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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Scandalous entertainment & one long, enjoyable journey, November 13, 2003
This review is from: Scandalous Love (Avon Camelot Books) (Paperback)
Scandalous Love is a highly intriguing book that provides a long enjoyable journey. There is constant action and not a boring page. It is a complicated love story without villains lurking in the background. As the title intimates, it is great scandalous writing. Lady Nicole Bragg Shelton is 23, unmarried, and the daughter of wealthy, loving parents. She happily lives at her parents' country estate where she can indulge in her favorite past time - horses. She hates the social swirl of London and avoids it if at all possible. She has reason to stay away from London because she is not exactly accepted by the ton - she has a scandal in her background that has tainted her image. She dislikes London and they dislike her.
Hadrian Braxton-Lowell, the Duke of Clayborough, is a duty bound man who is highly respected. He is betrothed to Elizabeth Martindale, a fragile and gentle lady twelve years his junior. Their marriage was arranged when both were quite young. Since the duke believes he will never love a woman, he does not question such an arrangement and considers it his responsibility. The book frequently refers to Hadrian's impeccable reputation and his choice to always do what is right. However, there is one area of his life that is questionable for such a respectable man. Throughout his long betrothal he has had many mistresses. Since he is a very sensuous man, this impacts his life greatly but it is seen, in this book, as just a trivial, common, and accepted fact of life. Hadrian and Nicole first meet at a country masquerade ball to which Nicole was surprisingly invited. She attended only to irritate the hostess and dresses outrageously as a gypsy. Hadrian immediately notices Nicole upon his arrival and makes a favorable comment about her costume, therefore earning her favor with others at the ball. Hadrian hates the social scene and rarely attends such events. He is strongly drawn to Nicole, assumes she is a unsatisfied married lady, and imagines she would eagerly accept his invitation for an affair. He invites her to his country home and Nicole, in her immaturity and inexperience, believes Hadrian is interested in courting her. As is typical of her character, she shuns all propriety and visits him the very next day. Nicole is startled when Hadrian makes some very inappropriate moves towards her but she believes that the duke remains truly interested in her. When she shows up at his home a second time, Hadrian rudely turns her away. He has discovered that she in an unmarried lady - an innocent who apparently behaves outrageously, and he is furious. Soon Nicole is informed of Hadrian's imminent marriage and she is equally furious. And so the story continues as Nicole and Hadrian each discover startling things about the other and battle frequently. One thing is for certain - no matter how attracted Hadrian may be to Nicole - a relationship with her is totally out of the question. Nothing will cause him to end his betrothal to Elizabeth. He heads to London to escape Nicole and she follows him. As much as I did not want to believe it, Nicole actually chases after Hadrian. He is the real reason she is there. He is the real reason she finally reappears in society. I actually wanted for Nicole to have a little more respect for herself. This book, although it contains many of the typical romance scenarios, is actually original in several ways. First - Elizabeth is very lovable. Second - the relationship between Hadrian and his mother is a story unto itself and precious as well. The situations that the leads find themselves in swing from one extreme to another. You don't really know what to expect next. I thoroughly liked Hadrian's character although he could be quite hateful and forceful. But I found Nicole's character to be very annoying and immature. She continually runs after Hadrian but constantly battles him. Hateful heroines are hard for me to accept generally. Nicole takes every opportunity to be alone with Hadrian although he does nothing to encourage it. And once alone, she is very hateful to him. Even when he attempts kindness towards her, she ends up saying something awful to him. Yes, sometimes he deserved it but mostly it was just immaturity on Nicole's part. Her character is the reason I rated this book four stars. Had the heroine had a little more sense, maturity, and ability to control her speech, this easily would have been a five star rating. So if you enjoy such heroines, you will certainly find this a top-notch book. Regardless, I still found this to be a delicious read. Although I have an issue with the exasperating heroine, this is a book for my keeper shelf. The interaction between Hadrian and Nicole is highly entertaining. The sensual rating is a strong 4.0 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). Brenda Joyce writes her heroes highly alpha and does it well. She does not let misunderstandings pile up. The interaction, while sometimes irritating, is still upfront and truthful for the most part. This book is part of the Bragg series. However, since the Bragg series is so large, it is hard to determine the order. My best guess of this order is as follows: Innocent Fire, Firestorm, Violet Fire, Dark Fires, Scandalous Love, and then Secrets. There seem to be a couple more featured on Joyce's website but I cannot find where they fit. Nevertheless, I have read several books in this series totally out of order and believe each can be read as a stand-alone book. I truly love Brenda Joyce's writing style and fortunately I have read only four of her books. I have many, many more to savor.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of my favorites by this author, April 27, 2000
This review is from: Scandalous Love (Avon Camelot Books) (Paperback)
Lady Nicole, at 23, is a spinster due to the scandal she caused when she came out several years earlier in front of the Ton in London. She's decided she likes her solitary life of running free with her horses and doesn't need to be married to be happy. That is until she meets Hadrian, Duke of Clayborough at a masquerade party she is forced to attend due to pride when the invitation is spat at her from the snotty Lady Stacy. I really liked Nicole's personality, she doesn't let anyone walk all over her and stands up for herself. Once she realizes that Hadrian is betrothed and only wants her for one thing she lets him know exactly how she feels by trying to give him a well deserved whack with a riding crop, no whining and no tears just pure unrestrained anger. I loved it. Hadrian, on the other hand, took some getting used to. He's one of those guys that thinks it's his right to screw around on his fiancee as long as he does it with married woman and doesn't get attached. Once he discovers Nicole is unmarried he breaks it off immediately and also breaks her heart in the process. I was really ticked at him, but rake that he may be, he was betrothed to Elizabeth since she was two and although he genuinely cares for her he feels no great love towards her and thinks of her more as a sister. Even though Nicole gets under his skin the way no other woman has his strong sense of duty will not let him break it off with Elizabeth. The couple have many obstacles to overcome, Elizabeth being only the first one. They experience a very bumpy road when all could've been cleared up with a little communication but because both of these characters have such stubborn personalities and loads of pride they both suffer. This book also turned out to have a very engrossing secondary story about Hadrian's mother. I really enjoyed this one, it brought tears to my eyes. I loved Nicole's spirit and her temper had me laughing out loud. And underneath all of Hadrian's stubbornness he turned out to be a real sweetheart.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Joyce's best., August 24, 2004
This review is from: Scandalous Love (Avon Camelot Books) (Paperback)
Lady Nicole Shelton jilted her fiancé, ruining her in the eyes of the ton. She's not terribly bothered by her fall from grace because she is sort of a country girl anyway, so she just lives quietly on her family's rural estate. Things are fine until she goes to a ball and dresses like a whore. She's only saved from complete disgrace because the Duke of Clayborough says he thinks she's original.
Hadrian Braxton-Lowell, Duke of Clayborough, is instantly enchanted with Lady Nicole. Mistaking her for a married lady of experience, he makes romantic overtures toward her. After a hot make-out session in the woods, Hadrian learns that Lady Nicole is in fact an innocent spinster. Hadrian has been betrothed since childhood and is nearly ready to marry his fiancée, so he breaks things off with Lady Nicole.
"Scandalous Love" is almost a good book. I like the idea of the story. Nicole is sort of an underdog heroine and I like that. There are some really poignant moments where she is embarrassed and Hadrian helps her or makes her feel better about herself. I like the idea of Hadrian too. He's torn between his growing attraction for Nicole and his genuine affection for his lovely little fiancée. This story's problems, however, outshine its finer points.
Lady Nicole is spunky to the point of annoyance. She constantly puts herself in embarrassing situations, then has to be "saved" by Hadrian. We hear that she wasn't exactly a success as a debutante, but she is easily convinced that the eminently eligible Duke of Clayborough is interested in marrying her--making her seem a bit simple. There's an eye-roll inducing misunderstanding at the end of the story that has her flouncing off in a huff and then demanding a divorce. She's just too much.
Hadrian is a pretty good character. I like that he's honorable and tries to do the right thing. There are some nice moments when he comes to Nicole's rescue. Really, my only problem with him is that he falls for Nicole to begin with. Not that the reasons why he likes her aren't covered, they are, it's just that those reasons make me lose all respect for him. It seems to me that he didn't know what a good thing he had with his fiancée, and I really wish he'd spent a little more time mourning her loss.
In classic Brenda Joyce style, the story never drags but clips along at a brisk pace. There's not much subtlety to the resolution of the situation with Hadrian's fiancée--we all saw that coming--but I do appreciate that the fiancée wasn't vilified, though she was a little too conveniently disposed of. We're shown a passionate romance, but I'm not very enthusiastic about it.
With a lackluster heroine, a more likable "other woman", and a less than suspenseful plot "Scandalous Love" gets two stars--it's not awful, it has potential, but it just didn't do it for me. Brenda Joyce has written some good books, but this isn't one of them.
And I can't end without doing this. I have two quick nitpicks:
First up is title misuse. The daughter of an earl, a marquess, or a duke who has been given the courtesy title of "Lady" like Lady Nicole would only ever be "Lady Nicole Shelton" or "Lady Nicole". Never would she be referred to as "Lady Shelton". Nor would Nicole's mother, or any nineteenth century British noblewoman, be called "the Countess Jane" or anything like that. She would occasionally be referred to as the "Countess of Dragmore" but mostly as "Lady Dragmore", and only ever called "Lady Dragmore" to her face--not to be confused with some common usage in other European countries.
Second is the fact that Nicole's mother was an actress. It's flaunted as a point of pride in the book, as if Nicole were living in contemporary Beverly Hills and not Victorian England. While it was not unprecedented for a peer to marry an actress in Victorian times, the bride would have been shunned by society. It hurts the believability of Nicole's situation when she's ostracized for jilting a fiancé, but her mother is in no way censured for having been an actress. An actress would have been grist for the gossip mills of the Victorian nobility for at least a generation or two and she never would have been accepted anywhere, in fact her children would have been lucky to have entrée into every echelon of polite society.
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