This strategy did not make me sympathize with her.

Avalon is miserable, and punishes the marquess by spending his money on herself. There’s so much going on, the story should have felt fast-paced, but because I didn’t like the characters, I had trouble caring about the subplots.Īvalon, the Marchioness of Warwyk, is a lonely woman whose cruel husband ignores her while flaunting his mistress, a courtesan named Mary. With a large stable of secondary characters who serve as plot devices, the many B storylines were hard to track. This story felt like a description of Stockholm syndrome, not a loving relationship. While the couple begin the book arguing, by the end the heroine happily agrees with him.

Devan is protective, but frequently tells the heroine that her feelings are wrong. After a time jump of ten years, Devan’s reputation hasn’t changed, but he is now deeply religious. At the beginning of the book, Devan is a dissolute gentleman who’s cultivated a reputation as a womanizer, and publicly loathes the heroine. I found most of the characters in Wild Wild Rake confusing, or unlikable. The amount of plot in Wild Wild Rake almost reached 1990s crazysauce level, yet it wasn’t a compelling read. This has a tantalizing premise, a vicar who’s also a rake, but reading it was a dreary slog.

Wild wild rake by janna macgregor