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Tempting the Vicar

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Member Reviews

Again like the first book, this was a slow burn. They don't even kiss until almost 70%.
I liked these characters and getting to see what Daniel was up to in London but had a hard time connecting.

This book tells Daniel's story and we get to learn what he was doing in London.
But before stepping into his brother's life he's briefed by Devlin about the things going on in his life and Dev warns him about Ms. Oilvia St. Peters. Daniel vows to dissuade the lady from pursuing him further.

When Daniel arrives in London the first thing he does is begin to dismantle some of Dev's wicked ways. Sending away the explicit art, severing communicate with various ladies and generally staying in.

When he finally meets Miss Olivia, he tries to stay on task. But the more he tries to resist her, the more determined she is to have him.

Thanks to Entangled, the author, and NetGalley for this ARC to review.

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3.5 stars
I really liked the character of Daniel. He was such a caring person, who had a deep religious faith. The way in which he was helping his brother caused him a good deal of inner turmoil. I wasn’t quite so sure of Olivia, sometimes I felt sorry for her and other times, she really annoyed me. This was particularly so at the latter stages, she took no responsibility for her manipulations, but rather blamed Daniel. I did enjoy this story but not as much as the first book, there was too much inner thinking done by both Daniel and Olivia. It also lacked the humour of the first book. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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3.25 Stars
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 Devlin whilst Devlin heals from a broken leg. Miss Olivia St. Peters knows Devlin, 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. The more Daniel resists the oh-so-inviting charms of Olivia, the more determined she is to have him.
This is the second book in the series & I’d definitely recommend reading the previous book first. The stories are intertwined & rely heavily on the twin brothers swapping roles. Whilst I enjoyed this book I found it to be a slow paced book & a very slow burn romance. There was an awful lot of dialogue & not much action. Whilst I really liked Daniel I didn’t love him as he was a bit too goody goody for me but I found it hard to like Olivia she was too forward & self centred, she wanted to be accepted by society but was aghast when she didn’t play by their rules & so wasn’t accepted. I also didn’t feel much chemistry between the pair & there was a villain who just fizzled away. All in all an enjoyable read, which I felt scratched the surface & didn’t get down to the nitty gritty
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

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In this the second book of The Wicked Waywards, we are treated to Daniel's adventures in London on behalf of his brother Devlin who is administering to Daniel's flock in the country. This is a plot very much like that of book#1, the twins have switched places and in so doing Daniel has a crisis of faith and falls in love with the debutant who was enamoured of his brother. This was an easy, satisfying read. Liana LeFey is an accomplished author. I can recommend both books to Regency romance fans, but start with The Devil's Own (Book #1).

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This story didn't turn out exactly how I thought it would but I still had fun with it.

Synopsis: '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...'

The reason for the switch was flimsy at best but I didn't mind, I was just along for the ride.

At first I didn't like Olivia's character and thought she was just shallow and spoilt. However as the story progresses, you get to see her qualities and skills that are overlooked by most of society, only het father and Daniel see and appreciate them. She is feisty and determined and fights for what she wants.

I thought Daniel as a character was interesting as we get his inner monologue. He feels immense guilt at his subterfuge but also his lust and attraction for the heroine. He lies a great deal to keep up the deception and really has to make amends later on. We also get his back story of a reckless youth and the consequences that had, making him extra determined to not fall into temptation again.

There was a 'villain' of sorts but he has a very minor role.

All in all a light entertaining read.

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Will his lies lead them to an irredeemable heartbreak…

I would recommend to read the first book, to better understand in which shoes Daniel landed, as it starred his twin, the rake of the two.
I had mixed feeling for Olivia, she is no missish nor demure Miss, she goes for what she wants, whatever the path she must follow. She is not mean nor haughty, but very mercenary in her pursuit of Devlin/Daniel. It was not easy to like as she uses all her assets, an other suitor to awaken the green monster or any possible means to catch her prey.
Yet in fact, she is only her father’s daughter. She follows in his steps, and while it is not wealth she is after, she has her sight on a special prize, and it is it she will have.
And while she is very set on her prey, she is no empty-headed young woman looking only to up herself on the ton’s ladder, she really wants Devlin, attracted by his rakish way. So, as she manages her father’s affairs with a hand of steel, she will do anything to win Devlin’s heart.
Daniel is the beta scholar hero, a man who protects and does not judge. He is my usual kind of hero. But something went off along the pages. I had I believe more expectations from him. But for a man of the church, he let the charade last too long. After he had ascertained she was a trustworthy intelligent person, he should have confided in her. Instead of breaking her heart by his silence and his distancing.

I am sad to say this story was not what I have expected, I did not feel a real chemistry between Daniel and Olivia, and their games went too far and for too long.
3 stars

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 onscreen foreplays scene.
I have been granted an advance copy by the publisher Entangled, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

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I would like to thank netgalley and Entangled Publishing for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting premis, that's well executed.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tempting The Vicar is a fun twist of a twin-swap romance. Reverend Daniel Wayward takes his rakish twin’s, Devlin, place in London after a prank goes wrong. Miss Olivia St. Peters is infatuated with Devlin Wayward. Daniel must decline Olivia’s overtures, yet the more Daniel tries, the more besotted he becomes of Olivia.

One reason I picked up this book is because of the twin-swap theme. Having identical twins in my immediate family, I thought it would be fun to see how accurate Daniel and Devlin were portrayed. I enjoyed how each sibling was individual. I especially liked them trading spots. The twins I knew did this a couple of times too!

I found the story charming. I would have liked to focus more on the connection and romance between Daniel and Olivia. The first half of the book was redundant at times. The reason the twins swapped was juvenile, yet it went along with Devlin’s behavior. The book flowed well and kept my interest. In the last quarter, I felt the reality of the situation was more clearly depicted. I enjoyed how this story was messy; there was no easy happiness; effort had to be made for trust to be gained.

Tempting The Vicar is the second book in The Wicked Waywards. The first book is Devlin’s story. The book was effervescent and a light, quick read. Liana Le Fey is an author to watch. I enjoyed this work and will read more.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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2.5 stars, rounded up.

When Olivia St. Peters met Lord Devlin Wayward, she knew that she had finally found a man who wanted her for her and not for her father’s money or power. And despite her father AND Lord Devlin discouraging her attachment to him - Olivia decides that Lord Devlin Wayward is the man she is going to marry. But what she doesn't know is the man she originally met and the man she is now aggressively chasing are not the same man!

Lord Daniel Wayward is not only the son of the late Duke of Winterbourne, but he is also a country vicar and Lord Devlin’s twin. He is currently in London masquerading as his twin after his brother pulled a prank that landed him in bed with a broken leg and a lot of people believing he is Daniel. Now Daniel has reluctantly agreed to go to London in Devlin’s place to finalize a business venture with former pirate turned privateer Mr. St. Peters and is given a vague warning that St. Peters’ daughter has a bit of tendre for him and that he will have to discourage her without destroying the business venture. Sounds simple enough. But the reality of the situation is much different than Devlin portrayed and Olivia is nothing like he told him she was. Soon Daniel finds himself falling for Olivia, but revealing his deception will ruin more than just her opinion of him, so to do the “right” thing Daniel, breaks Olivia’s heart and returns to the country, feeling guilty and heartbroken himself. Months pass and HEA doesn’t even seem like a possibility, but as Shakespeare so eloquently wrote “The course of true love never did run smooth”.

Let me start by stating that I did not read the first book in this series and I think that if I had, my review for this book would have been much different. That said, for me, this book was a miss, the deception dragged on for way too long, and not having read the previous book definitely left me at a disadvantage, as the author glossed over Devlin’s actions in order to prevent spoilers. Not only that but I found Olivia to be completely unlikeable, she refused to consider anyone’s desires save her own, and then when she was unavoidably hurt, she played the victim card to the hilt. I strongly believe that if I had read the first book before reading this book, I would have still disliked Olivia, but I might have liked the overall story a bit more. Anyway, for me this book is a pass, but please don’t let that stop you from trying this book and judging for yourself, especially if you read the first book. This book is the second book in the series and I would HIGHLY recommend reading the books in order.

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After reading the book before this one with Devlin’s story, I really wanted to find out what his twin, Daniel (the vicar) had been up to during that period of time. I’m glad I read Devlin’s book first as I think I would’ve been a little confused with this story had I not.

I would say as characters I found Daniel and Olivia to be really interesting, and he was definitely my favorite twin! I loved Olivia’s business savvy mind (not typical for that time) and how Daniel struggled with his feelings of being both a vicar and a man. While this story moved fast and kept me interested, I struggled with a few major things that seemed to have been forgotten (why was Lovelace trying to court Olivia and what happened with him, and what happened with Anne and her child and how did thar never came up in discussion between Daniel and Olivia). Also, after reading the first book I expected a little more steam, but this one had almost none except for one small part. I would’ve loved to even have them just kiss some more to show some intimacy.

I loved when the actual emotional romance happened in the last few pages, and if there would’ve been more of that i definitely would’ve enjoyed this book a lot more!

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'Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive' - lies upon more lies leads to complications and heartache for victim and perpetrator. Eventually the Gordian knot is untangled and everyone is happy. I would guess however that this book should NOT be read as a standalone but read after Devlin’s story in The Devil’s Own.
I hope that by the time of publication the problems with the uncorrected proof I received have been ironed out. In Chapter 1 it is undeniably the vicar Daniel’s idea that they take each other’s places but ever after Devlin is the one blamed as having ‘persuaded’ the saintly twin. On looking at the blurb of Book 1, which I haven’t read, that too says Devlin was the one doing the persuading. Did I read a copy of the book where the author was playing with ideas for the two intertwined stories and an older draft version of Chapter 1 got inexplicably left in the final proof? There were so many things (mainly at the beginning and end of the story) that were either glossed over or unexplained. [What happened to Annie; why was Lord Lovelace so desperate to marry Olivia; what was in the 2nd and 3rd letters that was more shocking than the 1st?]
As regards the characters whilst Olivia was undeniably clever, she was also spoiled and manipulative - which didn’t always make for easy reading. Whilst Daniel in order to keep Devlin within the family, and to protect his own reputation, felt he had no option but to impersonate his twin; his ease at lying didn’t make this reader feel too sympathetic to him either.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Tempting The Vicar

✨ARC Review✨

Reverend Daniel decides to escape life ruin, he must switch places with his twin whom is quite the wicked character. In his new “role”, he immediately grasps the attention of Miss Olivia. Daniel tries to turn down her advancements, but she is only interested in turning up the heat! He finds himself caught between vows of faith and the temptation of her.

What I Loved:
-there really isn’t a whole lot I can touch on that I loved, because this one missed the mark for me. I didn’t care for the characters, which ultimately made the story less enjoyable. I likely would have DNF’d but I was already far invested hoping for something more, and decided to just finish. The steam in this also affected my rating, I was hoping for so much more than what we got, alas, another reason I held out, yet felt unsatisfied.

I have started to enjoy more historical romances as of recent, but sadly, this one just didn’t fit the bill for me.

✨Rating✨
⭐️⭐️/5
Steam Factor: 🔥/5

A special thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for this eARC!

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One lie begets another! Agreeing to pose as his wild brother after a prank gone wrong, the good vicar Daniel Wayward is forced into one lie after another to keep up the ruse. What he doesn’t expect is to fall hopelessly for his brothers business associates daughter, Olivia. The more he tries to be his brother, the relentless rake the more his own personality shines through. Olivia thinks she is in love with Devlin and longs to reform him, but she doesn’t realize that reform isn’t necessary as the man she loves is already marriage material. Despite not being able to foretell how Daniel could possibly earn forgiveness, I still found myself pulling for him. His endearing charms are enough to win over even this jaded reader. Even deception is overcome in the face of true love.

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It started a little slow. Devlin and Daniel Wayward are identical twins. Devlin was the black sheep of the family and had been banished. He had not had any communication with family except his brother and had been invited for Christmas. After, his father and oldest brother died. His brother, David, wanted to bring the family back. Devlin is a Rake and Daniel is a Vicar. Boy, they love to get into trouble. Devlin has a business meeting in London next week. Daniel has all his duties for his flock and can't leave. Devlin plays a trick and manages to break his leg. So, they change places.

Olivia St. Peter's, she is your typical debutante and thinks she loves Devlin {Daniel}. He also does business with her father. They are partners. She and Angela, are best friends and get into trouble
all the time. You should read what these crazy people are doing.

I did find this book a little slow, but it did pick up. The writing was interesting, and it kept the story moving. I could not believe a vicar did this even for his brother. At first, you may not like Olivia, but she grows on you. There were so many crazy things happening in the tale. The bad guy faded away, especially after Mr. St. Johns spoke to him, Weird, huh. This book moves smoothly and is entertaining. The characters are exciting and get along so well. I do highly recommend this novel.

I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

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Sorry, but I simply found this book implausible. An unmarried Regency woman would not call at the home of an unrelated man. It's not just bad behavior—her reputation would be instantly ruined. When a book opens this way, it tells me the author has no intention of honoring the actual practices of the time period, which is 50% of the reason I read Regency romance.

Also, an unrelated man would not unbutton the gown and untie the stays of a woman who's fainted unless there was no one else to do it.. (Her father and best friend were in the room!) This wouldn't even happen in contemporary society. DNF at 10%.

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3.75
Thank you to Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for an e-ARC of this book.

I enjoy a good historical romance and I thought the premise of this one with the twin swap was fun. Olivia was a firecracker of a main character towards the middle and end of the book, but I did think she was a bit naïve and spoiled at first. I did enjoy how she and Daniel came together though. There was a lot of slow burn and anticipation here and I wish there had been a bit more spice, but I did enjoy it regardless. This also was the second book with these characters and I feel like I may have been better off reading the first book, but it wasn't completely necessary either. This was a lighthearted read and I enjoyed the London setting and portrayed innocence of it all.

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Reverend Daniel Wayward is furious with his twin brother. Devlin's mischief has put him in an impossible situation. Having to take his brother's place as a Rake and Gambling den owner in London is going to test his soul more than anything before.
Our hero is about to have so many temptations put into his path. How can he play his part and protect everyone?
Miss Olivia St.Peters is the fiercely independent daughter of a pirate. Her father has made peace with the Crown, and his fortune gives them both respectability. She wants a man that can see beyond her father's money to the real person she is.
Our heroine is intelligent and used to getting anything she wants.
This is a fabulous historical romance full of fun and very strong characters. Obviously there is the other twin's story . (The first book in the series.) You don't need to have read that in order to enjoy this one, but it will make you want to read it.
I actually liked this brother even more than his twin, but maybe that's because I initially felt sorry for him.
Really Great Fun.

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Thanks netgalley for the advance copy! I really wanted to love this book but I had a hard time with it. I think it relied too much on me having read the first one (which I hadn’t to be fair) and so much of the story surrounding our characters went unexplained because of it. I had to read the first chapter three times to understand what was going on, and the prank that Devlin pulled was never explained so I had no idea what happened to his leg or why it was such a big deal.

Quite a lot of the book was explained away like this- “He then explained to her what had happened and why he said what he had said. He then added how it had made him feel.” Instead of actually telling us what he said, it was brushed aside in one sentence. This happened often and was frustrating.

I didn’t understand what Olivia’s dad’s plans and motivations were, I wanted to know more about Daniel’s first love and what happened to her, and I wanted Olivia to get some dang respect. She was so interesting and cool but she wasted away over one man and was told over and over that she should have been “raised right.” She is going to be so unhappy in the country.

But seriously what happened to Daniel's first live? Did she have the kid? Did Daniel ever tell Olivia??? She more than deserves to know. The whole book felt incomplete and rushed, but it was compelling enough to keep me until the end. I’m glad I read it, but I don’t know if I’ll read more from this series.

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I should start by saying that I thought this was going to be a comedy, but it is not. It took me a few chapters to change my mindset, and Olivia was all up in the manipulations by then. I felt sorry for her because she was being manipulated, too, but how many pages of "How can I force him to love me?" can we be expected to read? I ended up only reading pages that contained dialogue because everything else was a rehash of what we already knew or just more games on someone's part. The dialogue, though, was very good. I did enjoy that.

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tomwambsganscorleone
ARC Review: Tempting the Vicar By Liana LeFey

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3/5
Tempting the Vicar by Liana LeFey has two things I really appreciate in a romance novel: a man of God who is tempted by The Sins of the Flesh, and an imperfect heroine. Also, twin swap! Yes, the good Reverend Daniel Wayward (a quality last name) switches places with his twin brother due to circumstances, only to find that the debauched world his brother lived in is a little too exciting. Unfortunately for him, that excitement includes Olivia St. Peters, who is determined to have him. Even though she thinks that he is his brother. Yes.

All of these ideas are fabulous, and I really did enjoy Olivia, a girl in pursuit of dick if there ever was one. She goes after Daniel (who she doesn't think is Daniel) with the dogged determination of a truly bonkers romance heroine. And I love that! I've seen other reviewers take issue with Olivia really tossing herself at his feet, but you know what? I love it. Give me more. I want heroines like Olivia.

There were two issues I ran into, which prevented me from rating the book higher. One: Daniel really wasn't on Olivia's level. I'm all for a hero being mad about how much his dick is troubling him, because he's a man of God and this is all very improper, but... I don't know. It just felt less like Daniel was a guilty man of the cloth, and more like he was a borderline schoolmarm who also wanted to touch boobs. And touch them he did!

Which brings me to my next issue. This book does not have any... penetrative sex. This is not to say that it doesn't have some pretty intense sexual activity. In fact, it includes one thing that I love to see in historical romances, which you don't often see in historical romances. But it didn't have penetrative sex. And not for any particularly interesting or valuable reason--if Olivia had been against it, or if there had been a physical or medical reason why the two couldn't go there, I would have been actually kind of happy to see that. It was really just a matter of the book not going there.

Additionally, this all was a bit zero to sixty in that sense. The book waits until fairly late in the game for any kind of sex to occur, and when it does it's like... Boom, kissing. Boom, sex (of a sort). The pacing felt off there.

If you're looking for a not-unsteamy book to satisfy your sex + religion kink with a problematic (yet lovable) heroine, try this one out. I just think this could have had more.

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