A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare

source: purchased
title: A Week to Be Wicked Book 2 of 5 in the Spindle Cove Series
author: Tessa Dare
genre: regency romance
pages: 322
published: March 27, 2012
rated: 4 out of 5 stars

first line: When a girl trudged through the rain at midnight to knock at the Devil’s door, the Devil should at least have the depravity-if not the decency-to answer.

Blurb:
When a devilish lord and a bluestocking set off on the road to ruin…
Time is not on their side.
Minerva Highwood, one of Spindle Cove’s confirmed spinsters, needs to be in Scotland.
Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, a rake of the first order, needs to be… anywhere but Spindle Cove.

These unlikely partners have one week
to fake an elopement
to convince family and friends they’re in “love”
to outrun armed robbers
to survive their worst nightmares
to travel four hundred miles without killing each other
All while sharing a very small carriage by day and an even smaller bed by night.

What they don’t have time for is their growing attraction. Much less wild passion. And heaven forbid they spend precious hours baring their hearts and souls.

Suddenly one week seems like exactly enough time to find a world of trouble.
And maybe…just maybe…love.

My thoughts:
A Week to Be Wicked is book two in Tessa Dare’s Spindle Cove series. Having read and enjoyed book three, A Lady by Midnight a few years ago, I happily dove into this one when I was in the mood for a nice regency romance. I know I’ve been reading this series backwards but they are standalone reads so it hasn’t made much difference.

In this installment we have Minerva Highwood from Spindle Cove who wants to stop  Colin Sandhurst aka Lord Payne from marrying her sister. Minerva thinks the notorious ladies man Payne is not the right match for her sister. She thinks that Payne is looking to marry so that he can get his inheritance so Minerva makes him an offer he cannot refuse.

She is a scientist and she has made a discovery that she wants to present to the geological symposium in Scotland. Minerva digs up fossils and thinks she has found one unlike any other,  the footprint of a very large lizard. She is offering Payne the money she is sure to win once the council sees her discovery.
Minerva’s plan is to pretend to have eloped Payne and once the trip is over she will act like he dumped her. She is a scientist and her love of geology trumps all so she doesn’t care if her rep is ruined. Payne will get the money and leave her sister alone. Win. Win.

Minerva was a fun heroine. She is bookish and wears glasses and doesn’t know how to kiss, but Payne of course teaches her. What I also liked about her character was that she was intelligent and independent. When Payne initially refuses to go to Scotland with her she is ready to make the journey alone.

Payne was a fun hero, he teases Minerva plenty, but never too much and it’s never mean spirited. He is genuinely intrigued then besotted by this beautiful brainiac. Their stage coach road trip to Scotland was a fun adventure as these two fall in love along the way of course.

The hero in the 3rd installment of this series has PTSD, and so does Payne in this book. He suffered a traumatic incident as a child and he still struggles with this daily. It affects him mainly at night. Minerva is afraid of falling in love and being hurt, plus she doesn’t view herself as being all too desirable. I totally believed it when she fell in love with Payne. Payne thinks he might not be good enough for Minerva, she is innocent and sheltered, he is an experienced ladies man, yet the two are the perfect couple.

The writing was great and the story-line just flowed smoothly. Perfect chemistry between these two and nothing felt rushed or awkward as they naturally gravitated towards one another. Tessa Dare pens a fun and romantic plot with well rounded and flawed characters who I liked right away.

Scenes like this one…

“You look…” He shook his head, smiling a little. “Cataclysmic with beauty today.”
She swallowed, taking a moment to recover from his masculine splendor.
“You rather devastate me, too.”
p.292, A Week to be Wicked, Tessa Dare

…and passages like these…

He wanted her physically, and he couldn’t pretend otherwise. But he must endeavor to hide this other, more visceral reaction-the overwhelming, tenderness rising in his chest.
The simple, unthinkable fact that he cared.
p.173, A Week to be Wicked

Oh, her heart was already his for the breaking.
p.214, A Week to be Wicked

…made this a truly enjoyable book and I both swooned and laughed as I read. I recommend A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare to fans of the genre or to anyone looking to get swept up in fun regency romance with a dash of good humor.

On a final note, I do not like the cover on this one. That is not how I would picture the hero to look, proving once again that you really can’t judge a book by it’s cover.

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Disclaimer: This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any kind of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. I am under no obligation to write a positive review. I purchased my e-copy of A Week to Be Wicked.