Scandalous Secrets

by Patricia Oliver

A Triumphant Return

Years ago, Lady Francesca St. Ives was divorced and cast out of her family--surrounded by rumors of a terrible scandal. Only her beloved Aunt Clarissa and Uncle John stood by her, taking her to their home in India.

Now heiress to a large fortune and known as Lady Fanny Wentworth, she returns to England to make a new life for herself--without the help of a man. But as they board the ship in Calais, she and her aunt rescue a little girl named Charlotte from thieves... and meet the child's father, the very handsome--and arrogant--Colonel Sir Derek Sheldon. Lady Fanny is charmed by sweet, innocent Charlotte, even as she is irritated by the child's father. Then an illness traps Lady Fanny at the Sheldon estate and, as she recovers, sharing close quarters with him, sparks begin to fly. Now Fanny must make a difficult decision--for if she trusts the Colonel with her heart, she must also trust him with the scandalous secrets of her past....

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Regency

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

Patricia Oliver is a pen name of Patricia De La Fuente. Between 1993 and 2002 she wrote for the Signet Regency Romance imprint and for Jove under her other pseudonym Olivia Fontayne.

Reviews

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting premise with a fresh execution but lost its way towards the end.
The h’s character is surprisingly novel as a naïve yet wilful, self-indulgent and spoilt girl who grows up to be a headstrong, self-indulgent and overconfident woman. A wealthy, privileged divorcee who knows what she wants and goes for it. Only thing she refuses herself is men. Her calling everything - the ships, the business - ‘my' ‘mine’ is jarring as they directly and rightly belong to her aunt first and then her.
So, although I did not like her much in the beginning, she grew on me - with all her frivolous and flirtatious ways - only to go down in my esteem as she too goes meek like the book.
The H is a stuffed shirt widower who, once betrayed by his wife, is put off by the h's confident, managing ways. There’s a certain chemistry and predictably he fights the losing battle.

The h has been grievously hurt by her husband and family 10 years ago who were quick to misjudge her and throw her away as so much garbage. That’s the angsty part of the story but is not handled or panned out as well as I had hoped. There should have been greater comeuppance or justice for the men in her life who used her and then let her down.
On her divorce, the author lets us know that although she’s not actually guilty of what’s she‘s accused of, she’s not all blameless. That was just so novel. Her motivations may have been churlish and rash but innocent, and it all went horribly wrong.

Triumphant return?
Not so much! From India through Calais, she never goes beyond Brighton and it’s rural landscape. There’s no social outing of note and no establishing herself in society or the haute ton. That was what I had expected! Her thumbing her nose at society as the ‘rich as Croesus’ divorcee and showing up her family and her ex. But, no!
Her man (The H) is also picked for her (by the author) before she even lands in England.

The H’s daughter and the pet monkey (don’t get me started on that name!) vanish after establishing their credentials.

But the no-retribution for the criminally uncaring and self-seeking family and both the exes (especially Gerald) is a major let-down. And no, reshaping their faces doesn’t count.
We are not even told if her father or her husband, the duke are even alive. Same for her other two brothers. Only Freddie, the youngest and Gerald, her ex-suitor show up their amazingly thoughtless and blockheaded faces - as convenient villains. All these people needed to pay not only for the h’s suffering but also her mother’s abuse and suicide.
On the other hand, certain things like the actual motivation and the depth of betrayal by her family seem vague, as also ott unbelievable. Why would a 'passionless' gay husband react so violently to a wife's 'affair'? And why and how were her (off-book) brothers involved in the betrayal? Money seems too convenient - how much was the duke doling out?

The romance plateaus midway and gets boring.
And towards the end, I wanted more on reckoning for the past and for which I kept reading/hoping -
(and which doesn’t happen!) and not the romance as that’s a foregone.
So, the story ends on a very dissatisfying note.

Captain Jack, the friend is alpha guy - certainly needs a story.

[Catsalive · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off well but foundered quickly. This is a supposedly strong, independent woman who has learned from bad experience not to depend on men, however, Fanny shows little evidence of this. In fact, the story is all over the place. It's as if the author just threw in every idea she had, as she had it. Why did she look as if she were about to jump? Why was she ill? What was her illness? Why was all the action at Sheldon's place, nothing about establishing a life in Brighton? Why did she even inherit her uncle's interests? What was the point of the monkey?

Very disappointing as I know P.O. could do much better.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfect popcorn summer read. The unfortunate part of this story is how one of the main characters disappears half way through the book, the daughter charlotte is all but missing by the end. And i didn't appreciate how the parts of the heroine Fanny evaporated by the time the ending arrived, all her adventurism pluck spirit and trade sense, poof! gone by the time she kisses her hero, Derek. But there are other plot elements that help keep the book from foundering, Margaret the sister and Sir Joshua's bumbling assumed courtship is a welcome comedy. This is one of those lite novels that could have been improved with 100 more pages of austenian detail.

[Mary Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought a divorced woman in the 19th century couldn't remarry