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A Season of Secrets #2
Not Just a Wallflower
Innocent lady's companion?
Enigmatic beauty Ellie Rosewood is the talk of the ton. Her appointed guardian, Justin, Duke of Royston, has one job: to find Miss Rosewood a husband. But confirmed rake Justin wants Ellie all for himself!
Or lady of mystery?
With her coming out a huge success, Ellie is overwhelmed by the attention of London's most eligible bachelors. She finds an unexpected haven in the company of the arrogant Justin, and he begins to discover there is more to this unworldly wallflower than first appears.
A Season of Secrets
A lady never tells.
Enigmatic beauty Ellie Rosewood is the talk of the ton. Her appointed guardian, Justin, Duke of Royston, has one job: to find Miss Rosewood a husband. But confirmed rake Justin wants Ellie all for himself!
Or lady of mystery?
With her coming out a huge success, Ellie is overwhelmed by the attention of London's most eligible bachelors. She finds an unexpected haven in the company of the arrogant Justin, and he begins to discover there is more to this unworldly wallflower than first appears.
A Season of Secrets
A lady never tells.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 2013
21 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Carole Mortimer
1,302 books911 followersI have written almost 250 romance novels in contemporary and Regency.
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 29, 2018
This was entertaining and a fairly good effort, after I got over my confused moment at the H's name: Justin St. Just !
Seriously, was Carole M writing so many novels concurrently that she got writer's block when it came to devising a name for her hunky H ? But, I guess Justin didn't have to worry too much about people laughing at his name since he was the rich, handsome and eligible Duke of Royston. Justin's a bit of a rake who's 28 yrs old and determined to evade his grandmother's plans to marry him off to some simpering chit in a white frills. He's accomplished this, so far, by moving out of the ducal Royston townhouse in London and establishing his own separate smaller home. The lovable dowager grandma wasn't amenable to this arrangement, especially after she'd found the perfect wife candidate for him: her companion and our heroine Eleanor Rosewood.
This is the H, Justin:
This is the heroine, Eleanor ( Ellie )
The storyline is based on the old matchmaking trope, with Edith ( the Dowager duchess ) faking illness to get her wayward grandson to "help" her provide a debutante season for the heroine, Ellie. Edith was a funny and endearing old lady, who boasted to her friends that her matchmaking scheme will succeed in only 2 weeks:
The dowager duchess nodded regally.
‘And Royston will have made his choice before the night of the Hepworth ball.’
Lady Cicely gave a gasp.
‘But that is only two weeks away!’
Edith gave a satisfied smile. ‘By which time St Just will, I assure you, find himself well and truly leg-shackled!’
CAROLE MORTIMER. NOT JUST A WALLFLOWER (Kindle Locations 74-76). HARLEQUIN. Kindle Edition.
Justin spent the majority of this novel acting like a possessive, jealous asshole while stubbornly denying that he had any feelings for Ellie. He appointed himself her guardian and took it upon himself to get rid of every one of her suitors ! It was amusing and annoying, at the same time because his jerkish behaviour only served to make the heroine dislike him. In fact, there was even one scene where Ellie got so mad at his dog in the manger possessiveness that she threw a teacup at his head ! I don't really endorse violence but in this specific instance, the H deserved it, because he seemed to conveniently forget that the whole purpose of a debutante season was for the heroine to attract suitor and potential husband candidates. Justin not only got rid of all these suitors, one of whom included an eligible Earl, but he convinced himself that they were all unworthy of the heroine. It was hilarious to see the way he would act like a guard dog around the heroine, rudely despatching every single guy who even smiled at her. And, he even acted like a besotted suitor himself by feeding her pineapple chunks:
Madness. Absolute bloody madness!
For there could be no other reason why Justin gave every appearance of behaving like a besotted fool, enticing his ladylove with succulent titbits of fruit.
CAROLE MORTIMER. NOT JUST A WALLFLOWER (Kindle Locations 1051-1053). HARLEQUIN. Kindle Edition.
In the tradition of all obstinate H's, Justin ended up blaming the poor heroine for all the feelings that he was experiencing whenever he was near her or even thought of her:
The warmth of his breath brushed softly, sweetly, against her temple as he bent his head closer to her own before murmuring,
‘Little girls who deliberately wake the tiger deserve to be...punished, just a little, do you not think?’
CAROLE MORTIMER. NOT JUST A WALLFLOWER (Kindle Locations 1139-1141). HARLEQUIN. Kindle Edition.
Justin's also a bit of a spoilt only child, who believes that love is a terrible thing. His rationale for this is due to his parents' undying deep love for each other. Justin felt excluded from the circle of their love and he forgot, conveniently ( the way kids do ) that his mother had doted on him and spoilt him until he was 10 yrs old and had to be sent away ( like all little ducal heirs ) to boarding school. He forgot that his parents always loved him but needed also to spend time loving each other and looking after their business interests. My personal theory about Justin's unfounded resentment of his mom is:
He probably missed the breast milk while he was at boarding school, far away from mommy...
The author wove in a little bit of intrigue with a side storyline that centred on the search for the heroine's biological father. It was this big secret that Ellie herself was not aware of and so, the H and his grandmother took it upon themselves to solve this mystery. Apparently, Ellie's late mother had been raped in India by a lecherous, villainous rake called Lord Litchfield and had subsequently had an affair with a married man: the Earl of Richmond. Fortunately for the heroine, it was proven that her daddy was the handsome, kind and newly widowed Earl of Richmond. Of course, Justin almost muddled up this reconciliation when he became jealous of all the attention that Lord Richmond had been paying to the heroine. Lol.
The earl looked uncharacteristically nervous as he crossed the room to take one of Ellie’s hands in his both of his.
‘And it is my sincerest wish—’
‘What the hell are you doing, Richmond?’ Justin exploded, immediately filled with a possessive fury that the handsome man was touching her so familiarly. He still wasn’t sure Richmond didn’t have a tendre for her.
‘Justin, please...!’ His mother sounded distraught at his aggression.
His glittering blue gaze remained fixed on Bryan Anderson, his jaw clenched. ‘Take your hands off her!’
Ellie blanched. ‘I do not believe Lord Anderson means to give offence, Justin,’ she murmured.
‘He is offending me by touching you!’ Justin continued to glower at the older man. ‘I told you to let her go!’
CAROLE MORTIMER. NOT JUST A WALLFLOWER (Kindle Locations 2793-2800). HARLEQUIN. Kindle Edition.
This was an entertaining novel to pass the time because there's not much angst and much of the drama was caused by the H's possessive Mine ! Mine ! Mine ! attitude.
Safety: No cheating, no OW, a few wannabe platonic OM and a healthy dose of erotic passionate lovemaking that never actually ended with sex. I felt a bit cheated by that last part, though, because the MC's did everything except to have sexual intercourse.
Seriously, was Carole M writing so many novels concurrently that she got writer's block when it came to devising a name for her hunky H ? But, I guess Justin didn't have to worry too much about people laughing at his name since he was the rich, handsome and eligible Duke of Royston. Justin's a bit of a rake who's 28 yrs old and determined to evade his grandmother's plans to marry him off to some simpering chit in a white frills. He's accomplished this, so far, by moving out of the ducal Royston townhouse in London and establishing his own separate smaller home. The lovable dowager grandma wasn't amenable to this arrangement, especially after she'd found the perfect wife candidate for him: her companion and our heroine Eleanor Rosewood.
This is the H, Justin:
This is the heroine, Eleanor ( Ellie )
The storyline is based on the old matchmaking trope, with Edith ( the Dowager duchess ) faking illness to get her wayward grandson to "help" her provide a debutante season for the heroine, Ellie. Edith was a funny and endearing old lady, who boasted to her friends that her matchmaking scheme will succeed in only 2 weeks:
The dowager duchess nodded regally.
‘And Royston will have made his choice before the night of the Hepworth ball.’
Lady Cicely gave a gasp.
‘But that is only two weeks away!’
Edith gave a satisfied smile. ‘By which time St Just will, I assure you, find himself well and truly leg-shackled!’
CAROLE MORTIMER. NOT JUST A WALLFLOWER (Kindle Locations 74-76). HARLEQUIN. Kindle Edition.
Justin spent the majority of this novel acting like a possessive, jealous asshole while stubbornly denying that he had any feelings for Ellie. He appointed himself her guardian and took it upon himself to get rid of every one of her suitors ! It was amusing and annoying, at the same time because his jerkish behaviour only served to make the heroine dislike him. In fact, there was even one scene where Ellie got so mad at his dog in the manger possessiveness that she threw a teacup at his head ! I don't really endorse violence but in this specific instance, the H deserved it, because he seemed to conveniently forget that the whole purpose of a debutante season was for the heroine to attract suitor and potential husband candidates. Justin not only got rid of all these suitors, one of whom included an eligible Earl, but he convinced himself that they were all unworthy of the heroine. It was hilarious to see the way he would act like a guard dog around the heroine, rudely despatching every single guy who even smiled at her. And, he even acted like a besotted suitor himself by feeding her pineapple chunks:
Madness. Absolute bloody madness!
For there could be no other reason why Justin gave every appearance of behaving like a besotted fool, enticing his ladylove with succulent titbits of fruit.
CAROLE MORTIMER. NOT JUST A WALLFLOWER (Kindle Locations 1051-1053). HARLEQUIN. Kindle Edition.
In the tradition of all obstinate H's, Justin ended up blaming the poor heroine for all the feelings that he was experiencing whenever he was near her or even thought of her:
The warmth of his breath brushed softly, sweetly, against her temple as he bent his head closer to her own before murmuring,
‘Little girls who deliberately wake the tiger deserve to be...punished, just a little, do you not think?’
CAROLE MORTIMER. NOT JUST A WALLFLOWER (Kindle Locations 1139-1141). HARLEQUIN. Kindle Edition.
Justin's also a bit of a spoilt only child, who believes that love is a terrible thing. His rationale for this is due to his parents' undying deep love for each other. Justin felt excluded from the circle of their love and he forgot, conveniently ( the way kids do ) that his mother had doted on him and spoilt him until he was 10 yrs old and had to be sent away ( like all little ducal heirs ) to boarding school. He forgot that his parents always loved him but needed also to spend time loving each other and looking after their business interests. My personal theory about Justin's unfounded resentment of his mom is:
He probably missed the breast milk while he was at boarding school, far away from mommy...
The author wove in a little bit of intrigue with a side storyline that centred on the search for the heroine's biological father. It was this big secret that Ellie herself was not aware of and so, the H and his grandmother took it upon themselves to solve this mystery. Apparently, Ellie's late mother had been raped in India by a lecherous, villainous rake called Lord Litchfield and had subsequently had an affair with a married man: the Earl of Richmond. Fortunately for the heroine, it was proven that her daddy was the handsome, kind and newly widowed Earl of Richmond. Of course, Justin almost muddled up this reconciliation when he became jealous of all the attention that Lord Richmond had been paying to the heroine. Lol.
The earl looked uncharacteristically nervous as he crossed the room to take one of Ellie’s hands in his both of his.
‘And it is my sincerest wish—’
‘What the hell are you doing, Richmond?’ Justin exploded, immediately filled with a possessive fury that the handsome man was touching her so familiarly. He still wasn’t sure Richmond didn’t have a tendre for her.
‘Justin, please...!’ His mother sounded distraught at his aggression.
His glittering blue gaze remained fixed on Bryan Anderson, his jaw clenched. ‘Take your hands off her!’
Ellie blanched. ‘I do not believe Lord Anderson means to give offence, Justin,’ she murmured.
‘He is offending me by touching you!’ Justin continued to glower at the older man. ‘I told you to let her go!’
CAROLE MORTIMER. NOT JUST A WALLFLOWER (Kindle Locations 2793-2800). HARLEQUIN. Kindle Edition.
This was an entertaining novel to pass the time because there's not much angst and much of the drama was caused by the H's possessive Mine ! Mine ! Mine ! attitude.
Safety: No cheating, no OW, a few wannabe platonic OM and a healthy dose of erotic passionate lovemaking that never actually ended with sex. I felt a bit cheated by that last part, though, because the MC's did everything except to have sexual intercourse.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2014
I stopped reading half way through this book and won't give it another chance. It's a Harlequin Historical Regency, but where's the romance? All I got from this book was sex, sex and more sex. Where's the relationship development? Where's the originality? The story read more like an exercise called "name that sexual body part." If I read the word nubben one more time... Two pages seemed dedicated to a blow-by-blow (no puns intended) account of each sexual step as if to illustrate the author's command of a sexual body part phrase book. I was bored by the sex scenes almost immediately.
The Duke is certainly powerful, but hardly likeable. He is overbearing, brutish, and in my opinion a borderline sexual predator. Where were his redeeming qualities? He uses sex and Ellie's inexperience and attraction to him as a weapon to overcome her reluctance. And their sexual encounters don't ruin her reputation because they didn't actually have intercourse (this towards the start of the book)? Uh, I don't think so.
I'm not sure if I like Ellie or not. Why does she love the Duke in the first place? Why is she attracted to a man who is boorish and brutish and treats her with such disrespect. I never get the Duke deserves her regard. Why would she choose a man who uses pleasure as a way to overcome her reluctance; who disregards her wishes and her dignity.
Overall, two thumbs way down. At the start of this review I asked where's the romance? Difficult if not impossible to find. This Harlequin Historical was more a book of sex scenes with a few references to love and romance thrown in for good measure. Not my cup of tea.
The Duke is certainly powerful, but hardly likeable. He is overbearing, brutish, and in my opinion a borderline sexual predator. Where were his redeeming qualities? He uses sex and Ellie's inexperience and attraction to him as a weapon to overcome her reluctance. And their sexual encounters don't ruin her reputation because they didn't actually have intercourse (this towards the start of the book)? Uh, I don't think so.
I'm not sure if I like Ellie or not. Why does she love the Duke in the first place? Why is she attracted to a man who is boorish and brutish and treats her with such disrespect. I never get the Duke deserves her regard. Why would she choose a man who uses pleasure as a way to overcome her reluctance; who disregards her wishes and her dignity.
Overall, two thumbs way down. At the start of this review I asked where's the romance? Difficult if not impossible to find. This Harlequin Historical was more a book of sex scenes with a few references to love and romance thrown in for good measure. Not my cup of tea.
February 11, 2017
This book is slightly better than Hawthorne's story but I really find Justin St Just an @sshole! I get that he's an arrogant duke but still...he was rather hateful to Eleanor especially when thinking of making her his mistress.
Eleanor is just so...soft. He'd be nasty to her driving her to tears, but gosh the moment he BROUGHT HER TEA OR SPOKE LIKE A PETULANT CHILD HER ANGER MELTS AWAY LIKE HER HEART. What the...?!
The mystery of who Ellie's father has provided just the slight diversion and plot development but this was resolved all too readily. I had to suspend my belief quite a bit.
I have liked Carole Mortimer's contemporary Harlequin Mills and Boon a lot...maybe the formula of category romance does not translate well into historical romance? The characters hardly have time to make their love believable. ..the instant lust is just too jarring for me.
Now I wonder if I should read more of her HR...
Eleanor is just so...soft. He'd be nasty to her driving her to tears, but gosh the moment he BROUGHT HER TEA OR SPOKE LIKE A PETULANT CHILD HER ANGER MELTS AWAY LIKE HER HEART. What the...?!
The mystery of who Ellie's father has provided just the slight diversion and plot development but this was resolved all too readily. I had to suspend my belief quite a bit.
I have liked Carole Mortimer's contemporary Harlequin Mills and Boon a lot...maybe the formula of category romance does not translate well into historical romance? The characters hardly have time to make their love believable. ..the instant lust is just too jarring for me.
Now I wonder if I should read more of her HR...
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December 29, 2014"Longtime readers will find the theme of pride to be a reminder of classic love stories while newcomers will enjoy this little battle of wills. Mortimer uses this plot ploy to drive her simple, sweet romance along and engage readers in the budding love between a stubborn young woman and a prejudiced duke." RT book Reviews
miniseries: A Season of Secrets #3
I think this is my favorite of the series. The Royston didn't know what he was in for when the book begins and his journey to the HEA is fun. I love a book that makes me smile and chuckle as many times as this did. ~ Kim S.
miniseries: A Season of Secrets #3
I think this is my favorite of the series. The Royston didn't know what he was in for when the book begins and his journey to the HEA is fun. I love a book that makes me smile and chuckle as many times as this did. ~ Kim S.
April 7, 2018
The main couple had no chemistry whatsoever. Justin was always angry, acting like a spoiled child and had no respect for Ellie. Ellie was in love based on seeing him around, yet she kept mentioning how mean and rude Justin was. But wait - she still loooooooooooves him so much! Everything annoyed me.
July 30, 2017
Not sure I like the arrogant duke or the supposedly smart but can't resist the so called duke.
It's even worse when at the end everything just wrap up and rushed.
It's even worse when at the end everything just wrap up and rushed.
February 15, 2025
Look to the past to free love in the future
Holding fast to childhood grievances against his parents for there total obsession with each other to the exclusion of their only child Justin St. Just, stood fast against the state of matrimony. Much less believed in the emotion of love, seeing it as a selfish state to the exclusion of everyone around them, even their children.
Eleanor Rosewood had been raised by her mother after the death of her father before she was born. When Eleanor was ten her mother met and married a man that made life miserable until but he and Muriel, Eleanor’s mother, perished in an accident. Edith St. Just, Justin’s grandmother, felt some care and responsibility for Eleanor now all alone in the world, since her stepfather had been a close relative of the St. Just family.
Although Justin had known of Eleanor for the last year she had lived with his grandmother he kept his distance from the beautiful young woman. However, when his grandmother became ill, she insisted that Justin step up and help launch Eleanor into society with the hopes of finding her a husband, having clearly become very fond of the young woman.
It didn’t take Justin long to realize there was more to Eleanor than the quiet side she had presented so far. And so begins a race against falling in love, bringing to past to life and finding an ending that pleases them all.
A delicious tale with vim and vigor, two people running against the tide of their growing attraction for each other. But there is more than romance here, there are secrets that will finally see the light of day after two decades. I have long enjoyed Carole Mortimer’s stories and this is another to add to my bookshelves.
Holding fast to childhood grievances against his parents for there total obsession with each other to the exclusion of their only child Justin St. Just, stood fast against the state of matrimony. Much less believed in the emotion of love, seeing it as a selfish state to the exclusion of everyone around them, even their children.
Eleanor Rosewood had been raised by her mother after the death of her father before she was born. When Eleanor was ten her mother met and married a man that made life miserable until but he and Muriel, Eleanor’s mother, perished in an accident. Edith St. Just, Justin’s grandmother, felt some care and responsibility for Eleanor now all alone in the world, since her stepfather had been a close relative of the St. Just family.
Although Justin had known of Eleanor for the last year she had lived with his grandmother he kept his distance from the beautiful young woman. However, when his grandmother became ill, she insisted that Justin step up and help launch Eleanor into society with the hopes of finding her a husband, having clearly become very fond of the young woman.
It didn’t take Justin long to realize there was more to Eleanor than the quiet side she had presented so far. And so begins a race against falling in love, bringing to past to life and finding an ending that pleases them all.
A delicious tale with vim and vigor, two people running against the tide of their growing attraction for each other. But there is more than romance here, there are secrets that will finally see the light of day after two decades. I have long enjoyed Carole Mortimer’s stories and this is another to add to my bookshelves.
March 20, 2018
A Good read with some reservations but because it is well~written and the author remained true to the genre and timeline, which, for me, made this an entertaining read except for some scenes which have something to do with reading preferences (as long as the story line is within the established setting so as not to throw me into a Time Warp) then I am most likely to view it favorably. Plus I have made some parts of Ms. Mortimer's literary journey back then when she wrote for Mills & Boon having read some of her books along the way~so she is not a stranger to me.
July 10, 2023
1 Star
Ellie isn't a 'wallflower.' Nor is she shy, old, a bluestocking, or kind at all. Justin St. Just is arrogant and odd. I didn't see a love-connection and I couldn't see a h.e.a. coming about. 1 star: I stopped at page 58. I will avoid this author.
Ellie isn't a 'wallflower.' Nor is she shy, old, a bluestocking, or kind at all. Justin St. Just is arrogant and odd. I didn't see a love-connection and I couldn't see a h.e.a. coming about. 1 star: I stopped at page 58. I will avoid this author.
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October 25, 2017not very deep. alright setup, characterization etc... and pretty good chemistry, but it is instant attraction/lust and no gradual build.
January 12, 2015
The ratio of jack-assery to groveling is insufficient to satisfy my preferences in reading material. I liked it well enough, but there were definitely parts I did not care for. Such as the heroine's doormat quotient being far too high. She was seriously foolish, if not downright dumb for falling harder for the hero the more of a jackass he was. I wanted more groveling, for sure.
It's a "guardian falls for his ward" story, pretty standard, pretty well done given my caveats mentioned above. Oh, it's set in the Regency era mostly because there's a dateline of 1817 at the beginning. There's very little else to link it to a specific era. Especially given the use not only of the word "ego," but also "libido," which is most definitely a Freudian 20th century construction. No such thing in the 1810s...
It's a "guardian falls for his ward" story, pretty standard, pretty well done given my caveats mentioned above. Oh, it's set in the Regency era mostly because there's a dateline of 1817 at the beginning. There's very little else to link it to a specific era. Especially given the use not only of the word "ego," but also "libido," which is most definitely a Freudian 20th century construction. No such thing in the 1810s...
May 5, 2015
Loved it soooooi much!!!!! Such an amazing & truly heartfelt story!!!!! Redemption & true love!!! Witty & loved characters main & minor ones make this story great!!!! A traditional regency romance!!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!! :)
June 25, 2016
Now I remember why I don't like Carole Mortimer! The over use of exclamation points! The predatory/asshole-y heroes! This one with his "Don't bait the tiger!"
The lack of any emotion except PASSION!
"Justin St. Just," seriously? Ugh.
The lack of any emotion except PASSION!
"Justin St. Just," seriously? Ugh.
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November 2, 2013Miniseries: A Season of Secrets
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews