The Trouble with Being Wicked: Scandalous Spinsters, Book 1 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Emma Locke (Author, Publisher), Marian Hussey (Narrator)

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He put her on a pedestal.

When Celeste Gray arrives in the sleepy village of Brixcombe-on-the-Bay, she thinks she's one step closer to leaving her notorious past behind. She even suspects the deliciously handsome - if somewhat stuffy - viscount next door is developing a tendre for her. That is, until the day Ashlin Lancester learns she's not the unassuming spinster she's pretending to be.

Now she has farther to fall.

After a decade of proving he is nothing like his profligate father, Ash is horrified to have given his heart to a Cyprian. He launches a campaign to prove his attraction is nothing more than a sordid reaction he can't control. But he soon learns that, unlike his father, he can't find comfort in the arms of just any woman. He needs Celeste. When he takes her as his mistress, he's still not satisfied, and the many late nights in her arms only make him want more....

Listening Length

11 hours and 28 minutes
Author

Emma Locke
Narrator

Marian Hussey
Audible release date

March 1, 2016
Language

English
Publisher

Emma Locke
ASIN

B087NV9T4Y
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	11 hours and 28 minutes
Author	Emma Locke
Narrator	Marian Hussey
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	March 01, 2016
Publisher	Emma Locke
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B087NV9T4Y
Best Sellers Rank	#262,285 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #2,855 in Regency Romance #15,331 in Historical Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #22,796 in Regency Romances

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

1,303 global ratings

5 star		40%
4 star		33%
3 star		19%
2 star		6%
1 star		3%

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Melody May

Enjoyed The Trouble with Being Wicked

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 23, 2012

Verified Purchase

For the past few days I have been reading an imaginative debut read by Emma Locke, which is The Trouble With Being Wicked. So, let me share with you the story and my thoughts of this sensational read.

Celeste Gray has been a courtesan for approximately 18 years. However, she's been looking for a change, especially when her friend Elizabeth Spencer is pregnant and need a place to give birth to her child. They headed to Brixcombe-on-the-Bay in the Devon area.

Ready start there new life, they meet Ashlin Lancester, Viscount Trestin. Celeste feels something she has never felt before when she encounters Lord Trestin. Which can only spell trouble. At the same time Ash is drawn to Celeste, yet he feels that she wouldn't fit into her sober lifestyle. He also feels he needs to keep his sisters away from Celeste. However, Ash's sisters seem to search out trouble themselves.

Ok my thoughts: The first couple of chapters I found a little slow. Sometimes when you are starting a new story to a series you need to have a build up for future story, so I found it was worth the time to get to know the characters in the story. I love how the heroine is courtesan. I found her intriguing. A girl force into being a courtesan, and wanting to make a change in her life. Sometimes it can be a challenge to write a character like Celeste, yet I really enjoyed her character.

Since Ms. Locke has one extreme, might as well make the hero the polar opposite, which makes the story more interesting. Especially when he wants to be the exact opposite of his father who was know for womanizing and making the rounds of the demimonde. I also love how Ash takes on a lot of responsibility for his family to make sure scandal doesn't touch them. Yet somehow scandal does find them.

Overall, I found the story well written and has me eager to read more about Elizabeth and Ash's sisters. I must say that this is a great start for the Naughty Girl series. Once the storyline got moving I found myself that I couldn't put it down. Plus, I had to know if Ash could get past the fact that Celeste was courtesan or if he found a woman with a pristine character. So, I hope that you might get a chance to checkout The Trouble With Being Wicked. I hope you are having a wonderful day and I will see y'all later.

*review copy*

7 people found this helpful

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Juliette Townsend

Fun Historical Romance

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 22, 2016

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Read this review here: [...]

So every once in a while I go on a mini shopping spree of free books from Kindle. This is the first book I decided to read from one of those sprees and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm never sure what I'm going to get from free books. I love a good historical romance, especially one where the heroine isn't your standard lady of the ton that follows the rules. Celeste is tough and a ton of fun. She's strong in the face of a man who isn't sure how to handle her. Maybe I love heroines so much like that because in an ideal world I would be that awesome. This was a great book to help me escape from the real world around me. Ashlin was a pretty good hero. I can't say he was my favorite book boyfriend. He was a little bit too goody goody and had more trouble adapting and accepting the situation in front of him than I would have liked, but I guess maybe if he'd accepted too easily there wouldn't be as much of a story. Regardless of that I thought this book was a ton of fun and a great free read. If you're a historical romance fan like me, I'd recommend picking this up! I even picked up the next couple. I was willing to spend money to spend more time in this world so that should tell you how much I enjoyed this book!

2 people found this helpful

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Sandigger1

Wow, this book has it all!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 31, 2016

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It has the angst of past family tragedy, unrealized love, and the sorrow of treachery. The story starts out with two friends who have come to the country so that one, Elizabeth, may have her baby and start over as the supposed wife of a sailing captain who is never home. The family history of tragedy presents with Ashlin the viscount who has sold the property and comes to check on the Captain and his wife but he finds two women alone instead. He is overcome with fear as he remembers his father the "rogue" who was killed by his wife who then kills herself with the same gun. The story is that she'd had enough of his philandering ways and is driven to kill him. Aslin fears he is just like his father. Ashlin and his two sisters have lived in the country out of society ever since. The story continues as Aslin falls in love with one of the women, Celeste, and the father of the baby actually shows up and drags Elizabeth back to town. Lordy, what a tangle but it gets even more twisted as Ashlin takes his sisters to town to find them husbands.
This does not end the way one would suppose, all I can say is you really must read this book. It is well written, keeps the reader guessing and is so poignant one is driven to tears! Definitely a keeper and of course I must get the next one because I have to know what happens to the rest of the characters. There are no cliffhangers and this book can be read as a standalone book. Excellent!

11 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

SOMETIMES WE ARE FORCED TO BE WHO WE AREN'T

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 8, 2018

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4 STARS to Emma Locke for this first book into her new Regency Historical Romance Series that is based on the Cyprians and the actions of being one, becoming one, and leaving the world of them. This is a well written storyline that has a great reading rythmn that makes it easy to read the wonderful deep soul searching of a man and how much of a woman's past is going to matter in the long run considering he has a title, sisters on the marriage market, he needs a wife and a heir and could he really love & trust a woman who has had more than 1 man before him; and besides him what about the Ton, and the other Lord's, any future child and just could he really deal with all of it with the gossip of the past against him & his sisters. Not forgetting in all of this tasteful deliberations the lovely Cyprian's feelings, is she playing him. These emotions grip you and don't let go until you have felt what the characters did but that's ok because they are so we'll done. Don't miss out.
WARNING: 18 & UP SEXUAL CONTENT: yes
Sexual Intercourse & Oral Sex

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Top reviews from other countries

DragonRose UK

Fab Story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

The Trouble with Being Wicked is the first book in The Naughty Girls series by Emma Locke.

Celeste Gray is a much sought after courtesan in London, but she wants to retire, leaving her past behind her. With that in mind, she sets up home in a cottage in Devon with her friend and fellow courtesan Elizabeth. The latter is pregnant and needed to be away from London for her confinement.

Ashlin Lancaster (Ash) is a Viscount and Celeste's closest neighbour. He lives with his two wilful sisters, both whom he wants to see married sooner rather than later. Unfortunately one of them says she won't marry at all, and the other wants to marry a man beneath her social station which Ash can't allow. He too needs to marry, and knows he won't find a wife in Devon. They plan to go to London for a season in which he hopes all three of them will find suitable, proper spouses.

Before the London trip, Ash and Celeste meet. She under a false name because her reputation precedes her. It's pretty much lust at first sight between them. Something that horrifies Ash. His father broke his mother's heart because he was a philanderer, one that slept with countless courtesans in London with not a care about his wife. Ash has been celibate for years because he fears that he will show signs of being a whore-monger like his father. When he marries it will be to a proper lady, one who will provide him with heirs, and one who he will love but certainly not lust after. He fears that Celeste will push him to his limits, and could also be a bad influence on his sisters. Not because she doesn't seem proper enough, but because she she seems too confident, too independent, the kind of women his sisters want to be. He vows to keep them apart, but as always, his sisters don't listen to him and they invite Celeste on many visits, or for walks, and he feels he needs to accompany them to make sure nothing untoward happens.

Unfortunately for him, Ash finds himself feeling more and more besotted with Celeste, but when the inevitable happens and he finds out who she really is, he is furious. She is the type of woman that his father dallied with which broke his mother. He is angry that he has feelings for her, and angry that her kind were around his sisters.

Celeste is distraught when Ash finds out about her and she realises she will never be able to live down her past. With that in mind she runs back to London. She doesn't immediately start seeing other men, but she needs to lick her wounds.

Ash and his sisters travel to London for their 'season' where Ash still hopes the girls will find husbands. He can't keep his mind off Celeste and sees her, asking her to be his mistress. It kills him that he can't keep away from her. He can't marry her, he can't love her, but at least he can bed her. Which makes him just like his father doesn't it?? He's very confused.

So do his sisters find men that he approves of, can he keep his heart safe from the type of woman he definitely cannot marry. Will his relationship with her be the ruin of his family's good name? He hates the thought that Celeste is his mistress, but there is no other option.

The passionate scenes between Celeste and Ash were steamy hot, not for those that like a nice staid read with fade to black sex. Their relationship was fraught with angst but between the sheets, or against the wall etc, they were perfectly matched.

The sisters were a delight to get to know, Lucy, well I certainly enjoyed the plot twist where she was concerned. Delilah, despite her name, was the more proper of the sisters, and her story is lovely. I enjoyed how we didn't just have the main couple's story, but that also a lot was happening with the sisters which kept the book exciting.

Poor Ash, well he gets a shock or two, and ends up questioning a lot about his life and beliefs. He is a loveable character even when he's being an utter snob.

I actually really enjoyed this story, despite some of the outcomes being something I think would never have happened in real regency times. But that's what I loved so much about it, it was like a fantasy, feel good, story where it all comes good in the end for all except perhaps one character. I assume his story will be next in the series. At least I hope it will be because he's a darling, if somewhat scandalous man.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and can't wait to read the next in the series.

2 people found this helpful

Reader

a trips down imagination road review

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 21, 2016

Verified Purchase

Title: The Trouble With Being Wicked
Series: The Naughty Girls Series (#1)
Author: Emma Locke
From: Amazon
Genre: Regency Romance
Release Date: 18th December 2012
Challenges: Online Book Club (February), Winter COYER 2015 - 2016
Links: Goodreads - Amazon

One of London's most infamous courtesans, Celeste Grey, has retreated to the country with her fellow pregnant courtesan Elizabeth. The last thing she expected while there was to have a man capture her attention, and Lord Ashlin Lancester has done just that. The last thing that Ashlin wants is to follow the path of his father and take up with a woman that isn't his wife. While trying to keep two unruly sisters in hand at the same time as juggling his feelings about Celeste, Ashlin doesn't know what to do.

I'm not too sure what I want to say about The Trouble with Being Wicked. I enjoyed reading but there were some points that just seemed quite drawn out. It was clear that the two lead characters loved each other quite early on and yet it seemed to take them a really long time to do anything about it.

I loved the inverted trope of the woman being the more promiscous one (basically this was a complete flip of the rake-innocent trope, though Ashlin was less innocent than the traditional Regency woman). It put the two of them on a more even footing to begin with as well as bringing up questions of propriety as well as if they could get past the past.

I liked Celeste, even though she was rich (from her exploits as a Courtesan naturally), she was very much the kind of woman who would do what was needed when it was needed. Saying that she did seem pretty clueless when it came to reading into how Ashlin was feeling (not that he as very good at showing it either!)

The ending was fantastic though, it not only brought together the romantic story but those of family ties too. It left me with a smile on my face which is what this kind of book should provide!

One person found this helpful

A Woman of a Certain Age

Rubbish

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

I downloaded this because it was free which is a great way to try authors you have never read before. Sorry but I hated it. Tried 3 times to get into this but couldn't ever get past chapter 3 before I just gave up. Hated the style of writing. No redeeming features for any of the characters. I couldn't care less what happened to any of them so I just didn't bother finishing the book. Which is very rare for me.
No way would I actually pay for something like this.

Frangipan

Great twist on the standard regency romance

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 26, 2018

Verified Purchase

I admit I couldn’t see how the hero and heroine could get their HEA amidst the strictures and mores of regency society so this was a fun journey. I look forward to reading more of this author.

Wendy J Maloney

The Trouble with Being Wicked

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

Awful book, turgid, slowly paced and badly written.
Apparently that isn't sufficient words for an Amazon review. Add no historical integrity.

One person found this helpful

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The Trouble with Being Wicked: Scandalous Spinsters, Book 1 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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