Customer Reviews

Your Wicked Ways

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

i have just read Your wicked ways by Eloisa James. I have to say i am very disappointed in this book. Actually it is one of the worst books i have read.

The main character in the book has been estranged from her husband of 10 years. During that time she has been celibate while he has had an mistress and let the mistress sleep in their house in the heroine's chamber. (That alone is awful but it gets worse.)

The heroine decides she wants a child, so she tries and find a stud. I have to say that she did find one, (one i actually liked). It seemed that he really cared for her maybe even loved her. But she decided to go and live with her husband again. The kicker is that she would live in the same house with him and the mistress and sleep in the nursery. WTH!!!!!!! The heroine actually went for that.

I was like this woman has no self respect. Every character in this book thought she was crazy. And the husband had the gall to think this was all okay.

Well the stud really liked her and was going to call her husband out for this. He said that no man should treat his wife like that. Do you know that the heroine at this point started to not like the stud because of this.!!!!!!! This book was pointless

Now for one of the worst turns in the book. The author tried to make the stud into a bad guy. He had done something to disaparge the heroine's reputation. He was supposed to be a cad for this. Who cares if the husband had the mistress in the house and the wife in the nursery. WTH

This was awful. The heroine was disgrace. The hero was a piece of trash. Are we suppose to like him? And he still did not atone for having the mistress in the house in their bed. If anyone else has read this book let me know. This has to be the worst of the year

In a rather strange way, "Your Wicked Ways" made for some rather compelling reading because of the enormous sympathy I had for the heroine, Helene, and because of the minor romance subplot involving the 'hero's' brother and his sometime mistress. However, a small word of warning: if you think that this is going to be the kind of romance novel where the heroine teaches her errant husband a much deserved lesson -- think again. Much as I found myself unable to put this novel down, I was really chagrined that far from making Rees pay for his past callousness, Helene actually apologizes quite a few times for being a quick tempered wife!

Helene was barely seventeen when she met and fell in love with Rees, the Earl of Godwin. They eloped. But their marriage turned out to be a disaster mainly because Rees turned out to be an insensitive brute both in and out of the bedroom. Unable to cope with Helene's anger and disappointment, Rees threw her out; and husband and wife have been living apart for the past ten years -- him a life of dissolute debauchery, and she a life of chaste good behaviour. Now, however, things have become desperate for Helene. She wants to have a child, but Rees won't give he a divorce. And so with her friend's, Esme, encouragement and support, Helene decides to shed her nun-like ways in order to snare herself a lover. But when Rees learns of what she's up to, he makes (or threatens rather) an unexpected offer: he will father the child she so desperately wants if she will come back home. After a decade to bitter humiliation at her husband's hands, can Helene trust the man to keep his word?

While many readers may find "His Wicked Ways" disappointing, I did think that Eloisa James was successful in accomplishing what she set out to do (I think). I believe that the authour wanted to show how a heroine could still be attracted to and care for the hero, even if he is an insensitive boor. It was apparent that Helene still had feelings for Rees, feelings that readily came to the fore once they were living together again and working on his opera. And I think that the authour also wanted to do something slightly different be showing us that not all romance heroes are masters of lovemaking, and I did think that it was nice to see that this second time around, Rees was much more sensitive to giving Helene pleasure. Unfortunately, these two factors were not enough to counter the things that made me cringe. Like the fact that Rees was an insensitive clod for much of the book -- and not only towards Helene, but also his 'mistress' and his brother. (By the way I rather liked the romance that developed between the mistress and the brother -- it was romantic and actually quite thrilling). His refusal to give Helene a divorce, his shameful proposal that Helene live with him and his mistress in the same house while Helene was trying to conceive, and his absolute refusal to see his faults, were a real put-off. Ms James does try to soften Rees by implying that his bad childhood was at the root of much of his insensitive behaviour; but since she didn't really go into this very much, it was hard to forgive Rees his insensitivity and root for Helene and him to have their happily ever-after ending. Also, Rees didn't really grovel enough for my liking. In fact Helene did far too much apologizing for her part in why things went wrong between them in my book. So is "His Wicked Ways" a worthwhile read? I found it difficult to put the book down -- full of sympathy for Helene, I had to keep on reading to see what else Rees would do/demand of her, and how it would all end. So that in that sense, the book was a compelling and well written read. But I was truly put off by the 'hero's' behaviour and by Helene's meek acquiescence to the demands he places on her. So that on the whole I'd vote it a 3 star read.

Helene Godwin has been living apart from her husband for over nine years, ostensibly because of physical incompatibility. She believes herself to be frigid and unappealing to men, since her husband had found her insufficient and replaced her with opera dancers and mistresses.

However, all of her friends are having children, and Helene sees her biological clock ticking away. When her husband refuses to give her a divorce, she decides to have an affair. Her friends help make over her wardrobe and her makeup, and sure enough, at the next ball, she draws men like flies. Including her selfish jerk of a husband, who decides that if she's that determined to have a child, it might as well be his, since it will be his heir.

Amazingly, in all these years, the selfish jerk has still not learned how to satisfy a woman. And he has the nerve to insist that Helene move back to their home for a month while they are trying to conceive a child. . . as long as she occupies the nursery, because the master bedchamber is already occupied by his longtime mistress!

Why would anyone with any dignity accept these terms? I have to admit that this situation spoiled the rest of the book for me. Although the author tried to ameliorate Rees' character by explaining that he was a virgin when they were first married and that he really wasn't all that crazy about his mistress (who, by the way, wasn't REALLY a doxy after all, despite the fact that she had lived with him as his lover for several years), it wasn't convincing.

Come on. This guy sounds like a politician I knew once. Hardly a romantic hero. Don't waste your time with this one.

I was looking forward to this book having read the previous ones in this series however, it was a disappointment. Rees is just awful and his character didn't get any better. Helene gave in to him at every point. For a woman who lived apart from her husband for 10 years, you would think she would have developed some backbone and maybe a brain to go in her head. The entire premise was faulty and not in the least romantic. The idea of having a mistress esconced in the house with his wife as romantic would require me to suspend my brain from functioning. Although well written, the plotline and characters leaves much to be desired! I truly hoped and expected a better book from Ms. James!

Having read Eloisa James' last book "A Wild Pursuit" and finding it thoroughly lacking, I was a bit skeptical about this one. The story is about Helene, Countess Godwin, and her estranged husband Rees. She wants a divorce, he doesn't, she changes her mind and now wants a baby, he agrees only if she moves in with him. While the scenes between Rees and Helene were intriguing, Eloisa James left me wanting more; I found myself skipping the pages that did not involve them (and believe me, there were a few).
All in all, "Your Wicked Ways" was a good romance, I could feel the chemistry between the two protaganists, and I would have given this book a full 5 stars if only the author had concentrated more on them and less on Helene's friends.

I thought this book had a lot of great potiental, but in the end it just did not live up to what I have come to expect from Eloisa James. This book was so predictable that I had to really push to finish it. I found that Helene was not all that wicked after all; more like dimwitted and Rees was just a spoiled, out of control, baby that really needed a swift kick in the butt more than he needed Helene. I was very disappointed that Helene, who is supposed to be this head strong woman would move back in with Rees while his mistress still lived there! That showed a lack of good judgement that any really head strong woman would never of had. I was not impressed with how easy it was to put Rees and Helene back together as a couple with all the other things that Rees was doing in the story showing that he had not changed at all. I gave this story a 3 stars for the subplots that it had, because if Rees's brother was not part of the plot then I do not know that I could have finished this book. I hope with future books Eloisa James goes back to writing with her usual flare for romance and humor.

Forget the extremes of characterization and give this book four stars if only for its daring premise: the hero is not an accomplished lover, and the heroine is not unknowingly sensual or alluring-- at least until she is transformed as a result of a temper tantrum. Any admirer of this genre will soon surmise that all the males in romance fiction are masterful and considerate lovers. Makes the average female wish she might have been born in another era. True, these English males are prone to make stupid mistakes because they fail to communicate at some dramatic juncture, and thereby hangs the suspense of the tale.

This is a nice read because it goes against the grain. This hero is clueless about what women want from a man. The heroine is much more in line with the stereotyped female of her era--clueless about sex and love between men and women, though she does have female friendships down pretty solid.

The funniest quirk of the book is, it begins with letters dated in March 1816 and ends, presumably a year (or 3?) later, with letters dated January 1816. Editors slipped up there. This, however, is not critical to the plot, which constitutes a mild summer suntan read. If your budget is tight, get it used and enjoy!

Eloisa James has a witty style, but I find myself disappointed in this book. The fourth of a quartet, I was hoping for more zing in Rees and Helene. Ok, so I know from past books that Rees is an ass and Helene can be a touch judgemental, but here was a chance for them to shine.

I agree with other reviews that the secondary romance of Rees' brother was much more interesting. I found that for all the build up, there was definitely something lacking in the final tale.

Helene finally breaks loose from her shell, determined to have a child no matter what her ass of a husband thinks. He's had a bevy of women in his bed. Not to mention that he's installed his latest mistress in what are supposed to be HER chambers in the house they shared before their youthful marrige fell apart.

What we have learned from encounters and hints in the past books is that Helene loved her husband and they ran off together, creating a scandal in their youth. But neither of them were happy about it afterwards. Apparently young Rees was quite bad in bed. Quite. (No wonder Helene was never tempted to stray.... She thought it was no good anyway.)

After all her friends find love and start families, Helene decides to fight for her dream of having a child. She wants a divorce. Too bad Rees won't allow it. Too costly and scandalous. (Of course, this from a man with a mistress in his wife's chambers.)

After Rees finds out she is determined to have a child no matter what, he decides he better take some action.

What follows is not quite what I hoped. Instead of making him beg or work for her love again, Helene follows his dictates. Instead of experimenting with the power she has discovered she has over other men, she gives into his demands.

Rees is not really a likeable man. I was hoping that with Helene coming out of her shell, she would be given a chance to test her wings. Maybe I was looking for redemption in Rees case.

I give her a 3 only because I know she is capible of a better story. Eloisa James is clever, creative and witty. I look forward to more books from her. I'd say that this one is not the best one she's written, but I'm definitely waiting to read more from her.

This novel goes beyond many other books set in this period of this style. Rather than exploring the first bloom of love, it opens the door to a love that has been tried and failed in its first attempt.

Helene is uptight and puritanical in her beliefs. Her husband is a rakehell. They haven't lived together in ten years. Helene desperately wants a child, but Rees will have nothing to do with her in marriage or in bed. She requests a divorce repeatedly and even attempts to have an affair. Rather than granting her the divorce, Rees comes up with a scheme to give her a child and get help with his musical that he has been struggling with.

The reason I enjoyed this book so much is that the relationship between the two leads seemed real. Both had grown in their own ways (neither extremely positive) while they were apart, but neither had reached their full potential. Together, they can make positive changes and be happy, unlike when they were apart. I read the reviews complaining that Rees was abusive and Helene was a poor character for taking him back. I think they were both wounded by love (as we all are) and afraid to take chances. Rather than placing blame, enjoy the novel for the growing up the leads do and the love they find in each other. It is a novel of depth, rather than an easy read like many other books in this genre.

I was waiting for Rees and Helene's story but once I read it found that it just lacked....something. I was intrigued by the chemistry between Rees and Helene but was bothered by the romance between Rees's brother and Rees's mistress. I felt like Eliosa James spent too much time on that love story rather than devoting more of the time to Rees and Helene and that made the story somewhat lacking.