Upon a Wicked Time: A Regency Historical Romance of Passion and Determination

by Karen Ranney

He was her ideal husband, and she should have been his perfect bride...

Tessa Astley is everything a duke should want in a wife. A breathtaking beauty with a reputation that is positively above reproach, she desires nothing more than the love of her husband, the man she's long pined for.

Only Jered Mandeville doesn't want a soulmate, just a proper duchess hidden away on his country estate to beget heirs. He certainly doesn't see a place for his sheltered bride in his decadent life in London.

Tessa won't let her fairy tale slip through her fingers. She'd do anything to win Jered's heart. So Tessa starts a campaign to win her husband's heart by invading his home, his reckless adventures, and his bed—all to prove to her cynical duke that even a happy ending can be delightfully wicked.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Marriage Of Convenience, Regency, Historical Fiction, British Literature

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1998

About the author

I’m a writer who’s been privileged to have attained the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists.

Although I've primarily written historical romance, I've also written contemporary romantic suspense, a murder mystery, and I'm having a wonderful time writing about a vampire who is being challenged by her new state of being. (The Montgomery Chronicles: The Fertile Vampire and The Reluctant Goddess coming March 12, 2015.)

I believe in the power of the individual, the magnificence of the human spirit, and always looking for the positive in any situation. I write about people who have been challenged by life itself but who win in the end.

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Website: http://karenranney.com
Email: karen@karenranney.com
Twitter: @Karen_Ranney

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a DNF. I made it to 246 pages. I can't remember hating a book this much in awhile. The H treats the h cruelly. He weds, beds, and leaves her and she follows him around like a puppy dog. He flaunts his mistress and insults his own wife at parties.. I could go on and on about this horrible character. No redeeming qualities! The worst part is the h just smiles and takes it. "Who cares He just screwed another woman" now it's my turn.

[Jultri · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5. This one is a difficult one to rate. On the one hand, Jered's conduct in the first half of the book was just putrid. Yes, they were deliberate and designed to repel Tessa but he crossed the line too many times. Thing is, I really couldn't understand why he turned out so callous and irresponsible when he grew up in wealth and privilege under his uncle's caring guidance.

Tessa could have been the sweet, innocent doormat heroine for Jered to wipe his muddy paws on, but instead, she refused to be meek and disappear into rural obscurity. As she pointed out:
"It is rather difficult for the hen to lay an egg without a potent rooster". She also remained true to her warm and generous self, for even after she saw him fully for the inadequate and underserving man that he was, she did not turn bitter and jaded because it was not in her nature. Instead her fearsome mum did the fighting and threatening for her.

In the end, Jered did not quite complete his journey of redemption. The road to redemption would be a very long and arduous one for him, for he had so much to atone for it would not be realistic for him to completely turn himself around within a few weeks. Loving Tessa and appreciating finally how lucky he was to have her, but ultimately he was still so very flawed and still had a lot of self-improvement to be had.

Ranney is a highly skilful writer and even when I hated Jared and wanted to bitch-slap him to the blazes of Hades, she made me care for Tessa and shed tears for her pain. For that, I'm marking it uo.

was just Tessa Astley is everything a duke should want in a wife. A breathtaking beauty with a reputation that is positively above reproach, she desires nothing more than the love of her husband, the man she's long pined for.

Only Jered Mandeville doesn't want a soulmate, just a proper duchess hidden away on his country estate to beget heirs. He certainly doesn't see a place for his sheltered bride in his decadent life in London.

Tessa won't let her fairy tale slip through her fingers. She'd do anything to win Jered's heart. So Tessa starts a campaign to win her husband's heart by invading his home, his reckless adventures, and his bed—all to prove to her cynical duke that even a happy ending can be delightfully wicked.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bastard-behavior for the sake of bastardy. I love to hate this hero. He was a self-indulgent child.

Tessa- the heroine was great. I adored how in live with the idea of love and marriage she was. I loved her 'stand by her man' attitude, and I loved her when she said, "No." I especially loved her mother's unfailing support.

The hero had to grow up in this story - and it was a difficult row to hoe. The grovel was good and I enjoyed every minute of it.

[Lady Nilambari Reads HR]

It’s been 5 months, if I can’t be bothered to go beyond 30% I should give up. DNF.

[Blackjack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon a Wicked Time, Karen Ranney - I loved nearly all of this book and had just a few minor quibbles with it at the very end, which I'll get to. This book is dark and even Gothic in atmosphere and tone, emotionally intense and absolutely riveting. The basic premise is of a lovely young woman, beautiful inside and out, and her unconditional love for what she believes to be an honorable though jaded man. Tessa is not blind to Jared's notorious reputation upon marrying him at the start of the novel. She's part of the ton and has heard the whispered gossip of his escapades with his equally notorious "friends." She simply believes that love will conquer all and her stubborn adherence to this maxim places her in grave danger while also assuring her, paradoxically, the happy ever after she craves. Her parents serve as examples of a passionate and lively marital counterpart to hers and Jared's marriage. But Jared's parents too serve as a less fortunate role model to the young couple. I found it interesting that both sets of parents play such a pivotal role in this drama.

I viewed this book as almost two distinct parts: the marriage before Tessa's tragic accident and the marriage after it. Prior to the tragedy, Jared is a fascinating contradiction of a jaded and somewhat corrupt nobleman. He's intent on preserving the privilege of his status as an aristocrat and as a man entitled to all the attributes a married male peer can claim, including mistresses on the side and a solo life in the city with a countrified wife tucked away for his convenience. On the other hand, Ranney does such a deft job of showing Jared's frustration that his wife appeals to him on levels he cannot even put into words. He's sexually enthralled by their nights together and he's steeped in admiration for her endearing qualities. In short, he's falling in love very early in the book, and almost no where have I read such an extreme example of someone kicking and screaming their way into love and happiness. His fight to keep Tessa at a distance is discomforting to read, though I did note that the tender and affectionate moments between them equal the amount of times he's a true bastard to her. Ranney's plotting is quite skillful. Jared's act that puts Tessa over the edge and sets calamitous events into action brings an abrupt halt to the first half of the book. The second half is Jared's reform, but it's also Tessa's awakening to her own needs and past behavior.

Unlike many readers, I didn't feel impatient with the first half, but I did grow a little impatient toward the end with Jared. My other quibble is that I don't know if I fully understand self-destructiveness in people. I know addicts that seem bent on self-destruction and on a cerebral level, I can even sort of understand their addiction. But I do not fully grasp, or perhaps sympathize is a more apt term, the ways in which a person can knowingly throw their lives away. Jared is not an addict, but he is clearly self-destructive and unwilling to embrace happiness, and that was a concept difficult for me to embrace here. Nevertheless, this was a very compelling and exciting book. I loved it and thought about it frequently throughout the days that I was working and unable to return to it.

[Susan (susayq ~) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I know what you're thinking...why didn't you care for this book? It was the hero, Jered. I HATED him. He was cruel, arrogant, unfeeling and insolent. All towards his wife. I mean, what kind of man doesn't get rid of his mistress when he gets married and then kisses said mistress in front his wife? What kind of man brings his wife to a seedy tavern to have her witness...I can't even begin to describe what he made her witness, YUCK! In my opinion, Jered never redeemed himself properly enough for Tessa to be with him in the end; saying "I love you" doesn't redeem him. He didn't even properly apologize for all he put Tessa through.

Now Tessa...she was AMAZING! In her naive innocence, she followed her new husband to London and invaded his escapades. This is a woman who showed up in the middle of her husband and friends robbing a stage coach (Hubby is a Duke. Did he NEED to rob the coach? No, he did it for fun). Tessa is a woman who went to the theatre, saw her husband there with friends (and dates for friends and him) and proceeded to tell him (and the rest of the audience) what she thought of the cheap date and how he should use his cock (her words, not mine LOL) Finally, Tessa had enough and Jered got what he wanted - Tessa to leave him alone. However, something happened to Tessa and it made Jered realize he loves her. But when his plan to woo her after her recovery failed, Jered retreated to his former jerk-self. Tessa called him out on it and he attempts to change AGAIN and everything is hunky dory for them. UNBELIEVABLE. And Jered still sucks.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. I picked it up because marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes. When I started it, I thought for sure it would be a 2-star read, since the prologue didn't stand out to me. I also assumed it would be an instalove/instalust situation.

Boy was I wrong.

Turns out this book is a pretty good character study of the hero, Jered—because he's the jerk who needs to change, while the heroine, Tessa, is basically amazing. The path their marriage takes is not one I've read before, and it was really interesting. The ton takes a back seat to their relationship shenanigans, with much of the story set in less savory venues than ballrooms and parlors.

Back to Jered. He takes FOREVER to come around and own up to his many, many, MANY mistakes, while Tessa quips and questions her way through their relationship, showing remarkable insight into his character and making him distinctly uncomfortable with little effort. I loved her. She was strong, innocent, smart, and funny. She also wasn't the typical beauty, which I thought was interesting for a book from 1998, when many heroines were cookie-cutter beautiful.

However, I never connected with Jered as a character. There is plenty of info about him, but he never seemed all that special to me. Maybe because his wife stole the show. However, if she'd been less strong a character, I think I would've liked the book less, and still wouldn't have cared any more for him. I do think his inevitable grovel was really good—even if getting to it was a little slow-going. Toward the end the book started to feel really uneven. Other POVs that I didn't care about popped up, and there was a near-death experience along with a high seas adventure thrown in.

The writing was eloquent at times, although the grammar was just bad in several places. It wasn't terribly distracting for me, but definitely noticeable. The characters also had the annoying habit of referring to themselves in the third person in their own thoughts (especially Jered), which I thought was weird.

Still, this book wasn't a total loss. It ended up surprising me in a number of ways, and by far exceeded my expectations. It won't be a keeper for my shelves, but it was a worthwhile read.

[L8blmr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love it when a book gives you more than you expected from it! I picked up this one as a "light" read while I work my way slowly through "Lover Enshrined" and "The Fiery Cross" (savoring every word). Well, this book was no lightweight! Yes, the formula is an old one, but not often done as well as Ranney wrote it. We have a jaded, rich, and insufferably arrogant duke who wants a meek, obedient wife to bear him an heir. Instead, he gets the young, outspoken, and eternally curious virgin with stars in her eyes who has loved him forever. Of course, they are well-matched in bed, but nowhere else. Wonderful dialog between the two, and internal musings that develop the characters in a mature and sophisticated fashion, without being pseudo-intellectual or wordiness for show. Add some humor, adventure, and hot bedroom scenes, and you can't lose. There are some erotic settings and coarse language (as our hero strives to demonstrate his depths of depravity), so be warned if these offend you. If you enjoyed Katie MacAlister's "Noble Intentions", you'd probably lke this one, too.

[Adi Rocks Socks · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

I tried my best to like this book. I really did.

Ranney's writing had that eloquence that I like in historical romances, and that's one of the main reasons I went on with this book despite falling out of love with it around the halfway mark.

Marriages of convenience, when done right, are a great plot device -- with some mutual pining and "only one bed to share" dilemmas, they're fun to read; a perfect historical romance escape. There's just one caveat though, the main characters need to be fundamentally likeable people.

I'm not saying the character needs to be universally liked. Anti-heroes make for great protagonists too. Unfortunately, the main character here wasn't an anti-hero, he was just a regular asshole.

Upon A Wicked Time is a historical romance with a hetero couple as the MCs -- Tessa and Jered. Jered doesn't believe in marriage, and that's a valid POV. He even cheats on Tessa initially and that's excusable to some extent because he's not yet in love with his wife, and love and lust are two different things. But then he flaunts his paramour and brings her to gatherings where his wife will be, to rub it in her face. He openly puts her down, humiliates her and pushes her buttons to see when she'll finally snap -- it's all a game to him.

A lot of Jered's actions came across as abusive and manipulative. While childhood trauma can only excuse certain behaviours or responses, it is not a good enough reason to be an asshole.

When the chapters are from his POV, it's easy to see his arrogance and entitlement.

At one point, they're all stuck on a ship that faces a storm, and this is what Jered has to say about his crew who's onboard with him:

"And even if they could, he doubted any of the men aboard this ship had as compelling a reason to save themselves as he."

So the rest of the non-blue-blood crew, who have their own lives and families, cannot be in love the way YOU are? You don't have a monopoly on "being in love", and just because someone is "of a lower class" doesn't mean they don't have reasons to live either, ugh.

That was just one example of his entitlement. The book is rife with other such instances.

Thankfully, after a fight which involves guns, Tessa has the good sense to leave him and recover at her parents' place from her injury. It's only after she leaves him that he realises he's in love with her. His solution to all of this? To kidnap her one night from her parents' house to take her to Scotland, all while she still needs proper medical care -- because who needs doctors when you've got LOVE. 🙄

I liked Tessa's parents -- once they realised Jered is a terrible husband, they stand by Tessa, look after her, and urge her to stay away from him.

And when, as in most historical romances, the female protagonist forgives the male one for their abusive behaviour, though we're expected to accept the fact that Tessa still loves Jered, Tessa's parents are protective and pretty much tell Jered to his face that he doesn't deserve her.

Overall, despite a really good style of writing, this story and its characters were terrible. I'm willing to give Ranney's books another try, because no other book of hers can have a main character as awful as Jered, right?

[Darbella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tessa and Jered. Well written. Mean old school hero. Published in 1998. This a romance where one wishes that the heroine would fall in love with someone else. Jered is immature, mean, selfish, and wicked. He had no respect for Tessa-(marriage of convenience trope) he went out of his way to break her and have his way. Though the hero did not have sex with any woman after they married he did give his mistress a long kiss, went out with ow to events, and exposed a bar maids bosom and fondled her nipple with Tessa sitting beside him. In this story I consider those actions as cheating. It is hard to cheer for a hero when even his own uncle is concerned that he is evil not just wicked, when he forces his wife to watch a prostitute "show" a younger man a good time, when he leaves for without telling where he is going sometimes for days and days, when he takes her to a bar and gambles his money away before the highlight of the night is two prostitutes take on as many men with the one who has had the most sex the winner of the night money wise. Selfish. Mean.
Tessa fell in love with his painted portrait and it turns out the special look on his face was him lusting after another woman. I could never figure out why she still loved him after all the mean things he did to her. Then at the end, she made it sound like the things he did that are crazy was noble. (insert side eye). Run, Tess, Run.
On the positive side I loved her parents. It was nice seeing a couple with seven children so in to each other. I wish that should would have found a hero that was awesome as her father. Sigh
Reread May 2022. Still 3 stars. The hero was mean to her most of the story. I wish the heroine would have found someone who was not such a jerk. Seeing him "teaching" her about the wicked side of life did him no favors and his treatment of her is so horrible for most of the story. He is such an unlikeable hero that I really wished she would have found a new love. He clearly was not the crush guy she fell in love with as she looked at his younger portrait. I believe all historical romance should have an hea, but in this case and The Coming Home Place I would have really welcomed a new love interest for the heroine. HA!

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look I love a tortured alpha duke in a super unhealthy way but even this guy was beyond redemption for me

[Adriana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the way Karen Ranney writes.


I hate the man in this book.

[Monique Takens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tessa en Jered ontmoeten elkaar voor het eerst wanneer zij 16 jaar oud is en Jered is tegen wil en dank enorm gecharmeerd van haar . Drie jaar later trouwen zij maar na de huwelijksnacht vertrekt hij meteen naar Londen om zijn vrije leventje van daarvoor weer op te pakken . Maar Tessa is sinds die eerste ontmoeting verliefd op hem en reist hem achterna , want zij voelt aan dat er meer in zit met hem dan alleen een verstandshuwelijk . Maar Jered heeft in zijn tiener jaren geleerd dat houden van = pijn , dus Tessa krijgt heel wat te stellen met hem voordat ze hem kan overtuigen om zijn gevoelens te onderkennen en te uiten .
Het is best een zwaar verhaal en ik kan begrijpen waarom andere recensenten aan hebben gegeven dat zij of het boek niet uitgelezen hebben of wel uitgelezen maar laag gewaardeerd hebben vanwege de stelselmatige vernederingen die Jered Tessa aandeed .
Dit is een zeer goed geschreven emotioneel én sensueel verhaal .

[Chanel Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lady’s Man can be a hard romance to read if taken seriously. Especially for mom. It can sometime’s lead to the hero and heroine being in a committed relationship and the hero decided to cheat. Mom... Well I will let her explain.
Okay so I am not found of cheating when the characters agree, and one believes them to be in a monogamous relationship. It is my one big No No rule. That being said I believe if I’m clauses to this rule. One being if neither partner not has not asked for monogamy in a relationship and it is not expected than the hero, or heroine, is given a free pass. In my opinion that is exactly what happened in this book; I would also like to state that Jered, the hero, did not cheat but it was out of luck and less that his morals or obligations stopped him. Okay back to you.
Why thank you mother. Anyway this book was an amazing read. I would like to state that the meanings and wisdom gleamed can very upon each read which is why certain books can acquire a vast amount of stars from one reader and a scant few from another. Mom and I found this book to be one of those thoughtful stories, with a little bit of romance, maybe even a slight tint of bodice ripper, insanity. It look at love and wanting to change someone for the better we’re very interesting. Change can not be forced upon someone and when you love someone should it not at least be some part, if not complete the whole, of who they are. It also looks at the idea of loving someone, whether we like it or not will change us in someone way. It really was a fascinating and enjoyable read, with sometimes of difficulty due to the hero, Jered, being hard to read. We recommend this but understand if you but it down for not finding the roses we did. The thorns are every sharp on this one.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read June 8, 2018

I love Tessa! She's strong, naive yet wily and is willing to show Jered just how stupid he is.

[Ellie Dockerty-Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lacked sufficient grovelling

[Carrie Olguin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! The Rake and the innocent whose love and persistance strip the hero's hardened shell that covers the suffering, wounded little boy hiding inside and then heals him.

Through an arranged marriage the innocent Heroine marries a duke (a man who always gets his way, pure alpha male), knowing who he is and how he lives his life. Even though she knows he may never learn to love her as she loves him, she is determined to be part of his life as a friend and companion.

The hero is determined to teach his bride her place in his life, a very small place, that will not interfere with the wicked entertainments he enjoys. He plans for her to stay in the country, demure and bidable, taking care of their children, while he remains in town with his mistress and friends.

But the heroine's innocent, ardent and enthusiastic surrender on their wedding night stirs frightening feelings inside him. The next morning, he flees to London.

She follows (under the pretence of begetting an heir), becomes a stalker, finding him at his various entertainments, trying to convince him she is a suitable companion, a life long friend he can trust and rely on. She will not be ignored and left in the country to die of loneliness.

She tries to understand him and shares with him what she discovers about his behavior - which stirs his long buried conscience and emotions, which infuriates him.

The heroine is a delighteful mix of curious innocence (she asks interesting questions) and a girl blooming into womanhood (makes shocking statements to gain the hero's attention). To secure her man, she risks everything, her heart, her reputation, her future, even her life.

Every time they draw close, the hero pushes her away. Angry with the burning attraction between them that he cannot ignore, he tries to destroy the innocence burning in her eyes, tries to prove he is unworthy of her adoration, tries to shame her, horrify her, make her leave him alone. As time passes, she creeps into his thoughts, burrows under his skin. She makes him feel, reflect on the past, question who he is and how he behaves. Basically, she frightenes him on a very intimate level.

She endures his rebuffs (and wicked behavior), time and time again, swallowing the hurt his actions cause while giving herself freely in bed.

Few heroines have the courage or perserverance to tame a hardened rake. This heroine gives her all to understand the man she loves, to heal his wounded heart and save him from himself.

[Ilze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aside from the beautifully written prologue, the first half (plus a bit) of the book was not very emotionally involving - Jered is a total a$$hole and jerk while Tessa seems terminally dumb for following him around and trying to get under his skin. And most of us know that in real life jerks and a$$holes tend to stay that way, unfortunately ...

But after Tessa is badly injured when she finally decides she's had it with Jered and runs away from him, things turn around and the rest of the book is fabulous. I guess if your wife almost dies because of your stupidity, and then you almost kill yourself and her as well in a silly bit of arrogance on a yacht as a winter storm is approaching, you might take a long hard look at yourself. Which is what Jered does and finally redeems himself.

I could have easily dropped the book at any point in the first part up to the injury and forgotten about it. On the other hand, Jered's dreadful behaviour in the first part of the book is the setup for his change and redemption in the second part, so in that sense I guess it was necessary. And Tessa is a terrific heroine, even when her love for Jered seems to be a lost cause.

[Salina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made me so very angry. I hated the "hero" (in quotes because he is in no way heroic). He was a jerk bordering on psychopath throughout the entire book. He does terrible things to the heroine and obviously has no respect for her as a person. The heroine was the worst though. She puts up with all of this and just keeps coming back for more and then she decides she is "in looooove" with him for no reason I can see but the crush she had in him as a teenager. The book tries to resolve all of this a have the "hero" confront his behavior but this really fell flat for me and seemed like they were looking for an excuse for his terrible behavior.

[Lady Darcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tessa Astley is the most amazing heorine I have ever read. Her determination to win the love of Jered Manderville is truely amazing. Traking him down at the race track, visiting his mistress, being outspoken and having everyones attention on the two of them is super fun to read about.
All Jered wanted was for Tessa to stay in the country and leave him alone, but as fate would have it he ends up with a women who would have non of that. Now as he trys to battle his deteminde wife, he has to battle his growing feelings that he didnt want it the first place.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, I was a bit disappointed with this book. I generally like Karen Ranney, which provoked me to pick up this title but for a multitude of reasons, was not particularly pleased with this one. Her plot line is insufferable- I could not become excited at anything. Her characters were stubborn to a fault; I doubted happiness to ever speckle their existence. I read romance to be happy and this one made me decidedly unhappy. I have a few quotes that at least intrigued me and will take those away. Other than that, not one I would recommend to regular romance readers.

[KC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Contrary to the title, I had a boring—not wicked—time reading this. The dialogue came off as bland, as did the characters, plot and love scenes. As a result, I couldn't get into the story and felt anxious to finish the book so I could move on to something more exciting. Unlike some of the other reviewers, the hero didn't bother me. Or rather, I didn't care enough to be bothered.

I know authors pour energy, time and probably even love into their books so I don't enjoy giving a negative review. What appeals to some won't appeal to me and vice versa.

[Yuni · Rating 2 out of 5]

One thing for certain, I hate Jered. I don't understand his actions. To make his wife go back to country, he shows his mistress in front of her and what? flirt (I'm trying to be nice here) with a waitress publicly? I don't care you are a duke or what but you are stupid!

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were too many things wrong with this book to bother wasting my time cataloguing them all! The hero was one of the worst I've ever read, truly just an enormous wanker - an emotionally constipated, immature, clueless, selfish garhave person - who made the heroine look a fool for endlessly hanging in there based on a childhood obsession with no real understanding of who the hero is.

Some interesting peril for the heroine except that the hero never seems all that concerned about her. In fact he's blatantly written this way in the wake of her injury: "...no other emotion flickered on Kittridge’s face. Not concern, not compassion, not guilt. Nothing." He is completely uninvolved in her care and recovery, not even living under the same roof; and when he finally checks in on her many weeks later he's both cold and cruel.

Later his own life is at risk but #&*% if I feel anything but annoyed that he survives the book. His "redemption" falls short, and the heroine is his doormat.

[Sc · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was hard to rate. A lot of contradicting feelings involved:

1) The premise of the book was quite good. Marriage of convenience with obstacles and angst. Who doesn’t love a rake with issues, right?
2) But this particular rake was just evil to the core. It felt like the author wanted to give him a background story as to why his behaviour required him to be an asshole. But some of his actions were just truly, truly awful.
3) The heroine was intelligent, vibrant and her sense of innocence was one of her endearing qualities. But, she was also pictured as constantly questioning which I don’t think the H appreciated enough even towards the HEA.
4) The ship wreak scene didn’t do it for me. I couldn’t understand why the author had to insert a sea voyage just to give the H a chance for redemption. Also, despite his moment of selflessness, several innocent men died because of his initial arrogance
5) Perhaps the only characters I liked all throughout the book were the h’s parents. Secondary characters more emotionally stable than the H/h - hence, the 2.5 out of 5 stars.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite possibly the most despicable hero I have ever read with almost no redeeming qualities. Almost sociopathic in his treatment of the heroine. It takes a turn after he almost gets her killed, but frankly his behavior is so horrific that he deserves to suffer as much as he does. I love assholes, alphas, and rakes so I just assumed the other reviewers were being overly critical. They are not. Jered is really awful.
The heroine was lovely and frankly I wish she had tried to divorce him.

Ranney also writes with this weird detachment so it makes it really hard to get emotionally invested in her books. Though I will say the back half was much better so maybe that’s just her style. Overall I don’t love her writing style, i had a hard time connecting with the characters and wouldn’t have been sad if the hero died a horrible death. Yeah he sort of tries at about 60% but it’s pretty half assed and there’s no real accountability. IMO, the hero still didn’t go far enough to redeem himself.

There are better books out there that have done this trope.

[Laine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny how the prostitute with a heart of gold gets almost universal acceptance but a rake with a vein of gold gets bitter hate and low ratings. The author gives lots of ammo to despisers of Jered but also plenteous hints that Tessa's instincts as a gold miner are justified. The fairytale first kiss in a woodland setting that ignited the girlhood crush and the first bedding after what he contracted as a marriage of convenience were a pleasant surprise in a hardened rake with a reputation for being unfeeling. As sometimes happens, the compatibility continued in bed but nowhere else. So then it's a question of what quenches what. Does sexual harmony spread out to douse bad behavior elsewhere or do clashes outside the bed poison the joy of sex?

This romance is a power struggle between a bride who wants to change a rake into an uxorious husband like her father and a man who due to youthful trauma wants to keep her at arms length like many marriages of the ton where he as a Duke is a superstar with no one to say him nay. Therefore Tessa the woman sees their private intimacy as encouraging whereas Jered the man finds it both frightening and fascinating. Guess who wins? Well they both do but one viewpoint of how to get there prevails.

[Mimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Upon a Wicked Time is one of Karen Ranney's earliest novels (1998) and it does not favorably compare to the way she writes now. I usually dive right in to her novels and read them with great enthusiasm; not so this one. With Jered, an unlikable male protagonist; Tessa, the female protagonist who is so blinded by love that she willingly overlooks her husband’s significant deficiencies of character; and a tangled, repetitive plot, Upon a Wicked Time was a frustrating chore to slog through.

I always look forward to novels by Karen Ranney as she is one of my favorite authors. This book is not one of her better ones.

[Kesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hero, Jerod, was a grade A ASSHOLE. I cannot think of a worse Hero. To put his wife, Tessa, in her place he took her, unbeknownst to her, to a GANGBANG. Before the gangbang, he pulled the barmaids boob out and played with her nipple, while his wife was sitting with him. This was the 1800s and the wife was an innocent gently bred country miss. I liked the book, the heroine was funny and likable but she put up with too much before she called it quits.

[Patrizia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una bella storia, avvincente, tesa, adatta per chi ha bisogno di un sano periodo di letture 'di evasione'