Practically Wicked
Practically Wicked Johnson
Unknown
Practically Wicked
Johnson, Alissa Penguin Group (2012)
Praise for
An Unexpected Gentleman
“Johnson returns to her Scottish Society setting to delight readers once again with gentle wit, graceful writing, and a sensible and spirited heroine.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“I loved the story and the characters in
An Unexpected Gentleman
. This was an emotional roller-coaster of a story with a sigh-worthy ending.”
—
Rakehell
“There’s a merging of humor with poignancy, a delightful cast of characters, and just enough sensuality and emotional intensity to bring the story out of the ordinary, something Johnson does quite well.”
—
RT Book Reviews
“Alissa Johnson takes some historical romance tropes and gives them new life, delivering a satisfying romance.”
—
Romance Junkies
“I loved this book…Very touching and romantic.”
—
Night Owl Reviews
“Great characters, believable and engrossing conflict, a powerful and tender romance, a stunning transformation and redemption of the hero, an easy-to-read pace, and overall just a really good story.”
—
TwoLips Reviews
“Alissa Johnson brings wit, romance, sexy and charming characters, and laugh-out-loud humor to the reader…I would highly recommend the read.”
—
The Season
Praise for
Nearly a Lady
“A delightfully witty gem…A courageous, hilarious heroine, laugh-out-loud humor, and a true hero who will steal your heart.”
—Jennifer Ashley,
USA Today
bestselling author
“High on believable, witty characters and emotional honesty.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“This book was perfect for me. Seriously,
perfect
.”
—
Fiction Vixen
“
Nearly a Lady
is a fun and utterly charming book.”
—
Rakehell
“Highly recommended!”
—
Fresh Fiction
“Johnson beautifully tells a rags-to-riches tale.”
—
Booklist
“I plan to revisit this story for years to come.”
—
All About Romance
More praise for
the novels of Alissa Johnson
“Alissa Johnson strikes the perfect tone between romantic humor, suspense, drama, and just good old-fashioned hijinks between two charismatic characters.”
—
Night Owl Reviews
“Spiced with razor-sharp wit with a perfect touch of comic jest, Alissa Johnson has served up a hot and passionate Regency romance like a seasoned pro.”
—
Fresh Fiction
“[This book] has everything that I look for in a romance novel! I cannot wait to pick up another of her books.”
—
Romance Reader at Heart
“If you’re a lover of historical romance—even if you aren’t—and you haven’t read Ms. Johnson’s books yet, you should remedy that immediately.”
—
The Good, The Bad and The Unread
“With wit and whimsy, Johnson crafts tales filled with charming original characters, captivating readers seeking the unusual, the imperfect, and the most endearing heroines since Jill Barnett.”
—
RT Book Reviews
“Funny, charming, heart-wrenching, majorly romantic, and sexy as hell…Destined to become a keeper.”
—
Rakehell
Berkley Sensation titles by Alissa Johnson
NEARLY A LADY
AN UNEXPECTED GENTLEMAN
PRACTICALLY WICKED
Practically
Wicked
Alissa Johnson
BERKLEY SENSATION, NEW YORK
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) • Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
PRACTICALLY WICKED
A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / October 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Alissa Johnson.
Cover art by Judy York.
Cover design by George Long.
Interior text design by Laura K. Corless.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 978-1-101-61149-4
BERKLEY SENSATION
®
Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
BERKLEY SENSATION
®
is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
For Bryan and Hillery Johnson, with love.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Life was best experienced through a thick layer of fine drink.
Inferior drink might do in a pinch, but Maximilian Dane was certain that nothing accompanied an evening of debauchery with the demimonde quite so well as several goblets of excellent wine at dinner, followed by a glass, or two, of expensive port in the billiards room, followed by a liberal tasting of superb brandy in the card room, followed by any number of flutes of champagne in Mrs. Wrayburn’s ballroom, followed by…whatever it was he had poured in the library. He recalled an amber hue and delicate bite. He also recalled forgoing the actual pour and drinking straight from the bottle.
In hindsight, that may have been a mistake.
Because at some point following that final drink, he left the library in search of…something or other, and rather than finding his way back to the ballroom where this something was most likely to be found, he had landed here—in a quiet, unfamiliar room illuminated by only a spattering of candles, and seated in a plain wooden chair before a plain wooden table, which had both initially appeared to be adequately sized for a man of five-and-twenty, but upon his sitting, had proved to be entirely too near to the floor. His legs were bent at an angle he suspected would be impossible were it not for the limbering quality of all those glasses.
“What in God’s name is the matter with this furniture?”
“Lord Highsup cut the legs off for me when I was six,” a woman’s voice explained. He liked the sound of it, lower than one expected from a woman and warm like the fine drink from the library.
He looked up from the golden wood grain of the table and squinted until the form sitting across from him came into focus. His companion wore a night rail and wrap. They were white, ruffled, and provided a sharply contrasting background to the dark braid of hair that fell over her shoulder and ended just below a well-formed breast.
“You’re not six.”
“Indeed, I am not. How astute of you to ascertain.”
“Plenty tart, though, I see. Who are you?” He threw up a hand, narrowly avoiding a thumb to the eye. “No…No, wait. I know. I never forget a lady.” Leaning closer, he took in the young woman’s pale gray eyes and delicate features, along with her rigid posture and indifferent expression. “You…are Miss Anna Rees, The Ice Maiden of Anover House.”