Review (ARC): Lady Gone Wicked (Wicked Secrets 2) by Elizabeth Bright

Title: Lady Gone Wicked

Series: Wicked Secrets 2

Author: Elizabeth Bright

Release Date: February 26, 2018 

(ARC Version)

Published By: Entangled Scandalous

Category: Historical – Romance – Regency – Military  

Type: Digital

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Elizabeth Bright Website

Blurb: 

Nicholas Eastwood is finally about to get everything he ever wanted. As a reward for his service to the Crown, he has been offered the title of marquess. All he has to do is stay scandal-free until the papers are signed. There’s just one problem: His ex-lover, presumed dead, is remarkably alive.

Adelaide Bursnell is determined to right her wrongs. She will be a dutiful daughter and loving sister. Most importantly, she must marry before her scandal catches up to her. Nicholas was once her ruin, but now he is determined to be her salvation. If he can find her a suitable husband, their shared past can stay buried.

But old temptations prove impossible to resist and scandal can never stay secret for long...

 By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age.

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Favorite Lines:

Then she had seemed to him like an angel, an ethereal creature of goodness and joy. She was an angel still, but the avenging kind who burned cities to the ground and turned people to salt.  ~  Nick

Nick bit back a groan. His mother was watching him with hope-filled eyes, while visions of double weddings and grandchildren danced in her head.  ~  Nick

Not for the first time, he wondered what his life would have been like had he been born an only child instead of part of a matched set.  ~  Nick

Surely, she was jesting. She could not truly prefer the company of a good book to a flesh-and-blood man, could she? Nick decided he hated Lord Montmorenci, whoever the devil he might be.  ~  Nick

Nick felt the Duke’s amused, curious gaze on him. “I do believe he’s having an epiphany. How droll.”  ~  Wessex

Excerpt:

          Adelaide Bursnell knew she was not a good girl. A good girl would not have been seduced by a man she hardly knew. A good girl would not have surrendered her virtue without a wedding ring. A good girl would not have faked her own death rather than return to her family in shame and humiliation. A good girl most certainly would not shoot her former lover, no matter how much he deserved a bullet to the flesh. 
          And yet, if the red liquid spilling from Nick’s arm was any indication, she had done just that. She stared hard at the crimson seeping through the white linen of his sleeve, willing it to go back where it belonged. When it did not, she did the only thing she could do when confronted with such ugliness of her own making. 
          She fainted. 
          Or she tried to, anyway. A good girl would have been able to accomplish a ladylike swoon, she had no doubt. But Adelaide was not a good girl, and the best she could do was a facsimile of the real thing. Her eyelids fluttered closed and her body swayed delicately before collapsing in a silken heap on the floor. 
          His footsteps came close and paused. The cool metal of her pistol slipped from her grip. She held her breath. Maybe he would leave to find help and she could make her escape? But no. She heard a clunk as he set the weapon down somewhere—a table, perhaps. Then his footsteps returned. 
          Drat. 
          Nick nudged her hip with the toe of his boot. She ignored it. He nudged harder. When she still did not respond, he squatted down and shook her roughly by the shoulder. She opened her eyes, and there he was, so close that he filled her vision, blocking out the room and all its contents. All she could see were his ice-blue eyes and scowling lips. Even with the purple bruise on his cheek and the small cut above his left eye, he was beautiful. 
          Her heart raced. She commanded it to stop that nonsense forthwith. 
          “Adelaide,” he said in that rich, growly voice that did nothing to slow her heart rate. “You can’t faint. I’m the one who’s bleeding.”
          “Yes, but I can’t do anything about that,”she said. She permitted herself a small sense of—well, not victory, exactly, but rightness. Here, at least, she was just as she should be. Ladies were supposed to be decorative, not useful. They could paint watercolors, play the pianoforte, or sing. Matters of blood and guts should be left for the men to handle. 
          Nick made a sound of resignation. Then in one elegant motion, he scooped her from the floor with his good arm and deposited her on a hard wooden stool—across the room from the pistol, she noted. Apparently he was leaving nothing to chance. He moved away abruptly and she teetered briefly at the sudden loss of support before she gained her balance. 
          “What are you looking for?” she asked. 
          “Anything I can use as a bandage.”
          He wouldn’t find anything. The hired rooms were nice enough, but it was still a coaching inn. There was a bed, a writing desk with a chair, and this absurdly tall stool upon which she now sat. Adelaide crossed her legs at the ankle to keep from swinging them like a child. She detested high stools. They made her feel so small. Which she was, but there was no need to rub salt in the wound. 
          Nick must have come to the same conclusion about the lack of bandages, because he stripped off his torn shirt and ripped it in half with his teeth. He handed the cloth to Adelaide. “I’m a man of many skills, but tying a knot with one hand isn’t one of them.”
          Such a humble man, her Nick. 
          No, not her Nick. 
          She took the linen, wrapped the cut, and tied the knot with as much efficiency as she could muster given the exceedingly trying circumstances of him standing too close and smelling too good. He winced. Perhaps she had pulled the knot a little tighter than strictly necessary. 
          “Your family believes you are dead,” he remarked. 
          “And your family believes you are a murderer,” she returned. 
          “It seems that both our families are veritable fountains of misinformation.”He flexed his wounded arm—to see if it still worked, she imagined. The muscles bulged and relaxed. “Shall we enlighten them, do you think?”
          “I haven’t a choice,” she said frankly. Nick was a soldier and a spy and heaven knew what else. He would divine the truth regardless. “A woman in my position has precious few options.”
          “Adelaide.” His voice was gentle. “I did not receive your letter. I would have come, had I known you were with child.”
          Would he have, truly? She found that hard to believe. He had left like a thief in the night, somehow managing to sneak into her aunt’s home to slip a note beneath her pillow. Yet he hadn’t woken her. He hadn’t said goodbye. 
          But it was the contents of the note that had broken her heart. There were no words of love, only polite regret. And then the address at which to reach him, should the need arise. 
          She didn’t suppose Nick counted love as a need. 
          But perhaps he would have come, had he received her letter. As the son of an earl—a fact he had not divulged during their ill-fated affair two summers ago—he knew what was expected of a gentleman. He would have married her out of guilt and a strong sense of duty, if nothing more. And then what? He would not have stayed long enough to be a true husband and father. He would have left them both to do…whatever it was he did, now that the war with France was over. 
          Perhaps if he had received her letter, she would not have been sent to that horrible nunnery for her confinement. Perhaps now her arms would not feel so achingly empty without a child to hold. But what did that signify? She could not live in a world of what-ifs. 
          “What’s done is done. It does not matter now,” she said. “The babe did not survive his birth.”
          He glanced sharply at her. “I had heard the same about you. Yet, here you are, with a pistol, no less.”
          A shiver of trepidation ran down her spine. Why was he looking at her as though awaiting her confession? She would not confess. 
          When she said nothing, he continued, “You blame me for his death. Is that why you tried to kill me?”
          “I did not try to kill you,” she said, because she hadn’t. 
          She had found his room at the inn and knocked on the door, pistol in hand. She had only wanted to frighten him, but then he had opened the door. She had forgotten how large he was. And then…and then…
          Well. 
          How was she to know that the blasted thing would go off from such a little squeeze?

Highlight:

          He had not expected a letter from her any more than he had expected to survive his last assignment. 
          And now she was here to negotiate. 
          Fascinating. 
          “The pistol is unnecessary, angel. I’ll marry you,” he said. 
          The pistol wavered slightly, but did not lower. “Marriage? To you?”She frowned. “That would be very disagreeable. No, thank you.”
          This time his look of surprise was sincere. “No?”
          She shook her head. “You would make a very bad husband, Nick. Surely you know that.”
          Actually, he had never given the matter much thought, one way or another. “Would I?”
          “Oh, yes.”
          “Then what are you here to negotiate, exactly?” he asked and waited to hear the precise terms of his surrender. Of course he would give her whatever she wanted. 
          “Money,” she said flatly. 
          Except that. 
          “How much?” he asked. 
          Her gaze slid sideways before returning to meet his eyes. Her chin tilted. “Five thousand pounds.”
          A large sum, but hardly exorbitant. If used frugally, it would allow her to live comfortably for many years. It would tie up his loose end quite nicely, really. If she had been someone other the daughter of a viscount, and his brother’s future sister-in-law, perhaps he could even have said yes. 
          But this was Adelaide. 
          “Money is for whores,” he said. “Marriage is for ladies.”It was ridiculous that he needed to explain this to her. 
          She dismissed his lecture with a wave of her hand. “It is all the same.”
          He tried to decipher her meaning. Were ladies whores, or was marriage a monetary transaction? Perhaps she meant both? 
          “Scandal is a difficult thing to keep hidden, you understand,” she continued. “I must find a means of supporting myself, or I must marry—before it catches up to me.”
          He frowned. Her scandal was his scandal. Scandal went hand in hand with notoriety, and that was something he wished to avoid at all costs. When war ended, enemies still remained. And then, of course, there was the issue of the marquessate. He would prefer the proceedings go smoothly. Until the letters patent were signed by the prince regent, scandal must be avoided. 
          So marriage, then. 
          Marriage done correctly, to avoid arousing unpleasant interest or suspicion. 
           “Then we will marry, because five thousand pounds is quite impossible,”he said. 
          Her eyes closed and her head bowed. He wasn’t sure what was worse—the look of despair on her pale face, or that once again the pistol wobbled. Good Lord. 
          Then her eyes opened, and he saw that she had rallied. “We will go to Gretna Green tonight, then.”
          “Gretna Green is out of the question,” he said. “There must be no hint of haste. I won’t have it whispered that I seduced my future sister-in-law under the very noses of our families.”
          She shook her head with a low laugh. “Oh, Nick. Do you take me for a fool? You will disappear the moment you are free of my pistol.”
          Ah, so that was what she thought of him? He would have been offended had he not been accustomed to people thinking the worst of him. And he could admit that her reason, at least, was better than most. 
          “What do you suggest, then?” he asked. 
          She cocked her head, considering. “You seem as averse to scandal as I. Perhaps, then, a confession? A written statement, signed and sealed, that I could use should the need arise.”
          He did not like her tone. But she was wise to demand insurance. His word was not worth much, except when it was, and how was she to know the difference? 
          “And what, pray tell, would I be confessing to? You cannot publish our affair without condemning yourself, and you have more to lose than I.” He stood to lose a marquessate, but she needn’t know that. “The ton would punish you far more harshly for our dalliance.”
          He knew it was the wrong choice of words even before he saw her flinch. But what could he do? That truth was as immutable as the stars in the heavens. Of course he would change things if he could. Had he known she would conceive, he would have married her on the spot and sent her to his family at Haverly before returning to service. But why waste time with regret? Regret changed nothing. 
          “That won’t do at all,” she said, and he wasn’t sure what she referred to. She regarded him thoughtfully. “Surely I am not the only blemish on your soul. What is your darkest deed? Confess it.”
          For a moment he remembered the look of surprise on a dead man’s face—but no. There was plenty else to choose from. 
          “My darkest deed? I’ll give you ten.”He went to the desk, withdrew a sheet of paper and quill, and dashed off the letter. “There, now. Any one of those deeds would make the ton shudder with horror.”He handed her the paper. She wouldn’t use it, in any case, for he had every intention of marrying her and absolutely no intention of her keeping that damning letter beyond a night. 
          The pistol quivered. Her arm must be fatigued from holding it up. God help him if her finger slipped…again. 
          “This will do.”She folded the paper and tucked it into her bodice. 
          He waited for her censure—number four involved a ballerina—but none came. 
          Strange woman. 
          “A month should be enough for a proper courtship, I think. If I have not received a more suitable offer, we will arrange to be married.”She swung her legs as she talked, revealing flashes of ankle. 
          “Yes,” he said as her ankle disappeared from sight. It would take at least that long for the letters patent to be signed. Ah, but there was her ankle again. “A month is just right, neither too long nor too short.” Her ankle disappeared beneath her skirt. He waited, but there it stayed. He refocused his thoughts. What had she said? “A more suitable offer?”
          “Yes.” She sucked her lower lip between her small white teeth. “I will marry for security, but if there is also a chance for happiness, should I not take it? I have witnessed many unhappy marriages and would not wish that misery on anyone—not even you. Certainly not myself.”
          He blinked. She thought their marriage would be a misery? That…had not occurred to him. Had they not enjoyed each other’s companionship, as well as their bodies, not so very long ago? Apparently, she felt differently about it. Now. 
          Back then, she had believed herself in love with him. Though, if she had truly known who he was, she would have run shrieking from his touch. Now she knew. If his treatment of her had not been enough to turn her from him, she had the list of his crimes next to her breast. She would send him away before the ink was dry on their marriage contract. Which was…the one thing he could not allow. 
          “If I receive a better offer, I will burn the letter and release you from your promise,” Adelaide said. “In the meantime, you will court me for a month and give every indication that you intend to offer for me. If you fail to keep your word, I will publish your confession across all England. Do we have a bargain?”
          He looked at her. There was a grim determination in her eyes that reminded him of a seasoned soldier. She was halfway to jaded already; what would she look like after a year of being his wife? He would serve as a daily reminder of all she had lost. 
          How wretched. 
          But it was not too late. He had done many terrible things, as the list attested. Now he could do something good. Just once. 
          He could save her from himself. 
          “Well?” she pressed. “Do we have an agreement?”
          “Yes,” he said. 
          She wanted a better offer? Very well. 
          He would get her one.

Review: 

Adelaide has finally returned to the land of the living. Her plans to murder Nick in an accident thwarted in discovering her target was actually his twin brother and her twin sister’s fiancé. What’s a girl to do when the subject of your ruin turns out to have a twin of all things? And marrying your sister to top it all off! Planning to assimilate herself back into her family as the perfectly respectable, perfectly behaved, perfect daughter, she sets out to find a husband with Nick’s help. Wicked inclinations must be resisted at all costs. He promises to marry her if they cannot accomplish their task, but swearing to present only the best of any possible suitors, he is confident he can match her with someone truly worthy of her. Plan in hand, they set out to secure her future. But passion flared between them for a reason and trying to keep that undeniable flame at bay proves impossible. While they may both long to be together, their futures are headed in a different direction. There'sn also that teensy secret Adelaide must guard at all costs … even from Nick. Revealing her truth would mean certain ruin all over again and she’d never be able to come out of such gossip a second time.

Nicholas has finally found her. He knew she was lurking about and she finally turns up on his doorstep of all places – and shoots him. What a welcoming. He planned to marry her to save her from ruin, but that is not what she wants. On the cusp of attaining everything he desires, he admits that marriage would mean a quick death to his plans of a title and recognition, so he relents and agrees to aid her in achieving her goals. He begins with a list in which everyone will be compared to … him. As a former spy and lover to Adelaide, he would know exactly what she needs in a match, so why not? As the end to their time frame draws near, Nick finds fault with every possible match. However, when the suitor who seems to be the match Adelaide needs turns out to be the very man who is behind getting Nick the title he covets, he bows out. But things do not sit right with Nick and suddenly he realizes that Adelaide can have no other perfect match because that role lies solely on him. But the truth of her secret could tear them apart for good, so when it all spills out, Nick is forced with a huge decision which will mean confronting the demons of his past or continuing to run from them. The curse of the second son may have eluded to certain death for a first son, but it has also played a huge part in the inability of Nick to live his life freely.

Oh, how I love this series! I absolutely love to discover historical romance of this caliber. Ms. Bright is a refreshing dose of exactly what every historical romance should aspire to be! I fell hopelessly in love with the Wicked Secrets series when first I encountered Nathaniel and Alice in book 1, about 3 years ago. It took me a while, but I am finally righting a serious wrong in not getting to this next installment sooner than now. Had I realized I was sitting on this ARC version, I would have corrected the oversight immediately. I laughed continually throughout this book as I did in the initial installment. The delightful wit and banter were an absolute treasure within these pages. I recall much of the first book fairly well considering the years that have passed since I read it. I made several predictions at that time. One I will reveal after I have continued with this series to see if I was correct. The other was that Nicholas and Adelaide were actually a couple - more than just a quick affair - despite Alice's belief to the contrary. Regardless, Adelaide is sent away due to her condition, then had actually faked her death and reappeared only to attempt to kill Nate, believing him to be Nick. Confused? It's actually quite a delightful series! What a fun spin that two sets of twins should fall in love with one another. Of course, no one revealed the twin factor initially, so when each discovered that the person they were madly in love with actually had a twin, it was quite a spectacle. But I digress in reminiscing about the first book as well as this one. I will say that while this book can be read as a stand-alone, I highly recommend reading in order if for nothing else than the pure joy in meeting these characters from the very beginning, easily welcoming them back into your own reading world each time they reappear in this fantastic tale as it progresses. Although I adore each of these couples, I have been utterly enchanted with Eliza and Wessex from the start and absolutely cherished each of their interactions. Unfortuneately, it seems as if I will still be waiting on those two to just come out and admit what everyone else can clearly see. If they never get together, I may die of heartbreak. And again, if I might say so myself, Wessex nearly steals the book for a second time. He’s simply fantastic! As evidenced by the lines I included above, there is no shortage of memorable thoughts and dialogue, but somehow Wessex always ends up with very nearly the best lines in the book. A man of minimal word count, but frequently a life-altering effect. At this point, I suspect Wessex always has a reason for each move he makes and each word he chooses to bestow upon an individual. Time will reveal if I am correct in my prediction.

Maybe I should concentrate on Nick and Adelaide now. Finally. You can see how much this series has impacted me. I hope it has the same effect on each reader who chooses to immerse themselves in this brilliant world. If Alice and Nate are perfect for each other, then Adelaide and Nick are even more so. These two are exactly what the other needs, but their desire to run from past mistakes and haunting family legacies effectively squashes their ability to see through to a future together. And so they run … until they don’t. I believe, for Adelaide, a turning point was at the cake tasting party in which she overhears her sister acting like the wicked being she is trying so desperately not to be. For Adelaide, her attraction to Nick is the singularly most wicked part of her personality. That desire led to ruination and love for a man she cannot have and so, in her mind, wicked inclinations are completely unacceptable. Consequently, a cake fight ensues which may have been the absolute best scene of the entire book. Both Nick and Nate admit how turned on they are in a rather hilarious way and I could not stop laughing out loud – much to my family’s amusement. I do not believe that Adelaide’s secret was much of a shocking revelation, but I did enjoy how things played out as they took a direction I have not yet come across. This is one of Ms. Bright’s many talents … putting her own unique spin on a story in a new and engaging way. I found the Bursnell parents horrific. While their behaviors were pretty much in line with societal beliefs for that time, I’m more of a romantic and would like to think that a parent's love for their child would trump society standards. Sure, that’s the bit of dreamer in me, but it’s who I am. Because of their constant nagging on Adelaide and inability to see that Alice had flaws, I despised them. Necessary characters, mostly, but definitely the bummer aspect of the book. The complete opposite of their awful attitudes was the refreshing enlightenment provided by Nick’s father. Initially, I wasn’t entirely fond of him, but after he lets his guard down a bit and confesses his own regret (especially the beautiful epilogue), my heart went out to him. Two completely opposite sides of the fence these parents were.

What I found to be a welcome addition to the book was the slight time frame jump in the final chapter and then the eight-year jump in the epilogue. Ms. Bright left absolutely nothing to chance and tied everything up nicely. But here’s the clincher. She did it in a way that spoiled absolutely nothing for any future reads. Even Freesia could still have her own book – and dare I say … the Bursnell/Eastwood children could continue the series on for generations to come. I know I am jumping far ahead of myself as this is merely the second book in the series, but I can see so much set up for future reading enjoyment. I wouldn’t cry one bit if this series turned into something like Johanna Lindsey's Mallory family saga. The potential is most definitely present. I have no doubt. If I am lucky, I will be correct in my predictions. I have done well so far. From Alice to Nate, Adelaide to Nick, Freesia, and (hopefully soon) Eliza and Wessex, if you have yet to experience Ms. Brights’s enrapturing Wicked Secrets series, I strongly encourage you to fix that alarming mistake posthaste. Loathe as I am to admit it, I believe I will have to wait for Eliza and Wessex to proclaim their obvious love as the next couple seemed to have been set up in the final chapter of this book. *sobs* Absence makes the heart grow fonder … I suppose … maybe. *still sobbing* #BentonWessex #ElizaSebastian Despite my momentary state of grief, any lover of HR can easily call Ms. Bright a go-to author and should add her books to the top of their TBR list. I can promise with confidence that regret will be the last of any feelings provoked within this enchanting series.

Kindle version provided by NetGalley/Entangled in exchange for an honest review.