Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Review: His Wicked Reputation

His Wicked Reputation (Wicked Trilogy - Book 1) by Madeline Hunter

Publication Date: 03/03/2015
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley Jove
Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 432
ISBN-100515155160
ISBN-13978-0515155167

(Received for an honest review from Berkley Jove)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, itunes

Madeline Hunter on the WEB: websitetwitter, facebook, goodreads

Excerpt from, His Wicked Reputation, courtesy of the author's website

Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling Madeline Hunter comes this first in a stunning new trilogy about three irresistibly attractive brothers.  This is the story of the bastard brother.... For fans of Mary Balogh and Amanda Quick.
Gareth Fitzallen is celebrated for four things: his handsome face, his notable charm, his aristocratic connections, and an ability to give the kind of pleasure that has women begging for more. Normally he bestows his talents on experienced, worldly women. But when he heads to Langdon’s End to restore a property he inherited—and to investigate a massive art theft—he lays plans to seduce a most unlikely lady.

Eva Russell lives a spinster’s life of precarious finances and limited dreams while clinging to her family’s old gentry status. She supports herself by copying paintings while she plots to marry her lovely sister to a well-established man. Everyone warns her of Gareth’s reputation, and advises her to lock her sister away. Only it is not her sister Gareth desires. One look, and she knows he is trouble. One kiss, however, proves she is no match for this master of seduction.


Thoughts:

Madeline Hunter brings readers the first book in her new Wicked trilogy, His Wicked Reputation. This is one historical romance that will leave readers swooning. With a very handsome and unscrupulous hero, and a very unlikely lucky lady. Gareth, can handle the women of the ton and all of their fancy ways, but he doesn't know exactly what he is in for with Eva. Fans of Hunter will love the intense connection between this hero and his lady. A great start to a new series!

Madeline Hunter caught my interest with her Rarest Blooms series, but I didn't feel the same connection to other books she had written, until now. Hunter has a knack for knowing the customs and the nuances of the era she writes about and I thought she did a great job with that in His Wicked Reputation. I liked the fact that the hero is a man of the ton, while the heroine is not in the same class. I wasn't quite sure what 'old gentry' meant, but it was interesting learning the differences in the classes of the times.

What a hero! Gareth is just plain sexy in every way. I liked his bad boy attitude, his confidence and that alpha male spirit about him. He knew he was good with women and he flaunted it. Until he came up against one that just really didn't care what he thought he could do. I think he found Eva to be a real challange and that fueled him throughout the book. I think Hunter gives readers that hero they wish they could find in real life.

Eva was a great heroine and the perfect match to Gareth's brash and entitled attitude. I loved her quiet beauty and simple ways. She was a real treat. I liked everything about this character. She just had a spirit about her that was special and I think readers will just love her. Hunter hit the jackpot with these two characters. A great leading couple.

Bottom Line:

I'm looking forward to seeing where Hunter takes us with this series. I think there is a lot of potential for greatness with this one. Hunter is one of those authors that just gets under the skin of the reader with her intense characters and great sense of the period she writes about. Her lyrical style and descriptive prowess is profound in this one as well. A great start to a new series!

His Wicked Reputation is available NOW from your favorite bookseller

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!





About the Author:


Madeline Hunter is a two-time RITA award winner and seven-time finalist, and has twenty-five nationally bestselling historical romances in print, including The Accidental Duchess, The Counterfeit Mistress, and The Conquest of Lady Cassandra. A member of RWA’s Honor Roll, her books have been on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly. More than six million copies of her books are in print and her novels have been translated into thirteen languages. Madeline is a regular contributor on USA Today’s Happily Ever After blog with her Romance Unlaced column. She has a PhD in art history, which she teaches at the university level.

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