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Boys of the Zodiac #1
Aries: Riddle Me Wicked
On his first day on a dig in California, gunshots awaken Ian Tunbridge, an assistant curator of classical antiquities at the British Museum. The only way to save his life is to run for it, but luck is not on his side. At least, not until he meets Lucas Arpini, the brash American photographer who seems to have some sort of clue what’s going on. Together, they’re supposed to be the tools in finding an artifact nobody believes is real—nobody, that is, except Lucas and the man who has kidnapped both of them.
Ian doesn’t know what to believe. His colleagues are dead, he’s injured, and he has no choice but to put his faith in a gorgeous stranger. Their escape should lead them straight to the police, but when Lucas shows him pieces of the puzzle they were meant to solve, Ian is too intrigued to walk away. He wants to solve the riddle as badly as Lucas does.
Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones...
Gay / Contemporary / Action / Adventure / Series
252 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2010
7 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
Vivien Dean
76 books67 followersVivien Dean has had a lifetime love affair with stories. A multi-published author, her books have been EPPIE finalists, Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Nominees, and readers favorites. After spending her twenties and early thirties traveling, she has finally settled down and currently resides in northern California with her British husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 8, 2011
4.5 stars
"Riddle Me Wicked" starts with action, when Ian Tunbridge, a British assistant curator, finds his digging site in California ambushed by people with guns and his archeological team shot dead. Ian is captured and when he is put into a hole in the ground, he meets with Lucas Arpini, an American photographer who seems to know more about what is going on. Ian doesn't have any choice but put his trusts to this charming man -- as the two plans a run, dodges their capturer, goes roadtrip from California to New York to London, in order to solve a mystery of an ancient item.
This is one of the lengthiest story from Vivien Dean and it doesn't disappoint. She is definitely one of my favorite authors now, and an automatic buy. I love how she always "build a story" first before jumping into love-making scene, one thing that is very important for me. Her dialogs are easy to follow, her characters adorable. This book has adventures, witty humor & dialogs, and tender love making. PLUS, it has one thing that always increase jolt in my body when reading --- ROADTRIP -- because it adds the intensity between the two person involved. Very enjoyable read indeed.
"Riddle Me Wicked" starts with action, when Ian Tunbridge, a British assistant curator, finds his digging site in California ambushed by people with guns and his archeological team shot dead. Ian is captured and when he is put into a hole in the ground, he meets with Lucas Arpini, an American photographer who seems to know more about what is going on. Ian doesn't have any choice but put his trusts to this charming man -- as the two plans a run, dodges their capturer, goes roadtrip from California to New York to London, in order to solve a mystery of an ancient item.
This is one of the lengthiest story from Vivien Dean and it doesn't disappoint. She is definitely one of my favorite authors now, and an automatic buy. I love how she always "build a story" first before jumping into love-making scene, one thing that is very important for me. Her dialogs are easy to follow, her characters adorable. This book has adventures, witty humor & dialogs, and tender love making. PLUS, it has one thing that always increase jolt in my body when reading --- ROADTRIP -- because it adds the intensity between the two person involved. Very enjoyable read indeed.
July 14, 2012
This was a nice long adventure/road trip story with a bit of a mystery.
I liked both Ian and Lucas and read the story straight through, I might have liked a bit more info on Lucas's issues with his parents and more Ian and Lucas together with their developing feelings.
I got that Lucas had been crushing on Ian for a while but I wanted to see or hear more about them as a couple!
I liked both Ian and Lucas and read the story straight through, I might have liked a bit more info on Lucas's issues with his parents and more Ian and Lucas together with their developing feelings.
I got that Lucas had been crushing on Ian for a while but I wanted to see or hear more about them as a couple!
April 2, 2010
It's not often I actually want to get back to a story I've had to put aside for a bit, but this is not one of those that you even want to set aside for a fraction of time other than to eat or sleep which is a known requirement. The characters definitely kept the interest up, especially Lucas who is probably everyone's wet-dream, male or female. There's good plotting, an interesting ending that's unexpected and no rushing into sex scenes just to have them there.
December 12, 2010
It was a fun book. I liked it a lot I liked how the two M/C’s relationship developed. The story moved quickly and was well written.
There is not very much sex (I think they blew each other one time and had sex once) I didn’t mind the lack of sex because the story moved quick and they really didn’t have much time for sex.
There is not very much sex (I think they blew each other one time and had sex once) I didn’t mind the lack of sex because the story moved quick and they really didn’t have much time for sex.
August 26, 2017
Well, this book ended up being a bit different than I expected. I have to admit I didn’t read the blurb completely though. I chose the book based on the one main character being an archaeologist. So, I went into reading it thinking it would deal a ton with digs. It didn’t though. That was a very small part. The book was more of an adventure and run from the bad guys’ book.
I loved that the book kept me guessing. You knew that there was a mastermind, but it ended up being somebody completely different that I thought. What didn’t seem as legit to me is someone being able to figure out patterns quite as quickly as was done. I have a hard time believing someone can know parts of a language that they don’t speak or read.
Overall, I enjoyed my read. It was a quick and fun romp across the U.S. and onto foreign soil.
I loved that the book kept me guessing. You knew that there was a mastermind, but it ended up being somebody completely different that I thought. What didn’t seem as legit to me is someone being able to figure out patterns quite as quickly as was done. I have a hard time believing someone can know parts of a language that they don’t speak or read.
Overall, I enjoyed my read. It was a quick and fun romp across the U.S. and onto foreign soil.
February 2, 2020
I adored this so much it has an interesting story, with a few twists and turns I wasn't expecting but were perfect to the story. Ian and Lucas are a lot of fun from their first meting, I liked how Ian wasn't quick to trust him and Lucas admiration was so sweet.
The 'villians' were incredible too and added a lot to the story, from start to finish they were certainly a fear for our mcs. While the focus of this book was on a discovery, it was great to see Ian and Lucas get to know each other and develop a lovely relationship despite the situation.
I loved the ending! Its got a HEA feel and into many more adventures for these two.
The 'villians' were incredible too and added a lot to the story, from start to finish they were certainly a fear for our mcs. While the focus of this book was on a discovery, it was great to see Ian and Lucas get to know each other and develop a lovely relationship despite the situation.
I loved the ending! Its got a HEA feel and into many more adventures for these two.
September 20, 2017
I read this book straight through. The two main characters, Ian and Lucas, were interesting separately and great together. I loved the play on the American versus British personalities. The mystery was fun too and kept my interest. I would have liked more on Lucas's family and more on the relationship between the two men. That did seem to get lost in the mystery. Overall a great read.
Read
December 5, 2010I think that the tentative to have an adventure novel Indiana Jones style was quite clear, but more than the adventure part, it was the feeling of light comedy that has me make the connection; the novelty of Indiana Jones was to have a main character who wasn’t “exactly” 100% hero material. In Riddle Me Wicked Vivien Dean splits the Indiana Jones character in two men: Ian, the English professor, is the logic and Lucas, the American photographer, is the adventure. Both of them are essential pieces for the riddle, but they didn’t work alone.
I feel a great need in both men to prove themselves, Lucas to the world (his main target is, more or less, to have a Wikipedia entry with his name) and Ian I think to his own father, that in this moment has a academic CV that is bigger than his son, and Ian has to prove that he is as good as his father. But Ian is more a bookworm than an adventurer and it’s only thank to Lucas’s “negligence” that he will have his chance. That is, I had the feeling that both characters were quite lucky since, sincerely, it’s not that they are really good in uderstanding danger: like in the first scene, when Ian explains to Lucas that all his team was murdered just minute before, Lucas was like, “ops, I’m sorry, but we have more important things at hand to do”…
The story evolves then in a run for two in the US and UK, searching for pieces that will help Ian solving the Riddle to find the Blood of Sheol, an ancient artifact. Strange is that, more than their life or finding the artifact, both men are apparently more interested in knowing each other in a romantic way, and so the run for life becomes more a strange way of courtship. Even if in danger, even if with evil men behind them, Lucas is always ready to do nice things for Ian, exactly like a man who is courting his beau. And Ian, with all the discretion that is typical of his Englishman character, is kindly accepting the wooing and is reciprocating the feeling.
There is not really burst of passion between these two, but more a warm feeling: I think that is due to the fact that they are inline with their character; Ian is the typical coy Englishman, that is reticent to openly show his feelings, but when he is alone with the object of his affection he can be romantic and caring; Lucas instead I think he has a bit of “adoration” for Ian, first of all I think he has respect for Ian’s cleverness, and in a way, he thinks himself on a lower level than the other man, and so it’s like he doesn’t want to “impose” himself.
I think the author has other adventures in mind for these two since, even if this is a full length novel, their relationship is basically still in a blossoming phase.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602728011/?...
I feel a great need in both men to prove themselves, Lucas to the world (his main target is, more or less, to have a Wikipedia entry with his name) and Ian I think to his own father, that in this moment has a academic CV that is bigger than his son, and Ian has to prove that he is as good as his father. But Ian is more a bookworm than an adventurer and it’s only thank to Lucas’s “negligence” that he will have his chance. That is, I had the feeling that both characters were quite lucky since, sincerely, it’s not that they are really good in uderstanding danger: like in the first scene, when Ian explains to Lucas that all his team was murdered just minute before, Lucas was like, “ops, I’m sorry, but we have more important things at hand to do”…
The story evolves then in a run for two in the US and UK, searching for pieces that will help Ian solving the Riddle to find the Blood of Sheol, an ancient artifact. Strange is that, more than their life or finding the artifact, both men are apparently more interested in knowing each other in a romantic way, and so the run for life becomes more a strange way of courtship. Even if in danger, even if with evil men behind them, Lucas is always ready to do nice things for Ian, exactly like a man who is courting his beau. And Ian, with all the discretion that is typical of his Englishman character, is kindly accepting the wooing and is reciprocating the feeling.
There is not really burst of passion between these two, but more a warm feeling: I think that is due to the fact that they are inline with their character; Ian is the typical coy Englishman, that is reticent to openly show his feelings, but when he is alone with the object of his affection he can be romantic and caring; Lucas instead I think he has a bit of “adoration” for Ian, first of all I think he has respect for Ian’s cleverness, and in a way, he thinks himself on a lower level than the other man, and so it’s like he doesn’t want to “impose” himself.
I think the author has other adventures in mind for these two since, even if this is a full length novel, their relationship is basically still in a blossoming phase.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602728011/?...
July 18, 2016
This turned out to be a delightful surprise. It was incredibly difficult for me to get into, and actually took a few tries for me to make it through the first few chapters.
After I did finally get into it, however, it became much more engaging and even exciting in parts. I enjoyed the pacing and the characters and the travel. I'm intrigued that it's part of a series, possibly enough to find out what the rest of the series is about.
Some Favorite Quotes:
"I'm not so sure I haven't died and gone to hell."
"Hell would be warmer."
"In that case, I'm not so sure I don't want to be there."
"If I drop you, I'll even tell myself you told me so."
he had no idea if any of it was strong enough to survive the segue into the real world.
After I did finally get into it, however, it became much more engaging and even exciting in parts. I enjoyed the pacing and the characters and the travel. I'm intrigued that it's part of a series, possibly enough to find out what the rest of the series is about.
Some Favorite Quotes:
"I'm not so sure I haven't died and gone to hell."
"Hell would be warmer."
"In that case, I'm not so sure I don't want to be there."
"If I drop you, I'll even tell myself you told me so."
he had no idea if any of it was strong enough to survive the segue into the real world.
May 28, 2015
I don't really understand what the title of this book has to do with the book itself but it was very entertaining. The romance went pretty much without a hitch making a nice contrast for all the running around getting kidnapped and shot at. I'm a little disappointed they didn't get to find out if the Blood of Sheol was merely a myth or not. I kinda expected that to be revealed at the end and it wasn't. I get the mystery thing but it was still a little unsatisfying. Apart from that...it was all good. There's a couple sex scenes and they always seem to be aroused around each other but they're men and I guess it's to be expected. Also the author didn't try to make them have sex all the time to avoid furthering the main arc so I liked it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2012
I've r eally enjoyed the Boys of the zodiac books I've read s o far but this one just didn't do anything for me. I think it has to do with the career's of both MC's. I have no interest in what either of the MC's enjoy and it just didn't click.
November 12, 2011
more like 2.5 than 2
April 12, 2011
3.75 stars.
October 29, 2012
Wow this books started off slow, but the blow job sequence I just read was one of the hottest in any book!!
February 10, 2011
3.5
REVIEW TO COME!
REVIEW TO COME!
October 1, 2012
2.5 stars
February 29, 2012
Really enjoyed this one and would like to see a sequel.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews