OK. this is the fourth book in the wallflower series. I've read the first two, but not the third.

This is the story of Daisy Bowman, the youngest of the wallflowers, and younger sister of fellow wallflower Lillian. Daisy comes from a rich American family with absolutely no noble blood. In fact her grandmother was a dockside washerwoman. Daisy's mother desperately wants her daughters to marry peers, and having succeeded with Lillian (who married Westmore in a previous book) she has her hopes for Daisy. Unfortunately Daisy has not attracted the attention of an appropriate man. Her father, being a practical man, decides that she is a bad investment, as the money spent on her seasons has offered no return in form of an influential husband, and decides to cut his losses, so to speak. He wants to make the best of it, by making her marry a man who will benefit his business in another way. The man in question is Matthew smith.
Matthew is the protégé of mr. Bowman, and a very skilled businessman in his own right. Daisy however has never liked him much. So she decides to make a last effort to find someone else, before she is forced into an unwanted marriage.

I liked this one. This is one of my favorite series, because rather than follow a group of men of varying degrees of friendship, as is the norm in this genre, we follow four female friends. they like each other, they confide in each other, and they have fun together, with or without men. I enjoy very much the strong role the friendship between the four friends play. I enjoy the natural feel of the presence of the former heroines. There is no sense that the author is parading all her former couples as an advertisement of the older books, as there often are.

Now to the couple in this book. Lets start with Matthew. Matthew is a sweet man with a strong facade. he has loved our heroine Daisy for years, but has decided not to do anything about it, for reasons that are to spoilery to refer here. Matthew is an American man, and a businessman. He is smart, thoughtful and logical. The word repeatedly used to describe him is dependable. Something I very much appreciate in a man, fictional or real. He is in many ways the perfect match for Daisy - something she too is aware of. Matthew works for Thomas Bowman, Daisy's father, and is among the few people the old man actually respect. I liked Matthew a lot. His reasons for holding back made sense, and he does not miraculously change his personality as they fall in love. He remains reasonable and intelligent. and most of all dependable.

Daisy is the opposite of Matthew. She is described as a dreamer, although I didn't quite see that, she definitely came across as a romantic. She is sweet, kindhearted, and once she has made up her mind, she goes after what she wants. Matthew never really stood a chance once she chose him. All in all she is a spunky heroine without the much hated TSTL complex. The relationship between especially her and her sister made perfect sense, as did the one between her and Matthew.

The only nitpicks I have are: 1, the initial emphasis on the physical transformation of Matthew. as if his changed appearance is prerequisite for her falling for him. 2. the cardboard cutout that is the mother - no real personality there - she was much more three dimentional in Lillian's book. 3. The miraculous rescue cliché at the end - this I have read so many times before, that I could accurately predict the whole thing.

however these are nitpicks, and do not detract much from this book. all in all a great read, which I can definitely recommend