Lucy live in 1870’s London. She is smart and fearless, but unlike most young ladies of her time, she offers her opinions freely and doesn’t believe that marriage is the pinnacle of a woman’s life. This book is a kind of spinoff from the Collins “Ladies Most Scandalous” series. While you don’t need to read those books to enjoy this one, having that character background would be worth your time…plus they are great books. Lucy belongs to the Murder and Mayhem bookclub with other ladies like her and, through the bookclub meets and become close friends with Meg and Vera. Meg’s brother Will is the Viscount Gilford who has just return from France where he fled after the murder of his father. Will is informed that the family fortune is greatly depleted and he must marry an heiress to become solvent. Lucy is an heiress but Will is attracted to her for so much more that her money. When Vera is violently kidnapped, Meg, Lucy, Will, the ladies of the Murder and Mayhem bookclub and their spouses spring into action. Will Vera be found alive, will Lucy and Will find love??? I fun mystery with a romantic side.

I have been enjoying reading historical romances in the past few months.

This book was a fun read and a cute spinoff from the author’s first series.

There was a good amount of mystery, twists and turns along with a sweet romance and growing relationship between the main characters. The side characters were fun as well.

Thanks to @netgalley and @readforeverpub for the advanced reader copy.

A delightful read, cozy with intrigue. I enjoyed the characters and their banter. I love a grumpy vs sunshine trope plus add in a fake engagement and a murder mystery and you have a great start to a new series.

First and foremost, thank you to the publisher and author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was so amazingly cute and swoony!!!

I loved Lucy. She was brilliant and thoughtful and I love that she works and has such a strong sense of right and wrong. I love her!! I love her strength and dedication.
I struggled a lot with our intrepid hero. He was just so...broody and whiny and secretive?
I did like the mystery, which was pretty engaging and surprising.

I enjoyed Manda Collins’ previous books and was excited for this spin-off, but it disappointed, and I struggled to finish. The mystery elements were more engaging than the romance, which felt forced and flat between Lucy and Will. A semi-spicy scene was abruptly inserted and didn’t enhance their relationship. The supporting cast, like Will’s mother, felt unnecessary, and the club’s lack of response to Vera’s kidnapping was odd. The mystery started well but faltered with Vera’s weak motives and a lackluster climax.
Thank you NetGalley for ARC, all opinions are my own.

Manda Collins does it again. Sometimes a girl just wants to sit down with a cup of tea and read a cute historical romance with a murder mystery sub plot! And honestly, Manda Collins is the best at what she does. I really enjoyed this book. It is exactly what I wanted to be and I can’t wait to read the next one!

Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love these historical mysteries by Manda. The strong women and the men who support them. This one is no different. I was so into the first half of the book and then it slowed down a little and sped back up again at the end. I was sort of fooled by the villain. I definitely had one person in mind until I started wondering hmmm…. I believe this is the first book in a new series and it was great seeming some characters from the previous books show up. So happy Manda is going to keep writing these mysteries.

A wallflower by choice, wealthy Lucy Penhallow would rather sit out the dancing all season than listen to false flattery from the fortune hunters who pursue her. But when she and her best friend’s brother Will, Viscount Gilford witness a crime in progress, they’ll need to put every skill Lucy’s learned from reading detective stories to the test in their hunt for a missing woman. Will needs a wife to save him from financial ruin, and there’s only one heiress who’s off limits. So when he and Lucy find themselves inextricably linked in the tabloids, it’s a disaster.
The start of a new series but characters from the previous series do make appearances, which I do love. I really liked both Will & Lucy & loved how they worked together & complemented each other. There’s also mystery & romance, with the mystery taking the lead. A well written fun, entertaining book & I look forward to the rest of the series
I voluntarily read and reviewed a special copy of this book; all thoughts and opinions are my own

Title: A Wallflower's Guide to Viscounts and Vice- A Wallflower's Guide #1

Author: Manda Collins-new to me author

Publication date: 4/22/25 | Read 4/16/25

Format: eBook 320 pgs.

Genre:
*Historical Romance
*Mystery
*Women's Fic

Tropes:
*amateur sleuths
*opposites attract
*grumpy/sunshine
*fake engagement
*women's suffrage
*same bed

POV: 3rd person

TW: prostitution mentioned, murder of parent-H, shooting, h is a virgin

Setting: Paris to London 1874

Summary: Lucy works as a filing clerk at her cousin's police station. Lord Gilford needs to marry for financial security for his mother and sister. When Lucy's BFF Vera is kidnapped at a ball they work together to investigate and find Vera.

Heroine: Lucy Penhallow-21, has her inheritance but works as a filing clerk at Scotland Yard. Has a book club reading The Mischief and Mayhem Book Club (The Ems) started by Lucy's cousin-in-law-Katherine (Andrew's wife)

Hero: Viscount William Gilford- his father was killed by a friend, has financial issues, must marry an heiress

Other Characters:
*Mrs. Winifred Penhallow-Lucy's mother
*Mr. Richard Blackwood-Vera's father
*Mr. Benjamin Woodward-Will's BFF, works for the American Embassy
*Andrew Eversham-Lucy's cousin and Detective Superintendent
*Ms. Margaret "Meg" Gilford -Will's sister, Lucy's BFF
*Ms. Vera Blackwood-Lucy's BFF
*Earl Theodore Cheswick-wanted to help Hamilton reunite w/ his fiancée Vera
*Mr. Christopher Hamilton- from Philadelphia, claims he was secretly engaged to Vera
*Sir Charles Fleetwood-thought he was in love w/ Vera

My Thoughts: Vera's kidnapping was the main plot with Lucy and Gilford's romance secondary. The mystery went into all directions of betrayal, secret betrothals, stolen identity, and deadly shootings. I rooted for Lucy as a wallflower myself. She had her inheritance and had the freedom not to marry and support herself.

Rating: 4/5
Spice level 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Manda Collins for this ARC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

A really great spinoff of the author's other series (Ladies Most Scandalous), A Wallflower's Guide to Viscounts and Vice was a welcome read. I loved the mystery elements and how the the author fully leans in to some of the most ridiculous elements--and it was such a fun ride. The romance developing throughout was also well-paced and enjoyable.

I always love reading a historical romance where the main characters spend their time on the same side, and this series by Manda Collins fits the bill every time. (Yes, yes, this is the first in the A Wallflowers Guide series, but this is a spinoff of her Ladies Most Scandalous, with characters from those books appearing here.) Like the other books in the series, this is primarily a historical romance with heavy mystery elements.

Lord Gilford, aka Will, has just learned that his estate is bankrupt. His man of affairs recommends that he find himself an heiress, stat. Lucy Penhallow is an heiress who also happens to be Will's sister's BFF. (Her uncle is a Scotland Yard inspector, in a development that will have absolutely no bearing on the rest of the plot, I'm sure!) Although Will has met Lucy before, he's almost immediately smitten when he meets her again. But how can he explain that he's really into HER, and not just her fortune?

While this could be the full plot premise for a historical romance book, the main conflict does not hinge on Will's fortune hunter qualities. Instead, one of Lucy's fellow wallflower heiresses is kidnapped right before her eyes, and she and Will spend the rest of the book investigating together. Investigating involves riding in closed carriages together and looking tenderly into each other's eyes (and kissing each other while covered in other people's blood, seriously!) so it's a very romantic time. I will say that the mystery here felt drawn from some OTT pulp novels, with a surprise villain, several dead bodies discovered along the way, more than one kidnapping, a psychic, and a few fake identities. It's A LOT, but the bonkers is part of what makes it fun.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

I found myself skimming large sections of this story, the characters didn’t intrigue me, the story didnt keep me interested and the romance felt very flat and I was just not that invested in any of it.

Thank you for the chance to read early but I’m not sure this author is for me.

This was a fun spin off of another series, that can easily be read without knowledge of the first series. In this book we meet Lucy a bright wealthy socialite who delights in being a spinster and working at the local police station. Then we have Will a viscount who has come back to London to try to marry a wealthy woman to save his estate. One woman he won’t go after is his sister Meg’s friend Lucy. Yet much to both their surprise they keep finding themselves together while investigating the disappearance of Lucy’s friend Vera. The more they are together, the more they realize how much they like each other. This was a fun romance, with an intriguing and surprising mystery thrown in. I received an ARC, and this is my honest review.

I keep trying to love Manda Collins books, but I just end up liking them, and maybe that’s enough. I find her books very low-stakes. I am not engrossed in them, but they are fairly entertaining, The Romance in them is both quick (in feeling) and slow burn in actual action. If you like books centered around smart female characters and their friendships, then that’s another plus for these books. In this particular Wallflowers book, Lucy Penhallow has watched a young woman Vera get kidnapped. She’s determined to solve the mystery, and is aided by her friend Meg’s older brother, Lord Gilford (Will). Of course, Will has returned home in order to find an heiress to marry since his estates are under financial duress, and finds Lucy alluring (not for her money, for for her smarts, but she also conveniently has money). It’s nice that these two work together to solve the mystery as the mystery is quite convoluted. I wasn’t necessarily on the edge of my seat, but I did enjoy it enough to finish it.

Thank you NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good Victorian mystery with a solid romance and an intriguing storyline. In that regard this book did not disappoint. There was intrigue, ballrooms and dashing witty characters that didn’t insult the ready by lacking intelligence or depth.

Lucy our heroine belongs to a book club of other like minded independent heiresses who resist the notion that they should be satisfied with only the domestic ideal of running a house, raising a family and serving their husbands. When one of their own is kidnapped, she teams up with her best friends brother to solve the abduction.
Lucy is smart and capable without sacrificing her femininity or being jaded. She’s aware of society’s expectations and while she disagrees with most of them she adheres to them which is refreshing in this book. Oftentimes an author will write a period book with a modern character and it just becomes too unbelievable.
The MMC is sensible and honest if not a bit of a bore at times. He acts of a sense of right and wrong throughout the book making he character very straightforward. There’s no misunderstandings, no dubious thoughts and he remains respectful to everyone. Which as previously gets a bit predictable but he was a sturdy presence.

My only gripes with this book were
1. The mildly spicy scene between Lucy and Will. It felt forced. Like they only way to prove their insta love for each other was to have them consummate the relationship. It was out of character for them both and wholly unnecessary. There was no spice before and none after so insert it mid story felt off and didn’t vibe with what we came to know of the characters.
2. To further the story people were dropping like flies. Ok fine. But did Will and Lucy have to be present for all of them which occurred over the span of like a week? It felt like it was a plot device to force the attention to remain on them instead of the actual crimes committed.
3. The whole Christopher/Jedidiah thing became needlessly overly complicated. Which one was dead? Who was impersonating whom? It just too convoluted.
4. Not everything tied up by the end of the book. Which is understandable to a degree since this is a series and you need to leave some for the next book. But what happened to Vera’s father? Did his lover face consequences? Did Will’s cough up the jewelry she’d hoarded? How was she still spending after they’d lost everything? It would have been nice to have some resolution on the smaller plots happening.


All and all I enjoyed it and was pleasantly surprised by a Victorian heroine that was intelligent and wasn’t frivolous but was still time period appropriate. This was the first book I’ve read by this author but it won’t be the last.

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

While I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as the previous series, I still found this spinoff enjoyable.

A romp. Lucy has been the target of men seeking her fortune and she's sworn off them. William, a Viscount, has had his embezzled. They join forces when they witness a kidnapping and work to retrieve her. And of course, they fall, against their own wishes for one another. This has all the tropes but it works with earnest humor and good cheer. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Fun.

Manda Collins's new historical romance series begins with A Wallflower's Guide to Viscounts and Vice, and it's a fun blend of mystery and romance. The story follows a grumpy viscount and a sunshine spinster who find themselves in the middle of a kidnapping investigation, and tangled in a fake engagement, after witnessing a crime at a ball. With reputations at stake and a friend’s life on the line, they team up to solve the case, and their partnership turns into something much deeper.

Lucy Penhallow is a fabulous protagonist. A bookworm and heiress, she would rather read than mix with the fortune hunters who are always sniffing around. Smart, quick-witted, and never afraid to speak her mind, her love of detective stories and her behind-the-scenes work at Scotland Yard give her a unique perspective that becomes pivotal in helping to solve the kidnapping mystery. It was intriguing to watch her put those skills to work. I also like how she sheds light on the limitations women and others face in society. There are some great messages about equality, women's rights, and knowing one's worth.

Will is great too! He has reluctantly returned to London to take over the care of his estate and finds out he is nearly destitute. He has a lot of responsibility and pressure put on him, and he is a kind and honorable man. The secondary characters are wonderful, as well, especially Lucy’s friends, and I'm eager to learn more about them in future books in the series. And there are several cameos from the Ladies Most Scandalous series, which was a delightful surprise!

Of course, for me it's all about the romance, and Lucy and Will have an irresistible slow-burn tension that sparks right from the beginning. Their banter is full of tension and spice, and I loved how their dynamic slowly shifted from wary allies to something much more tender and romantic. Some of the things they say to each other are super swoon-worthy!

The mystery was interesting with enough twists to keep me guessing. Every time I thought I had it figured out, something unexpected popped up and made me second-guess. Love that! It was a great start to a new series, and I’m already looking forward to the next book!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

Seems Will is in a bit of a pickle, he needs funds to support his family, enter Lucy with enough funds for all. Just as they meet one of her friends is‘abducted’ and the chase is on. This story left me underwhelmed, there was little chemistry between them before falling in love. The storyline was too predictable and have read better versions. I do enjoy this authors stories, so if you have a lazy afternoon it’s a light read.