Slightly Wicked (Slightly series #2)

published	April 29th 2003 by Dell
binding	Mass Market Paperback
isbn	0440241057 (isbn13: 9780440241058)
ebook
pages	342
characters	Judith Law, Rannulf Bedwyn
description	With his laughing eyes and wild, rakish good looks, Lord Rannulf Bedwyn is a hard man to resist. To Judith Law, a woman in need of rescue when her sta...more [close] With his laughing eyes and wild, rakish good looks, Lord Rannulf Bedwyn is a hard man to resist. To Judith Law, a woman in need of rescue when her stagecoach overturns, Rannulf is simply her savior, a heroic stranger she will reward with one night of reckless passion before she must become a companion to her wealthy aunt. Imagine Judith's shock when the same stranger turns out to be among England's most eligible bachelors…and when he arrives at Harewood Grange to woo her cousin. Certainly, they had made no vows, no promises, but Rannulf never did forget his uninhibited lover…nor did she forget that one delicious night. And as scandal sets the household abuzz, Rannulf proposes a solution…but when Judith refuses to have him--in love or wedlock--Rannulf has only one choice: to wage a campaign of pure pleasure to capture the heart of the woman who has already won his... [close]
date added	01-15-07 edit book

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Isis_FG rated it:

03/21/08

bookshelves: full-info, historical-romance--regency, reviewed

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

After reading the first two books in this series, and two other books by Balogh, I wasn't expecting much from Slightly Wicked. But I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't absolutely love it, but I did enjoy it quite a bit. The book had much more character and emotion, plus a little more meat, than the others of hers. The other two Bedwyn books just seemed so cold and like a clinical narrative - though maybe I'm the only one who thinks that way. The testimonials at the front of Slightly Wicked are g...more After reading the first two books in this series, and two other books by Balogh, I wasn't expecting much from Slightly Wicked. But I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't absolutely love it, but I did enjoy it quite a bit. The book had much more character and emotion, plus a little more meat, than the others of hers. The other two Bedwyn books just seemed so cold and like a clinical narrative - though maybe I'm the only one who thinks that way. The testimonials at the front of Slightly Wicked are glowing, calling Balogh's books passionate and sensational and vivid. Me, I just don't see it. Slightly Wicked did have a bit more emotion to it, but I still didn't find it to be something that really pulled at me.

The books is fairly typical for a historical...the wealthy nobleman, the poor young miss, forbidden romance, the woman not feeling worthy, etc. Nothing all that original. But it worked for the story. Judith and Rannulf have a nice chemistry and the romance between them is developed fairly well. I could believe the love between them more than I could between Eve and Aidan in Slightly Married. And I enjoyed the fact that the story had more meat to it; that it wasn't just the characters fluttering about. It wasn't suspenseful, but there was a nice added aspect of Jude being accused of stealing jewelry - though I must admit that I saw that plot point coming from ten miles away.

Like the other books, Balogh, in my opinion, portrays the Bedwyn's in too negative a light. I still can't stand Freyja, and unfortunately her book is next. She is just too judgmental and bitchy for my liking. And Wulfric...I know Balogh is going for the hook that Wulf is cold-as-ice and you just can't wait for his book to see him melted, but there's a line between developing and outwardly cold character with hints of humanity, and a character that is hopelessly hard-hearted. To me, she's gone too far with Wulf. I can't sympathize with him at all...and the silly thing? I've already read his book, months ago. I can't remember a thing about it - which I suppose says a lot about the book. And the whole way he carries him drives me nuts. I know it probably fits the times, but I can't find much appealing about a guy who is described a thin-lipped with dead eyes, and who carries around and uses a jeweled quizzing glass and walks with an unneeded cane. (And hearing about all the nights he spends with his mistress also doesn't enamor me.)) So yeah...the Bedwyn's just don't come off as all that lovable.

And a last comment on the book...one thing in particular that I didn't really like was the decidedly Cinderella-esque edge to the book. There's nothing wrong with the Cinderella story, I suppose. It's a classic and immensely popular. But it's also overplayed. The book just screams Cinderella...the beautiful but poor woman who has to live with wealthy, unkind relatives who treat her horribly. The cousin who has aspirations of marrying the lofty Lord Rannulf, while the revered Rannulf is taken with the down-trodden Judith. Then him riding to her rescue when she is dangling at the end of a proverbial rope. There's even a kindly grandmother figure. Some variation on that theme wouldn't have gone unappreciated.

Well, now that I've rambled enough...Slightly Wicked is still probably the best book by Balogh that I've read, but still not an exceptional book. I probably wouldn't have gone through the effort of gathering the whole series if I hadn't stumbled across all the books without looking for them....less

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