Wicked Widow

Rating:
Summary: My first and LAST Amanda Quick book
Review: I can only be thankful that I got this book at the library instead of actually spending good money on it. After all the rave reviews I've heard on Amanda Quick, I picked up Wicked Widow with great anticipation, only to be sorley disappointed. The book is completely overtaken by this Vanza concept- anything and everything is related to it. If a guy is hiding in a dark corner it is because it is a Vanza manuver- not just a guy hiding in a corner. For a secret society, there are an amazing amount of people who know about it or are involved with it. I felt that if one more action of the characters was due to this vanza thing, I was going to scream. Can't a person have a thought in his head without it relating to his Vanza training? To make matters worse, the love scenes are awkward and out of place. They are thrown into the book at strange intervals, bringing you out of your vanza daze to remember that this is supposed to be a romance. I don't know when the charcters fell in love, there was no chemistry there that I could tell. Of corse, this could be due to the poor charcter development. A true disappointment all around.

Rating:
Summary: Fun ...
Review: I listened to it in audio form & found it fun. I thought the scene in which they first made love (and we found that our heroine was a virgin) was hilarious - though I did wonder what had caused her to decide to do it.

Rating:
Summary: After "Paid Companion," "Wicked Widow" Disappointed Me
Review: I read my very first Amanda Quick book, and my very first romance novel, by chance recently. It was "Paid Companion" and I just picked it up from the new book shelf at the public library.

I was delighted by it, as I said in my review.

I was eager to read more of Amanda Quick, to see if she could, again, provide me with a book that would be easy and fun to read, but that would not insult my intelligence.

It's hard to pick a Quick book; there are so many. I picked up "Wicked Widow" because it mentioned ghosts and haunting, and I expected a fun, scary book.

"Wicked Widow" disappointed me.

In "Paid Companion" I found the lead characters delightfully idiosyncratic, believable, and not at all the types I'd expect in a romance novel. In fact, one reviewer of that book said that the male lead was grumpy and the female lead was annoyingly politically correct. They were! And that's what I liked about them. They seemed real.

In "Wicked Widow," though, the leads are stereotypical cut-outs and they never came to life for me. Artemis Hunt is masterful and domineering; Madeline Deveridge is beautiful and captivating. Sorry, but, ho, hum.

Another reviewer here, Jen from Jacksonville, implies that "Vanza," the "secret society" in "Wicked Widow" is about as secret as a delivery boy. She's right. There's nothing mysterious or alluring about Vanza.

Almost every character in the book seems to belong to it, or know all about it. It crops up in every other sentence. The name "Vanza" is applied to the silliest things; as Jen says, a guy hiding in a corner is "Vanza." Remember that the next time you play hide and seek -- you are a Vanza master!

Memo to Amanda Quick: sometimes, especially when you are talking about a secret society, less *is* more.

As for the plot, well, it never grabbed me. I found myself skipping pages to get to the end quicker.

I was especially alienated when characters in "Wicked Widow" said, basically, exactly the same things, and did the same things, as characters in "Paid Companion." The comfort of familiarity is one thing; it's no fun, though, when you are reading what looks like cut and pasted dialogue and scenes from one book to the next.

So, I'm still eager to be educated about the romance genre. If there are other books out there like "Paid Companion" -- fun, with bouncey dialogue -- I'd like to find and read them. I'll pass on books that are more like "Wicked Widow."

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: I loved it
Review: Madeline Deveridge was known among the Ton as the "Wicked Widow". Everyone believed she had murdered her husband and then set fire to the house to cover the crime. Her deceased husband had been trained in the special arts of the Vanza. But he had not been a Master of Vanza as her father had been. Never-the-less, her husband's madness mixed with his training left Madeline very scarred on the inside. When someone, pretending to be her deceased husband's ghost out for revenge, began threatening her, she had to seek another Vanza for help.

Unknown to others, Artemas Hunt was a Full Vanza Master and the owner of the Dream Pavilions. Artemas sold dreams and illusions. When Madeline virtually blackmailed him into helping her rescue one of her kidnapped maids, he was furious! When he found out she knew he was Vanza, owner of the Dream Pavilions, and knew much more about the Vanza Society than was healthy, he became cautious. He had no time for her. He had his own revenge to seek. They made a deal. Artemas helped her catch a ghost and Madeline turned over her father's journal that was filled with all the personal lives and businesses of all members of the Vanza Society - including his!

Amanda Quick weaves the most enthralling tales of romance and suspense! I was caught in this story's sticky web from the first page! This book is one of her best yet!

Rating:
Summary: The deception of mystery
Review: The wickid widow is a romance that is also a mystery novel. It has intrigue as well as a love story. The story starts out with the bet in the Gentleman's Gaming Rooms for 1000 pounds for anyone who lives through the night in the company of the Wickid Widown. The Wickid Widow you find is a woman who is never found guilty and for that matter is never accused by the law of the murder of her husband. But you know how rumors go. She though is convinced that her husband is still alive and stalking her. After she "convinces (ok almost black mail's) someone" into helping her to recover her kidnapped maid she then appeals to his senses about helping her solve the mytery. Especially as due to some aquaintances he is connected to her late husband.

It is a fast moving audio book and a good story to follow.

Rating:
Summary: No match to I thee wed
Review: This book was very clever in some of her plot twists, yet I 2 though it was a little over done in some parts. It a so so read, and yet again a classical Amanda Quick book and I believe that these characters are richer than some of her other ones. I think that both are deserving of each other.

Rating:
Summary: wicked fun from a talented writer
Review: This is one of the better JAK of the past half dozen Quicks. At the time I read it, I would have given it four stars. I give it five now, after reading a series of floundering Quicks and Kentzes. The others were not good examples of this talented writer who usually delights, so it makes this one shine a wee bit better by comparison.

Madeline Deveridge ingores all the gossip about her, that she offed her dh and concealed the evidence. Only now, Madeline fears her "late" departed husband is stalking her and her auntie, but does not want to believe it, because she has clear evidence he should not be up and about. But something weird is happening and so she forced to turned to Artemas Hunt.

Artemus runs London's "wicked" pleasure pavilions, and has a penchant for the arcane, the occult. Having a dead hubby back to torment the wife interests him, so he takes on helping her - after she blackmails him into it! Artemus is quickly intriqued by the lady as much as the mystery, but Madeline, after a disasterous first marriage is leary of men and see advantage in being a wicked widow!

It's typically sharp JAK (whatever the penname) focusing on witty repartee and intriquing chracters.

Rating:
Summary: a good JAK...not great
Review: This is one of the better JAK of the past half dozen Quicks. At the time I read it, I would have given it four stars. I give it five now, after reading a series of floundering Quicks and Kentzes. The others were not good examples of this talented writer who usually delights, so it makes this one shine a wee bit better by comparison.

Madeline Deveridge ingores all the gossip about her, that she offed her dh and concealed the evidence. Only now, Madeline fears her "late" departed husband is stalking her and her auntie, but does not want to believe it, because she has clear evidence he should not be up and about. But something weird is happening and so she forced to turned to Artemas Hunt.

Artemus runs London's "wicked" pleasure pavilions, and has a penchant for the arcane, the occult. Having a dead hubby back to torment the wife interests him, so he takes on helping her - after she blackmails him into it! Artemus is quickly intriqued by the lady as much as the mystery, but Madeline, after a disasterous first marriage is leary of men and see advantage in being a wicked widow!

It's typically sharp JAK (whatever the penname) focusing on witty repartee and intriquing chracters.

Rating:
Summary: I agree- it's just OK reading. There is better out there.
Review: This was my first Amanda Quick- and I wasn't impressed. It was dry and slow in places. I, too, got tired of Vanza this and Vanza that. It was overdone. As for the characters- I did like Artemis Hunt, owner of the Dreams Pavilion but there was something missing with Madeline "The Wicked Widow" Deveridge. And their romance was definitely flat and missing something (not that I want more description, but I did not feel the love there). I did finish the book but I won't suggest this one to friends.