1813, and the Stanton ladies accompanied by Evangeline Pemberton are on the way to a house party at Blackberry Manor, the home of Lioncroft, a gentleman with a very bad reputation. The idea? With the help of Evangeline's 'gift' she will engineer a compromise between Lioncroft and Susan Stanton. What could go wrong - only a murder.
This is a Gothic romance, not a genre I read often or at all. But I loved the story and the characters, and the mystery. It is certainly a genre that I look forward to reading again, and especially this author.
A NetGalley Book ( )

Too Wicked Too Kiss is a darn good murder mystery. There's romance, of course, but the mystery kept me guessing until the very last. That rarely happens so this was a treat to read. There are a lot of emotionally damaged people stuck in a house together for a "country house party". There wasn't much party to it at all which is a-ok with me. This is book 1 in the Gothic Love Stories series. I've read one other of the four and they've both been good.

#EricaRidley #GothicLoveStories #romance #murdermystery ( )

I really liked that it wasn’t just romance, marriage and money that steered the plot. It was very much about finding the murderer who is hiding in plain sight and blaming a (for this crime) innocent man.

There was a large sized cast of characters in this book that made it even more interesting. As they all had something to hide and their own motivations for killing Lord Heartherbrook. Well, almost everyone. Some have no connection to the man or are children. There are a lot of theories and red herrings of who’s done it but so many of the people that Evangeline accuses end up being innocent. I remember thinking to myself that the next person that she accuses had better be the murderer or I’ll tear my hair out. Thankfully the next person was the murderer. Who I hadn’t suspected at all. I didn’t like the character but I hadn’t thought that they were a murderer so I was happily surprised.

Evangeline I thought was an interesting character but I was a little thrown off by her “Gift”. Mainly because I wasn’t expecting it. I liked that even though she could see and experience peoples’ secrets, memories and peeks into their future, it took a toll on her. She was left with headaches and feeling unwell after using her Gift, it wasn’t just ‘oh, wow, she can just do this amazing thing and there’s no affects on her in anyway’. It’s not something that she wants to use but she will to help people. The book would have been over a lot quicker if she had used it on everyone and swiftly figured out who the murderer was that way. The only person that it doesn’t work on is Gavin, aka Lioncroft/Lionkiller.

She sometimes acted holier-than-thou and was quick to judge often jumping to the wrong conclusions without enough evidence. I did think Evangeline was a very generous character that was mostly kindhearted but would often act as if she was, or knew, better than everyone else.

Gavin was a very dark, dangerous brooding character with a dark and violent past, perfect for a Gothic hero. At the start of the story he had shut himself off from his family or society for twenty years after being blamed for the death of his parents. And I think you can see it in his character because he just doesn’t know how to act around other people. Mainly because he doesn’t want other people in his house that aren’t family.

He’s the first one to be blamed for his brother-in-law’s death. And the only one that doesn’t is Evangeline. He is the very obvious suspect, especially after his parents’ death, his strong dislike of his brother-in-law and the fact that he threatened to kill him in front of everyone. So, yeah it wasn’t that surprising that he was blamed.

As the two of them end up working together to prove his innocence and find the real killer they end up growing closer and developing feelings for each other. There was a number of scenes with the two of them alone in empty rooms and corridors that would have caused a major scandal they had been discovered. Not to mention the night they spent together. Which is kind of funny considering how Evangeline was there to find Gavin and Susan in a comprising position so he’d be forced to marry Susan, when Evangeline and Gavin where more likely to be caught. And almost were a few times.

With it being a gothic love story I knew going into this book that it was going to be a dark story. Murder, violence, abuse and trauma. It wasn’t an idyllic tale of romance, there were many, many bumps in the road. I did think that the two of them might not even end up together and instead part ways. I wasn’t sure if there would be a happy ending for them. But I’m glad there was. ( )

Regency gothic delights!

Delightful gothic romp through four charming novels each with a different focus be it crippling psychic abilities, pirates and people with strange gifts. We have a bluestocking, a ton desirable, a rake and a governess, all with a different story to tell.
The full length novels are all Too Readable to stop:
Too Wicked to Kiss (Book 1)
Too Sinful to Deny (Book 2)
Too Tempting to Resist (Book 3)
Too Wanton to Wed (Book 4)
I thoroughly enjoyed these re-released novels that have now been published simultaneously. No waiting for the next in the series!
An added bonus for me is that I hadn't read these tales before.

An Author Collective 20 ARC via NetGalley ( )

Too Wicked to Kiss by Erica Ridley
Gothic Love Stories #1

Evangeline Pemberton is on the run. She believes her mother’s friend, Lady Stanton, will keep her safe from her evil stepfather. In borrowed clothes she is drug along to compromise Gavin Lioncraft...well to assist in compromising him so that Susan Stanton can marry him. Evangeline is NOT happy with the idea but is willing to do just about anything to remain safe from her abusive murderous stepfather.

The first time Evangeline and Gavin set eyes on one another sparks fly. Of course Evangeline is sure it is fear of a “murderer” that has her tingling but...is it? Susan is not ready to settle down even though she is ready to leave her mother behind. There is another young woman on the marriage market and she is not enamored with the man her father has chosen for her. Rose, Gavin’s sister, comes to dinner with bruises put there by her husband, and Gavin is incensed. The house party is off to a rollicking start with a dinner followed by dancing and everyone rather put out. Later...Rose’s husband is found dead but...who is the murderer?

This book had romance, plenty of people that could have killed a man nobody liked, some games, an evil stepfather, a woman with paranormal abilities often called a witch, plenty of people to like and a lot more to dislike. It was dark and creepy and just what it was supposed to be.

Did I like this book? Yes
Do I want to read more in this series? Definitely!

Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )