Passionate Encounters: Review: The Importance of Being Wicked by Miranda Neville

Thomas, Duke of Castleton, has every intention of wedding a prim and proper heiress. That is, until he sets eyes on the heiress's cousin, easily the least proper woman he's ever met. His devotion to family duty is no defense against the red-headed vixen whose greatest asset seems to be a talent for trouble...

Caroline Townsend has no patience for the oh-so-suitable (and boring) men of the ton. So when the handsome but stuffy duke arrives at her doorstep, she decides to put him to the test. But her scandalous exploits awaken a desire in Thomas he never knew he had. Suddenly Caro finds herself falling for this most proper duke...while Thomas discovers there's a great deal of fun in a little bit of wickedness.

I was drawn in by the title….and of course the author. My interest was elevated by the premise, I’m always drawn to high born, stuffy lords attracted to courtesans, widows, or the like.

Caroline Townsend is a widow who has multiple debts thanks to her late husband who liked to gamble. She has in her possession a painting that if sold would most likely end her financial troubles but she won’t part with it since it came into her possession during one of the happier moments of her marriage.

Castleton is introduced to Caroline since his future wife, her cousin is staying at her townhouse in London. He is immediately attracted to the wrong woman, and eventually chases after her across the country side when she is in search of money to pay off a loan shark. He catches up to her only to ask her to marry him, she says yes. And that is where I parted ways with this book. Sorry folks.

I’ll give you three reasons why I did not like this book.

First of all, Caroline makes her life out of entertaining a bunch of struggling artisans in her home when she can barely afford to pay her servants their wages; she just cannot bear to tell her friends how really stressed for cash she really is even though none of it is her fault.

Secondly, she cannot bear to hear a bad word said against a husband that left her in financial ruin. They had had a mostly happy marriage after all.

And lastly, the relationship between hero and heroine is entertaining, engaging, and lively, But there is really no sexual tension to speak of. And that’s what I need in my books!

Now, it could have gotten better after I left which was halfway through, which was also when Castleton proposed and was accepted. There has to be strife afterward right? I mean there were still plenty of pages left.

Hopefully, the first book in this new series by Neville was not indicative of the future books in this series. I will keep my fingers crossed.