“Jeremy Malcolm’s Requirements for a Wife”
- Amiable and even-tempered
- Handsome of countenance and figure
- Candid, truthful, and guileless
- Converses in a sensible fashion
- Educates herself by extensive reading
- A forgiving nature
- Charitable and altruistic
- Graceful and well-mannered
- Possesses musical or artistic talent
- Has genteel relations from good society.
Mr. Malcolm’s List by Suzanne Allain was a quick and cute classic regency romance that can easily be read in one go. It was witty, hilarious, and contained a cast of upbeat, brooding, and feisty characters that all graced the page with subtle pride and prejudice undertones. I loved it!
Let’s first talk about the romance as this is a romance novel and it is key to the story. His list makes his options very limited and he isn’t getting any younger. He’s picky and arrogant and so self-absorbed that he never even thinks that maybe he isn’t someone’s type until Selina came along and exposed that nerve.
“He was struck suddenly with the thought that she might not like him. It was a novel idea, so accustomed was he to females of all kinds fawning over him. For the first time it occurred to him that even if she passed all the items on his list, she may not accept his suit.”
Mr. Malcolm and Selina had an amazing chemistry between them. Every time he said something typically arrogant and within his character’s reputation, it lit a fire in Selina when she didn’t agree. He ignites something in her that makes her want to stand up and speak her mind, which isn’t commonly appreciated coming from the fairer sex, but he likes it. He likes her for everything that she is. Selina comes to him at the request of her friend, Julia, but in the end it is he who pursues her, seeing her as the perfect match. It was romantic despite his sometimes broody manner because what’s a regency romance without an arrogant gentleman like him?
“She was looking exceptionally beautiful that afternoon in her russet-colored carriage dress, which just matched her hair. Her beauty shocked him each time he saw her, although she was not the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. It was more than just her outward appearance he found so appealing, although he had to admit he found it very appealing indeed. But he was attracted also by her traits of character: her vitality, her humour, her intelligence, her kindness. She was everything he desired in a woman. He wondered suddenly what it was that she desired in a man.”
His character development throughout the plot was quick and logical. He’s falling for her and now he doubts his worthiness and qualities for her. That’s a shocking and quite refreshing opinion from his type of character. They usually keep their cocky arrogance till the end, but not him and that’s all because of this leading lady, Selina.
This list concept reminds me of the Friends episode where Ross makes a list about Rachel and they fight about it, which is a modern example to compare to, but the battle is the same. The idea of making a list of traits or qualities in a partner won’t give you your perfect match because people aren’t built like that. Selina (just like Rachel) constantly calls Jeremy Malcolm out on his list and how baffling it is to live a life pursing something so unobtainable and he doesn’t see it until he almost loses her because of it. This comparison is a perfect example of what this story explores and the ending wraps it up perfectly just like the episode. It was a heartwarming realisation from the male lead and it was only possible because the leading lady pointed it out which I loved. It shows a strong, female presence in a time where that was non-existent.
“Selina wondered if she would have felt differently about Mr. Malcolm if she had not known about the list. She had to admit to herself that she would. If one was being measured like a pair of shoes, it would not have been so disconcerting. After all, Selina was matching him to a set of criteria, although not as overtly. She, too, had qualifications she desired her future husband to meet. That was not arrogant; it was practical. And so far Mr. Malcolm had exceeded all of Selina’s requirements but one: she required humility in a husband.”
The only thing that made me disappointed was the abrupt change of scenes. They would be talking and then all of sudden the scene would change as well as the characters and it would all be shifted around making some scenes summarised rather than shown through the writing. That was a huge letdown for me because in romances I live for those moments, they serve as extra tidbits into what made the two characters fall in love and it’s upsetting when they aren’t included.
Allain’s writing took a classic setting and turned it into a modern piece of writing breaking the status quo of many regency romances and that made this book shine. I’ve recently discovered the beauty of romance novels, but the writing when it comes to regency novels have so many words I’m unfamiliar with that it makes it much harder to read and understand the stories and even to some extend the characters. The writing is beautiful, but I don’t absorb what they mean which is dangerous territory for a book reviewer. I love the stories featuring lords, dukes, rakes…you name it, but that writing style makes it a heavy and usually daunting task to wade through but Mr. Malcolm’s List wasn’t one of those and I’m so glad for it! This modern writing won’t be for everyone because that regency writing has its own beauty, but I loved that this book was different. I appreciated the change and this is why this book deserves an 8 out of 10. This features a feisty heroine, an insufferable and arrogant gentleman, and a plot supported by hilarious moments and colourful supporting characters.
Mr. Malcolm’s List is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an arrogant bachelor insistent on a wife who meets the strictest of requirements–deserves his comeuppance.
The Honorable Jeremy Malcolm is searching for a wife, but not just any wife. He’s determined to elude the fortune hunters and find a near-perfect woman, one who will meet the qualifications on his well-crafted list. But after years of searching, he’s beginning to despair of finding this paragon. And then Selina Dalton arrives in town…
Selina, a vicar’s daughter of limited means and a stranger to high society, is thrilled when her friend Julia invites her to London. Until she learns it’s part of a plot to exact revenge on Mr. Malcolm. Selina is reluctant to participate in Julia’s scheme, especially after meeting the irresistible Mr. Malcolm, who seems very different from the arrogant scoundrel of Julia’s description.
But when Mr. Malcolm begins judging Selina against his unattainable standards, Selina decides that she has qualifications of her own. And if he is to meet them he must reveal the real man behind…Mr. Malcolm’s List.
