Tall, Dark and Wicked by Madeline Hunter Series: Wicked Trilogy,
Published by Jove Publication Date: October 6th 2015
Pages: 400
Also in this series: The Wicked Duke
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A wickedly wonderful new romance from the New York Times bestselling author of His Wicked Reputation...
Most women will give him anything he wants. She is not most women…
As a well-known barrister and the son of a duke, Ives confines his passionate impulses to discreet affairs with worldly mistresses. A twist of fate, however, has him looking for a new lover right when a fascinating woman shows up in his chambers, asking him to help save her father from the gallows. Unfortunately, he has already been asked to serve as the prosecutor in the case, but that only ensures close encounters with the rarity named Padua Belvoir. And every encounter increases his desire to tutor her in pleasure's wicked ways…
Having always been too tall, too willful, and too smart to appeal to men, Padua Belvoir is shocked when Ives shows interest in her. Knowing his penchant for helping the wrongly accused, she had initially thought he might be her father's best hope for salvation. Instead, he is her worst adversary—not least because every time he looks at her, she is tempted to give him anything he wants…
I am starting to fall in love with regency/historical romances! Tall, Dark, and Wicked by Madeline Hunter proved to be yet another reason to do so. I enjoyed the references to the time period, Europe, etc. and I fell in love with the characters. I appreciate that current authors create such progressive characters for this genre. While they seem unrealistic to me, I am a fan. Ives and his brothers are very proper, with the exception of his “bastard” brother—although he is actually a decent man as well. They come from money and titles. Ives is out of the ordinary in that he has a job as a lawyer. When Padua enters his life in the hopes of hiring him, his life is forever changed. While Padua is not necessarily an innocent, she is not the typical woman that Ives associates with. A committed bachelor, he usually takes mistresses in the form of opera singers and such. Padua is educated, intelligent, independent, determined, and the most noticeable distinguishing characteristic she possesses is her height. Padua seeks Ives’ help and that is where a mystery unfolds. I was very entertained by Ives’ interactions with his brothers. I also liked the mystery aspect of the story. Ives and Padua’s love story was passionate and touching. I loved that in the end, he vowed to take care of her family and help her fulfill a lifelong dream. Le sigh for Ives!
