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My Review:Title: Wicked in His Arms
Author: Stacy Reid
Series: Wedded by Scandal #2
Published by: Entangled: Scandalous
Release Date: January 23, 2017
Format: ebook
Pages: 236
Genres: Historical Romance
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »
Source: Overdrive
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 1, Lenoreo's 2023 Diversity Reading Challenge
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My rating:
Blurb:Tobias Walcott, the Earl of Blade, has learned it is best to exercise rigid control over his passions and emotions in all that he does. Uncaring that it makes him seem cool and aloof to most in the ton, he is content with his desire to only woo agreeable and demur females. Then unforeseen circumstances see him trapped in a closet at a house party with the last woman he would ever make his countess.
Lady Olivia Sherwood is everything he should not desire in a female—unconventional, too decisive, and utterly without decorum. But passion ignites between them and they are discovered. Honor demands they wed, and while Tobias finds himself unwillingly drawn to the bewitching beauty, he must do everything not to tempt the passion that burns in him for her, lest it leads to disastrous consequences.
3.5 stars — While still not the hit that the entire Sinful Wallflower series was for me, this was a definite improvement over the first Calydon book! I think the writing had improved leaps and bounds, and in the end the disconnect was more in the types of characters in this one, particularly the hero.
I appreciated Olivia’s independent spirit, and how her upbringing had molded her into the fiery woman she was. I could only imagine how difficult it was to suppress all the things that made her happy to fit into the supposed mold….not that she really tried that hard in all honesty, but at least she tried. Sometimes I totally got what made her make certain decisions, and I agreed that with what she knew, she felt she had no choice. But there were other moments where she reacted badly and, while I still understood somewhat where it came from, I was less tolerant of her behavior. Vague right? Ah well.
Tobias was…harder to understand. Like, intellectually I understood how he came to his cold and controlled manner and his view about emotions. But man, he was such a superior dick sometimes, it was hard to connect with him. For someone who supposedly used logic and rationality, he was overly stubborn and blind, and he took way too long to figure his shiznit out. I just didn’t really *like* him. I guess that’s that whole alphahole trend that I just don’t get though…I like nice people.
They had pretty good chemistry, even as Tobias fought it at every turn. I really loved actually getting to see moments where they connected beyond just the physical, it made the relationship more well rounded.
There were some background stories going on that I was…undecided on. I appreciated some aspects, but was bummed about others.
So basically it was definitely an improvement for me over Ms. Reid’s earlier work, but not quite the absolute gem that I found in her later work. I’ll definitely give the next book a shot.
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