Her Wicked Marquess by Stacy Reid – a Review

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Description:
Miss Maryann Fitzwilliam is too witty and bookish for her own good. No gentleman of the ton will marry her, so her parents arrange for her to wed a man old enough to be her father. But Maryann is ready to use those wits to turn herself into a sinful wallflower.

When the scandal sheet reports a sighting of Nicolas St. Ives, the Marquess of Rothbury, climbing out the chamber windows of a house party, Maryann does the unthinkable. She anonymously claims that the bedchamber belonged to none other than Miss Fitzwilliam, tarnishing her own reputation—and chances of the dastardly union her family secured for her. Now she just needs to convince the marquess to keep his silence.

Turns out Nicolas allows for the scandal to perpetuate for his own reasons… But when Maryann’s parents hold fast to their arranged marriage plan, it’ll take a scandal of epic proportions for these two to get out of this together.

Each book in the Sinful Wallflowers series is STANDALONE:
* My Darling Duke
* Her Wicked Marquess

Review:

Her Wicked Marquess is a historical romance and what a wonderful romance it is. Stacy Reid is a new author for me, but I will be reading much more of her work. I don’t do spoilers, but I can tell you the basic setup and what I found so wonderful about this novel.

Lady Maryann Elanor Fitzwilliam is a brilliant young woman of society, but a wickedly mean daughter of a duke, Sophie, has given her the distinction of wallflower because she wouldn’t follow her wicked instructions and be mean to others. She has watched as this young woman has tormented many others and is now out for a little revenge. At a ball at her mother’s home, Vanguard Hall, she intends to embarrass the wicked Sophie. For this, she has enlisted the help of her brother Crispin, who would be wearing a golden mask as she wore a mask as well. Several people had shown up wearing masks but took them off when her mother insisted. They hoped the masks would help them not be recognized if anyone saw them. When he showed up at the place she was hiding, he acted a little different, but she thought that it was because he didn’t approve of what she was doing. She was grateful for his help. She asked for the bucket of critters and he disappeared for a moment and returned with a bucket of snakes, frogs… She had Crispin dump the critters into the ballroom through an open window just as Sophie came walking by.

There is much more entertaining detail, but this is just the basic. The delight of any book is in the details and this novel is totally delightful. Author Stacy Reid spins a marvelous tale.

Nicholas Charles St. Ives, Marquess of Rothbury came to the ball to make his way into the private rooms and further his investigations of Viscount Crispin Fitzwilliam. He wanted to search for evidence that he was the black Dahlia, a person who would figure in his own acts of revenge. However, he found the sister of Crispin to be a most fascinating and unusual woman.

That’s just how the beginning chapter opens and there are so many more interesting details for you to discover. Now let me tell you what I found so very inspiring about this marvelous novel.

The pace is quick, it goes from the fun of the little critter attack to much more serious things. The dialog is natural feeling and incredibly witty. The characters are fabulous and completely compelling. The romance that blooms is not just steamy but “smokin”. There are dangers and plot twists that I did not see coming. As I said earlier, I will be reading much more of author Stacy Reid’s work. Please, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this compelling and thoroughly entertaining story and have yourself one wonderful read!

Reviewed by Georgianna

Copy provided by Publisher