Wicked Trilogy (Madeline Hunter) Books in Order

The Wicked Trilogy is Madeline Hunter in a brisker, later-Regency mode. These books still have the intelligence and historical grounding that run through her work, but they are especially strong on momentum. Each story pairs a man with a dubious reputation and a heroine who is much harder to outmaneuver than he expects, then folds in a real plot problem beyond the romance.

That extra plot is part of the appeal.

His Wicked Reputation opens with Gareth Fitzallen restoring a property and looking into a major art theft, only to become fixated on Eva Russell, the wrong sister from every practical point of view. Tall, Dark and Wicked pushes into courtroom peril when Padua Belvoir discovers that the barrister she hoped would save her father may serve as prosecutor instead. The Wicked Duke turns the pressure even higher with a duke living under suspicion of his brother's murder and a marriage proposal tied to clearing his name.

The heroes are linked, and so are the problems. Family tension, inherited trouble, and long memories keep surfacing across the three books, which makes the trilogy feel properly connected without demanding total commitment from the reader. You can pick up one novel and follow it easily, but the pleasures deepen if you go in order and watch the wider circle take shape.

These are reputation books.

Hunter is interested in what society thinks it knows about a person and what is actually true. A bastard son, a barrister with worldly experience, a duke everyone believes dangerous, all of them carry labels before the story even begins. The heroines are just as interesting because they do not simply buy those labels. They test them, resist them, and sometimes use them.

The tone is witty and quick, but not weightless. There is mystery, legal pressure, property trouble, and the usual Madeline Hunter attention to how class and money affect romantic choices. If you want a shorter connected run of her books, one that leans a little more openly into intrigue and banter while keeping the emotional stakes solid, this trilogy is an easy recommendation.