Not as good as the first but still cute/entertaining.

Review edited on May 29, 2023:
Downgraded from 3 stars to 1 star. I don't support zionists. See here.
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In contrast to its predecessor, Prudence's book lacked substance. More than half of the book was based on Rhys's lies and deception. Even though Rhys truly ended up falling for his heiress, Prudence found out about his lies way too late into the story.

Being a romantic, Prudence fell in love with Rhys when she saw him in heroic action. I could understand why she fell for him. She was innocent, naive and kind, which is exactly why Rhys fell for her. I think Rhys should have told her truth himself. Everything just happened too quickly in the end, with Prudence finding out the truth and leaving Rhys and with Rhys redeeming himself. All of that happened in the space of two chapters. However, I do think that Rhys redeemed himself and it was only fair that Prudence in turn tested him. I think their relationship would have felt more natural if Rhys's lies were revealed at about halfway through the book at least. But the saving grace was that I could truly see Rhys falling for her despite his lies.

I really enjoyed And Then He Kissed Her, the first book in Laura Lee Guhrke's Girl Bachelors series. The combination of a strong, intelligent heroine and a modern, compassionate hero, along with a plot that shows that love truly conquers whatever social conventions might prevent a couple from finding happiness made for a wonderful story that earned a rare five star rating from me for a historical romance.

What happened?

This story was a fast and easy book to read. I didn't find myself hating the process of reading. But I still was really, really irritated with almost every element of The Wicked Ways of a Duke. Oh how I hated the hero of this story!!!!! I know that I wasn't meant to feel so passionate in my anger toward him. I know that his sad, sad childhood was supposed to help me to understand why he was a complete and utter butt for 80% of the story. I know that I was supposed to see through his actions somehow. And yet I could not. Rhys, the duke of St. Cyres (pronounced 'sincere'-- ironic, since there is barely an ounce of sincerity in his entire being for most of the story), was a manipulative scuzbucket for 80% of this story. 80%!!!! He needed money. Lots of money. As it so happened, Prudence just came into a gazillion dollars of inheritance, and (happy day!) in order for her to collect that money she had to get married in the next year. What a happy coincidence! Lucky for him, it turns out that Prudence already thinks the world of him and would love nothing more than to be attached to him. Sure, she is not seeing the whole picture here and has an unrealistic belief in Rhys's noble character, but still ... she adores him. It should be a piece of cake for Rhys to just come up to her, state his intentions, and then marry her. Money problems solved. No, it's not romantic, but in a world where marriage is most often a financial transaction, it wouldn't be that unheard of. But does Rhys take the honest, if unromantic, path toward wooing Prudence? No. Instead he spends the majority of this novel manipulating her at every turn. Every single thing he does is with an ulterior motive. He lies to her. He manufactures situations in order to manipulate her emotions and intentions. He tells her just enough to make her believe him to be honest and open about his intentions, all while working behind the scenes to make her do his bidding. If this had all occurred for maybe the first quarter of the book it would have been irritating, but if Rhys had quickly realized that he was falling for her, it could have redeemed the entire story. Instead his manipulation of events gave every single moment a nasty feel. Their first kiss should have given me those butterflies that normally come out when two people are falling in love. Not this time. Why? Well, how was I supposed to believe that Rhys felt anything for Prudence when his every action was coldly calculated? I felt like every kiss, every moment, was just part of the facade. It was icky in every way. He never comes out to say that his feelings are genuine until the book is almost over. How am I supposed to believe that? When did his feelings change? Because of his actions for three quarters of the story I never got to fall in love with him as a hero. Instead I just began to hate him more and more.

Why?

It all goes back to Prudence. Sweet, innocent, Prudence. This is a woman who grew up humbly and now finds herself thrown into the English aristocracy as one of the wealthiest women in England. She's genuinely good. She sees the best in others. She is a total sweetheart. And she is in love with Rhys. After seeing him act the part of the gallant hero as she was working as a seamstress she has always believed that he is a wonderfully good man. Almost nothing can sway her opinion in this. I hate Rhys because what he does for most of this novel is manipulate the feelings of a good woman. He treats her like a commodity to be won, not as a person to treat with respect and honor. It was awful to read this. Sure, it all turns out in the end (after all, this is a historical romance. It's expected!), but still, it was hard to root for a relationship in this situation when the hero was such a cad to such a good person for most of the story. The scene in the lavender house was supposed to be this heart pounding, epic and sizzling sort of encounter, but it felt skeevy. Absolutely skeevy. That was not romantic. It felt manipulative in the same way the first 80% of the book felt. Ultimately, Prudence spends almost the entire novel as a glorified doormat. She is not strong. She is not independent. She is the 28 year old equivalent of a junior high girl who decides she's in love with the hot guy in her first hour class despite the fact that he always spits on her shoes and mispronounces her name every day. Sure, he's a jerk ... but he's sooooooo GORGEOUS, you know?

As far as writing style goes, it was a well written and easy to read novel. I think that this author is one I will keep on my radar. This particular story, however, did not work for me. I was too upset by the majority of the story to find much joy in the eventual happily ever after moments. I'm glad it all works out in the end, but I can't give this story more than two stars. It was okay.

Penniless seamstress, becomes an heiress, due to inheritance from unknown father. However, to keep the money she must marry within the year. Prudence is determined to marry for love, while Rhys is determined to marry for money.

Liked this more than I thought. It was well plotted and paced. Like most HR there was not a lot of depth or nuance but the characters were likable and the writing and dialogue felt easy and not awkward, other than a bit during one of the final scenes. And of course there was a hero in love and desperately heartbroken, which I love.

Prudence Bosworth/Abernathy & Rhys St Cyr.
Nice as expected. Credible and really touching characters.

Very cute - starts a little slow, but the hero totally redeems himself in the end.