Guest Review: Her Wicked Ways by Darcy Burke

We have all encountered spoiled aristocratic brats in historical romance novels.  They romp through the pages and usually get their comeuppance somewhere further on in the book at the hands of the hero who is a handsome lord for whom the develop a tendre..  But this book has a different twist on an old theme.  This author has given us a heroine who is indeed spoiled, pampered, and more willful than most.  In fact, her family has turned their backs on her with cold and calculating determination to bring her to heel so that she can benefit the family with a “good” marriage.  Lady Miranda has her own ideas about that, but first she has to find a way out of this terrible imprisonment she has now been forced to endure–sent into the country to live with a distant relative, no money, no resources, no power to determine her own actions.  She is disliked intensely by all and sundry, especially the daughter of her “keepers” who resents her and who does all she can to make Miranda’s life miserable.  

We also meet a gentleman, honorable and kind, but poor as a church mouse and needing funds to keep his decaying estate somehow glued together because of the homeless children housed there.  Miranda finds herself there, under duress of course, being asked to bump elbows with children from a much poor class, asked to do menial tasks which she has never done, and for which she is poorly prepared.  He inept performance draws no accolades from the owner, but he can’t escape the fact that her beauty entraps him.  What continues to fascinate him is the fact that Lady Miranda is slowly changing, slowly beginning to find the deeper, more noble qualities that have lain dormant beneath her selfishness and self-interest.

This is a novel that clearly demonstrates the difficulties embedded in the 19th century English class system.  Without title or funds, it was almost impossible to make any kind of impact on a society that discarded people and in which children were especially considered disposable.  The hero in this novel didn’t agree with that view and it was a time of personal re-education for Lady Miranda.   I think I most liked the fact that this book is an engaging and gritty story about real problems and tells a love story about two people who really have no realistic expectation for a future together because of the social distance between them.  Add in the fact that Miranda’s father is a Duke and you get that sense of the impossible when you read their story.  This novel has gained the attention of several well-known writers and I agree that it is a worthy writing effort and one that held my interest from start to finish.  There are some interesting twists and turns in the story that are built around local country politics, some of which are just as difficult to tolerate as those high flyers in London.  Yet it is a story about the determination of a man to provide for people who had no hope and no safety net much as we encounter in Dickens’ tales.  If for no other reason, this is a story worth reading.  But it has many other fine qualities to recommend it, not the least is the really fine way the author developed the story and the characters, the good editing, and the surprises that await the reader.

I liked this book a lot and I think it is one that historical romance fans would do well to read. It is a debut novel and demonstrates that this author has no where to go be “up.”

I give it a rating of 4 out of 5

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Intrepid Reads. You can buy it here or here in e-format.