Secrets of a Summer Night

The Wallflowers, Book 1

By: Lisa Kleypas

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Wallflowers

Four young ladies at the side of the ballroom make a pact to help each other find husbands...no matter what it takes

Proud and beautiful Annabelle Peyton could have her pick of suitors - if only she had a dowry. Her family is on the brink of disaster, and the only way Annabelle can save them is to marry a wealthy man. Unfortunately her most persistent admirer is the brash Simon Hunt, a handsome and ambitious entrepreneur who wants her as his mistress. 

Annabelle is determined to resist Simon's wicked propositions, but she can't deny her attraction to the boldly seductive rogue, any more than he can resist the challenge she presents. As they try to outmaneuver each other, they find themselves surrendering to a love more powerful than they could have ever imagined. But fate may have other plans - and it will take all of Annabelle's courage to face a peril that could destroy everything she holds dear. 

This edition of Secrets of a Summer Night contains an altered version of the content that appeared in the original 2004 edition.

©2009 Lisa Kleypas (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

I couldn’t bear to listen any longer

First of all, let me say that I LOVE the Wallflower series. I originally read (actually read) the books. I am a Lisa Kleypas fan and have read many books by her. I was looking for something to listen to while driving, and since it had been years since I read these, I downloaded this one to enjoy. I may have made it to the 4th chapter but couldn’t handle the narrator anymore. I’m a little spoiled by narrators like Jim Dale and Saskia Maaleveld whose character voices are wonderful. I am now going to have to pull my book down to finish the story because I won’t be listening to it.

Love the Wallflowers

I truly enjoyed the alliance of the Wallflowers. It was great to see their bond form, develop, and succeed. The romance between Anabelle and Simon is believable. I do like when a historical romance novel takes us into the couples married life which this novel does. I find that what happens after the heroine and hero marry to be even more entertaining than their falling in love story, and seldom do we get that. Let’s face it, a marriage ceremony hardly makes a HEA. Here, we do get to see how the marriage evolves. I wish that the story of Mr. and Mrs. Hunt would continue, for they are a great couple; and, saying goodbye to them seems wrong. Nonetheless, this is a good start to the stories of the Wallflowers. I am happy for the time I spend with them.

Abridged version

I like the story and have read the book but am rather disappointed with this audiobook because it skips parts of the book all throughout the reading. It skipped the prologue, combined a couple scenes and edited several others. It’s an abridged version but doesn’t claim it in the description.

So much potential...

Loved the supporting characters.

Book was off to a good start, but then took a steady, fast-paced nose dive.

There is zero character development. I just did not care about the main characters at all.

VERY disappointing!!!

I purchased this title in Audible but now wanted to reread it. I was astonished when I was told that I had to re-purchase this title as Ms. Kleypas had “altered” it, and my original purchase had been removed from my library!! However, if there were any alterations, they were not evident and certainly not worth the price of a double purchase. I am so disappointed when money seems to be more important to an author’s publisher than honoring a fan’s previous purchases. (I’m doing Ms. Kleypas the favor of believing she had nothing to do with this.)

slow slow slow, boring and boring

what a boring, slow, horrible book. I have listened to so many, this is bar far the worst. I pushed myself to keep going, wasted a credit, I gave up on chapter 19 . horrible dragged on, boring book I have listened to.

Love this story in its original form

Love this book series and its characters. I didn’t like the revision as much as the original, but it’s still one of my favorite by Lisa Kleypas. I’m also a big fan of MJ Wells narrations.

Good story

The story was good and did not lag. Although I like Rosalyn Landor performance usually, the New York accents were not good

Enjoyable

This book made me go through a lot of emotions. But I enjoyed it, the sweet interaction with the main couple towards the end was enough to make me cry. I can’t wait to read the next book after this.

I adore Mr. Hunt!!!!

As my first Lisa Kleypas book, i must say this was ahMaZing! so much so that i just purchased Wallflowers Book 2 to start immediately!!