Review of Too Wicked To Wed by Cara Elliott

Publisher: Forever
Release Date: November 1st, 2011
Series: Lords of Midnight
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository
Teaser: All the more reason to gamble at cards:
Her cousin's face took on a greenish cast.  "Be reasonable, Alexa!"

"Why should I?" she shot back.

"B-because it's..." Taken about by the unexpected resistance, Henry was reduced to an incoherent sputtering.  Raking a hand through his hair, he finally gathered enough courage to blurt out the truth. "Bloody hell, Alexa.  The pledge happens to be half-ownership in a gaming hell and brothel!"

Reviewed By: Liz

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):

Outspoken and independent, Lady Alexa Bingham enjoys the heady freedom of making all her own decisions, even though the challenges of overseeing her family's country estate are daunting. But when a chance encounter with London's most notorious rake awakens a secret longing for adventure, she accepts her aunt's invitation for a Season in Town . . . only to find that breaking the rules of the ton has serious consequences.

The Earl of Killingworth uses his rakehell reputation to hide the fact that poverty has forced him to work for a living. As the owner of a gambling den and brothel, Connor has no time for glittering ballrooms or innocent young ladies. But after a reckless wager leaves him with a new business partner, he is forced to take a risky gamble . . . Will the cards fall in their favor?Alexa and Connor begin to play a dangerous game of intrigue and deception as they seek to outwit a cunning adversary who wants to put them permanently out of business. But if they are not careful, it is the flames of their own fiery attraction that may destroy them. 

My Thoughts:


Okay ladies, lets be honest: we're not looking for groundbreaking in this genre.  We're looking for feel good with some smexy and, if we're lucky, witty banter.  Cara Elliott delivers in this book.

There's card playing, cross dressing, naughty etchings, and steamy kisses.  That's just Lady Alexa Hendrie in the first few chapters, it stays good the whole book.  The heroine doesn't take any MENSA prizes, but it's a period novel, she's risque enough for the time period by making decisions beyond what she's having for breakfast.  She's not a simpering moron and you feel that from the start.  She does have a few scenes where I wanted to smack some sense into her, but I've been watching Holmes with my mom since before I understood what they were talking about.  Lady Alexa is a fun character.

Lord Killingworth (really?), Connor Linsley, is a bit formulaic, but it's the beginning of the series, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.  He's a veteran of the Peninsular wars with a nickname.  A bad one that the author tries to work in sporadically in a manner that feels a bit forced, along with his reputation.  I think she could have left out all of that "Wolfhound" nonsense and still had a perfectly good book.  He's an interesting character, and some thought was obviously put into him and his background.  His proposal made me want to smack him upside the back of his head.  Repeatedly.  So he was pretty true to the time period in that regard.

This fun little read was a 'who-dun-it', so I got to mentally (mostly) yell at the characters 3/4 of the way through.  So I enjoyed it. ;)  The book makes it obvious to the reader who the culprit is without making the final reveal tedious, which I appreciate since I'm the type that likes to read the last chapter if I don't get the answer half way through the mystery.  The couple gets help from the two other rakes (also given nicknames from dog breeds) from Earl Killingworth's regiment through out the novel, sometimes to the Earls detriment.

The smexy time scene was kinda steamy, and at no point did I stop and say "he did what?  But he just had his hands... wait, maybe I misread something?" like I do with a lot of romance novels.   I like my action (smexy and fighting) to make sense when I'm in the grip of the scene, and this one does.  The teasers leading up to it were fun, too.  

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series, and seeing what she does with the other 'hounds' from this novel.  The "Lords of Midnight" series title leads me to expect great things from the other hounds and their mates.  I hope that you all enjoy this book as much as I did.


The reviewer received this book from the publisher.