A Week to Be Wicked (Spindle Cove) [Kindle Edition]

Tessa Dare (Author)

Book Description

When a devilish lord and a bluestocking set off on the road to ruin . . . time is not on their side.
Minerva Highwood, one of Spindle Cove's confirmed spinsters, needs to be in Scotland.
Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, a rake of the first order, needs to be . . . anywhere but Spindle Cove.
These unlikely partners have one week:
to fake an elopement
to convince family and friends they're "in love"
to outrun armed robbers
to survive their worst nightmares
to travel four hundred miles without killing each other
All while sharing a very small carriage by day and an even smaller bed by night.
What they don't have time for is their growing attraction. Much less wild passion. And heaven forbid they spend precious hours baring their hearts and souls.
Suddenly one week seems like exactly enough time to find a world of trouble. And maybe . . . just maybe . . . everlasting love.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Delightful ... Lust, love, and witty repartee are perfectly balanced in this seamlessly plotted romance."

~Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A pick-me-up that delights, enchants, and sweeps readers away"

~RT Book Reviews, Top Pick!

"This is what romance should be!  Tessa Dare has outdone herself with this delightful and thrilling romance between two unlikely souls who complement each other to perfection."

~The Romance Reviews

From the Back Cover

When a devilish lord and a bluestocking set off on the road to ruin . . . time is not on their side.

Minerva Highwood, one of Spindle Cove's confirmed spinsters, needs to be in Scotland.

Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, a rake of the first order, needs to be . . . anywhere but Spindle Cove.

These unlikely partners have one week:

to fake an elopement
to convince family and friends they're "in love"
to outrun armed robbers
to survive their worst nightmares
to travel four hundred miles without killing each other

All while sharing a very small carriage by day and an even smaller bed by night.

What they don't have time for is their growing attraction. Much less wild passion. And heaven forbid they spend precious hours baring their hearts and souls.

Suddenly one week seems like exactly enough time to find a world of trouble. And maybe . . . just maybe . . . everlasting love.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 646 KB
• Print Length: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (March 27, 2012)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005S73IOK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,977 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!! March 27, 2012

By Lisa Wolff

Format:Mass Market Paperback

When Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, is forced to answer his door one rainy night he does not expect the proper Minerva Highwood to be there. When the decidedly quiet, bookish Minerva then asks for his assistance to travel to Scotland...to attend a gathering about rocks no less...he is a bit stunned. After all, Minerva and himself do not exactly see eye to eye on any matters. So he decides to thrown in a few conditions that will be sure to scare her off but when they don't, Colin finds himself helping Minerva achieve her lifelong dream. He just can't understand how she is ok with being ruined, because nothing but that will come from their unchaperoned, fake elopement even if nothing were to happen and she has no desire to marry him. But when the nights force them to be together and Minerva's inquisitive scientific mind full of curious questions, passion quickly arises and true feelings are discovered.

Minerva is determined to attend the Royal Geological Society of Scotland to show her discovery of a unique footprint set in stone. Obviously her flightly mother is not going to take her so she decides to go to a man she dislikes, a man supposedly set to propose to her sister. Her sister is much to good for Colin so she must convince him to go with her and the prize winning money should be enough to hook the broke lord. However, she does not expect to encounter his morals (who knew he had any?) or in the process, discover a caring, gentle, sexy as all get out man underneath a rakish persona.

Oh, sigh. This book. I sighed, laughed, cheered, and wanted to hug my Kindle. Such a wonderful, lovely romance! I adored Colin.... He is always calling Minerva by some other name starting with 'M' making her believe that he can not remember her true name and there is a scene later in the book that is just going to make you sigh with happiness! The banter between these two is just delicious and hilarious at the same time! Minerva takes Colin to show him why it is so important for her to attend the geology gathering and her way of doing it takes Colin quite unawares and it literally had me dying of laughter at his reaction! But then it also showed a much deeper side to Colin that he has tried to keep hidden from the world and as time passes, he learns that Minerva is the one person who can finally complete him. And we can not forget the sizzle factor between these two! Being forced to share a bed--naturally--leads to some smoking hot 'exploration' lessons that will leave little doubt as to these two compatibility together. Overall, I adored this book. It is a wonderful blend of romance, heat, laughter and proof that opposites can be absolutely perfect for each other. I just skimmed the preview chapter for the next book and I can not wait for it! Tessa Dare is a new auto-buy author for me following this book! A delicious 5 stars Read more ›

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A week to be wicked. March 27, 2012

By kirribilligirl

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you are a long time romance reader who struggles to find a fresh new read then please go and purchase this book now! I loved both characters and the enormous fun and complications they experienced on a road trip to Scotland. Great fun. No tedious misunderstandings just a lovely couple getting to know each other, their strengths and weaknesses and falling in love. What more could a reader ask for? ENJOY!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars tallyho April 17, 2012

By Rebecca

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I loved this story.

In the first few pages I groaned inwardly because of the way M's interest in geology was introduced. It felt like it was going to be this really irritating plot device and I was tempted to stop reading. Funny, how everything about M became so engaging - her bookishness, her love of rocks, her intensely scientific curiosity. It sounds dull as paste and what a surprise that she becomes so sympathetic a character.

I also loved that the big conflicts were around a road trip and a race against time. When plots depend on trumped up misunderstandings between the H&H it's so aggravating.

I felt like this book was much better written than the average romance fiction. In particular there's an early scene that involves diving through an underwater opening to get to a coastal cave. I could feel my own claustrophobia welling up not only during the swim through the darkness but also as the two sat in the darkened cave. I was right there and it was a visceral sensation. And that's just one example of how well the scenes are depicted in the story.

The eroticism was also really well woven into the story and somehow it was often surprising. You'd have to read it to see what I mean. 4 chili peppers out of 4.

And parts were so funny. Colin's ability to spin a lie that was both a cover story and to tease M was so appealing.

I definitely recommend it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Love and Laughter July 31, 2012

By J. Weaver VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

The second book in Tessa Dare's Spindle Cove series is just wonderful. Minerva is an intelligent, understated beauty who is constantly harangued by her mother for her looks, her bookishness, and really, just about anything a mother can harangue a daughter about. Colin is a handsome, roguish aristocrat waiting to inherit his fortune. We meet both characters in A Night to Surrender, and they definitely threw sparks against one another in that book, but I don't think I was quite prepared for just how wonderful this book would be.

One of the things that stands out for me in reading this book is that Minerva and Colin spend nearly every page together. We get to know them quite well and to see their interactions with each other. At some times their adventures are wickedly funny, at others touchingly sweet. Colin has a tortured past (which is used to explain his rakish ways), and Minerva, while well aware of her own intelligence, has self-doubts about her feminine attributes. As the story progresses, they each help the other to find their inner strengths. I loved the dialogue between them, the inside jokes that the reader is privy to, and the way that Tessa Dare shows us just how much they come to love each other.

It sounds cheesy and trite, but this book really did make me both laugh and cry at times (heavy on laughter). It felt like a good time as I read, and I loved that the characters admire and respect each other so much, as demonstrated throughout the story. I also think Tessa Dare did a brilliant job of making Minerva brilliant but likable (too often smart women in books are portrayed as shrewish)....

There is an excerpt from Dare's next book, A Lady by Midnight (Spindle Cove) at the end of the book. Kate and Thorne, who play background roles in this book will be featured in the next book. I hope that it lives up to the brilliance of this one! Read more ›

More About the Author

Tessa Dare is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of ten historical romance novels and four novellas. Her books have won numerous accolades, including Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA® award and multiple RT Book Reviews Reviewer's Choice Awards. Booklist magazine named her one of the "new stars of historical romance," and her books have been contracted for translation in a dozen languages.

A librarian by training and a booklover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she shares a cozy, cluttered bungalow with her husband, their two children, and a big brown dog.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#1 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance

#1 in Books > Romance > Historical

#32 in Books > Romance

#33 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

#72 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction

#1 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance

#1 in Books > Romance > Historical

#32 in Books > Romance

#33 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

#72 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction