"Lady of Scandal"


"Lady of Scandal"
by Tina Gabrielle

Source: Bought

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

My Review:

Blake Mallorey holds a lifelong grudge against Charles Ashton. It's his fault that Blake's family was sent to the poor house, ultimately where his parents and sister met their untimely end. Blake believes humiliating him by forcing Charles' daughter to become his mistress is the start of his plan for revenge. Victoria Ashton knows there's no other way out of debt than to go with Blake and be his mistress. Otherwise, she and her family will be sent to the poor house where she knows her mother and brother won't survive. Unknown to anyone, she does have a secret stash of money from stock investments, but even that won't be enough to buy them out of the debt owed to Blake.

I recommend this book to romance readers who like "a dominating hero." Everything in the tone and language of this book reinforces the fact that the man is the one in power here. The author describes even inanimate objects as "dominating" the room, etc. This seemed really old fashioned to me. I like a strong historical hero who has modern notions of equality between the sexes, so this dominant male thing wasn't my cup of tea. The writing was good and the heroine didn't really seem weak, I suppose she just liked the idea of an overpowering man in her life.

These two both do some pretty bad things to each other. Blake generally treats Victoria like a possession and of course he's immediately sorry afterward. Then Victoria spies on Blake for her father, which leads to all kinds of problems for him financially. But he instantly forgives her because he thinks of her betrayals as clever.

My favorite character was Victoria's brother, Spencer. I just love a cute, hapless sidekick. Spencer was always in trouble, mostly from gambling, but I couldn't help but love him just like Victoria did. She always helped him out of his debts and he was her only confidante about the stock trading.

Main Characters: 3/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5

Setting: 3/5

Romance: 2/5
Uniqueness: 3/5 (I liked the stock trading plot line)
Cover: 3/5

Writing: 4/5




Bottom Line:
This book was well paced and I loved Spencer, but the two leads weren't nice enough to each other for my tastes.

11 comments

  1. This book doesn't look like my cup of tea but I have liked a few books you've recommended so far.

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  2. Eh. Thank you--I'll know to avoid this one. I'm not big on blackmail plots or forced mistress-ships.

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  3. Thanks for reading my review, Karen. I'm glad I've been able to recommend some books that you've liked!!

    Thanks, Tiger! This one is full of blackmail and even though he doesn't force her to truly become his mistress, he does blackmail her into living with him for one year.

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  4. I like a strong hero but not dominant...I don't think Blake sounds like my cup of tea! I'll know to avoid this one!!! Thank you for the wonderful revew!

    XOXO~ Renee

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  5. Thanks, Renee!! I think we have pretty similar tastes and I'm not sure you would like this one.

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  6. Hmm, I know what you mean about not liking the overly dominating male characters, but I suppose some women are really into that. Hopefully it's just in the books though, hehe! Lovely cover!

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  7. Yeah, I'm not big on overly dominant male characters either. Reading your blog totally puts me in the mood for a good romance novel!

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  8. Bookalicious, thanks for reading my review! I hope its just in the books too!!

    Lisa and Laura, thanks for reading!! I definitely love a good romance novel!!

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  9. Well not to bad. It seems decent....The cover is awesome

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  10. Thanks, Cleverly Inked!! No, it wasn't bad, just the hero wasn't my type :)

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Thanks so much for your lovely comments!