Slightly Wicked

Another delicious Bedwyn brother! And once again, we meet the Duke of Bewcastle, with his cold, silent devotion to his family.

We all know that virtually every steamy Regency romance takes liberties with the truth -- there couldn't have been that many gently-bred ladies in the ton willing to give up their virtue outside of marriage. But we enjoy these stories anyway.

Nevertheless, the story of Judith Law's initial encounter with Lord Rannulf Bedwyn was somehow more believable, and more poignant, than most. She was facing (she quite reasonably believed) a lifetime of drudgery as something little more than a servant, with no prospects for love, marriage, and a family of her own. Indeed, as a dowerless poor relation, even marriage without show more love was beyond her dreams. Imagine then, the temptation she felt when a handsome, charming stranger desires her even though she is (again, as she had been led to believe) ugly and undesirable. She can have this man, enjoy this experience, and no one will ever know. (Of course, if there was a baby, her life would be ruined, but then it was practically ruined anyway.) I found her plight very touching indeed.

The rest of the story takes us off into Romancelandia, with more than a nod to Cinderella and a Darcyish marriage proposal. It's all lots of fun.

Now I'm off to see whether the hateful Lady Freyja can become a lovable heroine in [b:Slightly Scandalous|71661|Slightly Scandalous (Bedwyn Saga, #3)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320523833s/71661.jpg|1111586] show less

My reaction to this book was very similar to how I felt about the first one in the series: There are aspects I did not like and it did have some lengthy stretches, but despite that I enjoyed it tremendously and was just happy each time I opened the audible app and started my book. One reason is that Rosalyn Landor is a superb narrator and, so far, my favourite narrator of historical romances. Her interpretation of the stories and the characters is just perfect.

The premise of this novel seems rather improbable: Judith Law, the daughter of an impoverished clergyman, is sent to a wealthy part of her extended family to be a companion to her grandmother, or rather, an unpaid servant. During her trip to their mansion, there is a coach show more accident and she meets Rannulf Bedwyn, who takes her to the nearest village. They are attracted to each other and, believing her chance at happiness to be over soon, Judith spends a couple of nights with him in order to at least have one adventure in her life before no man will ever look at her again. But of course, they meet again after a few days when Rannulf arrives at the mansion to court Judith's beautiful and affluent cousin.

Although the plot is foreseeable in the long run, there were a few twists and turns that I did not see coming. I liked Judith and Rannulf and they are believable as a couple, although Judith's actions were not always comprehensible to me and I wanted to shake her a few times.

The underlying theme of the objectification of women that is apparent in all relations that Judith has to men goes a step further from the topic of money and social standing, and it added depth and stronger characterizations to the story.

I'm looking forward to continuing with this series soon! show less

I loved reading Judith and Ralf’s long story to HEA. But there is attempted rape here by a dickhead villain which bummed me out as as his villainess was due to Regency toxic masculinity. And there were some crap women too which was annoying; if only Freyja could have planted a facer on that aunt.

Slightly Wicked is the second book in a historical romance series by Mary Balogh. Each book follows a different Bedwyn sibling as they find romance. This book introduces the third son, Rannulf, and as he is on the way to visit his grandmother, he meets Judith Law, who as a poor relation, is on her way to live with her aunt. With a rainstorm making travel impossible, they are thrown together but each hides their true identity and share a passionate couple of nights.

When Judith arrives at her aunt’s, she is given baggy clothes to wear and has to cover her red-gold hair with caps. She is made to stay in the background as the aunt doesn’t want any attention to be taken away from her own daughter as they are planning to capture a rich show more duke for her to wed. Of course, when the duke arrives he is none other than Rannulf. Rannulf finds himself strongly attracted to Judith and his close observation of her results in his protecting her from the unwanted attention of Judith’s step-cousin. After having been thwarted this cousin swears revenge on both Rannulf and Judith.

A fun story with a definite “Cinderella” slant. Although there were some unbelievable plot points, I enjoyed reading of the two main characters as their lust for each other slowly develops into a trusting friendship and eventually a strong love. I am looking forward to reading more about the Bedwyn family. show less

Trigger warning: Attempted rape.

I did not like the start. The heroine carries on a fling with a man she just met. They spend a few days at an inn, pretending to be a married couple. It seemed something more likely to happen in the age of Tinder, than tinderboxes. It was also annoying how the guy thought her inexpertise was a skillful guise. Right. Because virgins magically turn into seductresses when they're with the right person. The hero, Rannulf, a.k.a. Ralf, also graciously considers turning her into his mistress after these few days in paradise. When she leaves him because she can't keep up the charade any longer, he feels used and tricked, fully thinking of her to be a cheap and manipulative woman, up until it is revealed to him show more that she was a virgin. Then he does a 180 and suddenly is filled with a sense of honor to do the right thing and marry her. What the fuck, standards all over the place. I almost stopped reading then and there.

Then the part where Judith has to make herself ugly and work as an unpaid servant in the house of her harridan of an aunt, while watching her vapid cousin flirt with the hero. Because, surprise, the person she just had a fling with shows up at the dinner table, and is planning on marrying into the very family who treats her like Cinderella. So she has to watch and pine from a distance. Boo hoo. Boring.

Then the attempted rape by an odious cousin.

The book only truly begins to pick up when Judith first turns down Ralf's lousy marriage proposal. Then the rest of the time I was just looking forward to the awful Horace (rapey cousin) being punished for attempting to frame Judith and her brother for theft.

What saves this from being a cheesy melodrama was the grounded stance about love and marriage that I've come to admire as a theme of Mary Balogh's books. Bewcastle warns Ralf that there is more to marriage than romance, and Ralf reassures him that he intends to work at it. The proposal scene was also quite lovely. After he lists the many auxilliary reasons why they should not, and should get married:

“Judith,” he said, looking up into her startled, arrested face, “will you do me the great honor of marrying me? I ask for one reason and one reason only. Because I adore you, my love, and can imagine no greater happiness than to spend the rest of my life making you happy and sharing companionship and love and passion with you. Will you marry me?”

I was sold with the companionship part.

I also did like the scenes where Judith gets into the zone for her Shakespearian performances.

However, Judith brings up good points about his earlier intentions. He himself mentioned that it was common for men like him to have wives and keep mistresses. Basically, if he could have so casually slept with her, what is to stop him from doing the same with others, after they are married? The main reassurance he comes up with is that he is a Bedwyn, and Bedwyns are faithful to their wives. If I really wanted to be a Doubting Debbie, one could think, a family "tradition" isn't exactly a guarantee, is it?

But I'm probably ruining it for other people. It is a testament to the skill of the author then that she somehow is able to take a distasteful opening situation, coat it with sugar and love, so by the end the readers will swallow the whole thing down with minimal objections. That's how I feel. Like I ate something that I didn't like but it was wrapped in bacon, so, okay. I accept. show less

This is the third I’ve read in the Bedwyn series, and I think it’s my favorite so far. I loved Judith and Rannulf, and though the main conflicts were predictable, the way they played out were not, which I appreciated. The characterizations of the antagonists were rather shallow, but the Bedwyn family was awesome as always, and if I hadn’t already skipped ahead to Wulf’s book, I probably would have after this one. I loved that one of things Rannulf and Judith had in common was their caring relationships with their grannies. Very sweet.

Looking forward to Freyja’s book, which is next in the series.

Judith Law, an impoverished clergyman's daughter, is traveling to become her grandmother's unpaid companion when the stage coach overturns. Lord Rannulf Bedwyn happens to be riding by and, interested in her beauty, offers her a ride to the nearest inn. Judith is convinced she will never have a chance at love or marriage, and intemperately allows herself to be seduced. After a few wonderful days together, she sneaks away and catches another stagecoach to her richer relations'. They might never have seen each other again, and Judith might indeed have died an old maid, except that Rannulf is being pressured to marry Judith's younger, richer cousin. And so they happen to meet again, and as the houseparty continues, each realize that they show more love the other. But Rannulf is the son of a duke, and Judith's family is increasingly poor due to her brother's profligate spending. Neither thinks a marriage between them would be at all suitable.

I liked the first Bedwyn story better, but this one has a lot of charm. Aside from their romance, Rannulf and Judith each have other friendships and subplots. Rannulf has always been rich and has never much stirred himself, but coming in contact with the ruin Judith's brother has brought upon his family makes him think about his own dissolute habits. And Judith's friendship with her grandmother, and mixed feelings about her beauty, give her depth. Most of all, this book heightened my anticipation of reading some of the other Bedwyn's romances: Lady Freyja, for instance, who rides hard and treats her suitors like they're comrades in arms, but is still getting over a broken heart. And the Duke himself, the freezingly cold, intensely proud, always controlled young man who rules the Bedwyns with just a hissed whisper. show less