The Importance of Being Wicked [Kindle Edition]

Miranda Neville (Author)

Book Description

With her captivating romances filled with brilliant intrigue, Miranda Neville has already won legions of fans among readers of historical romance. And her new series set in lusty Georgian England is sure to satisfy. The men are reckless, the women daring, and the hero and heroine The Importance of Being Wicked are no exception. He's a duke who needs to marry a society wife. She's the troublemaker who's going to show him a thing or two about love. The solution: a marriage of convenience rife with powerful passion! If you like Lisa Kleypas and Eloisa James, you'll love the historical romances written by Miranda Neville.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Neville displays a signature blend of froth and history ... Neville's characterizations are down to earth: the women are pretty without being ravishing and principled without being irrational, and Thomas is open to expanding his horizons. The one drawback of such pleasantly believable protagonists is that their problems always appear equally life-sized. Drama may be somewhat lacking in their adventures, but delight is not." - Publishers Weekly

"Miranda Neville really hits the big time with her latest, which launches a new series. Her talent hits brilliant new heights in this insightful tale of a wayward lady and her straitlaced man." Affaire de Coeur

From the Back Cover

The rules of society don't apply to Caro and her coterie of bold men and daring women. But when passions flare, even the strongest will surrender to the law of love . . .

Thomas, Duke of Castleton, has every intention of wedding a prim and proper heiress. That is, until he sets eyes on the heiress's cousin, easily the least proper woman he's ever met. His devotion to family duty is no defense against the red-headed vixen whose greatest asset seems to be a talent for trouble . . .

Caroline Townsend has no patience for the oh-so-suitable (and boring) men of the ton. So when the handsome but stuffy duke arrives at her doorstep, she decides to put him to the test. But her scandalous exploits awaken a desire in Thomas he never knew he had. Suddenly Caro finds herself falling for this most proper duke…while Thomas discovers there's a great deal of fun in a little bit of wickedness.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 878 KB
• Print Length: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (November 27, 2012)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007HBTBCS
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,893 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant Read November 27, 2012

By Queen of Books

Format:Mass Market Paperback

The Importance of Being Wicked was ok read. The main characters of this new series is Thomas, Duke of Castleton and Caroline Townsend.
He is looking for a proper wife with lots of money. She is a widow who has a notorious past. Caro is a chaperone to her cousin Anne who doesn't have a lot of money to spend on her debut. Thomas is all about duty to his family obligations. But he is attracted the fiery Caro and she calls him a "stuffy duke". I wanted to give the book a higher score because the author is one of my favorites. I felt there should have been more romance between the leads. I think lust caught both of them in a snare and didn't know how to make it better. I received this arc digital copy from edelweiss for an honest review.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Importance of Being WIcked~ November 27, 2012

By Lisa Wolff

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Caroline Townsend is dealing with the death of her husband and trying to find a way to pay all the debts left behind and with her generous nature, she finds it hard to turn away her late husbands artistic, struggling friends. A bright spot is the arrival of her dear cousin, Anne who is coming to meet her potential fiance, Thomas, Duke of Castleton. It quickly becomes clear that this proper man, or Lord Stuffy as Caro comes to call him, will not suit for Anne and does not fit in with Caro's more carefree lifestyle...but the attraction between Thomas and Caro is there and hard to ignore. When Caro attempts to settle on of her larger debts, Thomas is there to sweep her away and this forces a change in their relationship. However, Thomas needs to marry for money so how can he throw away the chance to marry for money (Anne) for the chance to marry for love and passion (Caro)? Will he choose duty or love? Will Caro be able to find a balance for her feelings for Thomas, a balance between proper and free?

What a fun, sexy, enjoyable easy read! I really like to read a good book sometimes without major conflict, without loads of action and with feelings expressed without having to pull teeth and I felt Miranda Neville delivered with this one. Caro is a delight...free spirited, kind, loving and a wonderful teacher to Thomas about all things wicked! Thomas is the perfect, proper, stuffy gentleman who knows his duty but can see importance to learning all things wicked. I did feel like the story was a bit slow in the beginning but it really picked up for me half way through and I finished it in one sitting to see how it all played out. I think the reason it was a bit slow for me was all the other characters are introduced for the upcoming stories and it detracted from the romance blooming a bit. However, by the end I loved how the author weaved in just enough tidbits about the upcoming stories that I am very anxious for them now as they all look quite scandalous! I enjoyed watching Thomas go through a slew of emotions of his feelings for Caro but how he never backed down once he made up his mind, even when some secrets from his mothers past is revealed. Caro also stayed true to her feelings once she realized them and this was a nice surprise for me as I was worried she would be a bit flighty in that regard. And even though this is a very easy read, there is a touch of heartbreak that had me heart sinking that adds just a bit of drama. Art collecting isn't really my interest but it was touched just enough on without overwhelming the storyline. Overall, a smashing start to a new series that I thoroughly enjoyed. 4 stars

*review copy*

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good read but sort of missed the mark emotionally November 29, 2012

By Claire

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I totally admire Miranda Neville's writing and have loved her other books. This one was pretty good but somehow it dragged and I only occasionally felt that there was any real emotional connection between H/h. I loved the premise: stuffy rule-bound duke and carefree rule-breaking heroine. But there were a lot of side players (I assume to set the stage for future stories about them) and this kept taking me out of the story. The first half of the book was slow but it became more interesting at the half/way point -- when there was more interaction between H/h -- and the story held together well. I just didn't feel that it had much emotional impact and given the great premise, it just fell a bit short of the mark. That said, this is a really good author and I will definitely be reading future books she writes!

More About the Author

I grew up in southwest England. During my misspent youth I devoured the works of Georgette Heyer, Jean Plaidy and any other historical novels I could lay hands on. As a result I attended the University of Oxford to study history, ignoring all hints that economics might be a more practical subject. I spent several years writing catalogues of rare books and original letters and manuscripts for Sotheby's auction house in London and New York. Much of my time in this job was spent reading the personal correspondence of the famous. This confirmed my suspicion that the most interesting thing about history is people.

I now live in Vermont where I enjoy skiing and writing romances set in Regency England where it hardly ever snows.