The Wickedest Lord Alive by Christina Brooke

CAN AN INDECENT PROPOSAL

Eight years ago, a tall handsome stranger entered Lizzie Allbright’s bedchamber and consummated a marriage of the utmost necessity. The Marquis of Steyne agreed to wed and bed Lord Bute’s admittedly lovely daughter to pay off his mother’s gambling debts. But once the deed was done, Steyne’s lawfully-wedded wife vanished into the London night…

LEAD TO EVERLASTING LOVE?

Years later, Steyne has nearly forgotten about his runaway bride. But when he suddenly finds himself in need of an heir, he has no choice but to track her down. Living happily in a small village under an assumed name, Lizzie is surprised to see her husband—and to feel such a strong attraction to him. But she is downright shocked when he asks her to bear him a son. How can they possibly repeat the heated encounter of their ill-fated wedding night without falling hopelessly in love?...in Christina Brooke’s stunningly sexy Regency, The Wickedest Lord Alive.

The Wickedest Lord Alive is the third book in The Westruthers series and it was an excellent regency romance. I haven’t read the previous books in the series, but at no time did I feel lost as this book is Xavier and Lizzie’s story and theirs is a wild ride. My goodness the plot twists that the author introduced kept me on my toes the entire time and just when I thought things were finally working out, BAM!!!, she’d throw in another little twist. What makes the book impressive is that the twists never made the story feel contrived or forced.

The opening scene of the book was quite a shocker and that the author provided access to both Xavier and Alexandra’s thoughts made the situation fraught with anxiety and hope for the hastily arranged marriage. But alas, the hope was short-lived and we jump eight years to the book’s present time (yeah, that’s just awkward, but you know what I mean) where we see the life that Alexandra is living as Lizzie. She is happy with her simple life, far away from the world that forced her into marrying a man who deserted her. As all good regency romances require, Lizzie’s peaceful life is shattered when her husband appears and tells her that he needs her to fulfill her wifely duties and produce an heir. As Lizzie didn’t believe anyone knew where she was, she was quite shocked. And thus begins their action-packed story as Xavier attempts to woo his wife as she attempts to melt the ice around the heart of her wicked lord all while trying to avoid those who would do them harm.

The Wickedest Lord Alive was a delightful read full of assassination attempts, betrayals, and love. The Westruthers are a tight-knit family and I hope to have time to go back and read books one and two soon as I so enjoyed the bits and pieces of them that were revealed in this book. I enjoyed Ms. Brooke’s writing style immensely and look forward to reading more of her work. 

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