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Wicked as They Come (Blud) [Mass Market Paperback]

Delilah S. Dawson
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 27, 2012 Blud
First in a steampunk-tinged paranormal romance series in which a woman is transported to a world filled with vampires and magic.

When nurse Tish Everett forced open the pesky but lovely locket she found at an estate sale, she had no idea she was answering the call of Criminy Stain, from the far off land of Sang. He’d cast a spell for her, but when she’s transported right to him, she’s not so sure she’s ready to be under the spell of another man. (It didn’t go so well last time with controlling, abusive, domineering Jeff.) If only Criminy wasn’t so deliciously rakish….

Half the inhabitants of Sang are Pinkies—human—and the other half are Bludmen, who in Tish’s world would be called vampires. But they don’t mess with any of the bat/coffin/no sunlight nonsense. They’re rather like you and me, just more fabulous, long living, and mostly indestructible. (They're also very good kissers.) But when the evil Mayor of Manchester (formerly Bludchester) redoubles his efforts to rid Sang of the Bludmen once and for all, stealing Tish’s locket in hopes of traveling back to her world himself for reinforcements, Criminy and Tish must battle ghosts, sea monsters, wayward submarines, a secret cabal, and thundering Bludmares to get the locket back and allow Tish to return home…but has she found love with Criminy? Could she stay in Sang forever?


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Wicked as They Come (Blud) + The Seduction of Phaeton Black (Phaeton Black, Paranormal Investigator)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Criminy Stain, Dawson has created a delightful rogue with a dangerously sexy edge."
 - RT Book Reviews
"One of the most refreshing reads I have had in a while... A wonderful start to a new series that had me dying to find out more. It is a dark, macabre tale that Tim Burton would only wish to dream of... Many a midnight hour was burnt with me not wanting to put it down."
 - Book Chick City
"Dawson has a wonderful voice that hooks you with dangerous, sharp dialog, smooth pacing, and descriptive details. An enchanting mixture of steampunk, fantasy, and paranormal romance."
 - Smexy Books


"WICKED AS THEY COME is as good as it gets!" --New York Times bestselling author Nancy Holder

About the Author

Delilah Dawson is an artist, wife, mom, goof, nerd, and cupcake enthusiast. She's also an Associate Editor on CoolMomPicks.com, one of the hottest product review sites on the web. Before writing, she was a kids’ art instructor and arts administrator, including gallery direction and public relations. She lives in Atlanta with her family.

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Pocket Books; Original edition (March 27, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1451657889
  • ISBN-13: 978-1451657883
  • Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 1.3 x 6.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Delilah S. Dawson is a native of Roswell, Georgia and the author of the paranormal romance Blud series for Pocket, including WICKED AS THEY COME and WICKED AS SHE WANTS (RT Book Reviews May 2013 Seal of Excellence Winner). The series also includes two e-novellas, THE MYSTERIOUS MADAM MORPHO and THE PECULIAR PETS OF MISS PLEASANCE. Her first YA, a creepy paranormal called SERVANTS OF THE STORM will be available in 2014 from Simon Pulse. RT Book Reviews has called her "a wonderfully fresh new voice!" and "on the fast track to the top of the genre!"

Delilah is a member of the Romance Writers of America and the Georgia Romance Writers and is Associate Editor at www.CoolMomPicks.com and www.CoolMomTech.com. She's a geek of all trades, a synesthete, and the sort of person who saw Spawn in the theater and made other people angry by laughing. Find her online at www.delilahsdawson.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting world March 29, 2012
Format:Mass Market Paperback
3 1/2 stars.

Wicked as They Come is the first book in the Blud series by Delilah S. Dawson. The story follows Tish Everett, a nurse who recently got out of a caged and controlling relationship. One day while browsing at one of her former patient's estate sale, she stumbles upon an enchanted locket that transports her to the world of Sang, an alternate England. It is there in Sang that she meets Criminy Stain, a magician, leader of the caravan of cohorts and a bludman (a person that drinks blood, "vampire"). By wearing the locket, every time Tish closes her eyes to sleep in Sang; she wakes back up in her world, and vice versa. Times flies every time Tish is in Sang but she doesn't lose any time in her own world. As Tish begins to develop feelings for Criminy and the world of Sang she is left with a decision on whether to stay or go. Things get more complicated when the locket is stolen by the magistrate (The leader who makes the rules, bludman hater).Tish and Criminy races across Sang, not letting bludbunnies, ghosts, or anything get in their way till they get back the locket back.

When I first heard about Wicked as They Come, I knew I had to read it! Enchanted locket, a mysterious bludman, and an alternate steampunk Victorian London? Sign me up! The world building was very interesting and well developed, I can totally picture Sang and the little clockwork monkey that guards the caravan. There are two types of people that inhabit Sang, Pinkies (humans) and Bludmans (vampires). The book overall was executed well in terms of world-building and writing but I had a problem with connecting with Tish and Criminy. It was love at first sight for Criminy Stain but not for Tish. She of course didn't relay the same feelings right away because of the recent break-up. Even as we got close to the middle/ending of the story where things seem to get better with Tish and Criminy...I still didn't feel anything for the characters.There wasn't any spark or chemistry between the two characters that I've seen in other book couples.

I wanted to love this book, but in the end it was just a good/okay read. It needed a more believable romantic connection between the heroine and hero and a little more steampunk. I'm sure paranormal romance readers will still enjoy this book more than I did. As I mentioned before this is a start to a new series and at the end of Wicked as They Come we get a small preview of the next book, Wicked as she Wants. The second book will be centered on a different couple (same world, different main characters) and the male protagonist is a character that we first met in Wicked as They Come, Casper Sterling.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
This book is a paranormal romance. The world was interesting with all of the animals being turned into bluds, so there are vampire bunnies and vampire deer and vampire horses, etc. There is a lot of prejudice against the bluds and that was portrayed.

The hero, Criminy Stain (terrible name but I pretended the author was going for Crimson Stain aka blood) is awesome. He is a romantic and created a necklace with a magic spell to find the perfect woman for him and bring her to his world. He is a magician and around 300 years old as a bludman aka vampire. It was hilarious to read the witty banter between the hero and heroine and watch how he tries to win her over. His jealousy was also nice.

The world is very steampunk with clockwork devices and tophats and corsets and long, fluffy dresses so that was fun too.

Problems with the book: The heroine did something really, really stupid that made me want to throw the book. The hero tells her don't do it, the deal is never what it seems and is always too good to be true. She says I'm doing it because I need to feel independent and not dependent on you, Criminy. So something bad happens and she is like, Oh no! Why did this happen? Dumb.

Another problem was the ending. It was very open ended with the hero and heroine. More of a happy for now, than a happy ever after ending. Since the next book deals with a different couple, I had hoped Criminy and the heroine would have a more definite happy ending.

Overall, I loved this book. I highly recommend it since Criminy is such a great hero and the world is interesting. Plus lots of other girls are after Criminy and he only has eyes for the heroine. Awwwww.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am a sucker for a fish out of water story, particularly novels including time travel or, in this case, parallel universes. My favorite book in this genre is A Barbed Coil by J.V. Jones, which follows a similar story - the heroine finds an enchanted piece of jewelry which transports her to another world, one similar to her own. In any case, this book was suggested reading on the blog of one of my favorite authors so I immediately raced over to Amazon to download it.

The plot is inventive and kept me interested. I found myself imagining myself in Tish's place, going back and forth between Sang, the parallel universe, and "home". Who wouldn't want to check out life every once in awhile for some carny adventure? Awesome, where can I sign up? And there were a couple of plot twists that took me complete surprise involving other "strangers" from Letitia's home world.

This book didn't really work for me as a romance, though, and I debated whether to take one or two stars off. Since when are carnies sexy? I'm pretty sure no story ever began, "So, I met this extremely hot traveling carny..." Or maybe carnies have really come up in the world and have a new, sexy GQ rep that I don't know about. But Criminy, while a thoroughly interesting character, also creeped me out in a myriad of other ways. For example, he's a vampire (or bludmen). I'm sure by this point we are all familiar with vamp romances and know they follow a certain formula - vamp is a bit obsessed with the heroine, craves her blood, wants a nibble, yadda, yadda. But this book is the first vamp romance I've read where the vampire in question has to actually restrain himself from murdering his lover. Like, he literally wants to drain her. Until she's, you know, not alive anymore. He fights this urge several times in the book and I really didn't find it erotic. More like sociopath-ic. Also, Criminy smells like meat. Not to the heroine - to her, he smells like juniper berries and wine. But to *other* people in the book, the bludmen are described as smelling meaty and bloody. Also, they have scales and claws. And their mouths get all bloody when they eat. When Tish is offered the choice of another potential lover (who is described as smelling like sunshine and being super dreamy and talented) I couldn't really understand why Tish wasn't like, "Nice knowing you Criminy, let's definitely stay friends, but I'm leaving to go shack up with the awesome gorgeous maestro who doesn't have claws. Kthanxbai." Super intriguing and innovative in terms of a take on a vampire, but not sexy. At least not to me, but obviously others disagree. Oh my gosh, it's just occurred to me that I'm as bad as the villain in the book who thinks the bludmen are gross and has it out for them.

I still recommend the book and I really, really enjoyed it - just not as a romance. And I will definitely check out the next book in the series to peek in on the minor characters I enjoyed in this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Little Blud Bunnies
Delilah had me hooked with evil little blud bunnies. They created a hilarious mental image that served to endear the hero, Criminy Stain, to my heart as he "beat back the bunny... Read more
Published 3 days ago by Persephone of Erebus Book Blog
5.0 out of 5 stars Caught Between Two Worlds
I heard such wonderful things about this book when it first came out and I had plans of reading it right away. Needless to say, I'm just now getting to it. Read more
Published 5 days ago by Sophia Rose
5.0 out of 5 stars Wicked as they come
Brilliantly written. I could not put this book down. I am a hardcore member of The Bludbunny Brigade *Proud to be so too*!!Love, sex and Bludbunnies!!! Delilah S. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Sunshine
5.0 out of 5 stars LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Wicked As They Come
Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Guest Reviewer - Tanya C:

Wicked as They Come is the first book in the Blud series by Delilah Dawson. Read more
Published 14 days ago by LITERAL ADDICTION
4.0 out of 5 stars Witty Sexy and Fun
Maybe I've been reading too many YA books because this one was hot.
Letitia has been left a little broken after a very bad long term relationship. Read more
Published 14 days ago by Robin Snyder
1.0 out of 5 stars Didn't even make it past the sample
I deleted the sample before I was done with it for one, simple reason: "It's just a dream...."

Please. How many times has this been done? Read more
Published 23 days ago by Aubrey Z. Honeycutt
3.0 out of 5 stars Adventures in Vampireland...sorta
Are you ready to step through the looking glass, right into a Vampireland…er, I mean Sang?

One day, Tish is a nurse, living alone with a cat, after she broke off from... Read more
Published 29 days ago by Victoria S.
5.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 stars - A fantastic debut
When Tish Everett opens a locket she finds at an estate sale, she has no idea that it's enchanted... At least, she doesn't until she wakes up in a strange world. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kimberly
2.0 out of 5 stars Too Rapey For My Tastes
Sorry, but feeding your aphrodisiac blood to a non-consenting woman is really uncool. There were also a bunch of plot holes and inconsistencies, but the "Date rape drugs are... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Madeira Darling
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic world building- loved this steampunk/ PNR book
4.5 of 5 Stars

I'm diving right into the review here, and let me start by saying that the world building in Wicked as She Wants is utterly fantastic. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Heather Davis
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