What do you think?
Rate this book
Scandalous Innocent
Two women, generations apart, both on the bring of scandal…
Phoebe shared more than her unruly dark curls with her ancestor whose portrait graced the walls of the Earl of Dysart's country home. Impatient of convention, both women had retreated from the excesses of London life.
Yet neither had enjoyed peace for long. Their retreat was a challenge to Society's most notorious rakes—a certain Viscount Ransome seemed set on making Phoebe his own. But secrets and passion were part of the fabric of the house and Phoebe had learned from her rebellious ancestor. She planned to bring the arrogant viscount to his knees….
Phoebe shared more than her unruly dark curls with her ancestor whose portrait graced the walls of the Earl of Dysart's country home. Impatient of convention, both women had retreated from the excesses of London life.
Yet neither had enjoyed peace for long. Their retreat was a challenge to Society's most notorious rakes—a certain Viscount Ransome seemed set on making Phoebe his own. But secrets and passion were part of the fabric of the house and Phoebe had learned from her rebellious ancestor. She planned to bring the arrogant viscount to his knees….
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
52 people are currently reading
404 people want to read
About the author
Juliet Landon
78 books37 followersAs the author of books on embroidery design, the progression in 1994 from fact to fiction was perhaps less daunting for Juliet than it might have been for a complete beginner. But in many ways, the requirements are similar: a strong imagination and sense of design; an eye for detail; a love of color, scenery, and research; and a willingness to share inner thoughts and feelings with readers. Dedication is also useful to Juliet, living in the country, as the temptation to spend time picnicking and sightseeing instead of writing is sometimes very strong.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 24, 2016
Yawn.
Boring, plotless story with a shrewish moron of a heroine -- but whether the second Phoebe was an improvement over the first, who knows. I never got that far.
Anyway. Long blocks of description & navel gazing make for a boring read. There was nothing about the Restoration section that felt genuinely of that period. Comes to that, I kept forgetting they were in the Restoration at all -- the prose was dry & bloated with the same yammering pseudo-Austen verbosity about reputations & scandals & zzzzz as any other generic Regency.
I daresay the author was more in love with Ham House than her own characters. And it showed.
Boring, plotless story with a shrewish moron of a heroine -- but whether the second Phoebe was an improvement over the first, who knows. I never got that far.
Anyway. Long blocks of description & navel gazing make for a boring read. There was nothing about the Restoration section that felt genuinely of that period. Comes to that, I kept forgetting they were in the Restoration at all -- the prose was dry & bloated with the same yammering pseudo-Austen verbosity about reputations & scandals & zzzzz as any other generic Regency.
I daresay the author was more in love with Ham House than her own characters. And it showed.
September 25, 2021
Mas allá de decir que es entretenido, no tengo mucho que destacar del libro.
March 23, 2023
If you're a fan of light historical romances, this is definitely worth a read. It's a moderately entertaining story with some powerful moments, including an intense sword fight between the hero and heroine.
June 28, 2014
This historical English romance is told in two different periods, one in 1676 an the other in 1803 about two different women named Phoebe who are in love and living in the special
Ham House.
We first meet Miss Phoebe Laker and Sir Leo Hawkynne who have a bumpy romance with some big gaps between visits with each other, but I did like that Leo took things very slowly with Phoebe. Their romance was sensual and not explicit so I can't classify this into the 'clean' self.
The second story about another couple is about Madame Phoebe Donville and Viscount Ransome's love story. Where we finds ourselves in Ferry House again which had been Leo's house in Richmond which was so close to his business in London. The society seemed a lot more repressed in the second story then in the first
The ghost episode surprised me because I thought this was going to by a straightforward story, but I liked how it was linked up with the past. Our ancestors also, loved and made mistakes so why not link the two growing romance stories together. This really worked for me and I might have to make a trip out to Ham House the next time I'm in the area!
288 pages
2 stars
Ham House.
We first meet Miss Phoebe Laker and Sir Leo Hawkynne who have a bumpy romance with some big gaps between visits with each other, but I did like that Leo took things very slowly with Phoebe. Their romance was sensual and not explicit so I can't classify this into the 'clean' self.
The second story about another couple is about Madame Phoebe Donville and Viscount Ransome's love story. Where we finds ourselves in Ferry House again which had been Leo's house in Richmond which was so close to his business in London. The society seemed a lot more repressed in the second story then in the first
The ghost episode surprised me because I thought this was going to by a straightforward story, but I liked how it was linked up with the past. Our ancestors also, loved and made mistakes so why not link the two growing romance stories together. This really worked for me and I might have to make a trip out to Ham House the next time I'm in the area!
288 pages
2 stars
October 26, 2014
I wouldn't have finished this except that I had no other audio books downloaded to listen to on my phone. This book was better near the end but I was very confused by the jump in eras in the middle of the book. I didn't know it was a book in two parts and with the heroines of both parts named Phoebe I was very confused for a while. Not my favorite audio book nor my favorite historical.
July 18, 2017
Me gustó
Muy buena historia es la primera que leo y me ha gustado mucho espero leer más de esta escritora ..
Muy buena historia es la primera que leo y me ha gustado mucho espero leer más de esta escritora ..
September 2, 2017
Me gustó, pero... no me gustaban los diálogos de los personajes, muy empalagosos.
En ambas historias tenemos una pareja con un pasado en común, el rechazo de alguno de los dos personajes, pero dado a malentendidos. Hasta que los hombres las hacen ver por la fuerza, que ellas son las mujeres adecuadas para ellos.
En ambas historias tenemos una pareja con un pasado en común, el rechazo de alguno de los dos personajes, pero dado a malentendidos. Hasta que los hombres las hacen ver por la fuerza, que ellas son las mujeres adecuadas para ellos.
May 31, 2019
Superficial hasta la médula. La autora intenta darle a los lectores el sentido de que sus protagonistas son heroínas fuertes y capaces, cuando esto en verdad no es lo que se transmite. Poca profundidad de personajes y final apresurado y soso. Le doy un 2.3.
January 12, 2020
A little weird. I had a hard time with the combo storylines.
September 27, 2021
This book IS TWO NOVELLAS and I know the second story is familiar at the plot AND phrasing level...was it published elsewhere? By a different author?
January 30, 2025
Just okay.
August 7, 2013
I picked this up because it was set in Ham House, which is the house I used for Lord Rockingham's home in Love Continuance and Increasing. Given that I've watched movies just to see the house - even Spice World - it didn't seem like that much of a stretch.
All of the details about Ham House and the real historical figures associated with it were fantastic. Landon knows her stuff. And it was fascinating to see it described both in the Restoration and the early 19th century.
I would have given it four stars, except for one thing: her forceful, alpha-male heroes didn't give a shit about consent. They ignored the heroines' repeated requests to leave them alone and announced - boasted - of their intentions to keep pursuing them, and, on top of that, they both forced kisses on the heroines. Yes, the heroines were shown as desiring the men before those kisses occurred - but they had not said that to the men. So that doesn't excuse them, in my opinion.
Someday I'm going to find a historical romance written by someone I don't already know that features heroes who care about consent. I keep telling myself this, anyway. When I do find it, you'll know it by the five stars.
All of the details about Ham House and the real historical figures associated with it were fantastic. Landon knows her stuff. And it was fascinating to see it described both in the Restoration and the early 19th century.
I would have given it four stars, except for one thing: her forceful, alpha-male heroes didn't give a shit about consent. They ignored the heroines' repeated requests to leave them alone and announced - boasted - of their intentions to keep pursuing them, and, on top of that, they both forced kisses on the heroines. Yes, the heroines were shown as desiring the men before those kisses occurred - but they had not said that to the men. So that doesn't excuse them, in my opinion.
Someday I'm going to find a historical romance written by someone I don't already know that features heroes who care about consent. I keep telling myself this, anyway. When I do find it, you'll know it by the five stars.
October 15, 2010
At first I couldn't get into the book. I wasn't sure about having a mix of fiction and non-fiction but once I got over that I really enjoyed it. I thought it was well written.
August 25, 2013
Not a fan of Jenny Sterlin as a narrator. Maybe, a slight maybe, I could of enjoyed the story a bit more if I had read it instead of an audio version.
Want to read
July 31, 2015I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12862632
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12862632
September 11, 2016
Not enough exposition and kind of choppy.
May 1, 2017
Inesperado
El corte hecho entre el primer y segundo liberó desconcierta y hace que uno crea que esta leyendo otro libro. KAS historias de ambos son iguales, pero la mitad RS mas confusa
El corte hecho entre el primer y segundo liberó desconcierta y hace que uno crea que esta leyendo otro libro. KAS historias de ambos son iguales, pero la mitad RS mas confusa
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews