What do you think?
Rate this book
My Wicked Fantasy
Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition for 9780380795819
An explosive encounter leads to . . .
After Mary Kate Bennett becomes a young widow, she's left to fend for herself without a penny. When she is in a terrible carriage accident, Mary Kate awakens in the bed of the mysterious Archer St. John—and to a life more luxurious than she could have ever imagined. But more unsettling is the desire this wickedly handsome stranger sets off in her.
The most intoxicating passion . . .
The whispers about Archer follow him wherever he goes. Did the reclusive nobleman murder his unhappy countess? When Mary Kate enters his life so unexpectedly, the bold earl is convinced that she has all the answers he's been searching for. So why can't he think of anything else besides her decadently red hair, her luminescent skin, and the feelings she evokes whenever she is near? Their love can be a fantasy— or it can be strong enough to seal their destinies forever.
KAREN RANNEY wanted to be a writer from the time she was five years old and filled her Big Chief tablet with stories. People in stories did amazing things and she was too shy to do anything amazing. Years spent in Japan, Paris, and Italy, however, not only fueled her imagination but proved that she wasn't that shy after all. Yet she prefers to keep her current adventures between the covers of her books. Karen lives in San Antonio, Texas, and loves to hear from her readers at karen@karenranney.com.
www.avonromance.com www.facebook.com/avonromance
373 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1998
9 people are currently reading
307 people want to read
About the author
Karen Ranney
100 books947 followersI’m a writer who’s been privileged to have attained the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists.
Although I've primarily written historical romance, I've also written contemporary romantic suspense, a murder mystery, and I'm having a wonderful time writing about a vampire who is being challenged by her new state of being. (The Montgomery Chronicles: The Fertile Vampire and The Reluctant Goddess coming March 12, 2015.)
I believe in the power of the individual, the magnificence of the human spirit, and always looking for the positive in any situation. I write about people who have been challenged by life itself but who win in the end.
Newsletter: http://karenranney.com/subscribe-warm...
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WriterKarenRa...
Website: http://karenranney.com
Email: karen@karenranney.com
Twitter: @Karen_Ranney
Although I've primarily written historical romance, I've also written contemporary romantic suspense, a murder mystery, and I'm having a wonderful time writing about a vampire who is being challenged by her new state of being. (The Montgomery Chronicles: The Fertile Vampire and The Reluctant Goddess coming March 12, 2015.)
I believe in the power of the individual, the magnificence of the human spirit, and always looking for the positive in any situation. I write about people who have been challenged by life itself but who win in the end.
Newsletter: http://karenranney.com/subscribe-warm...
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WriterKarenRa...
Website: http://karenranney.com
Email: karen@karenranney.com
Twitter: @Karen_Ranney
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 22, 2017
A bit hard to rate this one. I more or less devour this book because I just am so intrigued by the plot, yet to be honest, the romance of these 2 is a bit lukewarm to warrant anything more than a meh.
The whole issue here for me is I am totally engrossed in the plot itself, and instead of being interested in the protagonists here, I am more interested in reading on to find out the why and what of this whole mystery here and who is actually related to what. The whole suspense and then the tragic tale itself more or less totally overwhelms the story for me, as both are so involved and weighted down in a sense by this big unknown that it is like a miasma of something hanging over the head of this tale and totally overpowered all other aspect for me.
The romance itself is in contrast pretty sedate, to be honest, as to be in character, we have a v reticent, cynical and closed off H, and a h that isn't too assertive or flamboyant. As the story unfolds and given the big unknown, there is the added element of uncertainty of what these two are to each other and further impeded any progress made by them, making their interactions very subdued, a bit desperate as both seem to be unable to look beyond the moment or think of a possible future.
While I do like cold hearted cynics featured as the main H, I only do so because I love reading the melting and besottedness, the contrasts of which enables us to see very well how hard our H has fallen. Unfortunately in here, the H never much unbends or acts out of character too much for me to feel him being nuts about the h; even in the final scene, he still is a bit detached, sarcastic still with a half smile and ever so eloquently arguing for his case that it really doesn't seem he has lost much of his head nor does it seem he really wants h much.
Our h is actually quite a likeable and unusual character. While she is from the working class, she isn't the usual defiant sassy type in romanceland, and instead is pretty quiet and sedate in her mannerism, even at times pretty resigned and overwhelmed. Yet in her tenacious quest all through this book, we also see that she has a quiet strength of character as well as an indomitable will, and in her dealings with the H, we see that she is a realist with a romantic core.
While there are a lot of interacting scenes between these two, a lot of these scenes are focused on the storyline itself and have them talking about the validity of h's claim and her motives, the attraction between them, and also the kinship they felt, which often were told in long monologues, making things pretty flat. While they seem to be physically attracted, the sexy scenes I find are mostly pretty hurried and mechanical and don't have much of a sense of intimacy that I was hoping for.
Plot was very intriguing though, as initially I didn't realise there is a paranormal element involved and once I did, I wanted to know how things will pan out even knowing what will happen. As for how this part wraps up, I am also a bit torn, on the one hand, it probably is for the best, I felt, yet on the other, I didn't know if I wanted to have this ended differently.
All in all though, I really enjoyed it, could hardly put it down and find the plot is pretty memorable.
The whole issue here for me is I am totally engrossed in the plot itself, and instead of being interested in the protagonists here, I am more interested in reading on to find out the why and what of this whole mystery here and who is actually related to what. The whole suspense and then the tragic tale itself more or less totally overwhelms the story for me, as both are so involved and weighted down in a sense by this big unknown that it is like a miasma of something hanging over the head of this tale and totally overpowered all other aspect for me.
The romance itself is in contrast pretty sedate, to be honest, as to be in character, we have a v reticent, cynical and closed off H, and a h that isn't too assertive or flamboyant. As the story unfolds and given the big unknown, there is the added element of uncertainty of what these two are to each other and further impeded any progress made by them, making their interactions very subdued, a bit desperate as both seem to be unable to look beyond the moment or think of a possible future.
While I do like cold hearted cynics featured as the main H, I only do so because I love reading the melting and besottedness, the contrasts of which enables us to see very well how hard our H has fallen. Unfortunately in here, the H never much unbends or acts out of character too much for me to feel him being nuts about the h; even in the final scene, he still is a bit detached, sarcastic still with a half smile and ever so eloquently arguing for his case that it really doesn't seem he has lost much of his head nor does it seem he really wants h much.
Our h is actually quite a likeable and unusual character. While she is from the working class, she isn't the usual defiant sassy type in romanceland, and instead is pretty quiet and sedate in her mannerism, even at times pretty resigned and overwhelmed. Yet in her tenacious quest all through this book, we also see that she has a quiet strength of character as well as an indomitable will, and in her dealings with the H, we see that she is a realist with a romantic core.
While there are a lot of interacting scenes between these two, a lot of these scenes are focused on the storyline itself and have them talking about the validity of h's claim and her motives, the attraction between them, and also the kinship they felt, which often were told in long monologues, making things pretty flat. While they seem to be physically attracted, the sexy scenes I find are mostly pretty hurried and mechanical and don't have much of a sense of intimacy that I was hoping for.
Plot was very intriguing though, as initially I didn't realise there is a paranormal element involved and once I did, I wanted to know how things will pan out even knowing what will happen. As for how this part wraps up, I am also a bit torn, on the one hand, it probably is for the best, I felt, yet on the other, I didn't know if I wanted to have this ended differently.
All in all though, I really enjoyed it, could hardly put it down and find the plot is pretty memorable.
June 27, 2010
A wonderful read! It has paranormal aspects, which I usually stay away from in the romance genre, but although they're pretty heavy here and integral to the story, I was not bothered by them. Both the hero and heroine are unusual characters - Archer is particularly so, considering the genre, but I absolutely loved his hermit-scholarly-intense-formidable-passionate-possessive ways! Mary Kate is equally engaging and an absolutely perfect match for him. The secondary character of Archer's mother is an enjoyably eccentric woman who adds humor to the story. All in all, another great Karen Ranney read!
RECOMMENDATIONS
(1) To Sir Phillip, With Love (Bridgerton Series, Book 5) by Julia Quinn
RECOMMENDATIONS
(1) To Sir Phillip, With Love (Bridgerton Series, Book 5) by Julia Quinn
January 2, 2014
My Wicked Fantasy is a sweet and emotional ghost story, even I am not really fond of ghost story I really enjoyed this book. The story was mystery , haunting and lovely.
November 23, 2018
Strange...I read this book on July 2008, and I found out that I borrowed it again with no recollections of this story at all when I read short summary at the back of the book.
I read it again on 17 June, 2010. I only remembered a little bit of it, so I re-read it and it was nice.
I read it again on 17 June, 2010. I only remembered a little bit of it, so I re-read it and it was nice.
October 27, 2018
This was a difficult story to read.
February 26, 2019
Boring!
I would give it one star but it got slightly better towards the end. The story took entirely too long to develop; and the dialogue and prose at times made no sense.
I would give it one star but it got slightly better towards the end. The story took entirely too long to develop; and the dialogue and prose at times made no sense.
March 2, 2024
Love these older historical romances that are a bit gothic too. Dark castles, a missing wife, a murdering husband and a fear religious zealot. Bring it on. Too fun.
June 8, 2024
Archer was such a jerk to Mary Kate through almost the whole book… no grovel could fix the way he treated her..
December 30, 2024
He's titled and a bully. She's a working girl with a better personality. After a whole book of hearing the ghostly whispers of 'save him' she doesn't even save him. Ghost must be pissed. I know I was.
January 25, 2014
It was a confusing and graphic book
Follow me!
Follow me!
September 22, 2007
My Wicked Fantasy - G
Karen Ranney
When a violent carriage accident renders young widow Mary Kate unconscious, she ends up in the care of the notorious Earl of Sanderhurst, a man with a wicked reputation and a mysteriously missing wife. The Earl's suspicions that Mary Kate knows something about his wife's disappearance, Mary Kate's unusual "dreams," and a dash of pure evil add to a convoluted plot that combines the darker issues of madness, incest, and murder with the lighter aspects of passion and romance to produce a fast-paced, quite readable story.
Karen Ranney
When a violent carriage accident renders young widow Mary Kate unconscious, she ends up in the care of the notorious Earl of Sanderhurst, a man with a wicked reputation and a mysteriously missing wife. The Earl's suspicions that Mary Kate knows something about his wife's disappearance, Mary Kate's unusual "dreams," and a dash of pure evil add to a convoluted plot that combines the darker issues of madness, incest, and murder with the lighter aspects of passion and romance to produce a fast-paced, quite readable story.
November 19, 2015
I read the first chapter of this book and realised I had read it before in 1998. It was a good story then and its still a good story. It must have made an impression on me for me to remember that I had read it previously.
Anyway, a lovely story with an intriguing subject.
Anyway, a lovely story with an intriguing subject.
April 7, 2012
Just kind of okay. A touch of paranormal; a bit of a mystery; and of course a romance. I skimmed a lot.
May 30, 2014
It was ok
May 17, 2013
I did not expect the paranormal aspect. I would have preferred it to be a straightforward love story.
September 23, 2017
I enjoy Ms Ranney's writing. I, surprisingly, figured out who did it and partially why, but not until a few chapters before it was revealed. There are a lot of interesting side characters and lovely descriptions of Archer's mother's travel treasures. The story continued to pull me in as I was reading, until I couldn't put it down toward the end.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews