For me, this couple didn't really 'click' until far too late, and it was almost baffling. 70%+ was just too much.

I enjoyed it, because it's JAL, and she's talented but it was tough to get invested in, and I would've DNFed had it not been for the overarching arc of the series. ( )

Book was boring, way to much storyline about Sylvie dancing in The White Lily. The author seemed to get lost and lose her way in writing the story. I did like the character of "The General". He had some great comedic lines and brought a humanness to the story.
Tom definitely gives the best gifts to Sylvie; they aren't jewels or extravagant gifts but ones she really wants. The music box and mirrors showed how much Tom paid attention to Sylvie and her wants and needs.
Started to get more interesting when Sylvie and Tom sleep together ( second half of book) and she is trying to figure out if what she feels for Tom is love. In some aspects Sylvie was an intriguing character. She is definitely not your average regency character; a ballerina and having had a lover who wasn't the romantic lead. Just wish the story could have supported Sylvie more.
When Sylvie and her long lost sister, Susannah from the first book, finally meet it is really abrupt. I didn't feel emotionally involved with their reunion at all. Even when Etienne, Sylvie's lover, and his role in the background is revealed I couldn't bring myself to be shocked.
After being numbed by page after page of Sylvie learning to dance with her "derrière in the air" I was just ready for the end. It was kind of like, meet sister in an anti-climatic way- check; take care of Etienne in an anti-climatic way -check; happily ever after- check.
Deleting "Ways to be Wicked" from my computer- check.

D- ( )

Hugely disappointing second volume of the Holt Sisters trilogy. In contrast to Susannah, the heroine of the first volume, who is hidden away in the English countryside, Sylvie is taken to France where she lives with a cranky old lady and her parrot. Through determination and dedication she becomes a prima ballerina and attracts the attention of a French prince.

At which point she learns that she is one of three sisters and promptly heads for England to meet Susannah. Waylaid by highwaymen and robbed of her money, she reluctantly seeks refuge in a burlesque theatre run by a handsome rogue who appears briefly in the first volume.

In deference to Ms Long's skill as an author, and out of gratitude for the pleasure her previous books have brought me, I really, really did try to finish this book. Sadly, after two or three stops and starts, I had to give up.

The characters of Sylvie, the prima ballerina, and Tom, the owner of the theatre, were completely unsympathetic, meaning I couldn't relate and couldn't care less what happened to them. The meticulous description of the running of the theatre and the gaggle of busty 'actresses' who work there, singing bawdy songs and flashing their behinds, was boring.

I'm not sure what went wrong with this book. I found myself skipping entire paragraphs, all beautifully written but mechanical and devoid of the bubbling enthusiasm I found in previous books.

Not being a fan of series that attempt to chronicle the individual lives of siblings, relatives, or villagers, I'm tempted to lay the blame on the impossibility of making three or four linked characters equally interesting.

No star rating as it's not fair to evaluate a book I didn't finish.

The second book in the trilogy about the Holt sisters. Ways to be Wicked is the middle book, and I would say it's the second best. I'll repeat what I said before, I do think Ms. Long gets better with every book from experience and also because I liked the third book, The Secret to Seduction, the best of the three. In this one, Sylvie Lamoureux is a prima French ballerina and she has decided to travel to England to solve the mystery of her parentage. She's robbed along the way so she's forced to accept the burlesque dancing job in Tom Shaughnessy's bawdy theatre to make ends meet. Of course, Tom and Sylvie have instant chemistry that they each try to deny which leads to crackling sexual tension. I liked that the author tries to explore their characters and gives you a plausible explanation for why they fall in love... that underneath it all they are attracted to each other because they each strive for the same thing in life. ( )