Customer Reviews

Lord Scandal (Book Two: Rakes of London)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Imogen, the Portrait Divorcee, is living in the dowager house of her friend Lady Somercote. George, Lady Somercote, has invited guests (including her friend Gabriel) over for a party. Imogen and Gabriel meet at the beginning of the party and become attracted to one another. Gabriel immediately decides to use his time at the house party to seduce her, while Imogen decides to avoid him because she can't handle any more scandal. George is working to restore Imogen among the ton after she had been cast out for being divorced on the grounds of adultery. What follows is a game of hot and cold with Gabriel pursuing Imogen.

There was nothing wrong with the writing in this book, although it took me awhile to adjust to the abrupt way the scenes were cut, but I just couldn't ever immerse myself in the story. I never felt any depth to the characters so the storyline fell rather flat for me. I didn't like that so much time was spent on secondary characters (who I gather were the stars of a previous book) when I craved more details of why Imogen and Gabriel even liked each other beyond sex.

I think the major problem I had with the story was Imogen. I just didn't like her. She came across as rather whiny and melodramatic. It seemed like every chapter there was something new for her to have a minor drama about. I was also very bothered by her interactions with Gabriel. She wanted him but she didn't want scandal (which is understandable). She decides to have sex with him anyway but then doesn't let him know. She seemed to expect him to read her mind and sweep her off her feet so she wouldn't ever have to admit aloud that she wanted him. It seemed as though if he made all the moves she could justify it to herself because he seduced her. It just bothered me immensely.

I also didn't understand the little drama with her brother. One confrontation and he backed down? That was it? After seeing that it seemed comical that she would be afraid of him at all. It ended up giving me the impression that the drama was included only to manufacture a reason for Imogen to deny Gabriel.

Also, the separation at the end between Imogen and Gabriel made me shake my head. Can she never stick around and face a problem? Must she always be so weak that she needs to run away so she won't let her desire for Gabriel sweep her away? I just wanted to shake her and tell her to grow a backbone. Then when he finally catches up... nothing? It's like she never had a reason for leaving. It was baffling.

Overall I never got a sense of any real love between the main characters. All I felt was lust and even that fell flat for me. I have no doubt that this book will find fans. I think it's just a matter of taste and this story just didn't have a flavor I liked.

I loved this author's previous book "Lord Sin", so I thought Book two in this series would be pretty good. I was wrong! Lord Sin at least had a great subplot that involved murder and revenge that made the book very interesting and the romance really pop. This book has nothing like that.Gabriel and Imogen's romance seems bland with nothing driving it. This book consisted of just more George and her many many male friends going from one boring event to another. In fact, George has such a prominent presence in this book. The extra space could have been used to further develop Gabriel and Imogen's romance. Also, the character's inner thoughts in this book were so redundant and long that it seemed its only purpose was to just fill up space.I really wanted to like this book, but it was very hard and I wish I had never bought it.

Gabriel Angelstone (also known as Brimstone) is a rake. He loves women and women love him. However, he doesn't believe in love per se, he goes through life enjoying women on a "casual" basis.

Showing up early to a party being hosted by his close female friend George and her husband Ivo (the main couple in the author's previous book Lord Sin), he initially mistakens Imogen for George. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that it isn't George but a mysterious woman who's witty, well-read, and of course, beautiful. He's immediately attracted to her and can't resist making a pass at her. Imogen finds Gabriel attractive, but the last thing she needs is any notoriety, as she is trying to recover from being outcast from society.

Imogen is a divorcee. Her husband divorced her after a shocking portrait of her was painted. Since that time, life has been hard for Imogen. She's been cast off by her family (and a brother who hates her) and prior to meeting George, was living in a boardinghouse.

What follows is the romance of Gabriel who finds that yes, he now does believe in love and Imogen, torn between Gabriel and the hope of getting back into society - something that can't happen if she's with Gabriel.

If you read Lord Sin, you'll find that there are some familiar characters back in this book (like the heroine, George) and lots of secondary characters. Timing-wise, this book takes place after the main story of Lord Sin, but before the epilogue in that book.

I read and enjoyed Lord Sin and was curious to see how the author did with a second novel. I actually think I enjoyed this book more than Lord Sin. One of the issues that I had with Lord Sin was the lack of dialog in some key scenes. No such problem here, it seems like the author has done a great job with dialog. All in all, I enjoyed reading about Gabriel falling in love and Imogen unable to resist Gabriel.

The author is from Northern California. So am I. As a fellow Californian, I am slightly embarrassed for her. This book had no soul, or even heart. It did have sex. It also had a bunch of mistakes-Imogen's brother changed his name from Richard to Robert for some reason, and there were a bunch of grammatical mistakes. That was eclipsed by the fact that the author cannot count. There are dates at the beginning of each chapter. December 3 to December 10 is one week. According to the book, it is two weeks. The month of November seems to go on for about 60 days. However, I have never before read a romance where the main characters never tell each other they love each other. These two want each other, but they never say they love each other, so something fundamental that makes a romance a romance was missing from this book. No tender feelings are ever displayed. It made me kind of sad.

This follow-up to Lord Sin gives us a new romance that takes places between two members of Georgianna's ever-growing army of friends. What's delightful about this book is the way that it presents a fresh, developing relationship--Imogene and Gabriel are not George and Ivo, and the issues they face are very different--while keeping the reader in the merry social world established in the first book. I'm looking forward to the next!

I was really looking forward to reading this book, but when I finally got a chance to, it couldn't hold my attention.

The Good: The story was well written. Words were spelled properly and it was grammatically correct overall. The secondary characters were lovely. I adored George (who was the heroine of a previous novel) and her quirky ways. I enjoyed the interaction between George and Ivo (her husband), as well as George and the rest of the boys. All the boys were lively and entertaining. And I liked the fact that the "romance" of the H/h took place over several months and not days like most romances. The bits and pieces of the Tęte-à-Tęte gossip rag at the beginning of every chapter were also amusing in an "Wow, you're such a b*tch" sort of way.

The Bad: Imogen (the heroine) drove me crazy. She was annoying at best and simply unlikable at worst. She was overly dramatic and ran hot and cold throughout the story. "OMG I want to have sex with him so bad, but I hope he doesn't touch me because I simply can't afford the scandal!!" gag. I don't care if you want an affair or if you don't want an affair, but stick to your guns! Please! She was wishy-washy about every little thing (and every big thing!). I had such high hopes too, because when she and Gabriel first met, they were witty and flirtatious and I could feel the chemistry. Alas, only in that one scene.
Gabriel (the hero) was more likable. I didn't actually mind him, except for the fact that he liked Imogen. Bad judge of character, I guess. However, he just didn't jive with his supposed "bad boy" image. He was way too nice and a little on the wimpy side for me. He kinda, sorta, not really became more alpha male in the end, but it was a little too late for me.

The Ugly: There was no romance. Seriously. I did not feel one iota of passion between Imogen and Gabriel. The sex was mediocre at best (the scenes themselves weren't bad, I just couldn't get into them because the H/h were so one-dimensional). I felt that their everlasting love was more lust than anything, like marriage was their solution to being able to have sex whenever without being raked over the coals for it. I guess I just never quite understood WHY they liked each other.

Throughout the story, I found myself continually focusing on the supporting characters, because the main ones were so boring. In the end, instead of feeling light-hearted over I and G's HEA, I was more curious about what the hell happened to St. Audley.

The story follows a disgraced divorcee, whom George has chosen as a pet project to reintroduce to society, and the hulking handsome Gabriel. Gabriel cannot understand why she is so familiar, until George reminds him of the scandal. Only then does he realize that she's been smiling down at him in his home for some time, and that only serves to make him want her more. Known as the Portrait Divorcee, Imogen had been thoroughly scandalized. All of Imogen's family and friends alike had cut her, she cannot afford to give in to the feelings and urges she has when Gabriel is concerned. The problem is that while she can't say yes...she can't seem to say "no" either. The begin a dangerous affair that George's machinations seem to perpetuate until Imogen's brother intervenes. As always, love finds a way. There is little in the way of mystery here, but I loved the heat of the dialogue and the interaction between Imogen and Gabriel. I haven't read "Lord of Sin", which preceded this but I will look for it now.

I'm really surprised at the lackluster reviews for this novel. I liked it even better than Lord Sin which was a pretty hot debut novel and well rated. I thought Lord Scandal was even more romantic and had a stronger plot. There are some quite unique elements in the story such as how Imogen became a divorcee and social outcast. Her situation places numerous interesting obstacles in her path, not to mention the scandalous reputation of her love interest. The developing relationship between Gabriel and Imogen from casual to deeper is very well done - especially Gabriel's perplexity at Imogen's reactions to their affair as she is not at all like the women with whom he normally dallies. George and friends from Lord Sin are heavily involved in the story and provide a lot of comic relief. (*Spoiler - maybe*) I wished it had spent more time tying the portrait into the end of the story - did Imogen ever learn Gabriel had it? I would loved to see him show her where it was and how long/why he had it.

Both novels rate high on sensuality and I enjoy the writing style. I look forward to more novels from Kalen Hughes featuring the fascinating sporting gentlemen in George's "crowd".

When they said this was a "Scorcher", or when they said this author is on her way to stardom. I loved her debut book last year (LORD SIN; if you haven't read it, go get a copy now!) and I've been dying for this one to hit the shelves. Hot + Historical Accuracy = A must own book.

The hero really is one of those "mad, bad and dangerous to know" types and I thought he was simply delicious. And the lengths he goes to in order to secure the heroine's trust and love are wonderful to watch (I have to say that this is one heroine I'd push under a bus if given half a chance, just so I could have the hero all to myself).

If you like books with deep characterization and a large cast of truly interesting secondary characters (yes, George is back, and if you read her first book you'll know why I'm cheering!) then this is a perfect read for you.

I found this book to be very boring and drawn out. Other characters in this book were written about and more involved in this story than the two main characters.
I was hoping that the two main characters would get more involved regarding their feelings about each other, but that was not the case. The cat and mouse game that goes on with the two main characters was just plain silly. I waded through the book, which took a long time to read, but nothing exciting was happening. I liked the author's writing style, but that was the only thing rewarding about this novel.