I love gothic historical romances. The author did a great job of describing Blackberry Manor and in building atmosphere. I particularly enjoyed the dark humour in the description of Evangeline's bedroom. This gothic romance was a little bit different as it had a paranormal element but it worked really well and had me hooked from start to finish. The story was a nice blend of mystery and romance. I really liked how dark and edgy the storyline was and how this was counterbalanced with lots of humour and banter that had me laughing out loud! I was left with questions at the end of the story. There seemed to be no consequences for the events at the end of the story and that had me a little bit puzzled. However, I was content with the happy ending and I know I will enjoy reading the rest of this series.

What a great gothic / historical romance. With a murder mystery and very compelling characters, I was pretty much spellbound.

Miss Evangeline Pemberton has a gift or perhaps it's better to describe it as a curse. The daughter of a gypsy, she has inherited the ability to see "visions", whether from the past, present, or future, just by touching another. Her mother, forced to marry in the face of disgrace, has died at the hands of her sadistic husband, forcing Evangeline to run away or face the cruelty of a stepfather that feels he owns her and her power. Unfortunately the woman she has turned to in desperation is also quite despicable and she finds herself at a house party in a creepy mansion owned by Gavin Lioncroft, a known killer, with the task of helping compromise her friend Susan, Lady Stanton's daughter, into matrimony to that very owner of Blackberry Manor. Little does Evangeline expect to develop feeling for the handsome, gruff man who has a tendency to react with his fists, nor does Gavin know how to combat the instant attraction they feel towards one another.

Also at the gathering is Lioncroft's sister, Rose, with her husband, Lord Hetherton, and their children, as well as Rose's brother-in-law, Benedict Rutherford and his wife Francine, plus their cousin Edmund. An elderly, doddering gentleman, Mr Teasdale has also been invited (targeted) as a prospective husband for Rose's eldest daughter Nancy. Hetherton turns out to be a real piece of work so when he turns up dead nobody, except perhaps his children, seem upset. His insulting behavior gives everyone a motive, but the prime candidate is the host who publicly threatened to kill his brother-in-law after witnessing the results of his spousal abuse. Somehow Evangeline's gift has been revealed, although she claims her insight is because she hears messages from God, and she sets out to discover the truth, hopefully proving Gavin's innocence. Mayhem ensues. While everyone wants to leave ASAP, it is Jane's thirteenth birthday and she has been promised a party so they all stay to celebrate resulting in the best day of her life (despite her recent father's murder), giving Evangeline time to discover the identity of the true murderer.

While this started out as an enticing read Too Wicked to Kiss by Erica Ridley turned out to be long winded with internal repetitive narratives which distracted from the whole. Disguised as a Gothic story, instead of being mysterious, much of this Regency Romance is nonsensical. While there were some potentially interesting characters, none of the secondary cast of players was fully developed. The reason Miss Susan Stanton (one of the better defined individuals) was banned from society and thus reduced to entrapping a husband, was lame and the reader is at a loss for the irrational behaviors of her mother. Edmund was constantly drunk which was perhaps a reason for his inappropriate crudeness which would never have been tolerated at a house party, and the other guests were just as one sided in their descriptions. The children, however, were a delight, and injected some light heartedness into a dark theme. I also couldn't understand why the Lioncrofts blackballed their brother after their parents death since it was all obviously an accident. Under all the handwringing there was a decent plot, but you had to search to find it. This is Book 1 of the Scoundrels and Secrets series.

Three stars and a thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.