something for Tommy, knowing she is a woman? The more time they spend together, the harder it is to deny their feelings. They know eventually the charade must end...but what if it became real?

Tommy was the epitome of the perfect "hero" figure in a story - gallant and protective of Philippa, strong and sure of herself, with a charisma that had every lady in the room swooning while she was playing the Baron. Her love for Philippa was so beautiful and heart-wrenching, as she fought against it knowing it couldn't go anywhere. Having more experience dealing with her feelings for other women, she was much more sure of herself than Philippa, who was just then discovering that she is finally feeling romantic towards someone who is not the gender society expected her to fall in love with. It was difficult at times to see her hurting while aching to be closer to Philippa, and once they finally did come together, it was swoonworthy. Philippa was someone who just figured she wasn't capable of being attracted to another person, and when she realized Tommy created a spark within her, she wanted to hold onto it. Her family was the opposite of the Wynchesters, so when she was able to spend more time with Tommy's family, she fell in love with them too. It was so sad to see the struggle they had to go through to be together and for Philippa to realize her feelings for Tommy. I thought this book did a wonderful job of showing same-sex relationships for women during that time period.

As always, I conclude a Wild Wynchesters novel eagerly anticipating the next! I think this will end up being one of my favorite literary families when the series is completed. I'll call it now.

I fell in love with Tommy Wynchester in book 1 of the series, and I was so glad to get to know her better, rather than only the characters she plays!

Thomasina Wynchester is a master of disguise. She can be anyone, which helps her family with their many capers. But, outside of her own home it's very difficult for Tommy to be herself. She never felt like she fit, as she feels both masculine and feminine. For about a year now she's been attending a ladies reading circle at the home of Philippa York, and she's completely smitten. But, while there, Tommy is always dressed in costume as Great Aunt Wynchester, and was always playing chaperone to her sister Chloe (the heroine from book 1). She's never imagined a scenario where she could tell Philippa the truth about her feelings, but then one presents itself.

Philippa York is a proud bluestocking, and she has never felt that spark of attraction for any man. Her parents are insistent on her marrying a titled man that can help her father's political position. They were sorely disappointed when her betrothal to the Duke of Faircliffe didn't work out and he married Chloe Wynchester instead, but Philippa was thrilled, as she had no interest in marrying him. Or at all. When she meets Baron Wynchester, she's surprised when she begins to feel attraction for him, only to discover that the Baron is actually Tommy Wynchester in disguise!

Tommy and Philippa had lovely chemistry, but this was definitely a slow burn story! It makes sense for the time period and who the characters are, but I wished things had started progressing a little more quickly at times. Tommy had fallen for Philippa basically at first sight, before the start of this story, but Philippa had to get to know the real Tommy before she started to realize that she felt something different for Tommy than she had with anyone else. They also worked well together, as they tried to figure out their plan to help their friend reclaim credit for her creation, which her uncle had stolen.

Found family themes were top of mind here again in this book, as they were in book 1. The Wynchesters are WILD indeed, and I adore them! They are each unique and so much fun! Their sibling relationships, and hilarious banter were a wonderful addition to this story, and I can't wait to continue to learn more about each of them. Philippa's reading circle friends were also delightful, and I loved the way they all showed up for each other. On the other hand, Philippa's parents, especially her mother, were in no way supportive of their daughter or her wants and needs. They always felt they knew best, but they didn't really know their daughter at all.

I really enjoyed the different representation found in this story, though I'm not qualified to speak on its accuracy (nonbinary and demi-sexuality). It felt real, relatable, and respectful, and I loved getting to know Tommy and Philippa in all their glory.

I didn't find the caper part as exciting as in book 1, but it was still a lot of fun! This was such a sweet, slow burn romance, and I liked it very much.

The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley
The Wild Wynchesters #2

The Wynchester family are not blood relatives but closer than most siblings connected by blood. They were adopted by Baron Vanderbean and became a family that has a purpose. Eccentric, wealthy, skilled in a variety of arts and abilities…they are enchanting and intriguing, and this book is the story of Tommy Wynchester and the woman she loves.

What I liked:
* Thomasina “Tommy” Wynchester: chameleon ability to take on characters, comfortable in her own skin as Tommy, loves Phillipa, cartographer, tongue-tied at times, her own person, able to state what she wants.
* Phillipa York: only child, lonely, raised with the expectation of elevating her family by marrying a titled gentleman, bluestocking, not interested in men, wants to do “the right thing” to the disadvantage of herself.
* The Wynchesters: Jacob with his affinity to animals, Graham with acrobatic and a desire for information, Marjorie with her skills as an artist and forger, Elizabeth and her penchant for swords and wanting to use them, and Chloe who is now settled with the man she loves
* That I laughed many times during the story
* The story spoke to me
* The topic of sapphic love in the early 1800’s and how difficult it must have been with social expectations as they were
* The costumes and cpers
* Phillipa’s reading group
* The comeuppance of Northrup
* The love story as it played out
* The awareness of what was important that was arrived at by both Phillipa and Tommy
* That even though it took me a few chapters to get into the story…once INTO it, I was hooked
* Knowing that Graham is probably up next and looking forward to him “finding the parcel”

What I didn’t like:
* Phillipa’s mother: controlling, self-centered, impolite, social climber, annoying
* Phillipa’s father: aloof, self-contained, probably hiding out from his wife…but perhaps more aware of his daughter’s needs than his wife was
* Northrup…

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC – this is my honest review.

5 Stars

I thought that the book, was such a page turner. A great read. I loved the book. The plot was very well written and I cannot wait to read another book by this author. This author really draws the reader into the story.