Review: A Wicked-Good Read :)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 9, 2013
My Lord Wicked is yet another fantastic story from Cheryl Bolen.  If you haven't tried any of her other titles you should definately do so--after first reading this delightful tale.Ms. Bolen has a wonderful talent for writing witty dialogue.  One of my favorite passages comes at the beginning of the book, when the heroine finds herself faced with the possibility of an arranged marriage to an awful man.  Freddie says:"Had I no home but a hallowed-out tree, no food but swine's intestines, no shoes to trudge through knee-high snow and clothes thin enough to read through, I still would NOT be desperate enough to marry Mr. Hastings!"After the death of her father, she finds herself living with an aunt and uncle that consider her more of a burden than a blessing.  The sooner they can be rid of her the better.  Unable to make a good match for her because of her lack of "womanly" skills and beauty, they just want to pass her off to the first man that will have her.  Desperate to avoid being hastened into a nauseating marriage to a nincompoop, she writes to her father's Oxford friend, Lord Stacks, who her father named as her guardian.  Freddie figures that living with a reclusive old lord, whom her father considered the most intelligent man he'd ever known, was far better than the dreaded wedded alternative.When she arrives on the public coach in her threadbare clothes, Lord Stacks is shocked to discover that "Freddie" is a female, and not the young man he'd always supposed her to be.  That causes complications--a young innocent cannot live with an unwed man, especially not one with his wicked reputation, without a proper chaperone.  He's just going to have to send her back---but first, he will need to buy her some proper clothing and maybe settle a dowry upon her....  Why,oh why does he feel the urge to protect her?  Are those feelings a father would have for a daughter or are they something completely different?Lord Stacks is not at all what Freddie had imagined either.  Instead of a weathered old recluse, he is strikingly handsome.  Even though he's old enough to be her father, she finds herself just a little intrigued by the man.  In time, that inkling of attraction turns into full-blown love and devotion.But society is against them because of whisperings that Lord Stacks had killed his young wife 10 years ago.  Is it true?  Is Freddie safe? Even if they aren't true, will Stacks ever be able to let himself love another woman, knowing his past?This book is one you can't put down.  I finished it in little over a day because I was hopelessly drawn into the world the author created.  From the intelligent dialogue, the carefully crafted settings, and the wonderfully unique story line, it is definately a step above the norm of the historical romance genre.  I loved it and will probably read it again and again!