The Wicked Baron is the first in the Blackhaven Brides series, set in a newly fashionable spa town on the beautiful Cumbrian coast, where the great and the bad of visiting Regency society turn local life upside down.Orphan Gillie Muir makes ends meet by holding genteel card parties for friends and visitors to the newly fashionable spa town of Blackhaven. But when Lord Wickenden, known as the … as the Wicked Baron, makes her a shocking proposal, her world is turned upside down.
Jaded and bored, Lord Wickenden has his own reasons for joining the house party at Braithwaite Castle. One of them is to oblige an ex-mistress by detaching her son from the local gaming den hussy who has ensnared him. But, confronted by Gillie’s unexpected charm and innocence, Wickenden abandons his original plan of simply taking her for himself.
Instead, he becomes embroiled in her bizarre problems, which include saving her reputation and her life, keeping the Watch away from her card parties, and hiding an injured smuggler who was once kind to her.
The infuriating and devastating Wickenden soon has Gillie’s heart in a spin. But when she discovers he means to fight a duel over her – and everyone knows the wicked baron never misses – she’ll go to any length to save his life and his soul. Even elope with another man.
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Loved this entire series.
The Wicked Baron – This was a freebie, but I really want the rest of the series now! Perfectly nice girl decides to ride the edge of propriety rather than starve to death and let her family be homeless — sounds practical and straightforward. Then she rescues a smuggler who has been shot on the way to deliver her illegal French booze, rescues his family after his house is broken into, delivers a list of English traitors who are smuggling more than booze in and out of the country from and to France, starts flirting with a very dangerous baron with a tendency to get into duels, had to figure out how to keep everyone in the county from giving her the cut direct for hosting “parties” –read illegal booze and gambling late into the night with mostly male attendants, try and protect her home from her supposed pregnant stepmother (and then rescues her from giving birth in a sketchy inn), and accepts the proposal from an old friend mostly because his mother was rude to her despite the fact that she is falling in love with the wicked baron. It got to the point where I would turn the page and snicker at the next mess Gilly got herself into. Very entertaining! Happy Reading!
Loved this book Highly recommend the whole Blackhaven series- read them in order if you can- one picks up where the last ended
“I’m being good. I just can’t keep it up for very long.” That describes Lord Wickenden, the Wicked Baron, perfectly!! I so enjoyed this story and from start to finish, there was never a dull moment. Between card parties, balls, smugglers and spies, such is Gillie’s life! When she meets Wickenden, her life gets even more complicated and when her heart gets involved, she must make decisions that are not necessarily right.
Not only is there excitement and danger in this story, there’s also humour which I always love in an historical romance. Some of the meetings between Gillie and Wickenden had me laughing out loud, they never went right for her! lol
I’m now looking forward to reading the rest of the Blackhaven Brides series!!
Mary Lancaster is a master of character development and world building. This little gem introduces the newly fashionable (fictional) spa town of Blackhaven and its collection of residents, none of whom is QUITE as wicked as the neighbors might think. Gillie Muir’s world isn’t exactly genteel and her problems are, well, convoluted. Lord Wickenden isn’t exactly evil but his plans are, well, a bit wicked. Which do you think proves to be the stronger of the pair.
Set in the Regency era in Scotland, Lancaster’s tale of an orphaned miss and her brother who have “card parties” (read as “gambling den”) at their home, while at the same time participating in “ethical smuggling.”Enter the book’s hero, Baron Wickenden, who has a reputation suitable for his name. Through a series of miscommunication, hiding a smuggler from the Watch, becoming embroiled in a undercover plot to catch unethical smugglers, the two fall in love and are married (as a surprise to our heroine) in the midst of a local regiment’s weekly ball. Oh, and before dying in Spain, the heroine’s father got married, and shows up on their doorstop, pregnant, threatening to throw the out of the house.
Things I didn’t like: the hero’s name (I know names are supposed to be important but ‘Wickenden?’ ), that the heroine & her brother would think card parties would be socially acceptable, even if they only invite friends of the family, and the mixed signals the heroine keeps giving our hero.
Things I did like: the heroine is independent & feisty, the verbal ripostes between her and the Baron, & the scene when they consummate their relationship (steamy but not too steamy, and honestly, the level my future relationships now have to meet).
4 out of 5 stars/would gladly read her other books.
I am so excited to start a new series by Mary Lancaster as she is so talented in bringing her character to life & pulling to in to their lives & you feel their pain, happiness & sadness. This series takes place in England on the coast of Cumbria & Ms. Lancaster’s description of the setting makes it so clear to see in your own mind.
Come along & read Lady Gillyflower “Gilly” Muir & David Keith, Baron Wickendon’s story. You’ll find smuggling, gambling, death, misunderstandings, friendships, disagreements galore, family loyalty, love, spice, danger & much, much more! This book has everything you could ever want in a book.
I highly recommend this historical romance to everyone & now I am off to read Book 2 in the series, The Wicked Lady.
I absolutely adored The Wicked Baron. Ms. Lancaster has such a unique voice and her story held me spellbound.
I very much enjoyed this book and hope to get the rest of the series when I can afford them.
Awesome for light entertainment; a fun mysterious romance for those who love this period of pirates and spies, England and France, ball gowns and spa towns. Mary Lancaster’s love scenes in the “Wicked” series have just enough spice to make you catch your breath and maybe enjoy a few goosebumps; nothing explicit, thank you, Mary!
Light hearted book. Enjoyed the series.
Good story with interesting characters
Bit of a different historical romance here – a resourceful young heroine who skirts the bounds of propriety by running a card room (AKA “gaming hell”) in her home – which also features smugglers’ tunnels and a brother who makes appropriate use of them. Hey, a woman’s gotta eat and pay the bills… The so-called Wicked Baron is something of a paper tiger in the presence of our virtuous but barely respectable heroine, and the deliciously slow slide into romance and HEA makes for great entertainment. Add the touch of comedic relief, courtesy of the local constabulary and a crew of bumble thumbs smugglers, and it’s an all-round good read.
I enjoyed this book. Gillie and her brother are trying to make ends by running a gaming hall which included banded liquor. She meets a baron with whom she knows she cannot have, but continues her association with him. The book has twists and turns and is an overall good book.
I loved this book, and the whole series. I am on book 7 out of 8 in the series. I love revisiting previous characters and relationships. This town is a hot bed of excitement.
I started with this book and was hooked ! I did not stop until I had read the entire series. Thank you Mary Lancaster for the hours of fun escape.
I enjoyed the book. Well written and easy read. Glad the hero came to be more understanding and helpful to solve the mystery.
Very interesting good characters and a great bad guy. Fun read
loved it
Many twists to keep you wondering.
Good book!!!