17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delightful tale from a wonderful writer, June 29, 2004
This review is from: One Night of Scandal (Mass Market Paperback)
I have many "favourite" authors in Romance. For intense, dark and deadly males, I go to Anne Stuart. If I want giggles till I hurt, I choose Lynsay Sands and Katie Macalister. If I hunger for Off-World adventures, I got Robin D. Owens and C.J. Barry, hot sexy vampires or futuristic drama look to a new voice Angela Knight. But if I want a near poetic faerytale that evokes the style of Victoria Holt, you can do no better than Teresa Medeiros. Ever since I read her Whisper of Roses, I have been a big fan.
One Night of Scandal is not really a Romance in today's mold. It's more of the old style gothic. The isolated manor in Cornwall, the brooding, too contained hero, the full of life wife he was forced to marry, hovering over them all is the ghost of the previous wife and the tile the hero now carries - the Murderous Marquee.
31-year-old Hayden St. Clair is content in his dark hell of memories, content to live away from the Ton and this narrow minds and vicious gossip, but he needs a governess for his 10-year-old daughter, so he is forced to go to London to seek one. Finding one is proving impossible, since the Ton feeds on the facts he was forced to kill his best friend in a duel, and later his wife took her own life by jumping off a cliff. Naturally, it's wondered if the Murderous Marquee did not lend his wife a helping hand.
Lotte Fairleigh, 21-year-old ward of a Duke, is facing her coming out party, but she cannot resist one last adventure until she is firmly planted on the marriage mart. The adventure is sneaking out a second-story window to dash across the lawn to the house next door. The Murderous Marquee is in residence there and it's said he will be leaving in the morning. This is her last chance for a peek of the man who has captured her imagination.
Hayden has just seen a good friend off, the friend hinting he was going to send a woman to him to break his boredom. When Lotte turns up peeking in his window, he mistakenly believes she is the woman. Their embrace is broken up by her guardian. The Duke is enraged and demands Hayden marry Lotte to save her reputation. Hayden assures him nothing happened between them but a kiss, and says he will never marry again, leaving the Duke to challenge him to a duel.
Lotte cannot permit her brother-in-law to risk his life, so she goes to Hayden and begs him to marry her. Hayden does, but not for the reasons Lotte believes. She is startled when she arrives at her new home to find Hayden has a 10-year-old daughter, a wild hellion who enjoys vexing her father. Lotte is hurt to learn Hayden married her only to have a suitable governess for his daughter, crushing the young woman's hope of making a good marriage.
The situation goes from bad to worse, as the child sets out to drive Lotte nuts. Only, Lotte, a hellion in her own right, knows all the tricks of the trade and pushes the girl to finally call a truce. Lotte makes strides with her stepdaughter, but her marriage only grows more distant.
No one can cover the fact there are screams in the night or that someone plays music in the music room when the door is locked. Lotte must unriddle the ghost stalking Hayden's hall and find happiness in the life she has made.
Medeiros beautiful proses are writing as you don't often see it these days. They are evocative and carry the reader along with humor and emotion. She is at peak form with One Night of Scandal. And being a cat lover, I adores the herd of kitty's that Lotte collects. Medeiros gives you super read with this heart warming tale.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a wonderful follow up to "A Kiss To Remember", August 7, 2003
This review is from: One Night of Scandal (Mass Market Paperback)
"One Night of Scandal" turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. When I read the first two chapters, my reaction was "oh wonderful, I've wasted my money on a novel about another immature, hoydenish heroine who manages to snare another unsuspecting hero by embroiling him in a scandal." But then I found myself spending the next few hours eagerly turning the pages and being really entertained -- "One Night of Scandal" had turned out to be a fortuitous buy.
Miss Carlotta (Lottie) Anne Fairleigh is about to attend her debut ball when she learns that the Murderous Marquess -- Hayden St. Clair, the Marquess of Oakleigh -- has been living next door for the past few days. (Oakleigh is supposed to have killed both his wife and his best friend when he found them in bed together). Surely slipping out before her ball starts in order to catch a glimpse of the man shouldn't land her in too much trouble? Except that it does. Before she can fully comprehend how things had gotten so dreadfully beyond her control, Lottie loses her "virginal" reputation when she's spied in the marquess's study and in his arms. Only marriage to Oakleigh can redeem her in Society's eyes, and so Lottie soon finds herself married to Oakleigh and bound for his estate in Cornwall (which is reputed to be haunted by Oakleigh's dead wife's ghost). It doesn't take Lottie very long to realise exactly what her true feelings for her remote and tortured husband are; unfortunately Lottie also realises that Oakleigh is still very much in love with his dead wife. Now Lottie must decide if she can compete with the memories of dead woman and get her husband to see her as a fully grown woman, eager for her husband's love and attention?
This is what I liked about "One Night of Scandal" -- Teresa Medeiros saves the novel from the usual fare about a feisty and somewhat immature heroine who finally wins her dour husband's love and devotion, by allowing Lottie to mature by increments (the Lottie at the beginning of the novel and the Lottie at the end of the novel are almost two different people); and by allowing for Lottie's hoydenish ways and her free and easy manners to actually help her overcome some of the problems she faces at her new home (as when she has to deal with her stepdaughter, Allegra). Something else I liked about this novel was the manner in which she portrayed Oakleigh by not making him into the usual dour, bad tempered autocratic male, but by literally portraying him as a man who is somewhat out of his depth, and who doesn't quite know how to handle his attention starved daughter, his new young wife, or his tortured memories of his dead wife.
Overall, the story was a rather good one that seemed at first to be part gothic novel, part ghost story, but which actually proved to be a slightly humourous and entertaining tale about a young woman who manages to heal the emotional wounds that her new family is suffering from, and who manages, ultimately, to find the love of a lifetime where she least expected to. All in all, "One Night of Scandal" proved to be a good 4 star read.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent read, August 3, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: One Night of Scandal (Mass Market Paperback)
This book was funny, laced with sexual tension and a definate page-turner. Carlotta (Lottie) is known as a hellion until a final stunt gets her a reluctant husband. Now she is determined to be the perfect wife. Meanwhile, Hayden, her husband, is doing his best to ignore her and his building attraction for his new bride. He is tortured by his first wife and the life they led before she her mental disorder destroyed their family. Medeiros paints a picture of a family torn apart by bipolar disorder - undiagnosed and feared in this 19th century setting. With her usual talent Medeiros shows us the pain and suffering for all those affected by the disease. When Lottie is able to help Hayden and his daughter deal with the loss of their loved one, they are able to let her into their hearts. Which is good because Lottie has loved them since the beginning.
Overall, this was an excellent story, well written with great characters. I now have to go back and read all of Medeiros' books! You won't be disappointed with this one - pick it up!
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