stacey_is_sassy
Written on May 24, 2016
The hills are alive…
I honestly finished the last pages of His Wicked Wish with songs in my head. I wanted to stretch my arms out wide and sing with joy that the hills were alive… and that… there ain’t no mountain high enough… to keep this couple from finding… the greatest love of all. Corny, I know, but I love the feeling a good romance leaves me with. I really enjoyed this story and the surrounding characters. It was a little unconventional, definitely original and filled with emotions that jumped off the pages. The main characters were far from perfect and at times were selfish and thoughtless. But what person is perfect? If we were all perfect, wouldn’t it be a dull old world?
What makes a good historical romance? When I start a historical romance I’m looking for a hero that is confident, elegant while in society, but relaxed while home, treats people fairly whether they be lord or servant AND when he finds love…HE SHOWS IT. Now, my heroine I like to be a little unconventional, definitely strong minded, able to handle herself well in society but can also get herself out of scrapes if needed. Oh, and if she’s a little quirky…that’s a bonus. The characters surrounding our lovebirds can be friend or foe, rake or rascal, a paragon of virtue, or a harlot with a heart. The storyline must have that little spark of freshness, but hold a timelessness that acknowledges its history. In the end, the soppy romantic in me just wants to read about love.
His Wicked Wish starts with our hero Nathan Attwood returning to England after 10 years travelling the world, a successful merchant and business man. He is visiting his Godmother, Lady Milford, one year after she sent him a note that his father was on his deathbed. With the delay in delivery, Nathan, unfortunately, missed the missive that was dispatched a week later saying that his dad was on the mend, but his brother had passed. Nathan is devastated that his brother had died, and his father lived on. To put it mildly, Nathan HATES his father. The last thing he wants is to see his father and acknowledge the fact that he is now the heir and Viscount Rowley. He is devastated that he never got a chance to say goodbye to his beloved brother. Nathan had left England after years of feeling unloved and unwanted by his father. After a huge fight, he swore never to return while the Earl lived. He does not want to be the heir and knows that if he accepts it, his father would see it as a win which is not something Nathan finds appealing. Sitting down with Lady Milford, Nathan comes up with a plan to make his return a scandal, an embarrassment and a disgrace to the family name. Bring in the trollop…
Madelyn Swann is an actress. She is a little unconventional, very beautiful and ready for a career change. The kind of change she wants to make takes funds and to some extent protection. Maddy knows the easiest way to make the necessary money but is determined that it will be on her terms. When she is approached by Lady Milford to consider her Godson, Viscount Rowley, she had no idea that her life was about to change even more than she planned. Instead of signing a contract with a protector, she signs a contract with a husband.
Nathan has set a dastardly plan that has Maddy using all of her acting skills to convince his family that she is a lowly, loudmouth and vulgar chatterbox. She is doing her job well but it’s all an act. Madelyn has a secret that she is determined to keep until the timing is right. What Nathan doesn’t know is that Maddy has her own plan for revenge, and his plans help her to achieve her goal too.
This is a steamy read with both Nathan and Maddy feeling an instant attraction to each other. Neither wants to fall in love, but those pesky emotions can’t help but come into play the more they spend in each others company. Nathan doesn’t plan to stay in England and Maddy has her own plans beyond their arrangement.
There's some action and adventure for the couple and we also see them have a misunderstanding which tests their feelings for each other. The story did not drag at all for me and I was turning each page desperate to find out what would happen next.
His Wicked Wish was a definite WIN for me and now that I have found Olivia Drake I’m definitely keen to read more of her work.
To pre-order His Wicked Wish from Amazon - http://amzn.to/1OVMcTJ
I’m an Aussie chick who loves to read and review romance, drink coffee, be a Style Setter and stalk David Gandy. To see more of my reviews, fashion, food and pervathons -