I first heard about this book a few months ago from Lindsey, an online friend, and her reaction to the book convinced me I just had to read it. The backcover blurb reminded me of a story with a similar plotline that I really loved - "Twice Loved" by LaVyrle Spencer - and I admit that I was curious and wanted to see how this book would compare.

Sophie is perhaps my favorite character, infused with strength and compassion and the resolve not to hurt those she loves. It's been mentioned in other reviews about her refusal to choose between Garrett and Tristan, and how her decision is not based on inaction nor a weak nature, but rather because she does care so much for each man and cannot be the one to cause either additional pain. Sophie is determined to make the best of the cards that have been dealt, all the while knowing that her fantasy of loving two men will never come to fruition, and she must eventually make a choice as to which man is her true husband. And she does, but never once is it an easy decision. It breaks her heart.

Tristan is a man of honor, the friend who stood by years ago and watched the woman he loved marry his best friend. He cares deeply for them both and is at peace with his choice, if not exactly happy about what he's sacrificed, but he moves on and builds a life of his own, and he is content. He grieves as much as Sophie for the loss of Garrett, and believes in his heart that being with Sophie is something Garrett would have wanted. Throughout the story we see evidence of Tristan's honor warring with his heart's desire. His strongest impulse was to grab Sophie and the children and run away with them, but he knows he cannot, and that is partially why I loved him so much. He still did the right thing, even when it tore him away from Sophie. He could never live with himself if he broke her spirit.

Garrett. I had a heck of a time warming up to him in the beginning. There were times when he was cruel and unforgiving, though we learn the reason for some of his behavior later in the story. But when he first returns, he's cold, uncompromising, with a deadly edge to him. There is little of the old Garrett left, but Sophie clings to the belief that deep-down, he hasn't changed that much for the young man she fell in love with. And as we get to know Garrett, both from glimpses of his childhood as well as his experiences in the war and afterwards, I felt more compassion towards him. Here is a man who's returned home after being gone for eight long years, which must have felt like an eternity to someone who cannot remember his past. When he returns, it's not just to discover his wife remarried, but also to his seven-year-old daughter, and a sister who is no longer a child. And, there's a very good chance he's completely mad...

Ms. Haymore does not shy away from the intimacy issue. Here is Sophie, a sensual woman who's experienced sexual pleasure in the bed of both her husbands, and her desire does not cease to exist when her first husband returns, complicating her life greatly. In her deepest fantasies, she longs to experience the pleasure of making love to the two men she loves at the same time, yet rationally she knows it can never happen. Tristan and Garrett are not the type of men to share the woman they love. She knows in her heart she must say good-bye to one of them. The love she has for her two husbands is as much a physical part of her as it is an emotional one, and she expresses her feelings with her body as well as her heart. So yes, Sophie does have sex with Tristan, and later with Garrett, and it's deeply pleasurable for her each time. She doesn't let guilt or shame taint her time in their beds. Sophie is a woman who passionately loves two men, and she won't regret loving either of them.

I think this story would have been incredibly compelling if it had concentrated solely on the heart-wrenching dilemma between these three people, that it could have delved deeper into the emotional complications they had to work through. Instead, there is a secondary plot that closely enterwines with Garrett's return and partially explains his strange behavior. I wish there hadn't been so much time invested in this aspect of the story, even though it did make for interesting suspense, but I felt the story would have been more effective without all that subterfuge. Still, "A Hint of Wicked" is a powerful story in many ways, and while the romance angle is resolved, it is not without its share of heartache. Jennifer Haymore wrote an unforgettable story that stayed with me long after I put the book down.

I definitely intend to keep an eye out for Jennifer's next book, called a "Touch of Scandal".

Labels: Jennifer Haymore