Customer Reviews

Wicked As Sin: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We all know Gabriel from the previous books in the Boscastle series. He's the blacksheep cousin of the family. Now he's back from Waterloo and still up to his old tricks of being A reckless gambler and rogue. He wins A country manor right next door to the woman he's been pining for since he was a teenager. The beautiful Lady Alethea has always had A soft spot in her heart for the troubled youth that he was, but now she's finding out that it's even harder to resist the troubled man. The book will take you on A journey of secrets and misunderstandings, and the redemption of A scoundrel by the love of the woman he's always wanted.

This book was an okay read. I was really looking forward to reading about Gabriel's story after seeing what an exciting scoundrel he was in the previous books of the Boscastle series, but like most of the romance series that are out there now, he was not as exciting in his own book. I wanted to see A little of the same man that was so fascinating in the other books, but there were little of his old personality in this book. There were moments when I saw A shadow of the old Gabriel with his biting wit and easy going ways but his character took on A change that did not live up to the Gabriel of the past. Also, the storyline was not interesting enough to keep me glued to the pages and after I got to page 250 I started to lose interest. I still consider Jiillian Hunter A good writer though because she has A way of drawing you into the story with the characters clever wit [especially the hero's] and I always appreciate that in A book.

This book follows the wicked Bostcastle cousin we have all come to know from the previous series. Gabriel is known for his sinful vices and gambling skill. He wins an estate at a game of chance that happens to be in the village where he grew up. Here he becomes reaquainted with the heroine Lady Alethea, who had also grown up in the village. We begin to learn about Gabriel's difficult childhood that shaped him into the scoundrel he was to become. Alethea had been the one nice memory in a bleak childhood, and the only one to show kindness to a boy acting out in his anger.

There is alot of character interaction and it is easy to see how the childhood acquaintances fall in love.

Alethea is also harboring a heartbreaking secret of her own. This leads to a big misuderstanding. The heroine, not being actually adverse to sharing her secret, but rather always looking for the opportune moment allows the secret to go on to long and the misuderstanding occurs. Gabriel becomes a bit of a hypocrit. However, the misunderstanding is resolved fairly quickly without being drawn out for to long.

There is a nice set up at the end for the next book in the series.

I had so looked forward to reading Gabriel"s story but this one is such a big letdown. The story never seemed to create a momentum that could sustain it to a satisfying end. The "big secret" of the heroine is a cliche that has been used too often in books of this period of late. Ms Hunter let poor Gabriel ( and her loyal readers) down with such a lackluster offering.It kind of felt like this book was a "have to" rather than a " want to" for this author. If you are a Hunter loyal reader get it used, if you aren't familar with this author try her A DEEPER MAGIC, which is a far better offering from this well established author

I agree with the majority of the reviewers of this book that it is not one of Hunter's best and I believe the Boscastle series has probably done its dash now. I really loved the first half - it had an emotional depth that I was really enjoying. Then things went to pot. I didn't like the way Gabriel was obsessed by Alethea's sexual past when it was clear that she loved him in the 'here and now'. But the really annoying thing about the second half that it was setting up for the next book in the series which had no relevance to Gabriel's story - a sort of after thought. So for Hunter's best efforts, go back to her earlier books.

I'm still trying to figure out is going on with romance titles. The hero--so not wicked. But maybe "wicked" is a code word for heroes who live hard and have some sexual experience. By THAT measure the hero is wicked. Or maybe the wicked is for the villain, who does sound like a piece of work; but the true villain of the piece dies before the story actually begins, which is disappointing, because I would have liked to see him slain in a duel. And sin? It must be a code word for another 3-letter word that begins with "s" (and ends in "x") because the book does have that. The main characters here and the development of their relationship is fine, but other parts of the story are kind of jarringly awful, like huge infodumps of emotionally charged information at the beginning, flashbacks that are hard to tell from the present-time scenes, a horrible sense of the Regency milieu (especially for aristocrats), plot threads that appear out of nowhere near the end of the book (it is a book in a series which may explain ,if not excuse, some of this; but I've seen tie-ins done much more smoothly), and characters believing and acting on things that just don't make sense. Like at one point, the hero is given a Big Misunderstanding due to eavesdropping that the heroine may have been a prostitute at some time in the past, and because he loves her, talks himself into thinking he can forgive her if she needed to do it to survive. But she's the sister of a rich earl who has wanted for nothing in her life and he already knows this because he's known her since childhood. So, I can't actually recommend this one. Hunter gets the second star because for some reason I liked the hero and heroine despite the clunky storytelling. I gather from other reviews that she has done better, but this book didn't leave me wanting more from the same author.

I really like the characaters and story made me what to read more by this author. Sir Gabriel Boscastle wins a home in a card game in his hometown area and decides to spend some time their and chase aways some old demons. What he finds is Lady Alethea Claridge his childhood neighbor who was always his champion. What I liked about this novel and romance of Alethea and Gabriel is she didn't try to hold back her laughter and he made her remember her joy in life.

Can't wait for her new book Wicked at the Wedding, second in the series about one of Gabriel's long-lost brothers.

I don't know what happened with this book. The beginning I really enjoyed and then when the middle hit I was like can this book just end yet! I don't know I think she had a good premise for the book, but she just didn't follow through as well as she should. I think when they kept on telling each other that they loved each over and over then all they would do is have little stupid fights the rest of the book that had no purpose whatsoever. I just thought there was not a lot of thought into the plot or how things played out throughout this book. I wish she or her editors would of spent more time working on the story because I think the characters were excellent though.

I also didn't like how they did the whole rape when she finally got with Gabe it was like that never happened. idk it just seemed that she wrote all this stuff at the end just to make the book longer and nothing flowed well.

After winning Helbourne Hall in a game of cards in London, Colonel Sir Gabriel Boscastle discovers the property is in the village where he spent a not very happy childhood with his cruel stepfather, and decides to make a visit to bury some demons. After that, he plans to sell the mansion.
But when he arrives, there's a surprise for him: Lady Alathea Claridge, a young neighbour who had shown him kindness in his youth, a woman he had always desired from afar, a feeling that didn't vanish as the years went. And she hasn't married anyone, a fact that changes drastically Gabriel's plans in the neighbourhood.

Gabriel is a cynical person, whose past has shaped his life. In this book we know him in depth, we suffer and understand him. He continues to be a rascal, but at the same time it's like a watered version of the Gabriel in previous books.
Alethea is a young woman marked by the death of her betrothed, but not as the people think. This causes a misunderstanding because she's not sincere (and I still don't understand her prolonged silence). Gabriel's exaggerated reaction didn't help either.
Regarding their relationship, I saw lust and an attraction / connection that began when they were younger, but not love at the point they feel it. I think the love came later, when as well as lust and a connection, they knew each other.
It's a pleasant book, with an interesting development at the end that points toward more books of the series, and it's nice to see again the rest of the family.

In 1816 in Enfield, England, Lady Althea Claridge hears that the latest "wicked deed-holder" of neighboring Helbourne Hall has arrived. She also realizes this particular "devil" is taking a dangerous path that will kill himself and his horse. Althea rushes to prevent a fatal accident from occurring. Thus she is shocked when the latest demon holder is her childhood buddy Colonel Sir Gabriel Boscastle.

As stunned as she is, Gabriel cannot believe how beautiful his kindhearted childhood friend has become. However, he sees a sadness about her that she did not have in her youth and feels a need to return the mirth to her eyes. However, as they fall in love, she assumes he is the same out of control person he was as a child, but believes they can make it. He, on the other hand, looks pessimistically at the future as his gloomy outlook may prove prophetic.

WICKED AS SIN is an excellent regency romance that besides the return of the irresistible Boscastle brood stars a wonderful lead couple. Interestingly, Gabriel wants to bring the happiness back into his beloved's eyes yet ironically his depressing outlook may make the sadness permanent. Classic Pygmalion Effect, fans will appreciate this entry rooting that Althea brings happiness to Gabriel's eyes.

Harriet Klausner

I actually picked this up at a yard sale and loved it! I went out and bought the rest of the series! No disappointment here! I immediately (following the reading of this book) started reading the first in the series - great book! Go back and read the rest in the series.