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Passions Of A Wicked Earl (2010)

by Lorraine Heath(Favorite Author)

3.86 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

006192296X (ISBN13: 9780061922961)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Avon

series

London's Greatest Lovers

review 1: This was a really disappointing read. I read this after the St. James series and there is a lot lacking in this book. First of all, I didn't feel for the characters. I found them unlikeable and unsympathetic. While their actions are explained away, I didn't feel for them. as for the pace, it was excruciatingly slow. I found the plot and characters to be quite shallow and it was quite a boring read. The story revolves around Morgan (Westcliffe) and Claire. Westcliffe had an arranged marriage with Claire at a very young age. He took this arrangement for granted and considered their connection bonded. Therefore, he never took the time to get to know her or for her to get to know him. When it came to their wedding day, a very young girl turned to her childhood friend, Stephen,... more for comfort. She was understandably apprehensive about the upcoming wedding night. Stephen concocted a plan to delay the night until she is ready. Unfortunately for him, it backfired and it caused a rift in the family that isn't easily repaired. Westcliffe saw them in bed together, as per Stephen's plan. He beat Stephen to a pulp and deposited Claire to his country estate, as per Stephen's plan. Now, three years later, Claire wants to end the sham of a marriage by trying to work on it. However, Westcliffe wants to end it by divorcing her. Her reason for coming is providing a better future for her sister. She wants to give her the season she never got to avoid an arranged marriage to an unlikeable man. To do so, she has to appear respectable with her husband, who knows what it is like to be in society. Meanwhile at home, she continually attempts to get close to him. She comforts him when his dog dies, she tempts him with flirtation, she converses with him. This results in his wavering on his plans. He wants to divorce her because he can't trust her. However, he is attracted to her and has to continually remind himself of the fact. He goes out often and sees his paramour. When he finally succumbs to her charms, he discovers she is a virgin and has not betrayed him. He now wants to work on the marriage.The news is not received well by his paramour. Therefore, she schemes to destroy their marriage. She invites them to a ball where she arranged Stephen to have a tryst with Claire. Mistakenly believing that the man kissing her is Westcliffe and Stephen believing that Claire is Ann, they kiss for a while. They are caught by Westcliffe who does not listen to any explanations and packs Claire's things immediately. Claire goes back to the country estate after declaring that she will not forgive him. There, she discovers she is pregnant. When she sends a missive informing Westcliffe of this news, he merely sends her a diamond necklace with a note that says, "Thank you." She is devastated and rides recklessly to clear her thoughts. She gets into an accident and she loses the baby in the process. She also catches fever. Distraught by the accident, Westliffe rushes to the country. There he overhears her calling out to Stephen. He fetches Stephen to be with her. Stephen explains the circumstances of the tryst and so Claire and Westcliffe work out their marriage. I really did not like this book. It feels like there is no redeeming quality. I don't even know where to start. I dislike both the hero and the heroine. I dislike the hero for being such an ass. I dislike the heroine for putting up with it. First of all, I really do not like cheating. It is disrespectful and callous. It made me predisposed to dislike Westcliffe. If he had any redeeming qualities, I could have accepted it. However, his actions throughout the book only made him worse. He really felt victimized by the action and so he acted an ass for the entirety of the book. When he does feel remorseful, it is for the wrong reasons. I just wanted to strangle him. It made me wonder what it is she saw in him. I dislike that he uses her money to give gifts to his mistresses. I dislike that he forbade her to seek other men while he sought other women. I dislike that he flaunted his paramours. He did that out of malice and it was unkind. I get that he does not care how it is received but he still feels victimized after everything he had done. I dislike that he expected her to be a wife to him after not extending the courtesy to get to know each other. It was dumb of him to expect her to not be scared when he hadn't taken the time to reassure her. I dislike that he wasn't understanding. It grated on me. For a man eight years her senior, you'd think he would have given it a thought. She was a child for god's sake. He was retaliating against a seventeen year old. I dislike that he only came around when he had proof of her virginity. I dislike that he didn't evaluate how wrong he was even after that. I dislike that he didn't learn his lesson. I dislike that even after discovering her innocence, he still assumed the worst of her. I dislike that he held so much power in the relationship and so small a mind. I dislike Claire because there was nothing in her character but remorse. She internalized her punishment and accepted that she deserved what he did to her. I think she should have accepted the divorce but know that the alternative of ruination is too much. I dislike the fact that her person seemed to hinge on her marriage as if it was the be-all-and-end-all of things. I dislike that she worked so hard to redeem herself for a childish action. Westcliffe really retaliated in a cruel manner. I dislike that she put up with him. I dislike that she just accepted that he took on lovers. I dislike that even at the last moment, she was going to have to stoop to Westcliffe's unforgiving manner and explain. The onus shouldn't have been on her. She is right when she says love cannot grow without trust. I dislike that she seemed to sweep everything under the rug as if Westcliffe hadn't hurt her. I disliked that her character didn't grow. She was still holding onto her marriage even when her husband was doing all he can to sabotage it. Most of all, I really dislike how she was treated and she just accepted it. Love shouldn't excuse a person's cruelty. Overall, I dislike the characters because there is nothing in them for me to root for. They don't have noble spirits as I have found in Heath's St. James series. Instead, I am saddled with poorly developed characters.
review 2: Passions of a Wicked Earl turned out differently than what I had expected. It was drawn out and left me feeling empty.; I can't raise much of an excitement about it. Morgan disgusted me in the beginning of the book, flaunting his infidelities in front of society and trying to make excuses for them. He barely listened to Claire's explanations. Not three years ago and not now. Claire's character, I didn't mind. She had have somewhat of a backbone except when it came to her bratty sister, Beth. I can't say there's anything distinguishing about Claire, she just seems to take it all. The feelings between the couple was so vague and completely unbelievable. Especially in the beginning. The way they act towards each other after their initial meeting is just not what you would expect. I'd expect biting words, reluctance, bitterness. But that's not there. They don't have much of a fight. The passion seems utterly false. There's no spark-fire-between them. I skimmed through most of the last half of the novel and I hate doing that. But there wasn't anything that made me want to read the entire thing. The entire plot moved too slowly, but the romance or the astonishingly lack of it was too quick. The characters grew to be annoying especially Beth, Claire's younger sister. She's portrayed as a selfish, unfair, irritating, immature girl who pushes her sister and Morgan into attending ball after ball and managing the entire Season for her. Beth was ungrateful and so, so annoying I wanted to smack her. I was glad Morgan snapped at her, obviously the girl doesn't know her limits. Anyways, this was a disappointment. And the storyline was inconsistent with Morgan believing in Claire one second and the next proclaiming her as a liar. Definitely not what I'd expect. less

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