Judith’s review of His Wicked Heart (Secrets and Scandals series #2) by Darcy Burke
It’s hard to be respectable, when you’d rather be wicked . .
Jasper Sinclair, Earl of Saxton, made a bargain with his devil of a father to marry in one month’s time. But instead of shackling himself to an acceptable debutante, he indulges his baser needs. He joins a fighting club and pursues a delectable woman who may not be what she seems. Soon he finds himself battling addictions that threaten his already wicked heart.
Orphaned seamstress Olivia West wants the chance to lead an honest, respectable life, but the arrogant Earl of Saxton launches a daunting campaign to make her his mistress. Destitute and desperate, she agrees to one night with the dangerous lord, hatching a scheme to take his money and keep her virtue. However, Jasper uncovers her deception and vows to claim what he’s owed—not his money, her.
Heroes in most historical romance novels, especially the aristocratic variety, tend to go after what they want when they want it without consideration for any collateral damage. But Jasper Sinclair is something of a surprise. Here we have a man who is well saturated with the attitudes that are a product of his class and his wealth but in a pinch, he puts his sister’s happiness ahead of his own. Yet that very bargain puts him in a bind and while he is searching for a wife–the kind with connections and acceptable family history to please his parents, he is also obsessed with a woman who refuses to be his mistress–a woman of honor and who is trying so hard to be independent and self-supporting.
This is book two in this series entitled “Secrets and Scandals” and features the brother of the heroine in book one. Once again you have a context that doesn’t back away from the hurt, nastiness, heartlessness, and degradation of a society greatly removed from the glitz and glitter of the ton. Olivia deals with it every day and yet she, too, is caught in the machinery of a society that thinks nothing of chewing up and spitting out people it deems to be of no value. Yet once again this author treats us to characters of depth and who finally become willing to look more deeply into themselves when they encounter society’s less attractive qualities. The love story between Jasper and Olivia has many familiar aspects to it — it is, after all, a love story, but there are twists and turns, surprises all along the way as these two very different people make their way toward a possible future together.
This is only the second novel from this author, but she has already demonstrated an extraordinary ability to put together a really good story, do sound historical research, and use really good English in the telling. That’s something I always appreciate. Published by a small press there is nevertheless evidence of very good editing. That’s also a plus. So I highly recommend this historical romance, along with the first book, as really terrific reads and writing that is well worth a reader’s time. It will keep you engaged and interested all the way through, and I think you will encounter some characters that will grab your imagination.
I give it a rating of 4.25 out of 5
The series:
This book is available from Intrepid Reads. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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You know! this book sounds really good! I like it and I’m gonna try to get my paws on it.