Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas

First up, Secrets of a Summer Night is quite possibly the most dull title that has ever titled and I read a lot of romance novels. It's forgettable, not really related to the novel itself, and doesn't even complete the alliteration.  But it's the first book in The Wallflowers series, which is apparently beloved in the romance novel world, so I dove in despite my misgivings over the lame title.

Four single women who are left at the side of a ballroom, ignored, and they make a pact to help one another find a member of the peerage to marry.  This is the first of their tales.

Heroine:  Ugh. I really hated her. She felt entitled to marry a member of the noble class and when she finally marries a  mere commoner with tons of money who takes care of her and her family, she gets pissy because she's not invited to the balls. To paraphrase Ron Weasley, she needs to sort out her priorities.

Hero:  Uncommunicative alpha male. Not really my style. 

Conflict: She wants a peer; he's a commoner. Her mom is getting raped repeatedly and to fix the problem, the hero sends the mom a vacation.  (I'm barfing here.)

Romance: I mean, I guess. The hero really does seem to love the heroine and does all sorts of nice things for her. The heroine's motivations and feelings are a bit more obscure, but she certainly doesn't ACT like she even likes the hero, let alone love him.

Plot: I thought the plot was believable for the most part and that the characters reacted in ways that real people would. On the other hand, I think that there were quite a number of historical inaccuracies about how young single women would be treated during the time period, but I'm willing to let most historical nitpicks go when I'm reading historical romance novels.

Writing: Kleypas writes clearly and competently. It's not gorgeous prose, but it's easy to read and the pages turn quickly.

Happily ever after:  Yes.  It's obvious that we'll need to follow-up with the other Wallflowers and that this is the first book in a planned series.

A perfectly acceptable, readable book. I don't think I understand the hype that this series gets, so maybe it'll get better in subsequent books.