How can anyone not love a heroine, smart enough to know what she wants and brash enough to set about trying to get it? Strong women characters are a huge plus for me, because so many times they are portrayed as secondary, more than the stars that they are. Amelia is a stunning example of independence. She's strong enough to follow her own rules and wise enough to listen when her heart comes calling. Nicholas is just the icing on the cake. He loves her strength and despite her a scandalous behavior, she owns his heart. The Importance of Being Scandalous wins my vote for a wonderful and empowering tale. ( )

The Importance of Being Scandalous, is a story about being engaged to a man, but then, the man you have always loved, returns from his Grand tour...but SO much more.

But I'm not going to get too much into the story, as I wouldn't want to give the story away. But I will say, I did like both Amelia and Nicolas from the beginning, but Julia! She truly stole the book for me!

When it came to the plot, I found it a little slow in the beginning, but it was only when the truth, and the insanity came to life, that the book really gripped me, and I honestly couldn't put it down! As it really did become a a splendid book!

I give The Importance of Being Scandalous 4 stars!
( )

Such a fun read!

The characters in this new series (Tale of Two Sisters) are a whole lot of fun. Of course I loved Nick and Mia--yeah, a conversation could have resolved much of their problems, but somehow Ms. Bell made it seem believable that they took so long to figure that out--but their supporting characters were just as much fun. Given the series name, you know that Mia's sister Julia has to get her own story (next? Please next?) but I've also got high hopes for Nick's BFF Jasper (*cough* Julia's story *cough*) and Jasper's twin sister Ruby...so much to look forward to!

This was my first book from this author, but definitely not my last. I really enjoyed Ms. Bell's sense of humor and her unique take on family life and friendship in Victorian England (I agree, it is such a shame that Prince Albert met Victoria before Julia. Though I know Ms. Bell will more than make it up to her in her own book. Did I already suggest Jasper as the one to help her get over the loss? Yes?) and cannot wait to see what the rest of this series brings!

Rating: 4 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. ( )

The Importance of Being Scandalous by Kimberly Bell

What a delightful romp this book was! Friends from childhood meet again when Nicolas Wakefield returns from a few years abroad. He has decided that Amelia Bishop is the woman for him only to find out that she is betrothed to another. His return and subsequent events gives them a chance but only if the betrothal is broken. With Amelia’s mother and Embry the fiancé working together to keep the wedding on track and Nicolas and Amelia doing all they can to derail it the situation is filled with wonderful events for the reader to enjoy. Throw in Jas, a duke in waiting, who is friends with Nicolas and rather decadent but delightful; Julia, sister to Amelia who has a physical problem that has put her on the shelf when all she wants to do is be normal and enjoy life; parents of the H/h that help and hinder; situations Julia helps instigate to help Amelia find herself free…and so many fun interesting things that happen throughout the book and it is one story that if you pick it up you won’t be able to put it down. I really want to know who Jas and his twin sister end up with, who Julia will end up with and…just wonder if this might be the first book in a series?

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC - This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )

4.5 stars - This review first appeared on A Weebish Book Blog

I have no words to describe how much I adored THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING WICKED. Having never read Kimberly Bell, I requested the book on a whim and now I have no idea how I’ll endure waiting until JANUARY 2018 for the next book. 2018! Gahhh.

This adorable friends to lovers tale features witty protagonists, secondary characters you’ll want to devour, antagonists you’ll want to murder, and a lusty romance that requires fire-proof undies.

Amelia Bishop wants out of her engagement to the overbearing and stuffy Embry like a bat out of hell, but the man won’t take no for an answer! She has no choice, with the help of her best friend Nicholas Wakefield, she concocts a scandalous scheme to scare the man off. Unbeknownst to Amelia, Nick has a plan of his own—to show her he’s more than just her childhood friend.

Nicholas leaned against a tree trunk. “I can still read you like a book.”
Of all the nerve! Amelia crossed her “What am I thinking, then?”

He leaned in close. Dangerously close. The coffee and citrus smell surrounded her as his eyes met hers and a jolt of awareness sparked between them. “You think I spent the last two years steeped in debauchery, bedding my way through the French countryside.”

The heat in her cheeks tripled. “Hardly.”

“…Mastering the sensual arts with voluptuous young women of questionable moral fiber.” His voice was pitched low, and it sent shivers rippling across her skin.
Amelia breathed in to steady herself, but it only made it worse. “Did you?”

“Master them?” He leaned closer. There was no room left between them. If either shifted, the front of her dress would brush against the fabric of his jacket.

Amelia nodded, eyes wide.

He was staring at her parted lips. She swayed forward, her own lips parting in response.

“Not really, no.” He backed away with a grin. “Mostly I learned about art.”

Nicholas is back after a two years of fun in France with his new—and my new book boyrfriend—pal Jasper and boy has he grown more handsome! It was so cute watching him wax poetic about his love for Amelia, even if he was a bit cowardly at first. I understand the pressure of family obligation and the need for parental approval, but sometimes I just wanted to smack him until he saw reason. Thankfully, he grew up and discovered his balls the courage to fight for his happiness.

“This is a bad idea,” he said.

“Why?”

“I can see all of you.”

Amelia looked down at her own thighs. She twisted around to check her backside. “I’m covered.”

“But it…” Nicholas struggled for the proper way to word it. “It leaves nothing to the imagination.”

She circled him, observing his own riding clothes. “Neither do yours.”

“That’s different.”

“Why?”

“Women’s minds aren’t as vulgar as—”

Amelia cut him off with her laughter. “Is that what men think?”

[*snort* Right?! What women has not heard this and thought, “you really know nothing about women.” Sorry, just had to add my two cents!]

Where Nicholas is more reserved and modest, Amelia is bold, curious, and anything but subtle. She’ll stand up for her loved ones and fight for what she wants at the detriment of her reputation. She was wonderful and entertaining as hell with all the shenanigans she caused in the name of “carrying out her plan.” (At some point, you know she started to enjoy herself.)

Our main characters were not the only memorable, beloved characters:

We have Julia, Amelia’s sister, partner-in-crime, and social pariah of the Bishop family. She was easy for me to relate to as we both have life-threatening illnesses, albeit mine are less visible and dramatic. She’s witty, sarcastic, and a character I wish was real. The two sisters were a riot! I wanted to join them on their mischievous adventures.

“At first it was nice. His lips were against mine and it was sweet. There was a definite chance for tingles.”

“And then?”

“And then he swallowed me? His tongue was in my mouth and it was so strange and I could barely breathe and it was…it was a lot. A lot all at once.

“His tongue—in your mouth?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know!” Amelia threw her arms up in a general plea to the universe.”

Then there is Jasper, Nick’s only friend outside of the Bishop sisters. He is wicked, self-indulgent, and nonchalantly heroic. He spent much of the novel matchmaking and teaching Nicholas to be himself and live on his own terms. He’s a walking, talking, oxymoron and I would love to see him and Julia paired up. Imagine the trouble they would get up to!

“What did he want?”

Nick untied his neckcloth and tossed it on the dressing table. “You know, in mannered circles, one knocks before entering a room.”

“Mannered circles are boring, populated with boring people who have sticks lodged firmly up their backsides. And not in an exciting way.”

“There’s an exciting way to have a stick in your backside?”

Jasper’s grin was wicked. “You left Paris too soon. There is a great deal of the world that you still don’t know about, Master Wakefield.”

“If it involves being sodomized, I left just in time.”

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING WICKED was a hilarious, incredible romp that I recommended to all historical romance lovers/romance fans who enjoy lots of laughter with their love stories. I predict many re-reads in my future. I have already added The Tale of Two Sisters series to my auto-buy list, and I expect I’ll be gobbling up her other books in the meantime.

This book was sent free for honest review by the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ( )