William Ludlowe had big plans. After learning he was the next in line for the title of Clivesden, he decided he wanted Julia St. Clair for her countess. Unfortunately for him, Julia wanted no part of him while her sister, Sophiam and best friend, Benedict Revelstoke, had other plans.While Sophia had loved the man for the past five years, she was more than upset when she finds herself in a compromising position forcing her to wed another. On the other hand, Benedict knew more about William than he cared to admit and could not understand why Julia finally accepted his proposal.Things are not always as they seem. When Julia realized her father was in on the engagement, she speaks to him only to realize that he is deep in debt to Ludlowe. And she is the price. So Julia does what comes naturally. She heads to her childhood best friend's house.MacNamars tells a good tale. The characters leap off the page settling directly into reader's hearts. And those hearts can do no less than root for the underdog.Ballantine BooksFebruary 2013978-0345-53474-3ebook: 978-0345-53475-0--the bookworm Book Review: A fresh, fun, quirky, enjoyable historical read that just makes you want the heroine and hero to get together despite the obstacles that stand in their way. What I love about this book is that the heroine and hero are both really likeable characters and do what they both feel is part of their duty and other things. Yet the heroine is really an interesting woman as she is not what people think her to be like. One of the interesting facets of this book was the fact that you have Clivesden has made a bet that he will marry Julia St. Claire and this causes so many problems. Benedict is really stunned when he hears this news. He being noble decides to tell his friend not to marry Clivesden, not knowing that Clivesden has already made plans to make this happen. Yet Benedict is surprised that when he sees her things go very badly for him and what he wants. Benedict and Julia have strong feelings for one another, but don’t realize the extent of things and deny it when they kiss each other. Benedict and Julia are protecting themselves from owning up to their feelings, but protecting what little they can of their own pride. Julia knows she is in a dangerous position because the man she wants, she can’t have because she knows that her mother and father are pushing her towards this person she doesn’t want to be in. In Regency England, young women of good social standing don’t pick the men they are going to marry. This proves to be very true for both Julia and her young sister Sophia. What’s interesting about their engagements is that neither woman is happy with the men they have picked out at first. Sophia and Julia have very different courtships. Julia is doing everything in her power to get away from the man her parents have promised her to. Sophia and her beau start to have a real genuine relationship and it was nice to see it. The other thing that was interesting was to see Julia’s anger when she found out the reason for her engagement to the earl of Clivesden, was because of her father having a debt and being forced to sell his daughter or end up in a debtors prison. Not a prospect that her father wants to do. Julia really shows her spirit here and wants to get out of this arrangement, but can’t because she is not free to do what she wants. She is still the property of her father according to society’s rules. So an idea comes to her in the form of being ruined by another man, that way she will not have to go thru with her marriage. It’s a very bold idea or scandalous depending on your point of view. What Julia proposes to Benedict is something that Benedict finds insane and the move of someone who is insulting him Yet Benedict realizes that Julia is determined to ruin herself no matter what. She is desperate to get out of her engagement. So he decides to embrace this opportunity to get her out of the mess she is in, plus decides once Julia says that she liked their kiss and was just lying because of her engagement. She also tells him what her father has done and why the engagement happened. Benedict is really surprised by these developments and decides that he and Julia should get married, so he manages to get a special licenses. Julia’s disappearance when her and Benedict go off to Kent to Benedict’s little cottage certainly causes all kinds of havoc and it’s interesting for a lot of reasons. Julia and Benedict really explore their passion for each other. I mean you really find oh thank god, at last they finally realize that they love each other. Just took them long enough. Yet when Julia and Benedict look happy, two people find them in a very awkward position and all kinds of craziness ensues, because Julia’s fiance feels like he has been wronged & calls her name which gets Julia’s father to defend her honor and Benedict explains they are married so everything is okay. Julia’s fiance feels like he has lost everything. Plus Benedict tells Julia things that she didn’t know. We as the readers know this stuff because of what had happened earlier in the book. Yet it’s all a terrible realization for Julia, because she realizes that the Earl of Clivesden will never be a good person or deserves anyone’s pity or her fidelity because he knows not what it takes to make a relationship work. Julia and Benedict do have a very happily ever after, but it’s a really nice way to end it. I found that their relationship is one that both welcome and want to honor and care for each other. One of the sweetest things is that they share a memory of spending some time in a tree when they were children and that really was such a special thing they shared with each other. I enjoyed this book. Rating: 4.5 Hearts
What do You think about Double Scandale (2014)?
There are really two romances going on here and both are equally interesting and entertaining.
—Eoz
Full review to come. Great book by this debut author.
—Webstar
