Shannon Drake, Wicked

Shannon Drake, Wicked - Her guardian Tristan Montgomery seems to always be in trouble, but his latest stunt frightens Camille. Tristan was caught trying to steal an artifact from the "Beast," Earl Brian Stirling, who wears a mask to hide his scarred visage. Camille visits Brian to get Tristan released, but the Earl refuses. He becomes upset when he learns that Camille works at the British Museum Egypt Antiquities Wing as he blames them for the deaths of his parents.

Brian begins escorting Camille around town, especially the museum, while keeping her guardian as his "guest." As they fall in love, he still plans to use her to identify which of the museum's workers killed his parents. If he knew the risk he placed his beloved Camille in, he would never have used her to get at a killer.

WICKED is an entertaining, Victorian, romantic, suspense thriller that grips the audience the moment that Camille confronts the beast in his lair. The lead couple is a delightful pairing as she brings him back into society; however, it is the support cast that makes the tale work as they either provide insight into Camille or Brian, like her guardian and servant, or his housekeeper does, or they serve as suspects in the murder mystery. Sub-genre fans will take pleasure in this fine historical tale.

Harriet Klausner