The Importance of
Being Wicked
By Miranda Neville
Publisher: Avon
Release Date:
November 27, 2012
Caroline Brotherton,
who is introduced in the novella “The Second Seduction of a Lady,” was a
romantic seventeen-year-old when she eloped with Robert Townsend. Seven years
later, Caro is a widow with little more than a scandalous reputation, enormous
debt, and memories of a marriage that had its happy moments but also its troubling
ones as Robert’s addiction to gambling consumed his fortune and eventually his
life. Caro is preparing to take on a new role. She is to chapherone her young
cousin, the heiress Anne Brotherton, during a visit to London.
Thomas Fitzcharles,
Duke of Castleton, is a conservative, staid gentleman very conscious of his
duty to his name and his family. He belongs to a long line of aristocrats who
have married well and improved the family coffers. The fact that his father
departed from the tradition makes it imperative that the current duke marry an
heiress. Anne Brotherton seems perfect for his purpose, and Castleton is
prepared to make her his duchess.
Appearances lead to
the conclusion that Caro and Castleton are opposites, and thus it should come
as no surprise to any experienced reader of romance fiction that the two fall
in lust at first sight. Less predictable is that Caro proves to be less shallow
than she appears and Castleton less bound by convention than one might suppose.
Neville gives her readers a story that fits the deceptive externals of her
characters: what appears to be mere froth and sizzle upon closer examination
reveals unexpected subtlety and complexity.
Caro is another
Neville heroine with an interesting history that makes her choices comprehensible
even when they make her less than a fully sympathetic character. Brought up by
a domineering mother, disowned by her family upon her elopement, abandoned
emotionally by her irresponsible husband even before his death, she is loyal to
those who have become in effect her family. Her near obsessive attachment to
the valuable Titian is more logical when the reader understands that the
painting affirms that Robert Townsend once loved her. Her immaturity is a
correctable flaw, as the story shows, and her intelligence, humor, and warmth
are always in evidence, offsetting less positive qualities.
Castleton can be sober
and contained, but it is clear fairly early that he has a sense of humor that
includes the ability to laugh at himself, hardly a characteristic of a hero who
truly deserves the epithet with which Caro endows him. I loved the exchange
after Castleton overhears Caro use her name for him.
Her smile stretched into a delighted grin. “No formality between friends, surely. I shall simply call you Stuffy.”
It sometimes seems to me that far too few couples in romance novel share a sense of humor. I believe laughing together is a prime requirement for the level of intimacy required for an HEA in which I can believe. These lines went a long way toward helping me believe that Caro and Castleton would give me the kind of ending for which I always hope.
Miranda Neville has consistently proved to be one of those authors whose books have added value. I find her characters engaging and her stories interesting and intelligent, and I also find her fictional worlds places where I like to linger because they are always different in significant ways from the norm of historical romance. The Importance of Being Wicked is the first book in the Wild Quartet. I’m eager to see what’s next in the series.
How important do you think a sense of humor is in relationships? Is humor a quality you look for in fictional characters?
