It Happened One Autumn is the 2nd book in the Wallflowers Series and is my favorite so far. I love the enemies to lovers trope and this one has it in spades. It also has false friends, kidnapping, near-death danger, terrible mothers, unexpected love, scoundrels, pride and prejudice sort of dynamics, love potion magical perfumes, and defying of stodgy conventions. It is also nearly entirely set at Stony Cross Park, Hampshire, England, which has become my favorite English Manor of all the English Manors I have read about due to the beautiful details about the gardens, ponds, fields, and paths. I want to live there in my fantasies.
This story follows the hopes of the second Wallflower, the American heiress Lillian Bowman. She is beautiful, fearless (unless she is expected to eat British delicacies like calf’s head), and certain she will never experience love. She and her sister Daisy will be spending a month at Stony Cross Park under the annoying eye of the 8th Earl of Westcliff, Marcus. He is a serious man whose “constant striving for excellence led him to get the highest marks in school, to break all records in his chosen sports, and to judge himself far more harshly than anyone else ever could.” The American woman and the British man are both irritated by the mere presence of each other, so of course we know they are destined to have chemistry. And the ensuing developments are very satisfying.
Kleypas, Lisa. It Happened One Autumn, Avon Books, 2005.
These are images created from the description of Stony Cross Park, Hampshire in the novel:
rebekahjmarshall 