Wicked Angel

By: Julia London

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Forbidden love is always a scandalous choice....

She raced across the pasture, vaulted a fence, and landed, stunned and breathless, on top of the most handsome man she had ever seen. The bemused stranger stayed to capture the fancy of the brood of orphaned children in her charge, then stole Lauren Hill's heart with a searing kiss as he left. Lauren couldn't tell him she was a widowed countess fallen on hard times. She tried to forget him - until she saw him again at a London ball. The man who haunted her dreams was a duke, out of her class...and he was pledged to another woman. The ton is ablaze with talk of the ravishing Bavarian countess. Stunned, Alexander Christian, Duke of Sutherland, recognizes Lauren as the country girl who's captured his heart. Duty has forced him to pledge himself to another, to take his proper place in society and in Parliament. He wants one night with his blue-eyed enchantress, but will he be able to walk away from her again? Or will he risk it all to be with the woman who fires his blood and makes him think of a...wicked angel.

©1999 Dinah Dinwiddie (P)2013 Audible Inc.

good story...not a fan of the narrator

I grew to like the story, but struggled with the narrator. I'm afraid I will look to stay away from other books read by her.

Okay book

I would have given 4 stars for the story but it got so tedious towards the end. The two characters became tiresome by their flip flopping feelings. Too many flip flops for me. As always Anne Flosnik's narrating was excellent.

What is wrong with this narrator?!

Who hires a reader who literally can’t correctly pronounce easy consonants like f’s or v’s? I struggled SO hard to finish this book, and I cringed every time any words were said with randomly weird consonants but especially words like “bery” (very), “ob” (of), and “lobe” (love) as some examples. Seriously, this narrator is an embarrassment to the craft.

Great performance by Anne Flosnik

The book had too much turmoil. The angst between the lovers just went on and on salvaged only by Flosnik's performance. The author, though one of my favorites, should have left chapter 23 out entirely. The book would have been better without that addition to the misery. The ending was ok so don't give up on it.

Sweet with a bit of steam

Love the way this novel had some drama even though we all knew it’s a HEA. There was some depth to how anyone should feel when they’ve been rejected, just plain cruel and spiteful - this made the story more realistic. And, can we talk about Anne Flosnik, the narrator! She is good! Ever character had a very distinct voice filled with all the right emotions as appropriate. Very good lazy read😍

The narrator kept me from enjoying this book!

I really like the author. Her stories are usually fun to read BUT this narrator is the pits!! All her v’s and f’s come out as b’s! It is so irritating! So distracting! I tried to overlook it but it was impossible! I will not purchase another book by Julie London because of her!

Wonderful up to a point

I loved the story up to tjr last few hours. Humor, strong heroine, honest, sexy, very enjoyable. Then, it stopped making sense and became too angst laden for me b. Woe is me, I can’t , I won’t, you don’t understand. Hearts breaking. Luckily I was able to skip several chapters and didn’t put up with the angst. The ending was ok but a bit of a letdown after ALL the angst and hand wringing.

well written and narrated

I LOVED this book. It truly expressed how many pulls in different directions one may feel inside when making an important decision. Other reviewers criticized this book because of it but this is exactly what can happen in real life. You may feel tormented when making a decision and that does not make a story bad. I highly recommend this book. Wonderful romance and of course a handsome hero and beautiful heroine. Who can ask for more? :)

One of the Amazon reviewers wrote this condensed version about the book which I enjoyed reading, so here it is:
"Alex Christian, the Duke of Sutherland, carries a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. He is, of course, known in all of England because he is a duke, terribly handsome, very rich, single, young, and extremely influential politically. As he believes it is time for him to marry and produce an heir, he has requested the hand of an important political ally's daughter in marriage two years previously. They will be married within six months. He doesn't love the girl but is fond of her and knows she will make a great duchess. He is yet another one of those heroes that think love for a spouse is neither realistic nor desirable. Then his well-ordered life takes a sudden shift. He is hunting at his country lodge when he stumbles upon a country lady having a disagreement with a belligerent hog. He is so taken with her that he extends his hunting trip just to be around her. He knows it is all nonsense because of all his duke duties but cannot resist her for a little while. During this two-week period, their relationship is innocent and sweet. But his responsibilities require him to return to London and Alex never expects to see the lovely country lady again although it makes him very sad.
Lauren Hill is that lovely country lady. Although her speech, education, and mannerisms proclaim her a lady, she first encounters Alex as she is singing to a hog in a cornfield right before the animal charges her and she leaps over the fence and into Alex's arms. For the next two weeks, he observes her perform all sorts of manual chores and even sees her wearing her brother's old pants and shirt. He is shocked but pleasantly surprised to find that she has five wards, orphans, who she cares for and loves deeply. Lauren is totally taken with Alex and finds herself in love with him. She has no idea that he is a duke. Lauren lives on a run down country estate with her uncle, brother, housekeeper, a mentally challenged boarder, and the five orphans. She is desperately attempting to make a living from the old estate. Her uncle wants to her to marry and better their situation but Lauren has no desire to marry again.
Lauren's uncle, some years previous, had bartered her in marriage to a very old Count from Germany. She was married to the old Count for two years prior to his death. Since she had not provided him with an heir - a portion of the marriage agreement - she returned her inheritance, as his Countess, to the next Count and returns home to England penniless, much to her uncle's chagrin.
Now fast-forward four months to London. Lauren's uncle has forced her back into society so that she may marry well once again. She is introduced everywhere in London by her married title of Countess. Imagine both Alex and Lauren's great surprise when they encounter each other at a party and find that each bears a title. Neither one of them is very happy with the other because of the little secrets they have both withheld. However, Lauren is ecstatic to see Alex and then heartbroken when she is informed that he is engaged and will be married in two months.
Now the real story begins and it is a roller coaster. Lauren's uncle is blackmailing her to remarry well. She cannot waste time with Alex but he won't leave her alone. He seems to be everywhere she goes and although he believes he can never marry Lauren, he is obsessed with her. Of course, several very eligible men are pursuing Lauren and are very serious in marrying her. This makes Alex crazy with jealousy".

Overuse of profanity

Although some aspects of this story are good and the narrator was amazing, I cringed every time that the author used the expression ,"for Christ's sake." This particular profanity is taking the Lord's, name in vain and is very offensive to me. I guess I should not have been surprised that the heroine and hero were less than virtuous. This story teaches that lust overrules all other motivations and that this behavior ultimately leads to happiness. Nothing could be further from the truth in the real world. The 'Love" portrayed in this story is one dimensional based on nothing more than lust and physical attraction.

It was a little tedious

In the beginning, I liked the plot line and the characters even if I could barely listen to the narration, but the book starts to become somewhat tedious with A LOT of unnecessary drama. A few chapters toward the end could of been left out and I wished some of the characters had been developed better. I honestly don't know how I listened to it all the way through but I was invested and wanted to know how it ended.