Books › Guilty pleasures
Guilty pleasures
373 pages
A delicious slow-burn of unrequited love, crushing realization, and the deeply satisfying grovel that follows.
What it feels like
This historical romance delivers the ultimate wallflower-makeover fantasy, steeped in the delicious ache of unrequited love. The narrative moves at a brisk, engaging pace, pulling the reader through the sharp sting of being overlooked into the deeply satisfying triumph of self-reinvention. The mood is heavily yearning and heart-tugging, anchored by an emotionally resonant prose style that makes every stolen glance and careless word feel monumental. It is a story about claiming one's own worth, shifting the power dynamic, and watching an oblivious hero finally wake up and work for the love he almost threw away. Perfect for readers who devour the 'he falls harder' trope and live for a truly spectacular, hard-won grovel.
- Mood
- yearning
- swoony
- heart-tugging
- Tone
- earnest
- angsty
- romantic
- wry
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- unrequited love · wallflower transformation · oblivious hero · earning forgiveness · self-worth
- The writing
- Fluid and emotionally immediate, prioritizing the intense internal landscapes of its characters over dense historical detail.
- The arc
- Begins with the sharp sting of unrequited longing and rejection, building into a satisfying journey of self-empowerment and hard-won romantic devotion.
- Who it's for
- Fans of historical romance who live for the delicious angst of an oblivious hero who must grovel to win back the wallflower he foolishly overlooked.
Content notes
- careless emotional cruelty
- class disparity
About the book
One of Daphne Wade's guilty pleasures is to watch the Duke of Tremore as he works, shirtless, on the excavation site of his ducal estate. Anthony Courtland is by far the most exciting and handsome man she has ever known, and she dreams of one day being able to speak with him without getting tongue tied.Anthony, meanwhile, only sees Daphne as a hard worker on his excavation team. He considers her a plain young lady and says so in a careless remark to a friend, unaware that Daphne is outside the library door, her heart shattering to pieces. So Daphne decides she will not be so silly any longer. She begins to be tutored in the social graces, forcing Anthony to see the beauty who has been right in front of his eyes.
Description from Open Library.
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