Rating: 
Summary: Fast-paced story, romance on back seat
Review: Madeline Deveridge, an eccentric widow thought to have killed her husband, blackmails Artemis Hunt into helping her solve the mystery of supposed visits by her husband's ghost. Artemis, a Vanza expert and secret owner of a pleasure garden, goes along with the widow's game, with danger and sparks flying at every turn.Quick delivers her usual lively plot, but again leaves the romance to flounder in between adventures. She has one decidedly steamy scene, but the couple never really clicks. Still, she delivers a very well written story with plenty of interest in Vanza, an ancient study of martial-arts like powers and concentration. I do recommend it, despite the lack of serious devotion to the romance.
Rating: 
Summary: I would have liked it if I had never read Amanda Quick
Review: I happen to like Ms. Quick's writing, but it becomes monotonous after a while because she recycles the same exact plot with the same exact characters EVERY TIME. The man is always tall, controlled (too controlled), controlling, Vanza, and on the edge of society. The woman is alway seccentric in her own way, wayward, foolishly wayward, and a "bluestocking." The WICKED WIDOW concentrated on the heroine's distrust of Vanza too much. After ht efirst few pages, I was like, oh, no, not another, "Vanza this, and it was because it was Vanza." I'm sick of the heroines being virgins!!!!!!! The excerpt read so nicely, I tried to read it, but it was too drattedly rehashed that I coulnd't tak eit anymore and i threw it across the room.
Rating: 
Summary: Do not waste your time
Review: I am a fan of Amanda Quick's . My favorite book is " Rendezvous'. In " Wicked Widow" , there is nothing close to a relationship between the charactors.They are one dimensional. Perhaps Ms.Quick had a deadline to meet and had no choice, but, her fans deserve more than this offering.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but not memorable.
Review: I used to read Amanda Quick's novels as soon as they were released. For the past couple of years, though, they came to sound like repeats. I found myself disenchanted and hadn't read one until the buzz surrounding The Wicked Widow intrigued me enough to buy the audio tapes. Unfortunately,this latest story has nothing to make it outstanding or even memorable. It's always difficult for me to pinpoint why a book just doesn't connect with me, especially one that doesn't deserve a failing grade nor one of excellence. The writing is acceptable, but Artemis and Madeline and the story line are predictable, and the Vanza aspect is becoming overdone. The headstrong & obstinate female and the grudgingly obliging male have long been a trademark of Quick's stories. Somewhere along the line, they've all started to sound the same and in the process I've become apathetic toward them and their plights. I really just didn't care. The only bright spot was the reading done by Katherine Kellgren. Her melodious voice and ability to create multiple audio personalities saved the book from my itchy "Eject" finger. I was hoping The Wicked Widow would break my long Quick Drought, but alas I still thirst. I'm hoping her Eclipse Bay, under the name Jayne Ann Krentz will offer more refreshment.
Rating:
Summary: Ill-defined characters + mediocre plot + Vanza = 2 Stars
Review: Ms. Quick's latest novel continues her trend toward rather flat characters with little spark between them. WW is a rather pale story of a young lady who needs help determining who is after one of her possessions and of the gentleman who provides this help. Where earlier Quick stories had somewhat of a built in edginess between the characters that allows growth and change (after his first wife's unfaithfulness, he'll never trust another woman; he wants nothing of love, only loyalty; he seeks revenge on her family, etc.), in this book there is little conflict between or growth of the characters. The only ripple in their pond is she is not fond of Vanza practitioners and he is, of course, a Vanza master. This provides insufficient fuel to ignite any sort of interplay between them or to fire the reader's emotions. Instead, the reader is left with a sub-standard mystery (which, by the way, the author makes unsolvable), and Ms. Quick's continued use of Vanza to bring Mr. Hunt's character to focus. After I finished the book, I went back and counted the pages where some form of the word "Vanza" was used. In a book of less than 300 pages, 102 contained at least one usage of the word. In spite of this, it (the philosophy, the spirit, whatever it is) remains a will-o-wisp. Ms. Quick uses Vanza to imply something dark and mysterious but never really brings what it is to life. In this book, the reader will find the following phrases, "I am Vanza", "You are Vanza", "He is Vanza" and "He was Vanza." To me, this is boring and reflects a certain laziness on the part of the author. Rather than put us in the character's mind to see why he responds in a certain way, any action is justified by, "He is Vanza." After a time, I began to believe I was undergoing "Death by a 1000 Vanzaganian Cuts." A side effect of the Vanza theme is Ms. Quick's heroes become cookie cutter copies of each other. In her last two books, both heroes are Vanza masters. To be Vanza, you accept its teachings (whatever they are). As such, these men have the same philosophies and beliefs such as suppressing strong emotions. When you combine interchangeable men with ho-hum plots and no real conflicts with the women, you get very mundane novels. WW fits this mold. WW is not a terrible book. 1 Star books are painful to finish. This didn't meet that criteria though I'll admit that every instance of "Vanza" was like another drop in an ancient water torture. A 2 star book is seriously flawed. In this case, almost all aspects of the story from characters to dialog to plot were sub-standard. Instead of dropping your money on this hardbound clunker, buy Mary Jo Putney's Veil trilogy or several of her Fallen Angel series. You'll get a lot more pages of much better romance writing for about the same price. If you buy WW, don't say you weren't warned.
Rating: 
Summary: This Book Is Sensational
Review: Amanda Quick has once again managed to impress and captive readers with another one of her wonderful regency romances. Wicked Widow has it all. The suspense, romance, setting and the characters are fabulous. Madeline Deveridge is called the wicked widow. Society is absolutely captivated by her alleged misdeeds. Madeline is accused of killing her husband and setting a fire to mask the murder. Artemis Hunt is a gentleman who has done the unthinkable by going into "trade". He has his own private plans for vengenance that do not include Madeline. Madeline summons Artemis from his club to find her maid who has been kidnapped in the pleasure gardens Artemis owns. The sparks fly off the two leading characters as they search for clues and endeavor to solve the mystery of who is haunting Madeline and her aunt, Beatrice. Artemis and Madeline will search out any clue to find the mysterious ghost that is haunting Madeline and several members of the Vanza society. Wicked Widow is a wonderful story and the ending is spectacular.
Rating:
Summary: BORING!
Review: i usually love amanda quick - i have all of her other books and have reread a few of my favorites, however this book was awful. it was just a rehash of a million other cliche ideas, i didn't care about any of the characters and found myself skimming the book just to finish it. that to me says it all, with a romance you want to get caught up in it, and lose yourself. in 2 words HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT...
Rating:
Summary: Boring and predictable
Review: I was hoping for something new from this book, but... It seems that the books are getting SO predictable and SO much alike. I am sick of Vanza and sick of the same characters with different names. PLEASE give us something new!
Rating:
Summary: Haven't I read this before?
Review: I have never knocked a Krentz/Quick book, despite the fact that some are far better than others. In this latest work (?) I couldn't help but feel I'd read this all before... several times. I wish the author would get off the one-dimensional Vanza characters and turn out the kind of page turning sizzle that I know she's capable of producing! Next time I'll wait for the paperback ... or borrow a copy.
Rating:
Summary: Wicked Widow
Review: I was so excited when I found out Amanda Quick was coming out with a new novel. Wicked Widow is wicked and brilliant. I love her strong heroines and her powerful heroes. Madeline is a widow who hires the services of Artemis to help her find the man who's masquerading as her husband's ghost. Artemis is at first unwilling to help her, and Madeline hates everything Vanza. But neither can deny the strong attraction they feel for each other as they work together to solve the mystery of the man disguising himself as his wife's dead husband. Amanda Quick is brilliant in her work. She takes the subject of Vanza and makes each book different. Each book gets better and better. If I could cast this book, Madeline would be played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Artemis by Billy Zane. What I like about Madeline-she is strongwilled and very smart.What I fault about her-She does tend to be a little dramatic. What I like about Artemis-He is powerful and smart. What I fault about him-He treats Madeline as a man treats a woman in those days. He thinks she should sit at home and wait. Favorite scene with Madeline-She and Short John are kidnapped and she is very strong in saving herself and especially Short John.
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