Slightly Wicked [Library Binding]

Mary Balogh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2003

Meet the Bedwyns…six brothers and sisters—men and women of passion and privilege, daring and sensuality…Enter their dazzling world of high society and breathtaking seduction…where each will seek love, fight temptation, and court scandal…and where Rannulf Bedwyn, the rebellious third son, enters into a liaison that is rather risqué, somewhat naughty, and…Slightly Wicked.

With his laughing eyes and wild, rakish good looks, Lord Rannulf Bedwyn is a hard man to resist. To Judith Law, a woman in need of rescue when her stagecoach overturns, Rannulf is simply her savior, a heroic stranger she will reward with one night of reckless passion before she must become a companion to her wealthy aunt. Imagine Judith's shock when the same stranger turns out to be among England's most eligible bachelors…and when he arrives at Harewood Grange to woo her cousin. Certainly, they had made no vows, no promises, but Rannulf never did forget his uninhibited lover…nor did she forget that one delicious night. And as scandal sets the household abuzz, Rannulf proposes a solution…but when Judith refuses to have him—in love or wedlock—Rannulf has only one choice: to wage a campaign of pure pleasure to capture the heart of the woman who has already won his.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sympathetic characters and scalding sexual tension make the second installment in Balogh's Regency-era Bedwyn family series (after Slightly Married) a truly engrossing read. At the novel's outset, Rannulf Bedwyn, a wealthy, devil-may-care playboy, rescues a beautiful young woman from an overturned stagecoach, and the two share a two-day tryst before she disappears. Not until he arrives at the home of his matchmaking grandmother does he discover the truth: the woman he encountered is the daughter of a poor pastor, not the worldly actress she claimed to be. Judith Law, raised to believe she's plain and undeserving, allowed her true, outgoing nature to surface while she was pretending to be someone else, but now she's in agony as she watches the man she gave herself to court her egocentric cousin. Though the honorable Rannulf dutifully offers marriage to Judith, she stands by her own sense of honor and rejects him. As the socially mismatched protagonists negotiate the perils of snobbery, self-doubt and scandal, they beguile each other (as well as the reader) with their wit and integrity. Though not as sensual as Stephanie Laurens's books or as playful as those by Julia Quinn, Balogh's surefooted story possesses an abundance of character and class.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Booklist

Readers will be delighted with Balogh's new series that features the half-dozen members of the Bedwyn family first met in A Summer to Remember. In Slightly Wicked, third son Rannulf picks up a fetching young woman whom he believes is an actress stranded in the rain due to a coach crash. Judith Law, a parson's daughter, is traveling to her aunt's home to live as a poor relation and has decided to have one fling, one chance to not spend the remainder of her sure to be desolate life as a virgin. Pretending to be an actress, she accompanies Rannulf to an inn where they make passionate love before she slips away to take up her duties as an unpaid servant in her aunt's country house. When Rannulf turns up as a likely suitor for her cousin, complications abound. The Bedwyn siblings are the most fascinating romance protagonists to come along since Jude Devereaux's Montgomery brothers in the 1980s, and Balogh's sensuous Regency-era romances set the standard. They are not to be missed. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Library Binding: 342 pages
• Publisher: San Val (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417712872
• ISBN-13: 978-1417712878
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,367,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Balogh is the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Slightly novels: Slightly Married, Slightly Wicked, Slightly Scandalous, Slightly Tempted, Slightly Sinful, and Slightly Dangerous, as well as the romances No Man's Mistress, More than a Mistress, and One Night for Love. She is also the author of Simply Love, Simply Unforgettable, Simply Magic, and Simply Perfect, her dazzling quartet of novels set at Miss Martin's School for Girls. A former teacher herself, she grew up in Wales and now lives in Canada.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good read, May 1, 2003

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slightly Wicked (Get Connected Romances) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Slightly Wicked" is the second in the Bedwyn series. And while it was a pleasant enough read, it wasn't vintage Mary Balogh either.

Miss Judith Law is on her way to her aunt's house where she will begin her life as a poor (and I'm assuming unpaid) relation, when the stagecoach she's traveling in meets with an accident. Along comes a dashing gentleman on a horse. He introduces himself as Mr. Bedard, and offers to take Judith to the next town; and she, sensing that this will be her last chance to have one daring and grand adventure before her life of unending drudgery begins, agrees to go with him. Judith passes herself off as out of work actress, Claire Campell, and succumbing to Mr. Bedard's charms, agrees to spend the night with him. But the next morning, she leaves in order to resume her life as poor relation, Judith Law. At worst, in Judith's mind, she will find herself pregnant; at best, she will have one precious memory to hold for the rest of her life. The last thing she expected was that her dashing gentleman would turn up in the neighbourhood, that he would turn out not to be plain Mr. Bedard, but Lord Rannulf Bedwyn, the Duke of Bewcastle's younger brother, and that he is expected to make a match of it with her spoilt and self-centered cousin, Julianne.

What should Judith do? Learn to grit her teeth and bear the sight of Lord Rannulf courting her cousin? Or should she give into Lord Rannulf's demands that she marry him? For a woman who wants love and passion from her marriage, the very thought of marrying someone because he feels obliged to is an anathema! What Judith discovers however is that she has far more resolve, courage and honour than she herself had ever expected, and that holding true to her heart may bring the greatest reward after all...

As with "A Summer to Remember" & "Slightly Married" there was nothing terribly new about the plot of "Slightly Wicked" -- not even an invigorating plot twist or two. And except for the principle two characters, the rest of the cast wasn't exactly memorable either. However, it is the characters of the heroine (Judith), the hero (Rannulf) and how they cope with the situation they find themselves in that makes this book so very readable and engrossing. Judith is, I think, a heroine that most readers will definitely take to their hearts and root for. A fast paced plot that unfolded smoothly and seamlessly, "Slightly Wicked" a well written romance novel not to be missed.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Slight About It, December 1, 2004

By 

Corrine (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slightly Wicked (Get Connected Romances) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the onle one of the Slightly series that I will review. And I chose this one because it was my favorite - though the others are excellent as well. I have read Stephanie Laurens who I find tedious and long winded during love scenes. I have read Julia Quinn who I find humorous but just not able to tap the right emotion.

Mary Balogh gets the right amount of all sensuality and wit and emotion. I cry in every book and that is not an easy fit for a jaded romance reader like myself.

Slightly Wicked begins with deception. Judith Law is traveling to live with her aunt and grandmother when her journey is interrupted by an accident. Rannulf Bedwyn is traveling to Grandmaison to meet the young girl his grandmother, Lady Beamish, has chosen for him to court. He stops to help an the passengers of an overturned cart. He can only take one person on his horse while he goes to fetch help. Of course he chooses the stunning redhead.

And so it begins that Claire Campbell, a jaded, experienced actress and Ralph Bedard, a roguish gentleman, are stranded in an inn for several days. The inevitable happens.

After escaping the inn, Judith, alias Claire, goes to live with her Aunt, cousin, and grandmother. And during her cousin's week-long party, who shows up to court the young woman but Lord Rannulf Bedwyn.

This is a moving, witty, emotionally transcending piece of artwork that inspired me to go out and actively collect all of Ms. Balogh's works. And as I said before, though I think this is the best, all of them are far worthy of the time it takes to read them. It is the best regency series available, in my opinion.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balogh's newest fan, April 30, 2003

By 

A. Fitzsimmons "amandafitz" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Slightly Wicked (Get Connected Romances) (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked this book up, not realizing it was No. 2 in a series. I decided to read it anyway and was not let down. I read tons of romances and I think this one is clearly up at the top of my list. I thought the premise that brought Rannulf and Judith together was different. All too much, authors focus on the physical attraction between the two main characters, but Balogh did a great job developing their mental/emotional realtionship as well. Then again, maybe it's because the man realizes he loves the woman FIRST! *sigh* Can't wait to read the other two!