cover image Wicked, My Love

Wicked, My Love

Susanna Ives. Sourcebooks Casablanca, $7.99 mass market (384p) ISBN 978-1-4022-8360-4

Victorian England provides a perfect setting for the madcap adventures of an English businesswoman and her lifelong friend. Isabella St. Vincent, a champion of women’s rights, helps run the bank formed by Lord Randall’s family. Her position depends on bank shares she inherited from her father. When a bank partner invests in false stock, she and Lord Randall stand to lose everything. As they search for the vanished bank partner, who was also Isabella’s only suitor, Randall suddenly sees that Isabella is much more than the annoying girl that he played childhood pranks on. Their quest puts Randall and Isabella in shockingly close proximity, and the few rules of their love/hate relationship begin to crumble. But Isabella believes that a romance between them would be doomed and doesn’t want to jeopardize Randall’s future in Parliament. Sensuous foreplay heats up the pages but never overtakes the captivating story or the charming, witty characters. Agent: Paige Wheeler, Creative Media Agency. (Mar.)