Cheryl Holt, Too Wicked to Wed

Too Wicked to Wed

Cheryl Holt

St. Martin's, Sep 2006, $6.99

ISBN: 0312937997

In 1814 war hero Captain William Luke Westmoreland wins Mansfield Estate in a card game with moronic hedonist Archibald Mansfield. Archibald's older sister twenty-five year old on the shelf Helen pleads with Luke to not displace her and her sibling only to learn her brother also gambled away her virginity. Luke rejects her plea as he has never forgotten that his mother Mary Lucas was a ward of her father and therefore entitled to his protection when she was seduced by Duke Harold Westmoreland; instead her dad tossed the pregnant girl onto the street.

Helen ultimately agrees to his terms of being his mistress for thirty days. However, he finds his attraction to her distracting him from his life goal of revenge by ruining Mansfield's daughter. As Luke and Helen fall in love, someone else has plans to use the spinster for personal goals of wealth and perhaps some sex.

Though similar in overall theme too many Regency romances, Too Wicked To Wed contains a vitality and crispness due a solid cast especially the self-indulgent villains. The lead couple is an obvious pairing as they battle over her virtue while her brother's rage with Helen is fabulous as he blames her for his woes because she failed to "sell" her body. Archibald's best friend adds to a feel that the ethics of the male members of the Ton is selfish pleasure at the cost of others. Cheryl Holt provides a fine character driven historical.

Harriet Klausner