A Little Bit Wild

In 1847 following a fruitless Season in which she pretended to seek a husband, twenty year old Marissa York decides to have sex. She chooses Sir Peter White whose charming words are seductive. However, lovemaking proves tedious to her as he humps away. An arrogant Peter says they will marry, her brother Edward and their cousin Harry catch them. . Edward informs his sibling she will be married, but he agrees White is not worthy of his sister. Their other sibling Aidan arrives with family friend Jude Bertrand. Once both are apprised of the need for Marissa to marry, Jude volunteers. An illegitimate but acknowledged son of a duke, he simply explains when asked why he replies because he likes her. Marissa is thankful for his kind offer, but he is not what she envisioned in a husband as he can't even dance. As they become better acquainted, she realizes Peter could dance but cared nothing about her while Jude takes the time to know Melissa the person. As she falls in love with her new suitor, he was in love with her for a long time. This is an entertaining Victorian romance starring a wonderful Prince Charming whose motive for marrying the fallen Melissa is simple though he knows she never knew he existed in spite of two introductions. Melissa at first seems spoiled but she proves a fast learner as she realizes you cannot judge a man by his clothing or his dancing ability. Readers will root for the heroic Jude who tenderly courts his beloved with little nuances like listening to her. Harriet Klausner

I'm so pleased that I ended up loving this book so much. The first two chapters showed a very unattractive side of the heroine, Marissa, and I actually stopped reading to go clean something! I was so nervous that this book would be the one that broke my lucky streak with this author. I have enjoyed every book that I have read by this author, and I believe I've read them all barring the novellas, and I live in fear of breaking that pattern. But I got some reassurance that the book didn't disappoint, so I picked it back up and quickly found myself sucked in. Marissa begins the story at a disadvantage with the reader. She comes off as extremely spoiled, thoughtless, and selfish. I also originally thought she was rather stupid, but I can excuse that because of the liquor involved in the scene. But she comes off as whiny and immature. She wants her way and doesn't understand why everything has to change. Well, she does understand, but she would rather just ignore it. I was afraid that I would dislike her for a while, but she actually grew on me pretty quickly. She quickly realizes that there are more people impacted by her actions than just herself and decides to suck it up and deal. Unfortunately for her, she has to deal with Jude, who is not at all her type. Marissa is attracted to the pretty boys. She likes the pretty, thin, graceful, rather effeminate men who dress well and look nice on her arm. Jude is large, and muscular, and not pretty at all. She has to learn to see past all her preconceptions and learn where the true value of a person lies and the difference between lust and love. The author made a bold choice starting the book out where she did. I really appreciated getting to see a character make a genuine mistake and have to deal with the consequences. Marissa was vain and way too caught up in appearances, but she was still a nice person. She slowly learned to value Jude for his true self. Her lust was much more easily engaged than her heart. Speaking of lust; I am so pleased to actually see a female character lusting after men. She didn't let her hormones rule her, but she appreciated a pretty man and a nice show of leg. She knew there was pleasure to be had, and she wanted to embrace it. It was nice to see a female finding many men attractive and not only being blind to it all until the hero came along. Jude was such an excellent hero. He was self confident, and he knew who he was. He was also an excellent judge of character. He had Marissa pegged shortly after meeting her. He didn't want to change her though; he wanted to revel in her enjoyment of pleasure and please them both. He was extremely hard to insult. Most of the time he just shrugged off irritating comments thrown his way, but when a comment from Marissa found its mark, it had impeccable aim. I loved watching Jude discover more about himself, but I was so sorry for him too. It's hard caring about someone who's quick to lash out because she

I love this authors writing style and her publisher's font (font can ruin the reading experience)! This is a historical romance that is bases around the York family. Marissa has been experimenting with men and gets caught. Her family attempt through the book to save her reputation and she become fake-engaged to Jude Bertrand. Jude has always like Marissa's spirit from a far and when the opportunity to become her fiancé he jumps at it. This book was excellent - I smiled the whole time I was reading it. Here are few more great book by this author; Talk Me Down, To Tempt A Scotsman (Zebra Debut),The Wicked West and Crazy for Love (Hqn). Looking forward to Midnight Kiss: Midnight ConfessionsMidnight SurrenderMidnight Assignment Due out-Oct 26, 2010 This author's 1stcontemporary novella in a special Harlequin New Years' anthology called Midnight Kiss. Her story is "Midnight Assignment."

I've read a few reviews excoriating the heroine for being a slut and having a bizarre predilection toward lustiness but the truth is that Marissa, the heroine, is a wild girl from a wild family. No doubt her brothers have been swiving their way through London and into the countryside so "[a]fter an endless summer of pretending to look for a husband in London, Marissa had thought to treat herself to a night of forbidden pleasure" during a house party at the start of hunting season. Unfortunately for Marissa, her deflowering is not very pleasurable. "She'd found clumsy fumbling, not to mention a bit of discomfort and lots of grunting. Perhaps this was why girls were ordered to keep themselves pure for marriage." But the worse part of Marissa's deflowering is that she is caught by her brother, her cousin, some maids, and is going to be forced to marry a man who "failed to meet even the lowest expectations of performance." She doesn't want to marry him, but she has to marry someone because she is totally and irrevocably ruined. Marissa has no good excuse for her behavior. She didn't comport herself as a young lady should. She says she was bored, drunk, and curious. At first the stolen kisses and surreptitious caresses seemed exciting but now that she is ruined and has to marry someone, she feels none of the titillation and all of the panic and awfulness of her actions. But she also chafes at the unfairness of it. No one would force her brothers to marry. Family friend, Jude Bertrand, offers himself as the groom. Jude is the recognized bastard of the Duke of Winthrop and as Marissa's brother points out, has no need to elevate himself by marrying the ruined sister of a baron. Marissa finds Jude to be a brute. She likes pretty boys, their elegant legs, their delicious curls, their soft hands. Jude is big, hard, and looked rough; nothing like a gentleman should look. Jude challenges Marissa at every juncture, using his superior experience to woo her in a different kind of way, appealing to her wild side. // "So," Aidan continued in a doubtful tone, "you may have sat across from her at dinner on occasion. That still doesn't answer my question. Why would you marry her?" "I like her." "Marissa?" Jude laughed at the doubt in his friend's voice. "Yes, Marissa." "She hardly seems your type." Yes, he had a known weakness for rather naughty women. Jude raised an eyebrow. "Apparently she is exactly my type." "Right," Aidan huffed, then rocked back on his heels to stare at the floor. Actually, Marissa had caught his attention the first time Jude had seen her. There was that brightness in her green eyes. Not merriment, but . . . transgression. It had always been disorienting, being surrounded by people who seemed to consider her the last bastion of calm and propriety in the York family. Yes, she was graceful and tall and lovely, but could no one else see the way her eyebrows twitched any time she overheard a double entendre? Did no one notice the way

A Little Bit Wild by Victoria Dahl Historical Romance -Aug. 3, 2010 4 1/2 stars Marissa York let curiosity and a little too much wine go to her head, and she disgraced herself with a fashionable young man in her family's sewing room. Now she has to marry! But Marissa has refused the offer of the young man who `helped' her get into this catastrophe. (Unfortunately, his fumbling about was so disappointing she did not want a repeat performance!) So her brother is determined to find her a replacement. Fortunately, her brother's good friend, Jude Bertrand, (the bastard son of a Duke), steps into the breech and offers to `save' her. For years, Jude has recognized Marissa's adventurous nature but he felt her youth forbade his pursuit. But now that she's older and in a fix Jude feels this is just the time to play the hero. I really enjoyed this book, because it explored the question of a young woman's burgeoning sensuality in a historical context when sensuality was hardly acknowledged. She has these feelings that she can't discuss with anyone, but they won't go away. Though the story is largely about sensuality, it isn't erotica, and descriptions of sex are not the point of the story. The book does a nice job of capturing that confused time in young adulthood when many conflicting ideas scramble for a toehold in a person's consciousness: looks versus character, words versus action, family versus society. Both characters are interesting and have real depth. I immediately liked them and became invested in their growing realtionship. This was a charming and absorbing read that I highly recommend! Reviewed by Adrienne from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club