Liviania’s review of Wicked All Day by Liz Carlyle
Historical romance released by Pocket Star 22 Sept 09
Coming off the high of Tempted All Night, I had high hopes for Liz Carlyle’s Wicked All Day. I enjoyed Zoë Anderson in that novel and looked forward to seeing her meet her Prince Charming. While Wicked All Day wasn’t everything I wanted and more, it was a good romance.
Zoë Anderson knows that as a bastard she will never be good enough for the upper echelons of society. Therefore, she transforms herself into a flirt, enjoying herself and rubbing her presence into their faces. But then her father, Lord Rannoch, lays down the law: she must become engaged or live in Scotland. Upset, she goes to her oldest friend for comfort and things go a little too far. Now she and Robert Rowland are engaged, though they only care for each other as friends.
Most of Wicked All Day is a bummer. The characters seem determined to make themselves unhappy. Zoë reveals the fragility underneath her irrepressible exterior, but it just made me ache for the bold woman she is in Tempted All Night and at the end of this novel. Stuart, Robert’s older brother, has been getting the two of them out of trouble for ages. He fell for Zoë long ago, but can’t spit it out. At the time of the novel, he’s occupied with getting rid of a vindictive mistress. But I never quite believe his reasons for not making a move earlier.
Part of the reason the characters are all determined to make themselves unhappy is the fact that they’re all determined to be martyrs for each other. No one likes a martyr. Things improve drastically once everyone decides to start going after what they want. And Zoë and Stuart want each other, though both of them take a ridiculously long time to admit it.
To be honest, there is not that much wrong with Wicked All Day. There’s even a lovely secondary romance between Robin and his mistress Maria that I would love to see more of. The sensible widow is a good match for him. The main problem with Wicked All Day is that it is no Tempted All Night. Carlyle set the bar too high for me to be happy with the immediate follow-up. (Note: I have now typed these two titles far too many times. I’ve begun to call the books Wicked All Night and Tempted All Day.)
If you enjoy stories about being caught in the tangles of honor, Wicked All Day is a good choice for you. If you hate it when the heroine or hero can’t spit it out, Zoë and Stuart might frustrate you as they did me. But they redeem themselves in the end, because a romance isn’t a romance without happily ever after.
Grade: B
Summary:
New York Times bestselling author Liz Carlyle continues her enthralling historical series with the story of an impetuous, illegitimate beauty and the forbidding nobleman who protects her—while fighting an obsession to possess her . . .Miss Zoë Armstrong is beautiful, charming, rich—and utterly unmarriageable. So, while she may be the ton’s most sparkling diamond, her choice of husbands looks more like a list of London’s most unsavory fortune hunters. Since a true-love marriage seems impossible, Zoë has accepted—no, embraced—her role as society’s most incomparable flirt and mischief-maker . . . until in one reckless, vulnerable moment, her future is shattered.
Stuart Rowland, the brooding Marquess of Mercer, has been part of Zoë’s extended family since she was a child. As dark and cynical as Zoë is lively, Mercer has always known they would be the worst possible match . . . until his scapegrace brother Robert does the unthinkable, and winds up betrothed to Zoë. Now, secluded on Mercer’s vast estate to escape a looming scandal and the ton’s prying eyes, Zoë and Mercer may find that a dark obsession has become a tempestuous passion that can no longer be denied . . .
Read an excerpt here.
I read this book in December and felt the same way. I just got tired of the characters making themselves unhappy and doing nothing about it. Oh well, it happens sometimes.
I loved it and wonder if it might have helped to not read it so close to Tempted. But it doesn’t sound like Bronwyn did 🙂 and I can see readers not liking it for the reasons you give.
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Of course I adored Tempted All Night as well so just color me a fangrrl *G*. The only books I don’t really recall loving are the one little…. two little… three little books WHICH are the ones the next books will revisit. OF COURSE those are the only books I don’t own so I need to go rebuy them.
I read the two farther apart than my reviews might lead you to think. And the characters making themselves unhappy plot is one of my least favorite . . . I prefer the someone blundering about and making mistakes while trying to make themself happy plot. I guess I’m just not a fatalist.
I gave this one a B, too, for pretty much the same reasons. I was looking forward to more of Zoe, and still liked her in this one, but the story dragged on too long before them getting it on, finally got going the latter part of the book, maybe due to involving Robert a bit too much rather than focusing more on Zoe and Stuart. Also, the reason for his not making the move sooner seemed a bit much, like it really resolved itself and shouldn’t have been a sticking point with him. I did like the secondary romance between Robert and Maria, just thought I would have liked this story better if he wasn’t such a main part of the book, if we had more scenes with Zoe and Stuart showing us some chemistry steaming along much earlier.
I used to read Liz Carlyle’s books religiously but the last couple of series I did read didn’t do it for me. I still have some of those to read, and also Tempted All Night.