So... this is another book that was still on my @NetGalley shelf six months after it was published. I listened to it for most of last week - in between my @bachelorabc recap podcasts. 😂

Anyways, I’ve started it a couple of times before and quit it each time. I blame @bridgertonnetflix on the amount of Regency Romance recommendations I’ve seen lately, so I started the audiobook again. Mr. (Jeremy) Malcolm is the very rich younger son of a Lord (don’t quote me on this - his dad has some kind of title) who has a list of what he wants in a future wife. After he rejects Julia, she plots revenge on him by inviting Selina to town to woe and eventually reject Mr. Malcolm. However, Selina doesn’t see Mr. Malcolm as quite the arrogant scoundrel that Julia made him out to be. While Selina thinks she may be falling in love, she knows Mr. Malcolm is checking boxes off his list and thinks maybe she should make a list of her own.

I liked this, but regency is just not my favorite. Selina was spunky, and I liked Mr. Malcolm a lot towards the end. I was rooting for them - and the secondary characters in the book too. If you’re a regency fan, you want to check this out! It’s set to be made into a movie that I’ll definitely watch on streaming. 😂

I wanted to read this one since I first heard about it this summer. I saw a great book trailer online with a diverse cast, which made it look really exciting. Before I started reading the ARC I received from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, I saw it had been picked up for a movie, again with a diverse cast. Note: This book is about white people, but that's not why I had a problem with it. I still think it's important to know going into, just like I do with the Bridgerton books.

So again, I need to reiterate that this book has been signed on for a film, and the announcement was made when the book was published. I was really intrigued by this, so I looked at the Goodreads reviews. Apparently, Mr. Malcolm's List was released five years ago, then pulled back and rebranded for the 2020 edition. And it's in the branding that I think the real problem lies, leading to the negative reviews I've seen thus far.

What genre is this book? It's clearly romance, but I can't make out the full subgenre. It seems like when it was first published, readers were expecting something very proper in the style of Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer. With the new cover, I was expecting the steamy romance I'm used to. This one falls somewhere in between. There was no heat in what I read, just some lackluster kissing scenes, but the language and historical inaccuracy falls more to the historical romance fantasies I'm used to. However, the humor and characterizations seem to be a spoof of the more proper staples of the genre.

I did find myself giggling the first 50% or so. I just felt like the negative reviews were there due to a poor job marketing and an indefinable subgenre - neither spoof nor bodice-ripper, neither proper nor modern. However, the writing just wasn't good, and I began to notice it more and more. This book is largely dialogue. Then, the unforgiveable thing happened for me that made me close the file on my ereader.

The author threw in a fun twist when the heroine (Selina)'s frenemy Julia decides to wear the same costume as her to a masquerade ball. Instead of letting this devious plot reveal itself during the masquerade scene, which would have been dramatic and interesting, the author reveals Julia's plan to the reader. I could have lived out Selina's shock, embarrassment, and annoyance alongside her, but now I know what's about to happen. How boring! This is just lazy, boring writing.

To top it off, Selina is a complete Mary Sue. Mr. Malcolm has his lengthy list, and Julia is training Selina to meet the requirements, but it seems she does meet everything aside from having only genteel relations. When Mr. Malcolm does find out she has a less-than-proper cousin, he's already so into Selina that he doesn't care, even though it's only halfway through the book. Where's the tension? I didn't mind that Mr. Malcolm was arrogant, but Selina was too perfect a creature for me to find her relatable.

Of course, I could be entirely wrong about this one. It could have a fabulous twist at 55% through, but I gave up at 54%, and I'm glad I did. I have other romance novels with wonderful writing to waste my precious time with.

This is a quick read about the main character, Jeremy, looking for a wife with a very set list of requirements. Some shenanigans happen involving Julia and Selina that have you wondering if anyone will end up married. Thank you NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy.

A perfectly delightful romantic escape with all the necessary players. Beautiful ladies, arrogant bachelors, this book has it all. Can't wait for the movie!

I looooooove this book! Anything Jane Austen inspired is a treat and this author made her book a great to honor that. It’s a lot of fun to read in ‘old English’ and the characters are nicely written with distinctive of personalities. I really don’t get the negative reviews some readers have given. Maybe one had to be in the right frame of mind to read this type of writing - like I said, ‘old English’.

Mr. Malcolm is the most eligible bachelor in London, but his list of criteria for a potential bride is exacting, to say the least. Julia Thistlewaite, scorned and offended, invites her friend Selina Dalton to stay in Town...and to best Mr. Malcolm at his own trick. But when Selina and Malcolm actually fall in love, all the deceptions start to catch up with them.

Suzanne Allain's Regency romance is a fun, fluffy romp, and the comparisons to Georgette Heyer are apt - but it's Heyer on the more potboiler side, not at her best. Still, though every single character is remarkably immature and melodramatic, and the vague message of "deception is bad, honesty in a relationship is good" is pretty thoroughly undermined and turned into "deception is fine when the good guys do it" or something...it's still somehow fun, and ultimately a light-hearted, sprightly, enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the advance review copy!

This was really cute! It was a little slower than I expected but I still enjoyed it! Also that cover is so cute!! Malcolm and Selina had some instalove that I wished we got to see develop a bit more. I wished the book itself was longer! I liked their chemistry though and the plot was good! Overall, a pleasant and sweet read!

A historical romance that fits its time period, but also manages to be quite modern. The characters were loveable and had wonderful chemistry. Cannot wait to see it come to life in the adaptation!

This book follows Selina Dalton, who has been the companion for a lovely lady for several years, now finds herself unsure of where her life is going when this lady passes away. Just as she decides to go back home to her parents, her friend Julia asks her to come and stay, with ulterior motives. Julia has been spurned by one Mr. Jeremy Malcolm, and wants revenge. Mr. Malcolm has a list by which he measures all women he meets, in order to find the perfect wife. When Julia goes to the Opera with him and is not called upon again, she is determined to break his heart. She wants Selina to seduce him and then give HIM a list about why he is not a suitable prospect for a match. But, of course, Selina finds him charming and lovely, and the plan does NOT go as expected.

This was my first book by Allain, and it was fun! The writing did seem a little forced to me, but overall I enjoyed it very much. I am excited to see the film, whenever it comes out! This is a fun, sweet romance with a little bit of humor mixed in!

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Just going to bullet point my thoughts as a read:
- Prose style feels a little rudimentary.
- Okay, make that very rudimentary.
- Sparse in details and setting. Where is the development? It reads as though no effort was put into it.
- I suppose if you’re looking for a quick and succinct period piece then this is for you.
- Starting to feel very one-sided, especially considering it began from multiple POVS. I’m really lacking the thoughts and motivations of other characters besides Selina.
- It’s all just superficial, lacks true charm or wit. Utterly boring.
- Starting to explore other POVs again which enhances it a touch but the way we switch between characters without warning is baffling.
- Passing attempts at character quirks but no actual depth or development.
- Artless crafting. The “plotting” is hurting my head.
- Tame and sexless, if that’s what you’re looking for okay, if not, it’s dull and lacks chemistry.
- This back and forth dance is going on too long. Which is odd considering how short the book is.
- As an extended proposal for the screenplay it’s obviously meant to be, sure? As a complete and fulfilling book... it’s a flop.

This was an easy fun read, I plowed through it in one night. The characters were fun and I found myself laughing out loud quite often. I do wish it had been longer though, everything felt very rushed and any drama was quickly resolved. The antagonist did one bad thing and then immediately felt bad and changed course, I wish it had been fleshed out a little bit more. Overall though I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a fluffy regency romp.

While I enjoyed the premise and the dialogue, I did feel that I was bereft of a stronger emotional arc. This is an author that has fantastic potential and wonderful concepts but I couldn't help but feel disengaged from the characters. I will, however, continue to follow her books as there is a lot of promise there.

I was initially excited to read this book, especially hearing that there was going to be a movie as well, but I was discouraged by the Goodreads reviews, which appeared to mostly negative and heavily critiqued the book. Upon beginning the book myself and having the genre already out of my comfort zone, I ended up DNFing this book and don't plan to continue. This book just wasn't in my preferred genre, which is my own personal preference. I recommend checking this book out if you find it interesting, as some of the Goodreads reviews did rave about it.

Rating: 1 star

The ideas are all wonderful (fluffy as hell and humorous), but the execution is lacking, wooden and unconvincing. I could see the movie being a sheer delight, however.

Mr. Malcolm's List by Suzanne Allain is an enjoyable historical romance read. I really enjoyed the high intellect from both Mr. Malcolm and Lady Selina. Those two made this book worthy of reading. I enjoyed their talks. Both were smart, good looking, and pleasant to be around whereas the Lady Selina's friend and cousin were tiresome people. In fact, Julia was just a spoiled whinny creature whom I wanted out of the book faster than any other character I have read about...Julia thinks she far more superior and better than her friend Selina. She plots to get revenge. In this scheme, she uses Selina to get back at Mr. Malcolm. There was plenty of drama and dialogue plus a mystery of how it will all end that kept me hooked from beginning to the last page. I was intrigued. I had to know what the final outcome would be. If Julia wasn't as whiny and her whining didn't take up as much as it did, this book would easily have been a 5-star. No doubts. Suzanne Allain still managed to lure me into her entertaining world of fiction. I did enjoy following every other character but Julia. There was some humor and action. Overall, it was a good read.

This fast-paced, witty, well written Regency romance is a very quick read. It follows the now classic Austen tropes of an educated young woman crossed with an uptight, high society gentleman. This is a great book for light reading.

Mr. Malcolm’s List is quick and fun read full of hijinks and plots. However, it’s not really a Regency romance. There were multiple times that I forgot it wasn’t taking place in the modern day because of the way things were described and the language the characters used. Plus the pacing was a bit... off. I understood what the author was going for but there was never really enough buildup before pivotal scenes or resolution after. Instead, the story jumps immediately from beat to beat, never quite finding its emotional footing.

All that being said, I do think that this one will make an enjoyable movie! It’ll be interesting to see how the characters are brought to life on the big screen because I’m hoping that they’ll be a bit less stereotypical and one-dimensional. All of the pieces are there for a great romantic comedy, I think they just need to be developed and expanded upon a bit more than they were in this book.

I'd give it a 3.5. I liked the story idea and the overall plot and character development, but you can tell the author was a screenwriter and sometimes she'd write sections like director's/character notes... more telling or unnecessary details about someone's motivation or thoughts when she could have shown it by dialouge or actions.

I also think the climax and resolution could have been better, but overall it was a fun, light romance. Very clean for those who don't like open door/explicit romance.

This fast-paced, witty, Regency romance is a quick but fun read. It follows the classic Austen tropes of a well-educated young woman crossing paths with an uptight, high society gentleman - yet also makes use of high school romance trickery and dares. It is a great book for light reading, but I do wish it had more substance to it.

Mr. Malcolm's List is an enjoyable romp through 1800s England. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down and ended up finishing it in one day.