Practically Wicked

Practically Wicked (2012) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family)

Set in England in the 1800s

Miss Anna Rees is the illegitimate daughter of the notorious Mrs. Wrayburn, and has had a reputation since she was a child. The fact that this reputation has nothing to do what any action Anna has every taken has nothing to do with how society sees her.

It was a little known fact that Miss Anna Rees was unaware of her true age. According to Mrs. Wrayburn, her only daughter would turn nineteen come April. However, Anna clearly recalled repeating the ages of seven and nine, and her fifteenth year had been celebrated three times— twice in the summer and once in the fall. At best guess, she was near to four-and-twenty and her birthday fell somewhere between July and November.

Anna’s only friend has been her once governess and now companion, who pushes Anna to search out who her father was in an attempt to claim a life she has never been allowed to have.

Anna glanced nervously over her shoulder at the door. “Perhaps we ought not be doing this.”

Mrs. Culpepper calmly opened a small wooden chest and began to extract stacks of letters and papers. “Breaking into your mother’s sitting room? Too late, I’m afraid. But if needs must, I shall blame this escapade on you. Dragged me straight inside, you did.”

“I have been told I can be heartless.”

Mrs. Culpepper flicked her a stern look. “You shouldn’t repeat such nastiness, even in jest. It gives the words a weight they do not deserve. Now come along and help, dear.”

Once Anna reaches out to her half-brothers, she is invited to the country, where things are… not at all as she was expecting.

s(S)e’d spent a considerable amount of her time fantasizing about countryside strolls.

When Anover House was asleep, that was when she wandered its halls. But when it was awake, and at its wildest and loudest, Anna had retreated into books and her own imagination. She had envisioned herself walking in the beautiful, peaceful fields surrounding her imaginary cottage more times than she could count.

Unfortunately, reality did not conform entirely to Anna’s fantasies.

She stepped in manure within the first half hour which, for obvious reasons, had not arisen as a possibility in her daydreams.

She also runs into the only young man she ever met, and who she believed failed to fulfill his promise to call on her.

This story has so many lovely bits, from the two of them using words to resolve their problems, and apologizing when they have made mistakes.

Plus, this.

She felt good in his arms, a pleasant weight. At first. After a solid ten minutes of walking and making polite small talk, however, the weight became less pleasant and more . . . weighty.

Her scent still teased him, roses and sugar biscuits, same as it had been in the nursery of Anover House. And the soft curves of her legs tempted his imagination toward all manner of ill-advised but delightful imagery. But nine stone was nine stone and the muscles in his arms began to protest the burden before too long. It was a fine reminder of the hidden costs of chivalry and the price of getting one’s own way. It had, after all, been his idea to carry her back to the house.

It’s a lovely and sweet story, and I’m sorry I finished this series already.

Publisher: Stonesong Digital
Rating: 8.5/10

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