Scandals

by Penelope Neri

When society deems her a harlot after she is caught kissing the man she loves, beautiful Victoria Hawthorne is shunned by all possible suitors during her London season, except for Steede Warring, earl of Blackstone--a dangerously handsome man who will stop at nothing to win her love. Original.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Historical

391 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Simona · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for a widower hero with kids. Hero lost his wife and young son to a fire in India. His daughter has been mute since the incident. But the rumors around the society is he killed his wife. That makes it difficult for him to enjoy the balls and find a new wife.

Heroine is a young lady who thinks herself in love with a local farmhand but the villain is only interested in taking advantage of her. Her father saves her from ruin and gives her an ultimatum to marry her to the first guy who asks for her hand.

Hero discovers heroine during a ball and is impressed by her beauty and her interaction with a child. He asks her father to marry her and marriage date is set.

Heroine has heard the rumors and is fearful that her new husband might murder her. She also harbours hope that she could elope with her stupid love.

Well they get married and then hero introduces heroine to delicious pleasures in bed. During daytime heroine bonds with her mute stepdaughter.

Thereafter a little drama happens and then things happily resolve.

I liked that the heroine was immature with her obsession with the murderous rumour. Hero was great; he went after the heroine and was extremely demanding of her to become a real wife. There love scenes are incredibly steamy.

There is a lot of page filling with geographical details so this ends up being a quick read if you skip those.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read. The H was sexy and lusty, even I wanted him. The h, on the other hand, got on my nerves.

The story was simple and predictable. This was just a good, easy read.

[Yvette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first time in a long time that I have read a historical romance and I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. I did read it while reloading my computer but I somehow spent more time reading than paying attention to the tiresome machine.[return]The story itself is somewhat predictable but the descriptions are excellent and it does tend to grip you and make you want to know how things really turn out.

[Aleks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m on a historical romance kick but this is not her best book. The characters felt 2D and the racial undertones.. this book has aGED.

[Molly Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

it really was giving bridgerton lol, loved it! 🙌

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victoria is caught in a amorous embrace with the man she loves, a stable worker on her father's estate, and before she knows it all her chances of a reputable marriage are lost. But that's okay, because all she wants to do is elope with her love. Steede, the earl of Blackstone, is looking for a wife to be a mother to his daughter, but scandal follows him as well since half of society believes he murdered his wife. He sees Victoria being kind to a child and instantly determines to have her as his wife. He succeeds, despite some bumps in the road, and they are relatively happy for a time...until someone tries to kill Victoria and she begins to wonder if Steede isn't a murderer.

So in one respect, given the beginning and Victoria and Steede's romance/lust affair and the somewhat awkward yet sexy wedding night (since they barely know each other) and their developing friendship, I liked this story. Even the question of who would be trying to kill Victoria was, although easily answered, interesting and suspenseful, I lost respect for the heroine during this little journey. I can understand an initial suspicion of the man she'd come to love, but to all out faith and belief that he's trying to murder her after everything they've been to each other, is a bit much. Even more so, when she gets the chance to go home to care for her father and has to decide whether to return to Steede, she chooses to completely abandon a little girl who she'd promised to love for the rest of her life, out of fear and yes, she tells herself it's fear that Steede will murder her, but it's really fear of loving someone and not being loved back , but that's kind of actually worse. She leaves a 7-year-old girl feeling unloved just to stay away from her husband. Now I liked Steede a lot - he was steadfast and determined and a bit ruthless in his way, but a good guy who clearly loved his wife and wasn't afraid to go after her.

[Lorena · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a mystery. Not what actually happens in the story, per se, but how in the world it got into my house. My husband and I found it in a box of our books that had been in storage for years, but neither one of us is a straight-up romance reader, and we both strenuously protest that we are not responsible for its presence amidst our other things. Naturally, I had to read it. I didn't even make it a third of the way through before I had to throw it right into the discard pile. I have an abiding love for Georgette Heyer's Regency romances, so my bar is set pretty high, and this came nowhere close. Shoddy plotting and writing, and very little attempt made at historical accuracy. Over-earnest, and not a jot of (intentional) humor to be found. If you still want to read it, there will be a copy at the next book sale in my area!

[Owusua Adwoa Ayeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never regret buying it.

[Donna Covell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy reading with a happy ending.