Review: Lady Gone Wicked (Wicked Secrets, #2) by Elizabeth Bright

Lady Gone Wicked by Elizabeth Bright

Release Date: February 26, 2018 
Series: Wicked Secrets, #2 
Publisher: Entangled Scandalous 

Genre: Adult, Romance, Historical 

Source: ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review 

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Nicholas Eastwood is finally about to get everything he ever wanted. As a reward for his service to the Crown, he has been offered the title of marquess. All he has to do is stay scandal-free until the papers are signed. There’s just one problem: His ex-lover, presumed dead, is remarkably alive.

Adelaide Bursnell is determined to right her wrongs. She will be a dutiful daughter and loving sister. Most importantly, she must marry before her scandal catches up to her. Nicholas was once her ruin, but now he is determined to be her salvation. If he can find her a suitable husband, their shared past can stay buried.

But old temptations prove impossible to resist and scandal can never stay secret for long...

Each book in the Wicked Secrets series is STANDALONE:

* Twice As Wicked
* Lady Gone Wicked

Review: 

Last fall I had the pleasure of reading an early copy of Twice as Wicked, the standalone "prequel" to Lady Gone Wicked. While Twice as Wicked primarily focused on the blossoming relationship between Alice and Nathaniel, it also introduced the tumultuous, scandalous love affair between Alice and Nathaniel's respective twins - Adelaide and Nicholas. Therefore, when I caught wind that Lady Gone Wicked would focus on them, I couldn't wait to dive in. I hoped a happy ending was in store! 

The result? I did in fact receive my happily ever after; however, the story wasn't nearly as charming and addictive as its predecessor. 

My first problem involved Adelaide and Nicholas. From what I saw in Twice As Wicked, I figured I would have no problem loving them. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case here. I found both to be rather bland. I knew that Adelaide was supposed to be strong, daring, and quick witted, but I just never truly felt it. She seemed more a woman who couldn't make up her mind. I especially couldn't stand how she strung Nicholas around. Yes, in some ways he did deserve it, but in other ways, she ended up being just as guilty as him. Nicholas I liked slightly more - there was something deliciously rakish about him - but again I just couldn't connect. He seemed very one dimensional, and I wish it would've have been easier to "feel" his feelings rather than just be told them.  

The plot in Lady Gone Wicked mainly focuses on Adelaide and Nicholas' reunion as well as their return to their respective families. At first, I found both story lines to be interesting. The first scene in particular held a lot of promise, and I also liked catching up with previous characters, but the more the book went on, the more I began to loose interest. I wanted more action, more passion, more tension - I wanted to feel, to be excited. Ultimately I wanted it to be more like Twice as Wicked. 

Overall, while Lady Gone Wicked does provide a satisfying conclusion to Adelaide and Nicholas' arc as well as Alice and Nathaniel's, it left something to be desired. Maybe I had too high of hopes considering how much I adored the prequel, but something here just didn't work for me. 

2 stars!!

Review: Twice as Wicked (A Wicked Secrets novel, #1) by Elizabeth Bright

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website: 

Miss Alice Bursnell is determined to wreak revenge on Nathaniel Eastwood, Viscount Abingdon, for the seduction, ruin, and death of her beloved twin sister. But how to expose a seducer without falling prey herself? As she gets closer to Nathaniel, she finds she is in serious danger of following in her sister’s much-too-tempted footsteps. The man is nothing like the heartless rake she expected...and his kisses are truly divine. Could she be wrong about him? 

When a mysterious and gorgeous woman confronts Nathaniel at a fancy ball, he suspects she has murder on her mind—his own. But the more he tries to determine who the deceptively innocent beauty is—and what she’s up to—the deeper he falls under her alluring spell. Nathaniel fears he’s in imminent danger of losing his life...or worse, his heart.

Review: 

Twice as Wicked's stunning cover is what originally caught my attention. There's just something I always love about pretty dresses, especially when they're red. Then I read the summery and was even more sold. A tale of historical romance featuring revenge, viscounts, and twins?! My romance loving heart was rapidly beating. 

The Result? Suspenseful, witty, and romantic, Twice as Wicked isn't a book you can read over a few days; instead, it's a read that calls to be read in one big swoop! 

I don't know about you all, but I love a blunt, outspoken main character, and as it turns out, Alice was just that. From the first page, I fell in love with her voice. I loved her observations about society, how she always managed to say the wrong thing at the very wrong time, and how she would much rather be in the country than in the bustling city streets. Quite simply, she had a heck of a lot of spunk, and boy, was it admirable. The aspect that truly made her character come alive, however, was her bond with her twin sister. I respected her need to seek revenge for her sister, and while at times I couldn't believe the harm she would put herself in to complete it, I could understand. Her heart was broken, and the only way she thought she could fix it was by breaking, or more accurately destroying, someone else's heart. 

Nathaniel, on the other hand, was a man of few words - not because he didn't have a lot to say but he didn't quite know how to get it all out in public settings. I found Nathaniel's awkwardness endearing and heartwarming. I especially loved the dynamic that came into play between him and his popular, playboy best friend - they were such opposites yet they completed each other so well. Similar to Alice, Nathaniel's life was run by his brother. Unlike Alice, he wasn't close to his brother; instead, he was scared, often choosing to run the other way. I thought Elizabeth did a great job of presenting Nathaniel's mixed feelings over his brother. It was a complicated situation to say the least, and I could understand why no matter how much he wanted to accept his brother into the fold again, it was also a hard thing to do. 

The plot in this focused on two of my favorite things - revenge and romance. It was fun to see Alice's relationship with Nathaniel form first on revenge basis and then develop into something more. At first, she's so adamantly against him being a good person; however, as the book progresses, she began to see there's more to him than meets the eye - sometimes unwillingly but still she saw it. The romance between them also had a lot of chemistry and developed at a good pace. It felt realistic, and I especially loved the amount of adorable awkwardness that came because of it. Alice and Nathanial always found themselves in some hairy situations, and while I'm sure they were turning 500 shades of red, I was always laughing my head off. The revenge was also well done. 

The only aspect I didn't like about Twice as Wicked was the ending. It seemed rather rushed; however,  regarding the overall result, I was quite happy. 

In all, Twice as Wicked is a fun, fast-paced adventure about revenge, evil twins, and romance. This may be my first book by Elizabeth Bright but it certainly won't be my last. 

Grade: B+ 

Twice as Wicked is now out! 

Source: eARC provided by publisher 

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