MY WICKED MARQUESS

Author: Gaelen Foley ISBN: 9780061733956 7/2009 HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
Time Period: 1815 Regency England

To London’s aristocracy, the Inferno Club is a scandalous society no proper young lady would acknowledge. But though they are publicly notorious for pursuing all manner of debauchery, in private they are warriors who would do anything to protect king and country. The Marquess of Rotherstone has decided it’s time to restore the family’s good name. But as a member of the Inferno Club, he knows there is only one way to redeem himself in Society’s eyes: marry a lady of impeccable beauty and breeding, whose reputation is, above all, spotless. Someone quite unlike Daphne Starling. True, she’s temptingly lovely, but a jilted suitor has nearly ruined her reputation. Still, Max cannot resist her allure—or the challenge of proving London’s gossips wrong. He would do anything to win her hand . . . and show that even a wicked marquess can make a perfect husband.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

MY WICKED MARQUESS starts out pretty well; lots of intrigue, romantic tension, mysteries, a feisty heroine and dashing hero. But in the end, the main characters develop into a couple that I really want nothing more to do with.

In the beginning, the hero is a spy capable of taking down Napoleon—a true Alpha Male. By the end of the book, he is hen-pecked down to a nerdy marquess that honest-to-goodness makes me sick with his sweetness. I'm all for the declaration of love; but he gushes so much, I actually have to force myself not to skip a few lines of his dialogue. And his heroine? Well, she is not my favorite, either. Her pluck becomes annoying. Especially when she discovers her husband's "big" secret, and therefore, feels the need to figure out a mystery she should realize is dangerous simply from her husband's secret hidey-hole. At that point she becomes annoying and dumb.

While MY WICKED MARQUESS is not my favorite Foley book, it does have some descriptive and polished scenes. I do like some of the nuances of the hero and heroine's courtship and their banter. It also seems to be a decent segue into the next Inferno Club book.

Shannon Johnson