A Mad Passion

Heart's Temptation #1

by Scarlett Scott

A lost love Seven years ago, the Marquis of Thornton broke Cleo's heart, and she hasn't forgotten or forgiven him. But when she finds him standing before her at a country house party, as handsome as ever, old temptations prove difficult to resist. One stolen kiss is all it takes. A proper gentleman Thornton buried his past and his feelings for Cleo long ago. He's worked diligently to become a respected politician with a reputation above reproach. The only trouble in his otherwise perfect life is that he can't resist the maddening beauty he never stopped wanting, no matter how devastating the cost. A mad passion Cleo is hopelessly trapped in a loveless marriage, and Thornton is on the cusp of making an advantageous match to further his political ambitions. The more time they spend in each other's arms, the more they court scandal and ruin. Theirs is a love that was never meant to be. Or is it? Full-length novel A Mad Passion is the first book in the Heart's Temptation series and can be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel or read as part of the series. Each Heart's Temptation book takes place in Victorian England, where passion burns, scandals abound, and love triumphs. From a wicked embrace in a country house maze to a kiss in the rain to a stolen moment in a carriage, these distinctive men and women aren't afraid to give in to the temptation of following where their hearts lead them. Nothing can keep them from a love that lasts forever. The Heart's Temptation Series 1.A Mad Passion 2.Rebel Love 3.Reckless Need 4.Sweet Scandal 5. Restless Rake 6. Darling Duke 7. The Night Before Scandal

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Regency, Regency Romance, Adult, Second Chance

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 16, 2011

About the author

USA TODAY bestselling author Scarlett Scott writes steamy Victorian and Regency historical romances with strong, intelligent heroines and sexy alpha heroes. She lives in Pennsylvania and Maryland with her Canadian husband, their adorable identical twins, a demanding diva dog, and one zany cat.

For Scarlett's latest releases, exclusive excerpts, contests and more, visit her website, http://www.scarlettscottauthor.com

Reviews

[Becky (romantic_pursuing_feels) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: Some of my goodreads shelves can be spoilers

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖 (The page count dragged for me and I was constantly distracting myself with other stuff because I struggled to come back to it)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 (Overall the scenes were decent and held a lot of that emotional/explicit combo I wanted – but they were also a touch light (compared to her later work) with some fading and lots were interrupted.
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (If you’re generous with the third)
Humor: A bit – quite a bit of bickering humor between them
Perspective: Third person from the heroine, hero and the hero’s mother (eww)
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: Almost immediately
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, 5 months later
Format: read on Kindle Unlimited
(Descriptions found at end of my review)

Should I read in order?
This is the first of Scott’s Heart’s Temptation series.

Basic plot:
Thornton and Cleo were a love match – but that was 7 years ago. Now she finds herself in his company at a country house party.

Give this a try if you want:
- Victorian (1880)
- second chance romance – after a 7 year separation
- house party
- masquerade
- you’re okay with mention of infidelity and the heroine being married when she reconnects with the hero
- very small epistolary section
- medium steam – 3 full scenes if you’re generous with the last one as it’s pretty short.

Ages:
- heroine is 25, hero is about 30

First line:
Cleo, Countess Scarbrough, decided there had never been a more ideal moment to feign illness.

My thoughts:
I know this is one of Scott’s earlier works and probably doesn’t have the same writing voice her more recent novels have. I did read Her Errant Earl awhile ago, but this is my second by her.

This one was quite a bit lighter in steam that her more recent releases. It had a number of kisses and partial scenes, but only 3 ‘full’ scenes and 1 was really quite light and short.

This book had a whole bunch of things that are at the bottom of the barrel for my romance likes, which is totally my preference and not the book’s fault. I didn’t connect with either main – I thought the hero was a complete jerk (which I usually like, honestly) but he just said things that bothered me through the entire book (I can deal with a bit in the beginning and then he stops). He just came off to me as very immature. I felt like he acted young – the way he talked and handled his emotions, the getting drunk because he was ‘bored’. I just didn’t like it.

I did like the heroine a bit, but not much because her decisions and lack of communication bothered me.

There was a lot of things I wasn’t a fan of that went right up until the end of the book. This also contains quite a few tropes I just don’t usually like. enemies to lovers bickering. Second chance. Pregnancy. Lies. Other woman drama. Toxic AF mother in law. This felt like more of a high drama plot with the angry and judgmental mother in law and the heroine being married, and the hero jealous of other men and the heroine jealous of other women...it was very ‘soap opera’-ish which just isn’t my jam but I know many people enjoy!

There were a couple interactions I liked. And I did really like Ravenscroft as a side character so I’m excited for his book.

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own

oh, my

Thornton twisted her until her back slammed against the door with a thud. His tongue swept into her mouth. Her hands gripped his strong shoulders, pulling him closer. An answering ache blossomed within her. Somehow, he found his way under her skirts, grasping her left leg at the knee and hooking it around his lean hip. Deliberate fingers trailed up her thigh beneath three layers of fabric, finding bare skin.
---
“What I choose to do with Cleo or any other woman here is no one’s concern but mine.”
“Why do you call her by her Christian name?”
“Because she is Cleo to me,” he said, the admission torn from him against his well. “She will always be Cleo.”

At this point the hero hasn’t endeared me to him much at all, but I kinda love Ravenscroft…

“Ravenscroft, you bastard,” he remarked in a deceptively casual tone, “have you become so depraved you’ve taken to peering beneath ladies’ skirts in the library?”
//
“Blessed angels’ sakes! Why would you fight over me?”
“Because you’re a beautiful woman,” Ravenscroft announced through gritted teeth at the same moment Thornton muttered, “Damned if I know.”
---
Thornton broke their kiss and caught her wrists, raising them above her head, pinning them to the bark with one strong hand.
//
Thornton looked into her eyes and a most wicked smile curved his mouth. “Now that I’ve gone you at my mercy, will you call me Alex?”
“Thornton,” she began.
“Naughty, naughty,” he said in a low voice, pulling her wrists higher.



Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- mention of heroine’s husband cheating on the her throughout their marriage
- feelings of infidelity – the heroine has intimacies with the hero while she’s married (her husband is a dick)
- miscarriage remembered
- assault on page – the hero’s mother slaps the heroine
- hero calls the heroine a bitch (quite late in the book too – almost 90% in)


Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex: No. The heroine is married to someone else but has been separated from him for awhile.
Hows the consent? implied? Kind of? The hero definitely doesn’t ask and if he did the heroine would probably say no, though we are in her perspective and know she has a longing and feelings for him.
2% neck kisses, beginning fingering for her
10% - kiss
21% - bath scene where he washes her hair and a kiss
30% - kisses
33% - kisses
44% - 🔥 kisses, fingering/oral for her, sex against a bookshelf

“Trust me, my love.”
“I do,” she said, meaning it. She clutched at her voluminous satin ad raised it to her waist.
He pressed his mouth to her inner thigh. “Hook your leg over my shoulder.”

54% - 🔥 kisses, blow job (incomplete), fingering/oral for her, missionary

When he reached for the fastening on his trousers, she stopped him.
“No.” She pushed him to his back on the bed and hooked her leg across his so that she straddled his lean hips. She dropped a kiss on his taut abdomen, savoring the rigid cords of his muscle, then moved lower, sinking a playful tongue into his navel.

72% - kiss
93% - 🔥 missionary – it’s pretty short
“You’re going to kill me, woman.”
“I can’t think of a better way to die.”


Extra stuff like what my review breakdown means, where to find me, and book clubs


Full break down on what my ratings above mean here:
Overall: How I felt about it everything considered!
Readability: How ‘readable’ was the book? Did I fly through it? Did I have to tell myself to pick it back up repeatedly? Were any passages confusing? (I will probably score like (1) is literally unreadable due to formatting/typing errors, etc (2) There were lots of errors that made it difficult to read OR It was extremely confusing and I had to reread passages to make sense of it OR I disliked it so much I had to bribe myself to keep reading (3) I didn’t really want to keep reading and would have preferred to abandon the read and start something else OR some minor continuity issues/confusion (4) I liked it fine, maybe a minor error or 2. I was happy to pick it up when I had time. (5) I never wanted to put this down. I thought about it when I wasn’t reading it. I hid in the bathroom from my kids to read. I threw inappropriate food at my children for dinner so I could read instead.)
Feels: Totally subjective to each person but did the book give me any tingles? Any butterflies? Did it rip my heart out (in a good way?)
Emotional depth: How well do I feel I know the characters at the end? How much did I feel their emotions throughout the story?
Sexual tension: Again, subjective, but how strong was the wanting and longing to me between the characters? A book might have strong sexual tension without a single touch.
Romance: Was there romance? Did romantic things happen? This can be actions/words/thoughts of the characters and again is subjective.
Sensuality: This is how the intimate scenes are written. Kisses and sexual scenes – how sensual were they? Were they on the mechanical side? Was there emotional pull tied in? Were the details explicit or flowery? These are subjective but generally (1) too short to get a good judgement (2) not all what I'm looking for - very vague or flowery prose (3) either not explicit enough or not enough emotional pull (too mechanical/physically descriptive without the emotions) (4) what I love in a scene (5) absolute perfection - perfect balance of emotional longing and explicit descriptions
Sex Scene Length: How long the bedroom scenes are (generally (1) is 1-3 sentences (2) is a few paragraphs to a page-ish (3) is about average, a few pages (4) more well developed scenes, quite a few pages with descriptions (4) the majority of the book takes place in the bedroom. This is always hard to tell for me on audio!
Steam Scale: Generally, each flame is a scene. If scenes are super close together I sometimes combine them. If a scene is super short or so vague I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t count it. There’s some levels of grey but generally the number of flames is how many sex scenes there are (I max out at 5 so I’ll put a + after if there’s more than that)


Find me
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Book Clubs
The Ton and the Tartans (Historical Romance)
Upturned Petticoats and Undone Cravats (Historical Romance with Steam Requirements)
A Love Less Ordinary (Science Fiction, Paranormal, Monster, Fantasy)
Modern Manuscripts (Contemporary Romance)
Words for the Wicked (Contemporary Romance with Steam Requirements)
Vintage Romance (Old School Romance – published 2000 and prior)

[Lady Nilambari Reads HR · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

It's good to have a laptop, finally! Thank you, Amazon Prime, for an early delivery! And btw the new MacBook Air is a dream. This is irrelevant to the review, I know, but I am just so happy right now to be typing on a real keyboard and not a tiny little phone screen or an awkward iPad screen.

I am so happy that I am not even annoyed after reading a 'second-chance' romance, which I hate as a general rule of thumb.

My Thoughts
- Scarlett Scott is a great author. She balances the romance with fun and delivers a very engaging book, cleverly written with a sparkling wit.
- The 'title' shoe fit, as it was a mad passion indeed. Trés dramatic, but overall it was a cutesy read that I did not hate despite my reservations about the trope.
- The romance was the best aspect of this story. Cleo and Alex had such easy camaraderie about them. They were delightful, and it just felt like they belonged together.
- There was great chemistry but less steam as compared to other Scott books.
- Both Cleo & Alex were likeable characters, but I preferred Alex a bit more. I did not like that he was forever late to the party that was Cleo's thoughts, choices or decisions. Also, as a personal preference, Alex's irrational jealousy towards Ravenscroft, as opposed to his naturally staid behaviour, was hilarious.

Highlights
- Honest conversations, hallelujah!
- The bond between Cleo & her sisters
- Julian, the Earl of Ravenscroft
- The absurdity that was the Dowager Marchioness
- The baby, Bump!

Lowlights (If that is word...)
- Married heroine
- Utterly useless fender bender misunderstanding that was 84-91%
- The convenient death of Scarborough
- A slightly longer, recycled version of Wooed in Winter

Even though I am irritated with the trope, I spent some time thinking about how else it could have worked, and I realised there was no other way, so I have decided to live with it.

My Recommendation
If you are triggered by 'kinda cheating, but not quite' second chancers, this is not for you. Otherwise, go for it.

[Edwina " I LoveBooks" "Deb" · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haved mixed feeling about this story!! In the beginning when Lady Cleo Scarbrough's character is introduced into the story is a bit confessing between as who was who Scarbrough and Thornton are.

Alexander de Vere, Marquess of Thornton was Cleo's first love. Both Alex and Cleo had been mulipulated to seperate by Lord Scarbrough. After a bad orcherstrated argument Alex leaves Cleo and they haven't seen each other for 7 years. She marries the Earl of Scrbrough whose only use for her was her large dowry. Cleo was a very rich heiress. Scarbrough was a drunk and had numerous mistress he had to provide for. He flaunted all this right in front of Cleo and the entire ton. He was in so much debt he had to break up Cleo and Alex so he could marry Cleo and obtain her dowry

When Cleo and Alex meet again they have an affair. She has been estranged from her husband for years. They never really lived together. Cleo only married him because she was pregnant with Alex's child and he had left the country.

I don't like three party relationships. It would have been a great story if that retrobate husband of Cleo's had died much earlier in the story. Lord Scarbrough didn't deserve so much of the storyline.

[Cindy Woods · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utterly silly!

Having been asked to read this book, I finally downloaded it and tried desperately to find something in it to like.

With a silly plot and even sillier characters, I can honestly say the only redeeming attribute here was the dialogue by play between some characters.

Cleo is a stupid woman who makes even more stupid decisions and her love, Alex, is a simpleton. The only character of interest is Julian the 'man whore.'

The writing is unimaginative and repetitive as we are constantly reminded of Alex's political status and Cleo's lust for him. It truly was drudgery to read and I found myself skimming often.

Bored me!!!

[Somia]

Freebie on amazon 9th Jan 2020

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere near my favourite. I finished it, but it was a slog. I kept putting it down, which is unlike me. I very nearly DNF. 2.5☆

[LynnMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monica's Review

How far would you go for love? Risk everything that you have built in the last seven years for the name of love. When Thornton finds himself with Cleo after seven years after she broke off their engagement his feelings and her feelings cannot be tamed any longer.

In this heart pounding historical there is so much passion that is shared between Thornton and Cleo, each stare, each touch it leaves you breathless. This story dates back to 1880’s in which society domineered politics and unladylike behavior especially if one is married was unacceptable. It was a little slow in the beginning and took some time to get into the story but after that it was too interesting and captivating to put it down. Thornton and Cleo will have you laughing on how they both act towards each other and the wording they use on each other is just adorable. Even if it does sound a little foolish but it is their way of communicating that they still love each other no matter about the past.

A Mad Passion is a very well-written story and I will gladly read it again. There are several surprises towards the end of the book that make everything come together not only for Cleo but for Thornton and their future together. I found it to be humorous and delightful and most of all enjoyed their passionate chemistry.


4 Tea Cups!

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty and fast moving

Not your typical man and woman separated then reunited. Fabulous lines and characters. Cleo and her sisters have marvelous dialogs. The characters are real strong rememberable and not to be missed. And the sex is deliciously written. I cannot wait to read another of her book

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The entire story would have ended before the events in this novel if the characters had just talked to each other. And it would have ended multiple other times if they had been truthful. And the ending was obvious in order for the characters to have a happy ending. I kept putting the book down because I was so annoyed with both main characters.

[Fiatgal · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/4.0
I'm really not sure what to make of this novel. I like the way Scott takes her time rolling out the story but somehow it is too much/too long. I'm not sure I'm inspired to read the rest of the series.

[Copper78 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ended up being much better that I expected. I didn't love how quickly the MCs fell back together after 7 long years apart and thinking the worst of the other. I think it should take more than one conversation before you would start ripping eachother's clothes off in a public space in someone else's country house. BUTTTTTT, after the lunacy of that, I really liked both Cleo and Alex and I loved how much they loved each other and what they were willing to sacrifice to be together. It would certainly be very difficult in that time period to be together how they wished. I actually liked that the dowager and sister of the hero were part of the friction, it felt realistic that the couple's loved ones would be worried about their relationship. The heroine got on my nerves a bit near the end when she again changed her mind even though she made many promises to the hero and let him think the issues were solved. I also didn't like how she played games and used Ravenscroft as a weapon against Thornton. And she and the hero were both ridiculously careless when it came to sex. You would think pregnancy wouldn't have caught them by surprise after the way they'd been screwing like bunnies for over a month with no mention of even pulling out. And, the hero had knocked her up in the past so again one would think they'd have at least thought about it.

But I really enjoyed the book and loved the angst and the realistic boundaries in their way to their HEA.

[Plunard Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very Little Passion

I was confused beginning at chapter one , it feels like it's the middle of the book. I couldn't establish where Cleo came from and most of all what was her station in society. How did she get there? What era, 1800 or 1900? It is to many words and no information.👎

[Martine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not very good.charaters not t very likable..sound like another writher wrote the book

[SS · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. A little more than halfway through this book, I was loving it, and considering whether to give it 5 stars (which I don't give out easily.) I was a little annoyed by Cleo's constant fake "megrims" and the constant references to her dress improver, and when her sisters gave supposedly brutal setdowns of others they really weren't nearly as clever as the author tried to get us to believe they were. But overall I loved the dynamic, cared about the characters, and enjoyed their chemistry. I feel as though Scarlett Scott does a great job helping us see the love between couples. THEN two plot contrivances and the unnecessary dragging out of the book really sent those stars tumbling for me. The first was the extremely convenient death of her husband - I had really wanted to see what lengths the main couple would have gone through to be together, but that was oh-so-conveniently resolved. Then, despite this easy out for them both, we have the heroine having a sudden bout of conscience and decided to release Alex from the relationship through unconvincingly pretending to have another affair. For no real purpose, and especially uncharacteristic after she's discovered her pregnancy and decided to lie about that too. If I read it again (which I may, since I really enjoyed the beginning and liked the trope), I'll stop reading at about the 60% mark and come up with the ending in my head.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

My advice, if you planning on reading this awesome book, would be to set aside time to read from beginning to end. This was so good I could not put it down. I don’t always go by other reviews. I like form my own opinion if I like an author. And I do enjoy Ms Scotts books. This, though, is probably my favorite. I saw another reviewer wrote this was porn. Well, to me it all depends on how you view the relationship between Cleo and Alex. They fell in love at a young age and were torn apart by circumstances (which usually happens in love stories). When they finally saw one another after so many years they needed to show they still loved each other and then that’s what they did. Though there were many obstacles for them to overcome, one of which was his wicked mother. As for other reviewers on the maturity of Cleo – she was only 25 and love can be confusing at any age. If you love enough, you always want what you think is best for your lover. And that is what Cleo did. Alex was a real man though the way some of the things he said made me teary. It was a really moving book. The feelings it evoked felt real. That is the writing of Ms Scott. She really knows how to tell a story. Can never go wrong with her books. Thank you!!! On to the next one.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical romances usually always give me a warm fuzzy feeling and sweep me away with their simplicity. However, this did not.

The female character, Cleo, is already married when we are introduced to her. Yet she reconnects with her long lost love (7 years lost), Alex, and the fire is reignited and they both realize they still love each other. The romance and the passion is very believable however so is the fact that Cleo is very much already married... albeit estranged from the loser. The usual cat and mouse love story felt depressing to me. It seemed like a happy ever after would have a shadow over it. Either she would end up a mistress and a social pariah or divorced and a social pariah. Inevitably, ultimately, miraculously and utterly unbelievably, there IS a true happy ending because her loser husband dies in an accident. 🤨🤦‍♀️🙄

Despite this poor review, I liked the writing and I do applaud the author for this unique spin. It just didn’t work for me. I will be reading on with the series. The secondary characters seem to get their own books and I’m curious to see what the author cooks up for them. With that said, it doesn’t feel right to give 2 Stars so I’m giving 3. 🤷‍♀️

[Jamie Wagnor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great

While I normally love this writer and find most of her characters engaging. I can’t say this one is very good. The two main characters are don’t have the pull needed to sustain the story.

Cleo’s sisters are borderline unbearable. I found nothing about either of them that made me want to read the interactions between them. Alex was bland at best and one dimensional at worst. Cleo is about as interesting as her sisters, which is to say, she’s not. I made it to the end but I definitely didn’t care that those two ended up together. Their passion was repetitive and more often talked about rather than felt. The love scenes were just okay, though I didn’t really believe in their desire for each other. The fact this started as an affair (not that her husband deserved her devotion) also made their relationship unfavorable.

All and all, I’m glad this wasn’t my first book by this author- I don’t believe it gives an accurate glimpse into her work. She has better and far more entertaining books and characters. This one is a major fail. Unfortunately.

[Lana Gio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. Cleo is a petty, wishy washy, irrational, immature FMC. Alex/Thornton is not great himself, and also everyone else sucks too. The only person I found truly likable was Julian/Ravenscroft.

This story had a nice idea, I like second chance romances & even though I do not like cheating tropes, this really barely counted as cheating since her husband was a shithead. But the execution was just badly done IMHO. Far too melodramatic and having Cleo constantly acting indignant and shocked when ppl were like “Girl you are fucking Thornton” was idiotic and made me dislike her even more. Especially when the author & Cleo herself went to great pains to tell us how totally normal it was for married ppl to fool around at these country parties. Also, Cleo. Stop saying you’ve got a headache every 3 seconds. You look like a flake.

So anyway, yeah, this was a no go for me. I was considering rereading the others in this series but after this one I’m all set.

[daemyra, the realm's delight · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF at 71%. Another one I really wanted to love. Was trying to get back into Scarlett Scott earlier this year but couldn't finish more than one book :/

Kindle clean-out review:

This blurb sounded fantastic. Heroine is married. Hero is stuffy politician. Both had met when they were single but did not end up together. Now, they meet at a country party and tensions are running high. I love a saucy heroine and a stuffy hero but Scarlett Scott is another author who can write what I want to read but it doesn't satisfy?

Her husband is still off-page at 71%. There isn't any angst about her having a husband. In fact, there is more angst to do with him having to marry a proper wife.

Sending my prayers to the romance goddess for another author to take on this exact storyline but take it in a different way.

[Space Cowgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reignited 🔥 Again 💘!

England 1880
ADULT Victorian Romance💕
Cleo💃💋, Countess Scarborough, is a young woman who is married to the Earl👺, a drunkard🍷, a gambler🃏, and a womanizing cheater, who married her Only for her huge dowry. He is quickly running through all her 💰money, too. They had an arranged marriage👰 and haven't lived together for most of their marriage.

Cleo💃💋 is invited to a two week long house party, and meets again, the true 💘love of her Life, the dashing Marquis of Thornton🐺🍆⛲. He had been her other suitor at one time but her mother thought the Earl of Scarborough👺 was the better choice!
Sparks reignite a 🔥fire between them that has never died!

This Well written and unique ADULT Historical Romance💕 does have cheating, but I promise there is a happy ending!

[Lana Birky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book & it's engaging couple! The story was different from most but intriguing when a married Countess & a Marquis renew a seven year gone by romance & especially for the times. Cleopatra, Lady Scarbrough, was pushed to marry an Earl by her Mother & forced to end her young love relationship with our hero, Alexander, Marquis of Thornton. I felt the story started to drag on a bit in trying to get the couple together but in the end they had their HEA. This has some spicy love scenes, humor, fun & irritating family members that create an enjoyable read & now I am off to start Bella's story (though I found nothing good about Alexander's sister in this book).

[Sonia N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautiful and well written romance!
I believe in love at first sight! From the moment Cleo and Alex first met, up until 7 years later, their love is still strong. Despite their different paths in life, he in politics, she married.
The author does something I love, she writes about how they first met and comes back to the present. It's beautiful to read about how sweet and passionate their love was and still is!

This romance had everything, great dialogue, witty, I found myself laughing out loud and then crying from just how emotional this story is!
This is book 1 in Ms. Scott's Heart's Temptation Series and I am on Book 2!

[Pontiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleo and Alex have a past, and now meet at a house party. Initially, they show their disdain, but it doesn’t take long for old feelings to surface, and once they start they can’t stop.

Supported and criticized alternately by her sisters, Cleo realizes she still loves Alex. He’s also not supported by his family, and his political career won’t survive the scandal of their affair. But, it’s meant to be, so all ends as it should.

I don’t like Alex’s mother, even though she apparently makes an effort at the end. I love Bridget, the maid, and Jesse, Alex’s friend.

KU

[SynergyQuest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Scarlett Scott, but

I love Scarlett Scott and the way she crafts a story. From the moment I first discovered her work, I’ve been reading every book I can get my hands on. She’s a talented writer who isn’t afraid to give me the sexy too. I like that most of all. I like everything about this read, except the heroine. She got on my nerves toward the end. She’s lying to and “trying to protect” the hero and making a big mess of it all. Worse yet, she’s repeating past mistakes. Particularly in those moments, she felt very naive and annoying.

[Laura Cozicar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A second chance romance with a cute story and a bit of drama. Boy loves girl. Friend tricks girl. Boy loses girl. Their paths cross again and the truth is revealed. We get to know Cleo and Alex as they fight for their love, battling against everyone and everything just to be together. Well written and entertaining but a bit predictable. This is the first in a series but can be read as a stand-alone.

[Bridget Love to read Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love regained

Cleo and Alex were childhood lovers. Betrayed by Lord Scarborough and tricked into marriage Cleo experienced years of hell in earth! Reunited with Alex at a house party Cleo realizes the depth of her husband's treachery! Alex and she fall madly in love again courting scandal their love comes at a price! Can they pay?

[Janet Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cleo and Thornton

A misunderstanding diabolically connived split two lovers. They come together years later discover the plot but are stymied by women cld not get a divorce. They decide to thwart convention and there in begins a complicated scenario the dialogue is brilliant especially the bickering between the lovers

[Charles E DeMoulin Sr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tremendous read

Enjoyed this story very much. Cleo and Thorton both went through a lot before they finally got married and had another child. It was quite exciting,romantic,caring , doubtful and questioning if they would become man and wife . Used the word Christ to much. Thanks for an enjoyable experience. Diane

[Joann Herley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed A Mad Passion. I agree with one of the other reviewers - Lady Scarbrough's husband should have died earlier in the book. My favorite characters were Julian and Lady Scarbrough's sisters. Julian had several fun responses to comments made about his character, and the sisters drew their own conclusions. It offered a happy ending, even though, it was a little rough around the edges.

[Adina Pearlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read

This wasn't my favorite of Scott's books. A little slow in the middle. I did think Scarborough's exit was a little unrealistic. Still it was steamy and scandalous enough. I love Cleo and Alex's relationship, and the last quarter of the book was great as far as their story.