4.5 stars

Despite being only the second son of an earl, Jeremy Malcolm is a highly sought after matrimonial prize. His good looks, wealth, and property have many young ladies eager to attract his interest. One of those young ladies, Julia, is humiliated that after one outing, Jeremy failed to call again. Since her cousin, Lord Cassidy, known as Cassie, is Jeremy’s best friend, Julia hounds him to find out what she did wrong to lose Jeremy’s favor. It seems that Mr. Malcolm has a list of matrimonial requirements, and Julia did not make the cut. Upon learning this, Julia comes up with a plot of revenge, one that involves an old school friend.

Selina Dalton is surprised and pleased to receive an invitation to visit from Julia, as she is at loose ends after her last employment ended. Selina is the daughter of a vicar, and spent three years as the companion to Mrs. Ossory, who recently passed away. The opportunity to visit London and have a small taste of society is appealing, as Selina has never had an official season. When Selina learns that her visit is contingent upon her going along with Julia’s scheme, she reluctantly agrees. She’s sure that a man as calculated and fastidious as Mr. Malcolm will never show any interest in her anyway. Yet, Julia plans to coach Selina into meeting all of the requirements on Mr. Malcolm’s list, and then when he is well and truly caught, to have Selina reject him.

Selina and Jeremy have an initial meeting, with neither knowing the other’s identity, and they both have their interest piqued. It seems that Selina is unintentionally fulfilling all of Mr. Malcolm’s requirements, while she finds him totally unlike the arrogant man Julia portrayed him to be. The more time they spend together, it seems that they are a perfect match. Selina time and time again tries to tell Julia that she won’t be part of her scheme, but Julia won’t be swayed from her course. When Mr. Malcolm plans a houseparty, Julia feels sure that she will finally have her sweet revenge.

The party at Jeremy’s estate consists of Selina and her parents, Julia and her mother, Cassie, Henry (another potential suitor) and Jeremy and his mother. It’s safe to say that chaos ensues, as there are engagements, broken engagements, fake engagements, misunderstandings, abductions, plotting, scheming, and some decidedly waterlogged moments. Jeremy may have been a touch arrogant in his manner of seeking a bride, but he’s a genuinely good man, who was only seeking a lifelong companion he could be happy with. Selina is perfect for him, an intelligent lady with a sense of fun and humor. I genuinely wanted them to be together, though the havoc that ensues makes it look very doubtful. I have to classify MR. MALCOLM’S LIST as a charming and delightful romp. It’s truly a read that left me feeling good and smiling. The writing is so well done, that I was visualizing the scenes in my mind, always a signal to me that I’m really enjoying a book. I recommend MR. MALCOLM’S LIST for historical romance readers who love a light, warm, and engaging read.

Mr. Malcolm’s List By: Suzanne Allain

Rating - 1.5 / 5 Stars

** Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley, and of course, Suzanne Allain, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start this review off by saying: I struggle with giving a rating for Mr. Malcolm’s List - mainly because I have so many issues with it. I hate giving books a rating below 2 stars - strictly because so many books have a slight redeeming factor to them. However, Mr. Malcolm’s List BARELY has that.

So I guess let me get into why this book was such a flop for me.

Setting - Meh.

It is very obvious that the setting picked was not a priority for Allain. How many rides can the cast of characters go around Hyde Park without a SLIVER of description? Barely any description is used when places are addressed. Kent? No clue what it might entail. Bath? If I had not been, I would have no clue what the city looked like. LONDON OF ALL PLACES - lacks so much in detail that could have easily been placed.

Storyline - BORING.

I did not expect to be so bored by this story. Let’s call on someone again, make a chunk of the book based on that concept. The rides in Hyde Park were surface level. All of the conversations were basic and used modern language. How many balls can these characters attend? It is too much for the number of pages in this book.

The climax of the story takes place well before the conclusion of the novel - making me bored beyond belief trying to wrap up the story. Why in the world does it take 100 pages to come to a conclusion for this couple?

Characters

My goodness are these characters insufferable. We only meet and read of them from a surface level. WE NEVER get any backstory beyond basic information. Why is Malcolm the way he is? What is his brother like? Why are his parents so in love? Why is Julia such a brat and then suddenly changing? Why are the parents all boring beyond belief?

Here are my two redeeming qualities -
Selina’s relationship with her parents (which I wanted WAYYYY more of) and Henry. His arc in the story is not deserving of how wonderful a person he is.
Relationship

HOW IN THE WORLD ARE SELINA AND MALCOLM IN LOVE. There is no possible evidence that these two are good for one another. Beyond surface-level conversations and one philosophical quote, these two would never be a couple in the real world. They are also incredibly frustrating people. Why did it take them so freaking long to figure out what to do once the truth came out? Why in the world is the plot based on a freaking list that Selina makes which we NEVER SEE?

I do not get this book. I am sorry to Suzanne, as I believe she tried to provide us with a historical romance and I do not believe my dislike of this book reflects on her. However, this book is not worth a read. I almost fell asleep. There are so many others I can recommend if one is looking for a historical romance.

I really enjoyed this book. I love a good play on a Jane Austen. This was fun and light and easily readable. I heard this was going to be a movie and I can't wait to see that happen. I will totally watch that one.

I received an arc in exchange for a review...I heard about this book from the trailer to the proposed film, which looked like fun, and thought I should read the 'original'.
The plot revolves around somewhat contrived romantic shenanigans that seem too young for the age of the characters. The only character I really liked at all was Selina, who of course gets everything she wants by the end of the book. The supporting cast, including the leading man, came off as shallow and one dimensional.
We are told it's 1818 but there isn't much detail anchoring the reader in this period, particularly NOT the language or behaviour of most of the characters.
There's nothing here that's original or unexpected, would be an ok beach read if you're not a big Recency fan.
The author's bio says she is a screenwriter, which makes sense as the story is very dialogue-heavy, and will need a director and designer to give us a more complete story. As another review I read said, I hope the movie turns out better than the book.

I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mr. Malcom’s List is definitely a book you’ll want to add to your TBR list!

When Julia learns from her cousin, Lord Cassidy, that Mr. Malcolm has moved on because she didn’t meet all the requirements on his list, she’s livid. She comes up with a scheme—have Mr. Malcolm fall in love with her old school fellow, Selina, and then have her snub him for not meeting HER list. Selina is eager to be London and is told by Julia if she doesn’t follow through with the scheme, she’ll lose her invitation. Both Selina and Mr. Malcolm have instant attraction, but Selina is piqued that she is being tested from his list. And Julia is out for revenge at all costs.

Mr. Malcolm’s list for an acceptable wife is worthy of Mr. Darcy. He’s looking for perfection, but he realizes by the end that love can’t be found on a list.

This book has everything on your list for a Sweet Regency romp:
1. Romance
2. Handsome hero
3. Intelligent heroine
4. Schemes / setups
5. Mistaken identities
6. Engaging side-characters
7. Happy ending

I was intrigued when I saw the short film apparently based on this, but MR. MALCOLM'S LIST fell quite flat for me. I was also surprised to learn this is a rerelease, and the novel was originally published over a decade ago. I remember reading a review that ticked off most of my problems with the book, but hadn't realized that any edits done before republishing were very minimal. This one is unfortunately a pass.

I have to say that Mr. Malcolm's List by Suzanne Allain is a cute read. Those who like their historical romance reads to be accurate might want to take a pass on this story. However, if you are looking for something light and kind of fluffy, you might enjoy Mr. Malcolm's List.

Okay we have Jeremy Malcolm who has a list of what he wants in a wife. He plans to stick with it. However, his friends sister took offense to not being even worthy to garner his attention that she cooks up a plan to use one of her friends to take down Mr. Malcolm. This is where we meet Selina Dalton. Selina is a vicar's daughter, which makes her unlikely to deceive Mr. Malcolm. Actually, she wasn't a big fan of the plan from the beginning.

Mr. Malcolm was pompous, but he did feel something for Selina. However, Julia tried to play fast on loose with her friendship with Selina, and almost cost Selina everything. I felt that Selina was a pawn throughout the book, and I felt bad for her.

Overall, I liked the story, and it's definitely not for everyone. When I opened my thoughts, those who are wanting more close to historical accurate aren't going to like this story. If you are looking for something that is light, you found it in Mr. Malcolm's List.

Copy provided by Berkley via NetGalley

Mr. Malcolm's list was a fun, quick regency romance read. In a season where I find myself drawn to re-reads of Austen and watching all the movies on repeat, this book fit in very nicely. I will definitely recommend it to romance readers. Suzanne Allain is now on my radar. Plus, the cover art is cute and eye-catching!

I was lured into reading Mr. Malcolm's List after seeing the short film with Gemma Chan on Refinery 29. And although it's a very fast read, on the page these characters have all the flavor of a saltine cracker.

You expect it with Julia, she's a twit, but for his part Mr. Malcolm doesn't come across as arrogant or even interesting at all. He's just rich. Cassie, his friend, and Julia's cousin is little more than window dressing.

And the story? It would have been far more plausible as a farce.

An Eligible Bachelor Makes a List

The Honorable Jeremy Malcolm, would like to find a wife, but the young ladies he meets seem insipid. He decides that he needs a list to sort out their qualifications against what he wants in a wife. Julia Thistlewaite, a rather spoiled beauty, doesn’t understand why he isn’t smitten with her until she finds out about the list.

Deciding that Jeremy needs a lesson, she invites her friend, Selina, to come to town for a visit. Selina is poor and can’t afford a season on her own, so she’s thrilled to visit Julia until she finds that she is part of a revenge plot.

This is a romantic comedy in the style of Georgette Heyer. The plot is fast paced with quit a bit of humor as the plan to get revenge unfolds. This is particularly true because Jeremy and Selina are attracted to each other.

Julia and Jeremy were interesting characters and fairly well developed. Julia was not. I found her tedious. Cassie, Julia’s cousin, was a buffoon. It was fun for awhile, but again his character became boring.

This is a fast read, so if you like romantic comedy, you may enjoy it.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

Can a book be both infuriating and fun? I loved Selina. She's the reason I kept reading despite my STRONG dislike for Julia and annoyance (bordering on dislike at times) with Mr. Malcolm. I usually don't stick with stories when I have such strong negative feelings for characters, but since I liked Selina so well (and I wanted to see her and Jeremy get together to spite Julia), I had to see what happened for her. Jeremy gets called out on his arrogance and entitlement (although not as much as he probably should have), and Julia becomes tolerable (through the magic of love, which isn't a great reason, but by then I wasn't as concerned with Julia). And Jeremy's mother is one of my favorite characters in the whole book. She's a delight. She was worth reading the whole story.

The story plays out a bit like a Hallmark movie. You know everything is going to blow up at some point, and it does. But things work in the end toward a happy resolution. If you enjoy side characters that stir up some strong feelings (or characters you love to hate), a Hallmark movie story structure, and a loose Regency setting, give this one a try.

Light, sweet, not very filling. Selina is like able; Malcolm’s alright for most of the book before a plot contrivance makes him a jerk for the last third of the book. Julia’s a twit, so even though we know she will be part of a not-at-all surprising major plot twist, it's still annoying when finally executed. The book did have its moments and I laughed out loud. If you find this lying around and need to pass the time, it’ll do.

***3.5 stars***

Mr. Malcolm has a list with qualities he desires in a wife. Unfortunately, a young lady who he spurned is told about the list and finds a way to get her revenge.

This novel is really cute and has moments that are fun to read. I enjoyed the characters but didn't feel a connection to them or to the story. Nevertheless, this is an escape read and is very entertaining.

Source: I received a complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This was a really quick fun read. I think if you mostly want a romantic comedy in a vague British Jane-Austeny historical setting, you may like this. It had a cute romance, silly side characters, and a great female protagonist. Our main character was definitely the star of the book. I liked how she was independent and did not let people around her influence her decisions. And while Mr. Malcom was a perfectly adequate hero, I think I needed more from him. I found him to be a little boring. It was only until the end that I felt some real emotions from him and they weren’t particularly attractive as he was being petty and immature.

However, if you are looking for regency romance, you may need to adjust your expectations. I’m a huge fan of Georgette Heyer aka the queen of regency romance. And if you are as well, I wouldn’t go into this thinking it’s anywhere near Heyer levels. I liked the premise and characters, but this definitely lacks the lush world Heyer creates in her stories. Detailed descriptions of dresses, food, scenery, etc. are missing. It’s not historically accurate about the etiquette and social customs for the time for example the couple is left alone a lot. The language is also more modern. The book does not have sex scenes.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I liked the romantic development and how things wrapped up.

This was a case in which I have to wonder if the book and the screenplay for the upcoming film were written around the same time — because this reads almost like a screenplay formatted into a novel. A lot of telling rather than showing, very bare-bones in terms of story. I did enjoy the humor in places, and I think it has the potential to be a charming movie eventually when it's finally made, but some of the characters were downright intolerable, the plot seemed underdeveloped, and as a book it left me pretty unmoved.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was book I picked up based on the blurb and wanting to try a new author. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. After reading the author's bio and discovering that her back ground is more based on script writing, I wonder if this would have been more interesting as a performance piece vs a novel.

The story behind Mr Malcolm's List is unique and had several humor filled moments. My main issue with the story was that I didn't feel connected to the characters. We meet Selina, Malcolm, and the secondary cast fully formed and don't have the chance to get to know them outside of the situation they are in.

This disconnect of not knowing the characters made several of the interactions feel a bit flat. The action picks up in the last 1/3 of the book and to be honest, the moments here are what saved to overall read for me.

This title was a fun, quick read for the summer! I enjoyed reading about the setting and the description of the older times. It was like reading something during Jane Austen's time. Very clever and well written.

This was a great example of a book I wanted to like, but just could not get interested in. I made it roughly a third of the way into the book before I gave up. I appreciated what the story was trying to do, but the characters were cardboard cutouts and the dialogue was stilted. I wanted to like it, but I was disappointed.

Read to 40%, then skipped to the last 3 chapters.

I was quite excited at the premise of this one as the synopsis sounded promising. Sadly, there wasn’t anything for me.

All of the characters sort of sound the same. I honestly think that if you took away the names, the men and women could be interchangeable. Except Julia, but only because she’s a mega-brat.

I did try to keep reading, but eventually realized that I didn’t really care about these characters or if any of them got an HEA.

**Huge thanks to Berkley for providing the arc free of charge**

I'm torn!

2 or 4 stars? I'm conflicted!
If you want a romantic comedy spoof, then maybe 4 stars. If you're looking for the more genuine romance article, then 2.
That's my burning question. I was suitably underwhelmed by The List as a serious regency work. How a supposedly intelligent woman was beguiled by her one time uneasy schoolfriend to punish a potential swain for not continuing to court her friend is beyond me. And when said perceptive young woman continually falls in with her friend's plans mostly because she thinking of something or someone else and just murmurs appropriate noises of approval, well then, of course she's going to find herself in deep water. Couple that with the fact that said friend is fiendishly sure of herself (read spoiled, arrogant and used to getting her own way) with a true 'mean girls' streak, and the story becomes farcical.
(I must say though I kept flashing to scenes from 1940's black and white inane romantic comedy movies. How can that be? I'm thinking of maybe Cary Grant and Irene Dunne or Katherine Hepburn. If this is a regency romantic comedy spoof, then it's possibly a 4 star performance. If it's not, I support my 2 star designation.)
Highly eligible, wealthy and apparently dishy, the Honourable Mr. Jeremy Malcolm, second son of the Earl of Kilbourne, has a list of attributes he's looking for in a wife. Julia Thistlewaite falls short and so after a couple of outings with her he moves on. Thwarted and enraged Julia remembers that an acquaintance from school, Selina Dalton, a vicar's daughter, has written to her. Julia invites Selina to London, planning to use her to exact some sweet revenge against the top lofty Jeremy. So your veritable comic Cheltenham tragedy is about to be enacted.
Of course things go awry, and there are indeed many wryly funny moments, but in the end the story seemed to tail off, the farcical loosing it's impetus. I finished, but it was a close run thing.
There's a good meld of supporting characters. One of the best was Jeremy's mother, Lady Kilbourne. Although Julie's cousin Cassie (Lord Cassidy) adds a certain Bertie Wooster piquancy .
I did love the cover design. A mixture of millennium pink and red with silhouetted figures harken back to times past, with a dash of the modern.
I am still left with the sneaking suspicion this is a romantic comedy spoof. So I'm back to my original quandary. Was this a 4 star or 2 star performance?
I've decided to come down on this being a romantic comedy but due to the slow finish I'm settling for 3 stars.

A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)