Customer Reviews

Before the Scandal: The Notorious Gentlemen

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was great book - I found myself telling my family - wait..wait...I just have find out what happens and then I'll help! (opps I quess I won't be mother of year)

This is the second book of the The Notorious Gentlemen series (1st book After the Kiss: The Notorious Gentlemen). In this book Phin the second son comes home from the war after being gone for 10 years because he thinks his brother is ill. When he arrives home he realizes that his 17 year old sister tricked him but she does need him home because something is wrong. When he arrives home he see his old childhood friend Alyse who has has her own problems throughout the years. Together they solve a mystery , have a sweet romance and French Highwayman enters their lives!! ENJOY!

I am looking forward to Bram's Story!

Years ago Alyse Donnelly and Phinneas Bromley were the best of friends. Their childhood homes/estates were next to each others and they grew up playing together. About the time when Phin began to see Alyse in a more romantic light, he left. For the past ten years he has been fighting on the battlefield and making himself a hero and a colonel.

Alyse was once the belle of the ball. Coming from a titled family and having looks and charm she was sought after by many gentlemen. But a scandal and the death of her parents changed all that. She is now essentially a Cinderella type figure in her home, catering to a cranky aunt and her over indulged son.

Phin rushes home when he gets a letter from his little sister thinking his brother is ill. What he finds is a healthy brother, an estate in trouble and Alyse. He's shocked and secretly thrilled that she is still unmarried; their friendship picks up where it left off.

I really teetered on the rating of this book. My first problem was the title of the book, it promises a scandal and I was expecting a scandal involving the two main characters. The actual scandal itself is a little lame. Another issue I had was the `mystery' with the accident prone estate, it dragged on a bit and I couldn't help but think all of it could have been solved with a little communication.

For the most part though, I really enjoyed it; the characters are charming and entertaining. The aunt is written so well that I absolutely hated her; I kept hoping Alyse would trip her or something. The villains are loath worthy and the heroes loveable. I hope she writes next about Phin's sister Beth and his pal, Lord Bramwell, next. I wouldn't mind hearing about his brother, William, some more, either. This book is not as good as the first book in the series, After the Kiss: The Notorious Gentlemen, but still an enjoyable read.

3.5 stars

Cherise Everhard, August 2008

Many romances are written mostly from the heroine's point of view; not surprising as most of the readers are likely women. This romance is written at least equally from the point of the hero, if not primarily from his perspective. That, plus his efforts to discover who was trying to harm his estranged family, gave this book a different feel from many other romances.

I read so many romances that I enjoy any time an author goes to the effort to write something different enough to stand out from the masses. Readers who want lots of sex are going to be disappointed. There is only one that I recall -- but lots of stolen kisses behind closed doors. The romance itself is that of two childhood friends and sort of sweethearts finding each other after both have gone through emotionally difficult times.

I enjoyed this book enough that I am going to get the first book in the series.

I'm editing this review to add my explanation of the title. At least one reviewer couldn't figure out what the scandal was in the book. The scandal occurred 4 years before the start of the book and I believe the title refers to the fact that the hero and hero knew each other before the scandal and that the heroine would not have still been single and stuck living with her nasty cousin and his mother when the hero comes home from war but for the scandal.

Ten years have past and Colonel Phineas Bromley has finally returned home. Back to the family he escaped after shattering their lives. He didn't come hoping for forgiveness because some things can never be forgiven. Instead, Phin came to help solve a mystery. The estate, it seems, has been plagued with a lot of bad luck lately. And Phin means to be the man to find out who or what is behind all the destruction. Its the least he can do. Yet never in his wildest dreams did he think of ever seeing the dark-eyed Alyse Donnelly again. The diamond of the first water should have been snatched up a long time ago. But that was before the scandal. And Alyse can't afford another one so she means to stay away from the handsome soldier.............which might prove to be difficult.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Some parts were exciting (mystery and highwayman bit) and others excruciatingly dull (romance). I didn't care about Alyse one way or another. She felt a bit wooden and at times annoying, particularly when she couldn't make up her mind whether to be with Phin or not. I understand that her options were limited but sometimes you just have to go out on a limb and trust your heart. On the other hand, Phin's character is more endearing. He seems adrift. Agonizing over the past but not knowing what the future holds -refusing to hope. Phin is doing his best to protect his family but can't do so without stepping on a few toes and causing an even greater rift between him and his brother.

And its Phin's brother, William, the Viscount Quence who stole my heart in Before the Scandal. The paraplegic single handedly has been raising a younger sister, maintaining an estate for tens years and at the same time dealing with his poor health. No small feat in that time period. I just kept hoping that he would get a love interest (perhaps in the 3rd book?).

Before the Scandal follows After the Kiss: The Notorious Gentlemen in the series which concludes with the rakish Bram's book. It can be read as a stand alone. And I recommend getting this one at the library, not bad but not spectacular. Either way I'm looking forward to Bram's book. Maybe Phin's sister, Elizabeth, will be his heroine? *fingers crossed*.

Update (sept 2008)-its official, Elizabeth is not Bram's heroine. Enoch states that she's too young for him. Dammit!!:(

Suzanne Enoch, is a relatively new author for me, i had read most of her work and so far i have liked every story, yes, her heroines are a little too mouthy for my taste and the heroes tend to be treated a little like doormats by them, but overall the stories are good, the heroines are usually sweet as well so it tends to compensate. I don't know what happened in this book, i agree with a fellow reviewer, i honestly couldn't care less about Alise Donelly. She was so blah in every way. I mean, Phin tells her what is going on, about what his family is going through, and she still has second thoughts about helping him out. her excuses are based on his behavior of 10 YEARS AGO!!, yes, 10 long years. Her family treats her horribly and she still doesn't feel she is right by helping her childhood friend protect his family and home from them.Why???? I hated that she even contemplated on giving up Phin's identity for the money, even if only for a second. It was a complete disappointment to me, i think that's when my dislike for her, turned into complete lack of interest, at that point i just couldn't care less about her.
Then we have Phin, instead of talking to his brother to begin with, starts acting like the same immature boy he was 10 years ago, in order to, ummm i don't know, not talk to his brother i suppose. What is this? I understand him feeling guilty, but hello, someone is trying to ruin your family, someone who is also courting your sister, don't you think the correct, common sense thing is too man-up and talk to your brother and explain your thoughts on the matter?!. The whole Beth commenting on his ability to speak correct French could have been avoid it with a little communication.
I love Miss Enoch's work, but this book was lacking. I could have passed on the whole Phin's attitude thing but the whole romance and Alise in general, actually were disappointing. Phin deserved someone better. The love connection was not there, it was monotonous, the sounded like puppets, and i felt I knew they were in love because Miss Enoch was telling us they were, not because it was something believable.
It is still Miss Enoch's work and after all it was enjoyable, even if i wished for a different heroine, therefore why i gave 4 stars.
Now that my thoughts on the matter have been penned down, i must confess i cannot wait for Bram's story. he has gotten my attention since the first book on this trilogy. I have noticed that Miss Enoch has been developing lately a taste for mouthy heroines and heroes who sound like alpha males, and sweet and caring at the same time, and then as it turns, they get walked all over by their love interest. I hope Bram's case is not like that, i hope he can become smitten with someone without turning into her lap dog, after all Bram wouldn't be Bram without his rakish ways.

I read to page 108, and the book never got any better! She kept repeating the phrase "before the scandal", but nothing made me want to read more to find out what the scandal was. I thought it was a very boring book, and I won't waste my money on anymore of Ms Enoch's books.

The previous comment kinda says it all! I wasn't all that excited after reading After The Kiss and I was hoping that Before The Scandal would be a little more entertaining and fun (and it was at SOME parts), but sadly I was left feeling disappointed at the end of this one as well! To me it seems as though her books have gotten kinda boring and are lacking the passion and fire her previous books have had! I have been so discouraged ever since I read Sins of A Duke, which I thought was so unlike her previous works!!! Here's hoping Bram's story catches fire in my hands (not literally of course).

I enjoyed this historical romance for the sheer fact that while it was obvious who the villians were, the reason behind the plotting was a slow reveal. The writing was well done, the romance believable for the genre. The heroine isn't too perfect nor is she a simpering victim waiting to be rescued. I liked her pluck and her conversations with the hero. The villians were nasty enough to deserve more than the got in the end....

I read this after the first book in the series, After the Kiss, but found later that I didn't need to. The story stands on it's own merit without plot linkages. I do love finding characters from other books in series books, but they are present to enhance the story, not to confuse it in this case if you've never read the first book.

The story was mostly from a hero's view point. Phineas Bromley is back from war, summoned by his younger sister on false pretenses, to fix mysterious goings-on on his family estate, and has an estranged relationship with his older brother. So not only does he have to determine and fix the issues on the estate, but he also has to repair his relationship with his brother and redeem himself. Along with it is a romance with a neighbor turned companion to an aunt, Alyse.

Personally, I enjoyed the story. I was up half the night to finish the book because the suspense was well written enough for me to want to know what happens next, especially with the highwayman and his two friends and how the villain is brought to justice. :)

Most of the characters are really well written. I loved Phineas, William, LOVED Gordon the sidekick 'man' cum valet, and hated the Aunt as I should have. The weakest character was Alyse, the heroine. She was realistic and level headed in her thinking and questioning everyone's motives based on her circumstances, but I was reading a romance novel, and expected the heroine to want to be with and root for the hero a bit more than Alyse did throughout. She is the only reason I took stars off an otherwise good story.

As for sizzle, there's some hot kisses, and even some sex.

Book Rating - 4 stars
Sizzle Rating - 3 stars

I absolutely loved this first book in this series ("After the Kiss") and couldn't wait to get my hands on this second installment. I don't know if I was just so anxious and excited to get on with the story or what, but the first half of this story seemed to go so slowly!!! Phinneus, after a 10 year absence, returns home to help his family. He has been wracked with guilt and his adjustment back home doesn't go so smoothly. His neighbor and childhood friend, Alyse has had her own turn of bad luck.
While as I said the beginning was slow and I had to hurry it along with a little choice skimming, eventually the story's pace picked up and I couldn't put the book down! I love Phin and think he's sweet and lovely in his devotion to his family - although at times I found his methods frustrating. Alyse tended to grow on me as well. While I can understand her initial hesitation to jump into things with Phin there was a point where I was like, "Enough already! Just say yes, girl!" But, eventually she pulls it together and I end up rooting for her, too. The second half of this book gets really good. As a whole, this was not the love-fest I had with the last book, but still a highly recommended read. Can't wait for Bram's story next!