Wicked Becomes You [Mass Market Paperback]

Meredith Duran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2010

She’s been burned not once but twice by London’s so-call ed gentlemen . . .Gwen Maudsley is pretty enough to be popular, and plenty wealthy, too. But what she’s best known and loved for is being so very, very nice. When a cad jilts her at the altar—again—the scandal has her outraged friends calling for blood. Only Gwen has a different plan. If nice no longer works for her, then it’s time to learn to be naughty. Happily, she knows the perfect tutor—Alexander Ramsey, her late brother’s best friend and a notorious rogue.So why won’t a confirmed scoundrel let her be as bad as she wants to be?Unbeknownst to Gwen, Alex’s aloof demeanor veils his deepest unspoken desire. He has no wish to see her change, nor to tempt himself with her presence when his own secrets make any future between them impossible. But on a wild romp from Paris to the Riviera, their friendship gives way to something hotter, darker, and altogether more dangerous. With Alex’s past and Gwen’s newly unleashed wildness on a collision course, Gwen must convince Alex that his wickedest intentions are exactly what she needs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Readers need to make room on their keeper shelf

for the books of the talented Meredith Duran.”

—Fresh Fiction

"Witty, often hilarious, sensuous, and breathlessly paced, Duran's engaging, mystery-enhanced escapade sweeps its charmingly matched protagonists across the continent, in and out of danger, and eventually into each other's arms."

- Library Journal

"Meredith Duran has penned a fascinating, passionate tale... you won't want to miss."

- Romance Reviews Today

About the Author

MEREDITH DURAN blames Anne Boleyn for sparking her lifelong obsession with British history. A doctoral student in the social sciences, she spends her free time collecting old etiquette manuals, guidebooks to nineteenth century London, and travelogues by intrepid Victorian women. Visit her website at meredithduran.com.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books; 1 edition (April 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416593128
• ISBN-13: 978-1416593126
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #140,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MEREDITH DURAN blames Anne Boleyn for sparking her lifelong obsession with British history. A graduate student in the social sciences, she spends her free time collecting old etiquette manuals, guidebooks to nineteenth-century London, and travelogues by intrepid Victorian women. She is the author of four novels, all published by Pocket Books. The Duke of Shadows has reached a worldwide audience by being translated into seven languages and was the winner of the Gather.com First Chapters Romance Writing Competition. The Duke of Shadows and her second novel, Bound by Your Touch, were ranked among the top 100 romances of all time in the 2010 All About Romance poll. Her other books include Written on Your Skin and Wicked Becomes You, which was a Romantic Times Top Pick and was included on Woman's World list of Best Beach Reads for Summer 2010. Her next novel, A Lady's Lesson in Scandal, will hit the shelves in July 2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Escape with Gwen Maudsley and Alex - a fun, satisfying romance!, April 24, 2010

By 

M. Lapus "@ Starting Fresh blog" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wicked Becomes You (Mass Market Paperback)

I have to say that Wicked Becomes Her is my first Meredith Duran romance novel and once I finished it, I immediately wanted to read her earlier books!

Wicked Becomes Her works so well -- I love historical romance novels with smart, funny, daring and supremely loyal women. Gwen Maudsley is one of my favorite romantic leads with her hidden depths, quick wit, sharp mind, and loyal soul. I loved that she's abandoned at the altar twice and has to face the ton's gossip - and responds with a flash of spirit! Meredith Duran had me chuckling from the start!

The other romantic lead measures up as well. I love it when the heroes appear dissolute but prove otherwise. And when I come across a book with dialogue that has me laughing out loud and characters as fun as Gwen and Alex, I carefully keep the book to enjoy another day.

If you enjoy historical romances and are looking for a fun, romantic escape, get yourself a copy of Meredith Duran's Wicked Becomes You. Put your phone on silent and turn off your blackberry - you won't want to be interrupted!

ISBN-10: 1416593128 - Paperback
Publisher: Pocket; Original edition (April 27, 2010), 416 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good...but not great, June 4, 2010

By 

vdute - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wicked Becomes You (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first time I've read a book by Meredith Duran and now I'm undecided about reading any more of her books. Don't get me wrong, she writes fluently and with a good style, but the story didn't measure up to what the synopsis suggested, or even what the beginning of the book suggested. For one thing, her writing, while elegant, is just too wordy. There are long bouts of internal musings by the two main characters. I love internal musings when they explain the character's thought process, but most of the musings in Wicked are just arbitrary thoughts describing scenery or a group of people nearby, etc. Every scene seemed to take days to get through and so it seemed to be more descriptive than anything else. The actual story seemed to me to be only about 50% of the book, with the rest being just pages of description on things not that interesting, or circular thoughts of the characters which didn't progress the story that much.

Alex was supposed to have loved Gwen from afar for years, but you couldn't tell it from most of the book. Even in his internal thoughts, he seemed to have little respect for her, much less an unrequited love. He never once said to her or himself that he's loved her all this time, but just couldn't admit it to her or himself. The closest he came to anything like this was a point about 75% into the book where he told her he'd dreamed of getting married, of having a family, etc, but didn't think he would ever be able to. He did say he loved her, several times, but it was more like he was just now falling in love with the her after getting to know her, not pining over her for years.

There's nothing wrong with that type of storyline, it's just not how it was presented in the synopsis, and I know some people are looking for specific types of storylines, and may be disappointed to find this storyline is different than advertised.

Another thing that bothered me was that after being jilted early in the book, Gwen found a note from a "secret admirer" in her room and read it and tossed it aside without much thought. I thought, surely this is from Alex and she'll find out later that he'd loved her all along. In actuality, the letter is never mentioned again and you never know who sent it. I don't know what the point was in adding this to the story, if not the significance that Alex has been in love with her all along. Maybe this started out as part of the plot, but then got changed, but not removed from the entire story. As it is now, it just seemed a pointless page in the book.

There were relatively few scenes in the entire book, but it took 400+ pages to get through them because of the wordiness. Literally, it wasn't until page 98 (chapter 5) that we finally moved on from the one day in which she was jilted. Other than the prologue, the first four chapters (long chapters) were dedicated to her being jilted at the alter and the aftermath.

The ending was poor to me. I liked the story in general, but not the slowness and wordiness of it. And I really didn't like the last minute dreaded "misunderstanding" which was apparently not even a problem to Gwen in the end. She got legitimately mad at Alex about something, but then that problem was tossed aside as unimportant, and a completely new reason was given for her being upset by the time we get to the mandatory "kiss and make up" scene at the end. It seemed like a last minute thing to lengthen the book.

I'm giving this book 3 stars because it lacked enough substance. Good writer, not enough story for 400 pages, at least not as it was presented.

I know, who am I to talk about wordiness after this extremely WORDY review...lol.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wicked Becomes You is Close to Perfect and Excellent (A- Grade), April 27, 2010

By 

Katie Babs "Katiebabs" (NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wicked Becomes You (Mass Market Paperback)

One such author who gives in my addictive need for Victorian historical romances is Meredith Duran. Every single book Meredith has published in the past two years have been winners in my eyes. With Wicked Becomes You, Meredith cements my belief that she is one of the most skillful authors of historical romance being published today.

Alexander Ramsey is a world traveler. He is not a fan of England but has come back to attend the funeral of his best friend, Richard Maudsley, who was killed in Italy. Alex made a promise to watch over Richard's sister Gwen, who is the darling of English society. Alex is more of an outcast due to his sins that are "numerous and novel" but also "heavily fictionalized." Gwen is the complete opposite of him, and because of that, he becomes fixated on her. Alex finds Gwen to be an oddity because behind her smiles and easy going nature, he can sense she's hiding her true nature. He is very curious to learn her secrets and bringing out the "real" Gwen. But in order to do that, he would have to stick around and build a more personal relationship with her. Because Alex isn't comfortable with the relationships he has already, and doesn't want to form new ones, he leaves before he can fall for Gwen's charms even further.

Two years later, Gwen is about to be married to Viscount Thomas Pennington. Gwen has had a bad string of luck with men, since her first fiancé jilted her. Now she thinks she will have the perfect life, being married to a high ranking man who she cares for, and who seems to care for her in return. But Gwen is left literally at the altar after Thomas runs out of the church. Gwen is not only humiliated once again, but Thomas has her father's ring, which was handed down to her brother Richard. After going through the motions where she cries and rages, she comes to the conclusion that she is no longer going to be Miss Mary Sunshine and will follow Thomas across the continent to get back her ring and hopefully do a few outrageous and shocking things while she's at it.

Alex arrives in England after his twin sisters sent him telegrams begging him to come back. Alex's older brother Gerard, the Earl of Weston, has gotten himself into a bind. Gerard sold the family's Cornwall estate called Heverley End to a somewhat unscrupulous gentleman, a Rollo Barrington. Alex has no real love for Heverley End, but since his twin sisters are in a tizzy over it being sold, he will try and get it back from Barrington, who is in Paris. And because Gwen's former fiancé is also rumored to be in Paris, she will follow him there. Alex is not amused, and because he feels he must protect Gwen, he orders to stay put and find a new man to marry. Too bad Alex has no idea that Gwen has a new outlook on life and will do what she wants.

One of Alex's nosy sisters sends him a telegram about Gwen off and running away to Paris with a less than aware chaperone. Alex has no choice but to take Gwen under his wing while he searches for the elusive Barrington. Gwen isn't too happy with Alex being her shadow, but since he is much like a brick wall when it comes to her welfare, and she won't allow Alex to walk all over her, they come to an agreement. Alex will show Gwen more risqué types of fun that a gentlewoman like herself has been missing out on. Gone are the trips to the museum and opera, now it's all about attending the Moulin Rouge and giving people fake names. And when Gwen meets Barrington, Alex figures out a way to get back Heverley End. Gwen is all too willing to help Alex. The rush of it all is a dream come true for her, where not only does she see Alex in a new light, but he finally sees the woman Gwen truly is and one he's certain he can't walk away from when their adventures ends.

Meredith Duran is what I call the anti-wallpaper author. Her stories are so very delightful and thrilling to read. I can't help but compare Wicked Becomes You to the television reality game show, The Amazing Race. Gwen and Alex are not only on a race to find and take back a something that may have been stolen from Alex, but they are racing away from everything that has been instilled in them from birth. Alex is running away from his responsibility and the devotion expected of him from his siblings. Gwen is forced to conform to society's rules and is expected to only find joy in marrying and having a family. She is much like a bird in a gilded cage who wants to break free. And when she does, there is no turning back for her. And there is only one person who really understands her needs, because he has them also.

Gwen and Alex make a great team, a partnership and unit we have seen many times before in Meredith's past novels. Her heroes and heroines are very much on equal footing, and they treat one another as such. At first glance they are adversaries, who grow into a comfortable friendship of sorts that becomes deeper and more intense and eventually leads to the bedroom. Gwen and Alex's love making is so very heated and all consuming. Alex whispers tender words of love into Gwen's ears as they make love that have hidden meanings. When Gwen expressed her concerns where she may not be able to please Alex, he simply says, "Everything about you is right."

Alex has a secret from Gwen that comes out of nowhere and unnecessarily adds a last minute conflict at the end between these two that I felt could have been left out. Other than that small issue on my end, everything about Wicked Becomes You is close to perfect and one excellent, not-to-be missed book.

Katiebabs