Scandalous Miss Howard

by Nan Ryan

Theirs was a passion born of scandal...

The boy who left to fight for the Confederate army twenty years ago had been a trusting fool. He had trusted the girl who promised to wait for him. He had trusted the friend who betrayed him. Now, he has come home to Alabama to avenge what they stole from him: his heart, his soul, his world.

Laurette Howard, too, lost her innocence in the cruelest of ways—with news that the boy she loved had died in the war. After a loveless marriage, she contented herself with caring for the sick, knowing her own heart could not be healed.

Then, Sutton Vane arrived in Mobile, shattering her composure, releasing the wanton, passionate woman that had been locked away. She surrendered totally to a passion so scandalous, it could only be destiny. But was it a passion calculated to destroy her or deliver the sweet promise of a love that refused to die?

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Fiction

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Nancy Henderson is the middle daughter of a Texas rancher and postmaster. She's been married for many years to Joe Ryan, a television executive. Hisoccupation has taken them from border to border and coast to coast. Fortunately, writing is something that can be done anywhere - and Nan shouldknow. The Ryans have lived in Washington, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and their own home state of Texas. Nan says it was fun to move around the country and honestly believes that it has helped her writing. The library and the Internet offer a great deal of information on any given place, but there is nothing quite likeactually living in a locale where a book is set.

She began her writing career in 1981. She flirted with writing mysteries, but never finished any. Then, as fate would have it, she saw an article in Newsweek magazine entitled "From Bedroom to Boardroom." It was an interesting story on the women who were writing romance novels. Nan was intrigued. She had never read a romance. She bought a couple, read them, and knew she'd found her calling. She sat down at the Smith Corona typewriter and began her own romance. The first one never left her house. It is burieddeep in a trunk and Nan says it will never be shown to anyone. Her second book sold and she's been writing since. Twenty-two romance novels later, shestill enjoys writing and realizes she's been blessed to have found what she loves to do.

The winner of numerous awards, Nan Ryan says one of the nicest things ever written about her was printed in the St. Petersburg Times. Correspondent AnnV. Hull wrote: "Romance novelist Nan Ryan could step right into the pages of one of her paperbacks. Tall and slender, with smokey eyes and pearly skin,Nan Ryan looks like movie star Jessica Lange's older sister. Ryan writes the most imaginative and bold love scenes, some of which would surely shock herformer teachers at Abilene Christian University."

Reviews

[E. Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoiler warning!

I had such high hopes for this one and while I can't find fault with the writing, I ended up not being able to finish it. I thought the beginning dragged and the blurb was rather misleading as our hero 'Sutton' doesn't show up until midway through the book. The only reason I knew that was because I skimmed the entire first half of this book LOOKING for Sutton. It turns out he's the same guy our heroine Laurette grew up with, Ladd only he goes off to war, gets bitter because Laurette marries his enemy(thinking him dead) and comes back 20 years later changing his name.

And that is supposed to be enough for him to put into plan his revenge scheme to seduce her and make her pay for 'betraying' him. Except...no. If there had been some kind of plastic surgery after horrific injuries that would make it logical that Laurette wouldn't recognize him, I could maybe buy it, but just 20 years? This was someone she had been intimate with, a boy she had loved. Even if you put him in a beard, she should still have been able to recognize him after 20 years because he was grown when he went off to war. If Ladd had just stayed Ladd, gone off to war, got bitter from his misunderstanding, came back and Laurette knew it was him and he still put in his revenge plan, the story would have worked MUCH better. The 'different identity' twist was unnecessary and the suspension of disbelief was just too high for me to finish the book. I MIGHT read another book from this author, but I'd have to skim it in the bookstore first to make sure the plot made sense.

[Michelle Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Scandalous Miss Howard was a real page turner. As soon as I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down and finished it in less than one day. BUT one important detail near the end ruined the 5 star rating it could've had. I hated chapter 38 with all my being.
I couldn't understand how Luarette could listen to Ladd's story and not be touched. How could she listen to all the stories Bones had to tell her - about how her one and only love had been tortured, starved and left to die in a dark dungeon for so many years with not even the hope of coming back to her, for she had married someone else - and not run to Ladd's side to comfort him and tell him all was well and forgotten in the past. She seemed like a heartless bitch, if you ask me, and I despised her for it. I mean, I understand her anger after finding out what Ladd intended to do to her, but they loved each other for God's sake! And she couldn't even listen to what he had to say.
And how could she dismiss everything Jimmy did to them both and turn all her anger against Ladd, when it was Jimmy's fault they'd lived apart for so long? Jimmy's deception was so much worse than Ladd's, how could she not have some kind of deep infuriating hunger for revenge towards Jimmy?
All comes well in the end, of course, but that chapter left me with a bitter aftertaste that didn't let me quite enjoy the ending.
Instead of writing that horrible chapter, the author could've worked on a better and not so abrupt ending.
I think I need to re-read this one.

[Serena Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

El comienzo del libro no me gusto nada, la prota llega a su casa y se encuentra a un hombre desnudo, con el que esta muy enfadado y se lo tira o.o... y derrepente se vuelve 36 años en el tiempo cuando nace la prota... eso no me gusto nada

Creo que es una novela a la que se le ha sacado poco partido... mucho narrar de sus vidas infantiles y de la carcel de Ladd, y poco de la vida en comun de Jimmi y Laurette. Por otro lado, tanta venganza de Ladd, tanto odio.. para nada de nada...

Y aun con todas esas cosas la novela me ha enganchado... creo que si la autora lo hubiera escrito de otra manera hubiera sido la caña

mi nota un 7.5

[Rock Starr · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning dragged but I was pulled in anyway. But closer to the end I really disliked the heroine. I wished Sutton left Laurette and found a more sympathetic woman.

[ELLEN]

Used Book, Donated

[S.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a point in time when I read a lot of historical novels. That's not my habit so much anymore, but if they are in my bookcase, I will read through them. I have nothing against them, I tell myself. It's just a phase.

When I find a book like The Scandalous Miss Howard, I'm glad I hang on to books for so long.

Laurette Howard and Ladd Dasheroon were born exactly one year apart. From the day of her birth, Ladd's been fascinated with his "Lollie", as he calls her. They are best friends first, and later, madly in love. They plan to spend the rest of their lives together.

Until the Civil War, when Ladd is called off to fight, and is captured and thrown into a Union prison. Both of their lives are completely changed, and twenty years pass before there's a hope of them reuniting.

And when they do, things aren't at all what they seem.

I was immediately drawn in to this book by Ms. Ryan's writing, but also by the fact that the chapters are very short, little vignettes of Ladd and Laurette's lives. That made it easy to think, oh, just one more chapter before bed. Which would inevitably turn into two or three or...

One thing I'll say for the book is that it's *extremely* passionate. It's historical erotica, without any crude terms, for want of a better descriptor. I have no doubt that people in that era had more than vanilla, missionary sex, but this is the first historical I've read where that's made so very clear. And done surprisingly well.

This was a book of extremes for me. I loved Ladd and Lollie, I adored the secondary character of Bones, and I despised the "villains" of the book, Jimmy and LaKid. I do feel like some of the conflicts, particularly the final conflict, were a little too easily wrapped up, but that didn't really detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.

Nicely done, Ms. Ryan.

[Kristina Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

As soon as I picked up this book I couldn't put it down. I have, of course read The Count of Monte Cristo, and seen the movie. So when I read the the description, I was intrigued. It was pretty much that story set during and after the Civil War. I liked that the author was able to do that without completely copying from that story. She kind of put her own twist on it. Smart!
So, why the 3 star rating?
There was just two things that ruined this book for me. After all was said and done, the hero confessed who he was and why he was out on his quest for revenge. The heroine, was of course hurt that he didn't really love her, but was in fact there to break her heart and ruin her. That would've ticked anybody off. But, she couldn't see what he went through? Yes, her life was hard. Being in her shoes, I would've gone crazy. But to say that her life was just as hard as his... It couldn't compare. In Chapter 38, she sat there and listened to what he went through for 11 years, and couldn't be moved. That to me, was just unfair. I would have been like the character Bones. I wouldn't have agreed with the decision, but after hearing all he went through, I would've (I hope) understood why he did what he did. It's not like he went through with his plans to hurt her...
The other thing was just minor. The ending was a bit rushed for me, and left one unanswered question. Does he rub his marriage to her in Jimmy's face? Probably not.
But, to me he just got off to easy. He should know that the girl of his dreams was not only living life without him, but she was doing it with the man he was so jealous of. Karma sucks that way. :) Oh! And the jerk, LaKid got off WAY to easy...

[JoAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read The Count of Monte Cristo but I have seen two or three different productions of it and if they are accurate, this is that story set in the U.S. between 1844-1881 and with a lot more sex. It is about love, betrayal, revenge, forgiveness, and redemption.

I enjoyed the story and will keep my eyes open for other books by Nan Ryan (this is the first I have read by her).

I wish some mention had been made of Laurette never having children given all the likely-to-produce-babies activity she engaged in in the book. Was she happy, sad, relieved, disappointed?

I was surprised that Laurette did not notice any resemblance between Ladd and Sutton. She must have Lois-Lane-syndrome only instead of glasses providing an impenetrable disguise, it is a beard. And why didn't she recognize his voice? Had it changed that much? She could have, at least, mentioned that they had the same type of looks.

The end seemed abrupt. I wish there had been an short little epilogue to tie up loose ends, like which name he used, or if they sent Jimmy a wedding announcement.

[Meaghan]

I personally loved it. Who doesn't love a good first love romance? And when these two young lovers are seperated by duty and war it makes for an even more powerful love story.