When She Was Bad...

Lita Morales, the sassy heroine of Louise Bagshawe's When She Was Bad, falls for Rupert Lancaster the moment she meets him, despite warnings that he's "strictly a four-F guy" ("find 'em, feel 'em, fuck 'em and forget 'em"). But he is also utterly, achingly gorgeous and not only is he "tall, dark and handsome", he's smart, charming and a Lord to boot. At first it seems that the exotic Lita has won his heart but when Rupert's court case to regain his country seat goes against him, he dumps her and leaves the country with $100,000 of Lita's money in his tailored pocket.

His next victim is the feisty Becky Lancaster, the heiress to Rupert's English estate. Like Lita, Becky falls headlong for him, opening up her house (and her purse) to him as soon as he walks into her life. It's only when she tests his love that she sees the truly black nature of his heart.

Set against a Britain bound in industrial strife and a glossy, glamorous Manhattan, When She Was Bad follows the fortunes of these two women, who are unwittingly pitted against each other after they're betrayed by Rupert. Both stunningly beautiful, they're also "ball-busting wildcats" who will stop at nothing to destroy their rival. Extremely compelling, this novel explores the complex relationship between new and old money; the obstacles these powerful, beautiful women have to negotiate to survive in testosterone-fuelled careers and the difficulties they face being "brash New Yorkers" in a stuffy, class-divided 1970s Britain.

Louise Bagshawe's was the youngest ever contributor to The Tablet and "Young Poet of the Year" at 18 and took the commercial fiction scene by storm with her first novel Career Girls in 1995. Since then she has published several best-sellers including Tall Poppies, Venus Envy and A Kept Woman. --Jane Honey

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Wow - Rated
This is a fantastic book, that you cant put down. As a person that reads occasionaly, that is saying something.

but this was great to read

Not brilliant - Rated
Lita and Rebecca are worlds apart. From the tough streets of the Bronx, Lita is determined to succeed - whatever the cost. Privileged Rebecca has never wanted for anything. And when she inherits an estate in England, it's just the start of a whole new life. Linked by betrayal, Rebecca and Lita are set against each other. Until they discover that revenge can be very sweet indeed...


This book was OK, but not brilliant. The story of the 2 girls was interesting, and fairly well thought out, but the main 'plot' of the book didn't really do much to satisfy me. I felt that there was a lot of chat about stuff, but the ending seemed a little rushed. I got half way through the book, and nothing had happened really, and reading the blurb I expected the 2 girls to work together a lot sooner than 2 or 3 chapters from the end. I was a bit dissapointed by this. It felt as though the book never really got to the point, until right at the end, where a few sentences were written to tie up the book.

Not a terrible read, but not one I would call good either.

6/10

A Radiant Rags to Riches Read! - Rated
Quickly becoming one of my favorite authors I devoured this "Bad Girl" novel in a day! Louise Bagshawe delivers another fantastic read in this story of two women that get decieved by a man and then are out to find what really makes them happy. Does the creep ever get what he deserves? You just have to keep reading to the end to find out!

A mission not a pleasure! - Rated
I was really looking forward to this book as it seemed like my kind of light and fluffy chick-lit-type book. The reality was somewhat disappointing.

Set in the 70's the story centers around 3 main characters; Lita Morales the poor Hispanic girl from the Bronx, Becky Lancaster the American heir to an English mansion, and Lord Rupert Lancaster the sexy socialite for whom both girls fall.

Lita comes from a poor Hispanic family in the Bronx and her mission is to make it big and never have to scrimp and save like her parents have had to. This all comes to pass when she is spotted and signed by a model scout for Models 6 modeling agency. Before you know it she's propelled to the big-time and can name her price and terms to get pretty much any job she wants. When she falls for Lord Rupert Lancaster everything seems perfect. Then out of the blue Rupert shatters her dreams and heads off back to England....with a stash of Litas money. Lita tracks Rupert down but is shocked to see he's already replaced her with Becky. Lita walks away but vows to seek revenge on both of them.

Although the story was in theory an interesting one the reality was somewhat lacking. It's one of those stories that's been done to death and I think setting the scene in the 70's was a ploy to give this book the edge.....it didn't work. I don't know what the point of the detailed descriptions of the sex scenes was about but feel they were only included as `filler' because without them the book would have been half the size. Maybe Ms Bagshawe is trying to appeal to the Jackie Collins fans in the audience?

All in all I found the book boring and finished it in 3 days purely because I got bored of reading sex scene after sex scene and just skimmed past them. The plot was good in theory but the execution just didn't live up to the hype. Deeply disappointing.

Louise Bagshawe - When She was Bad - Rated
This is the first book I have read by Louise Bagshawe. I read it on holiday, in two days, as I could not put the book down. Written about a rich girl, poor girl scenario, with some romances on the way and some sex.

I would like to read some more of Louise Bagshawe's books.