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~Slightly Wicked~
by Mary Balogh
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Heroine:
voluptuous |
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A rainy night. An overturned coach in the middle of
nowhere. A dashing, helpful stranger made all the more appealing by a
young girl's
fanciful mind.
To Judith Law her rescue from the muddy roadside was absolutely
providential, and in more ways than one. Here was her chance to
experience both her first and last night of passion before becoming a
lifelong paid companion in her well-to-do aunt's employ. And it
seemed such a simple thing to love this stranger for but a few days,
then leave him behind forever.
So imagine Judith's utter surprise when
her erstwhile lover arrives at her aunt's house and is revealed to be
none other than Rannulf Bedwyn, the favored suitor for her beautiful young cousin's hand!
And yet Rannulf declares privately to Judith that he'd rather have
her--red hair, freckles, curves and all. Can this be true, or is
Judith dreaming her way to disappointment once
again?
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What worked for me: |
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I liked the leonine Rannulf even though I
usually prefer my heroes tall, dark, and devastating. He was a bit of a
playboy at first but other than that was a reasonably stand up guy.
Not as alpha as one might like, but not a simpering wuss either.
There was some pretty good tension in this story that kept me reading
on. I just had to find out how Judith's horrible family got
their comeuppance in the end.
Size-wise Judith was voluptuous and very attractive to men, though she
wasn't aware of it. In fact, her religious family had her convinced that
she was ugly as sin.
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What didn't work for me: |
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I wanted to like our heroine and her family, who sold her off
into slavery to her unkind aunt. (But then, it would have been more or
less the same scenario had she been married off instead.) And
mostly I did like her, but she just made one foolish decision after
another, whether it was jumping into bed with a complete stranger or
later turning down his proposal of marriage after they had gotten to
know each other and actually fallen in love. Of course, had she
not made those mistakes this book would have been all of 8 pages long.
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Overall: |
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If you can set aside your common sense and think with your heart
instead of your head, you'll enjoy this Regency era romp. (And if you
want more of the same, then be sure to check out the rest of the
Bedwyn "Slightly" series.)
Warning: There's a steamy scene at the beginning of this book.
(Considering that the word "wicked" was in the title, I did expect the
story to be spicier.)
If you liked "Slightly Wicked" you might also enjoy
"Somebody to Love",
"Miss Carlyle's Curricle", "Into
Temptation", "Suddenly
You",
"The Accidental
Bride", "The Bride
and the Beast", "The
Fire-Flower", "The Last Days
of a Rake",
"Cat and the Countess",
"The Courtship", or
"Enchanting Pleasures". |
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