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Thursday, July 21, 2011

Book Review: A Lady's Lesson In Scandal by Meredith Duran

Title: A Lady's Lesson In Scandal
Author: Meredith Duran
Published: June 28, 2011 by Pocket Star
Format: Paperback, 400 pages
Genre: Historical Romance

IN GRITTY, WORKING-CLASS LONDON, SHE DOES WHAT SHE MUST TO SURVIVE . . . 

When Nell Whitby breaks into an earl’s house on a midnight quest for revenge, she finds her pistol pointed at the wrong man—one handsome as sin and naked as the day he was born. Pity he’s a lunatic. He thinks her a missing heiress, but more to the point, he’ll help her escape the slums and right a grave injustice. Not a bad bargain. All she has to do is marry him. 

A NOTORIOUS LADIES’ MAN COULD TAKE HER FROM POVERTY TO OPULENCE . . . BUT AT WHAT PRICE?
 
A rake of the first order, Simon St. Maur spent his restless youth burning every bridge he crossed. When he inherits an earldom without a single penny attached to it, he sees a chance to start over—provided he can find an heiress to fund his efforts. But his wicked reputation means courtship will be difficult—until fate sends him the most notorious missing heiress in history. All he needs now is to make her into a lady and keep himself from making the only mistake that could ruin everything: falling in love.

Warning picture spoilers (sort of)

What I Liked: It somewhat has a similar plot line to the Anastasia animation where the female protagonist grows up in poverty and then finds out she is really an heiress. The makeover and various lessons then proceeds. But of course, unlike Anastasia, there's adult content in it and no singing, but there is music :). In addition to the the plot, I liked how Meredith Duran did  not romanticize poverty like some authors tend to do with historical romances. Duran clearly described the differences between the social classes. The main heroine, Nell Whitby (aka Cornelia Aubyn), grew up in poverty and Duran has her flaunt it throughout the book. Nell doesn't regret the way she had to live to survive since she knows it could have been a lot worse. She's tough, prideful, daring, and witty which made the dialogues between herself and the male protagonist, Simon, quite entertaining. Simon was charming and was very rarely an arrogant ass. I actually liked him more than most male protagonists because he didn't run away from the things he wanted. Overall, I very much enjoyed the interactions between the two characters.

It looks more like Film Noir than Victorian :D

What I Disliked: I felt like the story needed an epilogue since the last chapter seemed somewhat rushed.  

Rating: 4.7/5
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From now on I won't be drawing a disliked photo unless there's a real scene I disliked in the book, which will be rare since I only review books that I like.

2 comments:

jeanette8042 said...

I heard Meredith Duran was a good historical author and this story seems interesting!

Kristy said...

This book is actually the first I've read of hers and it makes me want to purchase her backlist.