I have a love hate relationship with the rakehell and the ward story. On the one hand, ew! On the other hand, hot!
Its sort of the way I feel about Wicked Promise.
Our heroine is interesting and likable, in hiding from the icky Lord Bascomb. Forced to find shelter with her guardian, convicted murderer Nicholas Warring, she merely wants to keep to her quarters and avoid the assorted debauchery at his country estate. Yet her very presence seems to transform him, revealing his true character as a man of honor.
And of course, they get it on.
That’s when I started skim reading, in part because I wanted to know what happened next and in part because I wanted it over with.
But the gist of the plot involves some villiany, an estranged wife, and a dark past.
I think most will enjoy Martin’s tale, with the exception of those who find june/december romances distasteful, or take issue with seduction of an innocent by a hero who is (at least in my opinion) a little too self-centered and depressed to really be likable.
LADY’S DESPERATE CHOICE
When the loathsome Lord Bascomb tries to force her into a marriage, Elizabeth Woolcot, against her will, must appeal to her influential guardian. Nicholas Warring, known as the Wicked Earl, is a darkly handsome charismatic figure—with the power to save her but a past that could put her reputation dangerously at risk. A ruthless womanizer, he has also been convicted of murder—and barely escaped hanging.
A ROGUE’S TAINTED HONOR
Elizabeth can’t help her attraction to the man who haunts her dreams—nor he his hunger for her. But she knows it can never be. For Nicholas is a married man. Then a heinous crime shatters their lives—and Nick is the natural suspect. Elizabeth wants to believe in his innocence more than life and love itself—but can she trust a man who has killed before?
