Pink Heart Reviews
Lord Scandal
Kalen Hughes
Zebra, June 2008, 352 pages
Series: The Rakes of London – Book Two
ISBN-10: 0821781502
ISBN-13: 9780821781500
Georgian Setting
$4.99 (US) $6.99 (CDN)
Reviewed by Thomas
April 2008
Imogene Mawbray was raised in a strict home. When she became of age she married a rising politician, William Perren. She was the perfect politician’s wife, throwing soirées and knowing all the right people, until she sat for a portrait that (gasp!) revealed her shoulder. The ton was incensed, and her husband outraged. He found excuse immediately to divorce her, making her the infamous ‘Portrait Divorcée’. She was an outcast from society and her family, with nowhere to belong, until a friend, Lady Georgianna Summercote, made her her lady’s companion and provided her a place to live and a gardens to tend. Lonely and reticent, she missed ‘belonging’ in society.
Gabriel Angelstone had never been ‘top echelon’ ton. His father had married a foreigner, which accounted for his golden complexion, exotic eyes, and his nickname ‘The Turk”. His friends lovingly called him ‘Brimstone’. When he arrived early to the Sumercote estate, he saw his long time friend Georgianna in the garden. When he grabbed her about the waist, imagine his surprise when he got an elbow in the ribs for a response. He was a veteran seducer, a predator, and this young lovely was in his sights.
Let me begin by saying I really enjoyed this story. The author took us to varied locations ala the country estate, London town, to the fall races, on a foxhunt. And she peopled them with a wonderful array of Lords and Ladies and their families. I could feel the excitement of being at your first horse race, and then joining in the camaraderie of friends afterward.
It’s a little slow in the first scene when they are flirting by quoting poetry back and forth. If I were better read, I might have recognized more of them. Also the author sent me scurrying to my dictionary a few times. I like that.
The fact that Imogene is hesitant and at the same time needs to be forward if she wants to get her man is very sensuous. She has no experience in flirtation, and since they are allowed very little private time together, there is a good tension in the story. That Gabriel is sensitive to her need to repair her reputation is more telling to him than anything else. He has never cared enough for a woman to bother ‘getting involved’ with her life. It was great seeing the sky look a little brighter, the air a little fresher to them as their love for each other grew. Oh and the living nativity scene was a hoot!
Congrats Kalen on a great story.
