Customer Reviews

When His Kiss Is Wicked

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is so much to like in When his Kiss is Wicked; there's the author's old school charm of naming her chapters to give the reader a little foretaste of the yummy treat to come. There are the fabulous leads, wonderful family dynamics, the explosive chemistry and they all come together seamlessly.

Colette Hamilton is not your usual romance heroine. She looks after her family of four sisters, a swooning, self indulged mother and an overbearing uncle. She operates her deceased father's bookshop and loves her work because she truly enjoys people and books. Her uncle unfortunately does not see these fine qualities in his niece nor does he appreciate all the wonderful improvements she is making to the shop. Instead he values both her and her sister Juliette's beauty and puts them on the marriage mart.

Hero Lord Lucien Waverly drops into her shop hoping to find some books for his ailing father. He meets Colette and is attracted to her charming nature and beautiful face, so attracted he almost kisses her. At first he is pompous with her though, commenting that women should not be running businesses. Colette fires her own salvos back with gusto but not with condescension or attacking Lucien's character. She is secure in who she is.

Lucien and Colette meet several times at balls and in the bookshop as Lucien just cannot stop thinking about Colette and finds excuses to visit her shop. When they are apart the story never drags because Ms. O'Riley has the characters deeply in thought about the other and their musings are insightful. Lucien is frightened of falling in love whereas Colette believes in love wholeheartedly. The sexual tension builds steadily between this couple and the author explores their feelings and desires thoroughly. There are some memorable scenes and lines in this book like the couple "making history in the history section of the bookshop".

Finally the relationship the leads have with their families adds perspective to their characters. Lucien really is devoted to his father and Colette loves her sisters dearly. They make several appearances in this novel. Spunky outspoken Juliette especially plays a role in her older sister's life. Her novel is next and I can hardly wait to read about her misadventures.

It's a simple story but delightful nevertheless. Colette Hamilton was struggling to keep her family and the family bookshop running after the death of her father. Enter Lucien Sinclair, who came into the bookshop and was reluctantly smitten with the lovely Collette. Scarred by his mother's betrayal, Lucien had long decided to have the typical ton marriage. What follow is Lucien's struggles to overcome his initial decision and admit his strong feelings towards Collette.

As I said, a very simple storyline. What makes it delightful is the scorching chemistry between the couple, the deliciously charming Jeffrey Eddington and the enchanting Hamilton sisters who I think might just rival the famous Kleypas' Hathaways.

I have read all of O'Riley's books, and this is my favorite one by far. I truly enjoyed the plot and the twists as usual, but what made this one my favorite was how interesting all the sisters were, as well as their relationships to one other. The writing is crisp, the descriptions exquisite, and the dialogue between the characters continually helped reveal the sisters' true selves. I've loved all of her books, but am particularly happy she will be creating a saga of this particular family in future novels. Great read!

Once again Kaitlin O'Riley delivers a fantastic book with characters that you root for.

I look forward to her next book with Juliette and the continual story of the Hamilton sisters.


Dena

With the death of her father, Colette Hamilton takes over running the family bookstore in which she supports her mom and four sisters. However, her uncle and mother are appalled with her working as they want her to marry wealth and sell the shop; Colette prefers work over marriage.

In 1870 an earl, Lord Lucien Waverley stops at the bookstore to buy books for his father. He and the shopkeeper are attracted to one another as he begins to understand the adage "You can't judge a book by its cover" and she "The family that plays together". However, though they see each other at social events, their potential courtship is derailed over a philosophical difference about whether women should be allowed to own and run a store as he wants a throwback to the Regency era and she reminds him of who runs the empire.

The strong gender war over the role of women in Victorian society makes for an amusing, entertaining yet profound historical story. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the beloved enemy combatants meet in her family bookstore and never slows down as they fall in love while debating whether women should be allowed in business. Sub-genre fans will relish the first Hamilton sister tale and look forward to more engaging mid nineteenth century romances.

Harriet Klausner

After reading and enjoying O'Riley's "One Sinful Night," I was disappointed by this mediocre story.

When His Kiss Is Wicked is a historical set in the Victorian period and tells the romance between a feisty bookshop keeper and a marriage-minded heir to a marquisate. Colette Hamilton has taken over managing the family's bookshop after her father's death six months before the book opens. Her Uncle Randall would much prefer she and her sister marry money and abandon the bookshop as he resents that the family is involved in trade. Lucien Sinclair, Earl of Waverly, meets Colette when he visits the bookshop to find reading material for his invalid father. Sparks fly between the feisty proto-feminist and the traditionalist aristocrat and the attraction grows as they run into each other at Society events. Lucien, however, is determined to marry a boring, biddable wife, no matter how much Colette appeals to him.

One of the first flaws to smack me in the face is that O'Reilly absolutely MANGLES the English peerage. She gives an illegitimate son a courtesy title - Lord Jeffery Eddington - and then mangles it further by referring to him as Lord Eddington. There were many other examples, but as Eddington was a major secondary character, this was the most glaring. The lack of basic research made immersing myself in the story rather difficult.

In addition, she uses modern language and ideas in what is supposed to be a historical. I can buy that a woman could run a bookshop, but not that she wouldn't sell the business after marriage or that she would expect people to find her behavior totally acceptable. I was rather bruised from being beaten over the head with the feminist overtones. I know it's tempting to put modern ideas in play, but Colette was a walking anachronism.

Characterization was poor as well. O'Reilly made the mistake of telling, rather than showing. We're told Eddington is quite charming, but she wrote little dialog that let the reader see him as such. I saw very little of people's inner workings via POV musings. Characters felt flat and one-dimensional.

The plot did a poor job of making me wait. I freely admit that I am a poor plot prognosticator. You show me a mystery, and I'll show you a shocked face every time the culprit is revealed. Yet, I guessed every plot twist before it happened. If you can't fool me, ay yi yi.


As a result of the flat characterization and total lack of tension, I was completely bored by this book, nearly abandoning it at page 100. Highly disappointing, considering how much I enjoyed her earlier book. I hope this was merely a speed bump in her career, as she's clearly capable of better work.

Lucien Sinclair, Earl of Waverly, must quickly find and marry a suitable bride before his ailing father dies. Lucien has shunned marriage because of bad past experiences with women. He was once engaged, but his beautiful fiancé proved unfaithful, and his mother scandalously ran off with her lover, leaving his father a broken man. Lucien wants to avoid any emotional turmoil in his marriage and, to that end, seeks a wife who is not too exciting. He envisions someone quiet, obedient, not-too-pretty, content to raise his children and make no demands on him, and not create a scandal like his mother did.

Lucien's idealized image of the perfect woman gets a powerful reality check when he befriends Miss Colette Hamilton, proprietress of a small family bookshop. Colette is vibrant and lovely, and Lucien is thoroughly bewitched. However, he refuses to consider her for his wife because she is too beautiful, opinionated and modern in her thinking. Instead, he pursues a courtship with a mousy young woman who meets his bizarre requirements. Still, all he can think about is Colette, whom he now runs the risk of losing.

I liked this book for most of the way. Colette was delightful - strong yet feminine - and the couple had a potent chemistry. I also liked the storyline surrounding Colette's struggle to retain her bookstore, and enjoyed reading about Lucien and Colette's families, who are certainly not run-of-the-mill. But Lucien's failure to do the right thing by Colette TWICE, even after they were intimate, really tarnished the latter part of the book for me. I understand that Lucien's hesitancy to commit to Colette was integral to the plot, but his inaction felt too hurtful to me. And was not the logical behavior of a gentleman. After this, the story seemed a bit muddled. Lucien of course came through in the end, but by then it was anti-climactic. Ms. O'Riley is a newish author whose previous books (One Sinful Night; Secrets of a Duchess) are quite good. This one is too...for most of the way.

5 sisters...love the idea of a story with characters that continue for longer than one book! I fell in love with the whole family, the plotline, the romance, the bookstore and of course, Lucien! And that Jeffrey Eddington...I like him as well and hope he continues in the next book! I can't wait to read each of the sister's stories! How wonderful to be able to follow the sisters' lives! I can't wait to read the next one and the next one and the next, and the next! :)

An enjoyable read, although it was frustrating and and unusual turn of events when Lucien decides he won't marry Colette even after "de-flowering" her. I guess i'm used to the chivalrous heros who do the right thing to save the girls reputation, but in this instance Lucien didn't even consider Colette's reputation. this part of the plot came across as quite callous and harsh. but like all good romances, love wins out in the end.
I enjoy Katilin O'Riley's style of writing. She weaves an interesting plot, and one never quite knows what's going to happen next. I'm really looking forward to reading a story about Jeffrey Eddington, Lucien's friend. I think I liked his personality more than Lucien's. Jeffrey almost stole the limelight in this book.

More of a 3.5 The backdrop of this romance was Julian's desire to marry someone that would be meek and accommodating not someone that enthralled his passions and could possibly break his heart. Once the story got moving and the relationship between Collete and Julian started in earnest- it just didn't seem quite right-his denying his feelings for Collete because of his idea of what would be best for him. Still, the Hamilton family is made up of some great characters and I look forward to reading the next Hamilton story.(less