Review: Tempting the Vicar (The Wicked Waywards #2) by Liana LeFey

   

Print Length: 356 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing; Amara (January 17, 2022)

From Goodreads.com:  After his twin brother pulls a foolish prank, Reverend Daniel Wayward's life is now decidedly complicated. With his family, his parish, and even his reputation at risk, there's only one way to avoid utter ruin—by swapping places with his rakish, wicked twin. And the second Daniel steps foot into his brother's worldly and sinful life in London, he's completely caught by temptation of the most enticing, green-eyed kind.

Miss Olivia St. Peters knows the son of the duke is a dangerous fellow, but something in those hooded, hungry blue eyes makes her blood sing with pleasure. She's determined to have this Wayward noble, no matter what Society—or even her father—says about the match. And if that means playing with fire, she'll gladly burn...

The more Daniel resists the oh-so-inviting charms of Olivia, the more determined she is to have him. Now he's caught between his vows of faith and the lure of sweet temptation. And the only thing standing between his heart and his immortal soul is one unforgivable deception...

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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Even though I have read the first in this series, I feel as though a prologue going back to the events that set these stories in motion would have been helpful. I know the first touched on the plan to switch places, but so often in the story, we hear about how Daniel was guilted into doing it and I would have liked to have seen that before we dove into his story. 

On the whole, I enjoyed this story. There were some moments of really enjoyable banter between Daniel and Olivia, and I enjoyed watching them interact and the way that she slowly won him over. 

What I didn't enjoy was the fact that Daniel nearly opened up to Olivia with the truth before certain lines were crossed, but at the last second he didn't, keeping up the ruse that he was his brother and giving her false hopes. Speaking of crossing lines, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this supposedly virtuous man engaged in those specific acts with a woman who didn't even know his real name. 

I also wasn't keen on the way he tried to dissuade her from her attentions of him (specifically seeming to flaunt his mistress under her nose). The constant back and forth of "let's be friends" and "I must break her heart" was also a bit off-putting. I wish they had just stuck with the frien route until he was able to come clean with her (and maybe a bit more communication between the brothers wouldn't have gone amiss). They could have kept up the ruse with Daniel writing to his brother AS his brother just to keep him appraised of the situation). This way neither would have been surprised to have learned that the other fell in love with the exact woman they were meant to get rid of. 

Although this story wasn't one of my favorites, the author does have a solid writing style and intriguing story ideas. I would read more from them. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
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                                       Tempting the Vicar is available from Amazon.com
                                            (for free if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited)

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