ARC Review: Her Wicked Marquess (Sinful Wallflowers #2) by Stacy Reid
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Series: Sinful Wallflowers #2
Author: Stacy Reid
Published December 29th 2020 by Entangled: Amara
Goodreads Synopsis
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 Ives 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.
Nicholas Ives, Marquess of Rothbury has purposefully cultivated a reputation as the most ruthless, unprincipled libertine, all so he can slip beneath the guards of those whose vile actions caused him to lose the only girl he's ever loved. Despite his intrigue, Nicolas is determined to ignore the deceitful and enticing Miss FitzWilliam. However, his enemies are drawing close, and he soon discovers he must keep her closer to protect her. Nonetheless, she rouses a soul-burning passion within him, causing him to question who will protect her from his devilish wiles.
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
After one of her fellow wallflowers has married, after having her own scandal in the process, Lady Maryann Fitzwilliam decides it's her time to shine. Knowing that her parents want her to marry an abhorrent earl, a friend of the family who is old enough to be her father, she orchestrates for herself to be spoken about in all the scandal sheets, linked with the renowned rake Nicholas Ives, Marquess of Rothbury. However, being linked to him has brought more than just gossip on her heels. Nicholas is embroiled in a plot that's been ten years in the making, and his enemies would do anything to find a weakness, and it's so obvious that Maryann is his biggest weakness yet. As Nicholas gets closer to achieving vengeance, will he be able to control his heart, or has Maryann stolen her wicked marquess?
As soon as I had finished My Darling Duke, I knew I needed more from this series. I had expected this book to be Charlotte's story, but Maryann was wonderful and I fell in love with her. She is a wallflower, and has never really been bothered by it in the past, but as soon as it's apparent she will be forced to marry that disgusting Earl Stamford, who has no qualms in sleeping with a servant when she's in the room, and takes pleasure in her disgust and fear, she needs to do anything she can to stop the match. But even after she starts the rumour that Nicholas was caught sneaking out of her room, her parents will not relent, and try and squash the rumours themselves, doubling down on the match. However, once Nicholas hears of the gossip, he can't stay away from the surprisingly enticing Maryann, and actually sneaks into her room, night after night, and an unlikely friendship is formed. I honestly felt like their affection for each other, not only based in lust, but in actually enjoyment of being together, was phenomenal, and made the angst towards the end of the story even more heart wrenching.
One thing that may discount from the enjoyment of this story, for some, was the revenge plot that Nicholas was on. In his youth, he had been friends with the daughter of one of his servants, and she was brutally attacked and raped by a gang of 'gentleman', the sons of powerful men, and killed herself after leaving a letter with clues to the culprits. Though nothing was actually seen on page, there were many flashbacks to Ariana's letter, and it could be triggering. I appreciated this part being in the story, to explain Nicholas' back story, and why he was so engrossed in his revenge, and his need to protect Maryann. All in all, I really enjoyed this instalment, and though we didn't see anything of Kitty, I hope that the next book see's more cameos from previous characters.
Dates Read:
November 28-29, 2020
Rating
4 Stars
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