Customer Reviews

More Than a Scandal

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

 

 

Marcus was a perfect hero and Cat is just the match for him. Both characters felt "real" and made me believe they were in love with one another deeply. Both had great senses of humor too, which is always a plus. This book had everything you need to create a good romance: a dashing hero, a beautiful heroine and, most of all...PASSION! This book is sharp and fast-moving. Filled with Lovable characters, exciting and not too heavy action-mystery twists. Lots of laugh out-loud, I-can't-believe-they-did-that scenes and oh so plenty of heart warming moments. I found the characters to be multi-dimensional and the author weaves a mystery into the story without slowing it down or interrupting the romantic flow. Reading about how Cat & Marus fall in love was breath takely beautiful. Sari Robins did a great job of making Cat & Marus seem real. You feel thier pain and thier love. Great characters with lots of suspense and romance. The pace was quick, and it was a totally engrossing read. A wonderful hero, an engaging and spunky heroine, a mystery to be solved, and a large heaping of danger and action. I positive devoured this book. It was written with an amazing level of intensity and feeling that my heart was pumping furiously with palatable passion.

Sari Robins developed Cat and Marcus's personalities and motivations very convincingly, to the point where you feel as though you know them well enough to be friends by the time you finish the book. More Than a Scandal was an emotional roller coaster, and I felt all the pain and joy they did. I was so engrossed, I read it in a day. The love scenes are ample & steamy, and the plot is a good one. A fast paced book with an intricate plot that I cannot help but enjoy. More Than a Scandal has a strong (but not obnoxious) heroine who is in no way ordinary, a back story which is compelling but doesn't get in the way of the love story, and of course a wonderful hero. The sex was HOT and perfect for the story. Sari Robins has found a perfect match for the notorious Marcus with feisty Cat. They are well matched in temperament, intelligence and in their unhappy childhood. It was an interesting. There is enough conflict to make the story line interesting and not so much that your left wondering why they ever got together. More Than a Scandal is a cut way above the typical historical romance. Wonderful love story, great characters with an emotionally scarred hero and strong but vulnerable heroine, unique setting, intriguing plot, edge-of-your-seat pacing, heart-tugging emotion, excellent writing, intense sensual love scenes, and a superb ending.

I read at least 3 novels a week. And I can say I really enjoyed this book.

I've never read this author before, so I don't have anything to compare this book to. The plot was well thought out and well executed. So many romance plots borderline on the ridiculous, and this one I actually found credible. Probably because the protagonists behaved like real people.

But as much as I found myself admiring the plot and the characters, I realized that I didn't exactly LOVE the book. It seemed rather slow-paced for my taste. I felt as though I kept waiting for the book to "really get started," and then was dismayed to see that I was nearly halfway through. The last half is certainly better than the first, however, I think it took entirely too long to really get into this book. Also, I thought the description on the back of the book was really misleading. I was under the impression that the "Robin Hood" aspect would be a significant part of the story, but this was not so. I won't go into plot details and ruin the story for everyone, but I will say that I was disappointed that the Robin Hood aspect of the story was so absent. For most of the book I thought perhaps the publishers had made a mistake and forgotten to update the book description. The "real" plot was interesting enough, but I for one was looking forward to seeing how the author would handle a female Robin Hood figure in a romance. I was disappointed.

I would probably give this book three and a half stars. I wouldn't recommend anyone against it, but I also wouldn't enthusiastically urge anyone to rush out and buy it. Overall, just a pretty average read with its bad points neutralized by good writing and strong characters.

In 1811 shy Catherine Miller cannot believe her odious cousins want to displace her and others to sell her home as they need money. She has no plan at first but knows she must act assertive or else. However, a concept surfaces when she finds the diary of the Thief of Robinson Square. She will be a reincarnation of the thief robbing from the affluent to save the orphanage she calls home.

Major Marcus Dunn has just arrived in England after spending time in Spain. He is on a critical key mission, but realizes the reticent Catherine that he met years ago when she was a child is masquerading as the Thief. Already attracted to her, he admires her spirit, but ponders whether to expose her for her safety. However revealing who she is could destroy his mission by revealing who he truly is.

MORE THAN A SCANDAL is an entertaining Regency romance starring two delightful protagonists, several fine supportive characters and the heroine's dislikable cousins. Catherine is the center of the fun story line as she willingly risks all to save the orphanage from her avaricious relatives yet her solution is a dandy. Marcus is her perfect foible as he fears for her safety, wants to kiss her all over, and must hide his real reason for being home. Sari Robins provides a fine historical.

Harriet Klausner

I agree with the other reviewers-the storyline in this book just drags along, and is not at all what we are lead to believe from the synopsis on the back.
We're like 75 pages in before the hero/heroine have their first meeting, and even then there is no "umph" -nothing. We're told from the beginning that Catherine has loved Marcus since they were children-but sadly the character of Marcus is not very heroic, a bit of a boor, and not three dimensional enough as to hold any interest- a scandal indeed for a Regency hero.

On top of that Catherine is treated shabbily by everyone-including the hero, her brother and even the hero's father who runs the orphanage-who secretly knows Catherine is from a genteel family but continues to work her like a servant, dress her in rags, and let her live at the orphanage into her teen and adult years with no female chaperone? Not very plausible in Regency England.

I've read and enjoyed another book by this author (One Wicked Night), so I'll give her another chance, but unfortunately I cannot recommend this book.

2.5 stars.

Robins has said this is her best novel, but I'm not sure I agree. And I can't really explain why it didn't work for me -- which is going to make this a pitiful review. Marcus and Cat were both interesting characters who became known to the reader slowly through the course of the book (especially Marcus), but they somehow still don't seem very deep by book's end. There was a lot going on in the plotting, perhaps too much; it never totally gelled for me. This book takes place (at least in part) simultaneously with One Wicked Night. Yet neither meshes that well with the other. BTW, there's not much scandal here. Like One Wicked Night, the title seems to have little to do with the story. There should have been scandal, but it never materialized. There are some hot scenes, but Robins is starting to approach Stephanie Laurens territory, in which the sex scenes become gratuitous and thus boring and repetitious.

I read a LOT of books in quick succession (vacation). Perhaps I just read so many very good or superior books before reading this one, that it suffered by comparison. Three & 1/2 stars.