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Scandalous
Katherine Fleming has lived her life without even a hint of indiscretion. So she is devastated to discover the nobleman she's engaged to has a secret he's kept from her: a wife! Suddenly Katherine's enmeshed in a scandal that has the ton buzzing—and forced to accept a most unconventional proposal from the notorious seducer Dominic Mallory, her faithless fiancé's brother… and precisely the sort of rake she has sworn to avoid!
Charming and dangerously sensual, Dominic has desired the stunning beauty from the first moment he spied her. Now, with Katherine's reputation in tatters, it's the ideal opportunity to bed her—though it will take wedding vows to do so. But can a rogue be reformed by the unleashed passion of a normally reserved lady? And can a marriage made for all the wrong reasons flame into the love match of the season?
Charming and dangerously sensual, Dominic has desired the stunning beauty from the first moment he spied her. Now, with Katherine's reputation in tatters, it's the ideal opportunity to bed her—though it will take wedding vows to do so. But can a rogue be reformed by the unleashed passion of a normally reserved lady? And can a marriage made for all the wrong reasons flame into the love match of the season?
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 27, 2005
24 people are currently reading
399 people want to read
About the author
Jenna Petersen
19 books229 followersJenna Petersen now writes historical romance exclusively as Jess Michaels. Please check out her self-published and Samhain publishing books here:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Jenna no longer supports her HarperCollins/Avon books due to price gouging and refusal to return author rights.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Jenna no longer supports her HarperCollins/Avon books due to price gouging and refusal to return author rights.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
July 7, 2011
I feel a rant coming on. Or at the very least, a decidedly cranky review, and I'm going to call it "The Perils of Reading an Entire Backlist".
For some reason I decided that the best way to try a new author was to read the very first book she got published. I am here to tell you this is sometimes a very bad idea.
Jenna Petersen also writes under the name Jess Michaels. JM writes erotic romances. I read one last month (Everything Forbidden) and was amazed at how much I liked it. So, I thought, why not check out her Jenna Petersen books -- they are regular historical romances, they should be pretty good, right? Hmmm.
I should try to be nice, as this was her first novel.
This silly book is about Katherine, who is engaged to a stuffed shirt named Cole or Colden or something. She has some tragic family background and is marrying him for companionship, as she has decided never to fall in love (overused trope #1 and #2) . Dominic, black sheep bastard of the family (stereotype #3) in the throes of a serious identity crisis spies her on the balcony at a party and is instantly smitten (cliche #4).
The story begins as Katherine and Colden are having a party to announce their engagement. A message is given to Colden that cancels the announcement -- his wife, thought dead in a shipwreck, might be alive!!!! Dun dun DUN! And Dominic, the bastard brother, shows up demanding that Colden turn over the keys to Lansing Square (their mother's house) to him. Colden, a complete dick under the Milton Milquetoast exterior, immediately hatches a plan. To save Katherine from ruination after news of her now -broken engagement gets out, and to hide the fact that he has already transferred title to her holdings and spent all of her dowry AND paid off her guardians (holy heck, that's a whole lotta subterfuge!), and finally, to keep his illegitimate half-brother under his control, he tells Dominic that he can have Lansing Square if he marries Katherine. Excellent deal! thinks Dominic, and agrees immediately. Katherine is harder to pursuade, but by the time I was 20% done the ebook they were married.
Now, further complicating matters is the ridiculous way Katherine approaches her relationship with Dominic. Oh, how it peeved me! First she is overcome with his appearance, her knees threaten to buckle shortly after meeting him. Then after they get married she is panting hot and heavy after him, but has decided that she can never love, or show him that she loves him (another overused plot device, and one that I can't stand!). So she is a seductress by night, and an idiot by day. The only thing missing was her sobbing after their glorious lovemaking (hey, I've read Shirlee Busbee and Kathleen Woodiwiss, I know how this works). We are also subjected to lots of words dedicated to her thought processes:
By now he has christened her with the nickname Kat and is falling in love with her more every second. And why not, she's a temptress in the bedroom, a flirt in the dining room, she talks and laughs and makes him feel wonderful. She listens to him, draws him out and all the while she keeps herself completely detached. Understandable, I guess, given her "tragic history" (which she will not tell him not matter how many times he asks), but it made her completely unsympathetic.
This star-crossed couple has other problems as well. She wants to redecorate the house, he says they're not staying. The servants are afraid of him, he won't reassure them that they won't lose their jobs. She resorts to asking his best friend Adrian what's going on with him, while at the same time Adrian is talking to Dominic about whether or not he loves Katherine.
By this point in the book I'm starting to feel like I've read this before at least 100 times -- it's like the author took every goofy historical romance novel cliche, hackneyed plot device and cardboard character stereotype, threw them all into a hat and was drawing them out one by one. Except for the dead wife showing up, that was a new one for me. And what a bitch she was. More on that later.
There was the obligatory secondary romance between the Hero's spinster sister and his best friend, which was then ruined by some completely OTT remarks made by the Hero after he sees them together and freaks out: "If you cannot control yourself with my sister, I will ask you to leave. I won't have you taking advantage of her advanced years and loneliness to amuse yourself." This coming from a character who was, up to this point, charming, reasonable, and imminently likeable.
Eventually, we find out that the reason Dominic wanted the house was so that he could search for evidence of who his real father was, that Colden was a complete and utter douchebag, his wife really was alive - Colden had sent her to France so she could fuck around without being caught, then he quit sending her $$ and she heard he was planning to remarry. Up she popped, just a like a bad penny. They all descend on Lansing Square and the inevitable confrontation in the library occurs (another over-used device, this would be about #10, I can't keep up!). During this confrontation, the evil brother reveals Dominic's role in the plot to marry Katherine off and reveals that he is indeed born on the wrong side of the blanket, Dominic then rats out his brother about having sold Katherine's house and used her money, the evil not-dead wife throws in that Dominic and she almost had an affair years ago, Katherine finds out that her guardians were given a bonus to sell her off to Colden, and as the final straw she discovers that her good friend, Dominic's spinster sister Julia, knew all of that dirt and didn't tell her.
Oh, the perfidy!!!!!
As if that wasn't enough, Dominic is still searching the attics every day to find out who his father is. Katherine, displaying lots of behaviour that looks like love, offers to go with him to talk to his mother. They go, she still won't tell Dominic anything about his father, and Dominic finally realizes that her denials have freed him -- that Katherine is his family now.
Of course, at the same time Katherine has realized that she is pregnant, and in her self-absorbed, bitchy way decided that she won't tell him about the baby because she won't have her child grow up in a home without love. OH FOR FUCK'S SAKES!!! She also then conveniently finds letters hidden in an old piano that say who Dominic's father is. She decides that the best thing for Dominic is for her to sneak away before he reads the letters, so she can leave him alone just when he needs her most. That clinched it for me - - "what a bitch you are," I thought. She so didn't deserve him.
Dominic's sister rats her out as soon as he comes home and off he goes to find her. In the meantime, Katherine has gotten as far as the inn where they spent their wedding night, and in a touching little scene with the innkeeper's wife, she is told: "Honey, if you love the man, you must find a way together. Don't throw love away over some foolishness". Of course, having heard these sage words she realizes that she does indeed love Dominic, who then conveniently shows up banging on the door to get to Katherine. Cue the big, big eyeroll.
Then there's a whole bunch of dialogue that doesn't make any sense -- they say one thing then do another, everything is resolved with a simple "I love you" from each of them. None of this rings true for me and I hate Katherine by this point. Oh yeah, and she FINALLY spills her terrible tragic family history -- her father was huge jerk who cheated on her mother constantly. Her mother still loved him and put up with all of his crap, then there was a coach-crash and they were killed. Dominic wins with his story - parents unhappily married, brother a complete asshole, mother gets drunk one night and tells him his daddy ain't his daddy but won't say any more other than she can't stand to look at him. Dominic starts asking everyone who his father is, pretend daddy and asshole brother treat him very, very badly.
Of course, Dominic and Katherine go to see his father, who is, wait for it....on his deathbed!!! There is a joyful/tearful reunion and we cut to the epilogue, where Dominic and Katherine and that baby she wasn't going to tell him about are with his spinster sister and her new husband and all of Dominic's new half-brothers and sisters and he has just gotten a note from his mother extending a peace offering.
How many cliches and tired tropes is that? Too many for me to keep counting all the way through.
That's my biggest complaint about the book. There are some glimpses of the great writing I saw in Everything Forbidden, but I'm thinking it took her a few books to get there. Oh, and the characters -- fairly two-dimensional, and they seemed to think one way and act another.
So if you've read Jess Michaels and loved her, DON'T READ THIS BOOK. You'll hate it.
If, on the other hand, you're looking for a forgettable romance with lots of sex, cardboard characters and a story jam-packed with cliches and standard plot devices, you could do worse than this one.
1 star - mostly because I detested the heroine.
Original comment July 5/11: Gonna have to start a "this sucked" shelf. I can't believe I read the whole f*&*ing thing.
For some reason I decided that the best way to try a new author was to read the very first book she got published. I am here to tell you this is sometimes a very bad idea.
Jenna Petersen also writes under the name Jess Michaels. JM writes erotic romances. I read one last month (Everything Forbidden) and was amazed at how much I liked it. So, I thought, why not check out her Jenna Petersen books -- they are regular historical romances, they should be pretty good, right? Hmmm.
I should try to be nice, as this was her first novel.
This silly book is about Katherine, who is engaged to a stuffed shirt named Cole or Colden or something. She has some tragic family background and is marrying him for companionship, as she has decided never to fall in love (overused trope #1 and #2) . Dominic, black sheep bastard of the family (stereotype #3) in the throes of a serious identity crisis spies her on the balcony at a party and is instantly smitten (cliche #4).
The story begins as Katherine and Colden are having a party to announce their engagement. A message is given to Colden that cancels the announcement -- his wife, thought dead in a shipwreck, might be alive!!!! Dun dun DUN! And Dominic, the bastard brother, shows up demanding that Colden turn over the keys to Lansing Square (their mother's house) to him. Colden, a complete dick under the Milton Milquetoast exterior, immediately hatches a plan. To save Katherine from ruination after news of her now -broken engagement gets out, and to hide the fact that he has already transferred title to her holdings and spent all of her dowry AND paid off her guardians (holy heck, that's a whole lotta subterfuge!), and finally, to keep his illegitimate half-brother under his control, he tells Dominic that he can have Lansing Square if he marries Katherine. Excellent deal! thinks Dominic, and agrees immediately. Katherine is harder to pursuade, but by the time I was 20% done the ebook they were married.
Now, further complicating matters is the ridiculous way Katherine approaches her relationship with Dominic. Oh, how it peeved me! First she is overcome with his appearance, her knees threaten to buckle shortly after meeting him. Then after they get married she is panting hot and heavy after him, but has decided that she can never love, or show him that she loves him (another overused plot device, and one that I can't stand!). So she is a seductress by night, and an idiot by day. The only thing missing was her sobbing after their glorious lovemaking (hey, I've read Shirlee Busbee and Kathleen Woodiwiss, I know how this works). We are also subjected to lots of words dedicated to her thought processes:
"Yet somehow, when he looked into her eyes, when he pressed his lips to hers, she forgot her doubts.
That was why she couldn't trust him. She could never forget herself with him.
Not if she wanted happiness. Not if she ever wanted peace."
By now he has christened her with the nickname Kat and is falling in love with her more every second. And why not, she's a temptress in the bedroom, a flirt in the dining room, she talks and laughs and makes him feel wonderful. She listens to him, draws him out and all the while she keeps herself completely detached. Understandable, I guess, given her "tragic history" (which she will not tell him not matter how many times he asks), but it made her completely unsympathetic.
This star-crossed couple has other problems as well. She wants to redecorate the house, he says they're not staying. The servants are afraid of him, he won't reassure them that they won't lose their jobs. She resorts to asking his best friend Adrian what's going on with him, while at the same time Adrian is talking to Dominic about whether or not he loves Katherine.
By this point in the book I'm starting to feel like I've read this before at least 100 times -- it's like the author took every goofy historical romance novel cliche, hackneyed plot device and cardboard character stereotype, threw them all into a hat and was drawing them out one by one. Except for the dead wife showing up, that was a new one for me. And what a bitch she was. More on that later.
There was the obligatory secondary romance between the Hero's spinster sister and his best friend, which was then ruined by some completely OTT remarks made by the Hero after he sees them together and freaks out: "If you cannot control yourself with my sister, I will ask you to leave. I won't have you taking advantage of her advanced years and loneliness to amuse yourself." This coming from a character who was, up to this point, charming, reasonable, and imminently likeable.
Eventually, we find out that the reason Dominic wanted the house was so that he could search for evidence of who his real father was, that Colden was a complete and utter douchebag, his wife really was alive - Colden had sent her to France so she could fuck around without being caught, then he quit sending her $$ and she heard he was planning to remarry. Up she popped, just a like a bad penny. They all descend on Lansing Square and the inevitable confrontation in the library occurs (another over-used device, this would be about #10, I can't keep up!). During this confrontation, the evil brother reveals Dominic's role in the plot to marry Katherine off and reveals that he is indeed born on the wrong side of the blanket, Dominic then rats out his brother about having sold Katherine's house and used her money, the evil not-dead wife throws in that Dominic and she almost had an affair years ago, Katherine finds out that her guardians were given a bonus to sell her off to Colden, and as the final straw she discovers that her good friend, Dominic's spinster sister Julia, knew all of that dirt and didn't tell her.
Oh, the perfidy!!!!!
As if that wasn't enough, Dominic is still searching the attics every day to find out who his father is. Katherine, displaying lots of behaviour that looks like love, offers to go with him to talk to his mother. They go, she still won't tell Dominic anything about his father, and Dominic finally realizes that her denials have freed him -- that Katherine is his family now.
Of course, at the same time Katherine has realized that she is pregnant, and in her self-absorbed, bitchy way decided that she won't tell him about the baby because she won't have her child grow up in a home without love. OH FOR FUCK'S SAKES!!! She also then conveniently finds letters hidden in an old piano that say who Dominic's father is. She decides that the best thing for Dominic is for her to sneak away before he reads the letters, so she can leave him alone just when he needs her most. That clinched it for me - - "what a bitch you are," I thought. She so didn't deserve him.
Dominic's sister rats her out as soon as he comes home and off he goes to find her. In the meantime, Katherine has gotten as far as the inn where they spent their wedding night, and in a touching little scene with the innkeeper's wife, she is told: "Honey, if you love the man, you must find a way together. Don't throw love away over some foolishness". Of course, having heard these sage words she realizes that she does indeed love Dominic, who then conveniently shows up banging on the door to get to Katherine. Cue the big, big eyeroll.
Then there's a whole bunch of dialogue that doesn't make any sense -- they say one thing then do another, everything is resolved with a simple "I love you" from each of them. None of this rings true for me and I hate Katherine by this point. Oh yeah, and she FINALLY spills her terrible tragic family history -- her father was huge jerk who cheated on her mother constantly. Her mother still loved him and put up with all of his crap, then there was a coach-crash and they were killed. Dominic wins with his story - parents unhappily married, brother a complete asshole, mother gets drunk one night and tells him his daddy ain't his daddy but won't say any more other than she can't stand to look at him. Dominic starts asking everyone who his father is, pretend daddy and asshole brother treat him very, very badly.
Of course, Dominic and Katherine go to see his father, who is, wait for it....on his deathbed!!! There is a joyful/tearful reunion and we cut to the epilogue, where Dominic and Katherine and that baby she wasn't going to tell him about are with his spinster sister and her new husband and all of Dominic's new half-brothers and sisters and he has just gotten a note from his mother extending a peace offering.
How many cliches and tired tropes is that? Too many for me to keep counting all the way through.
That's my biggest complaint about the book. There are some glimpses of the great writing I saw in Everything Forbidden, but I'm thinking it took her a few books to get there. Oh, and the characters -- fairly two-dimensional, and they seemed to think one way and act another.
So if you've read Jess Michaels and loved her, DON'T READ THIS BOOK. You'll hate it.
If, on the other hand, you're looking for a forgettable romance with lots of sex, cardboard characters and a story jam-packed with cliches and standard plot devices, you could do worse than this one.
1 star - mostly because I detested the heroine.
Original comment July 5/11: Gonna have to start a "this sucked" shelf. I can't believe I read the whole f*&*ing thing.
January 22, 2024
3.5. They needed to just sit down and talk but 75% of the book was solid and fantastic.
November 20, 2020
Debut novel by Jenna Petersen,
Scandalous
, is entertaining and romantic, with charming story and characters who fell in love in such a wonderfully sweet way.
I had so much fun reading this one!
And yes, the plot is full of clichés, some good some bad, but I enjoyed how predictable and feel good it was.
I loved the chemistry and dynamic between Katherine and Dominic from the very first moment they met. He was deliciously charming and she was so adorably smitten with him, despite trying so hard to stay indifferent.
Two of my absolute favorite moments in the book were Both of those scenes were so sweet and soft. I really like books set in winter and was quite happy to read one where in a way snow and wintery scenery had an active part in the main couple getting together.
Scandalous is light and romantic book; maybe I was in the mood for something sweet, but I wholeheartedly enjoyed it.
5/5 stars
I had so much fun reading this one!
And yes, the plot is full of clichés, some good some bad, but I enjoyed how predictable and feel good it was.
I loved the chemistry and dynamic between Katherine and Dominic from the very first moment they met. He was deliciously charming and she was so adorably smitten with him, despite trying so hard to stay indifferent.
Two of my absolute favorite moments in the book were Both of those scenes were so sweet and soft. I really like books set in winter and was quite happy to read one where in a way snow and wintery scenery had an active part in the main couple getting together.
Scandalous is light and romantic book; maybe I was in the mood for something sweet, but I wholeheartedly enjoyed it.
5/5 stars
October 1, 2014
Kathrine and Dominic are thrown together in marriage under the pressure of scandal. Though the scandal(s) that brought them together was not a shared scandal. Kathrine has just found out that her betrothed's wife is still alive mere days before her wedding. Though Kat and seemingly her betrothed had no idea the fall from society would have been one that she would have never recovered.
On the other hand Dominic may be a Mallory by name, but his illegitimate birth from his mothers affair has haunted him since child hood. In a act of desperation Dominic strikes a deal with his brother, Kat's former betrothed, to marry Kat in exchange for a family property and handing over what was Kat's dowry.
Both Kat and Dominic have commitment issues. While Kat works to get Dominic to open up and help him she also does her best to keep him at arm's length in-spite of her growing feelings towards him. Dominic, on the other hand is desperately searching for a clue to who his real father might be add on his being ashamed not only of his past but also the deal that he struck with his brother. He worries that if he come's clean that Kat will leave him.
I really had to feel for Kat when all the secrets surrounding her marriage came out, especially when everyone but her was privy to said information. Add on her own past it's no wonder that she has trust issues. I did LOVE the ending and I wont spoil it was Very sweet!
4.5 stars!
On the other hand Dominic may be a Mallory by name, but his illegitimate birth from his mothers affair has haunted him since child hood. In a act of desperation Dominic strikes a deal with his brother, Kat's former betrothed, to marry Kat in exchange for a family property and handing over what was Kat's dowry.
Both Kat and Dominic have commitment issues. While Kat works to get Dominic to open up and help him she also does her best to keep him at arm's length in-spite of her growing feelings towards him. Dominic, on the other hand is desperately searching for a clue to who his real father might be add on his being ashamed not only of his past but also the deal that he struck with his brother. He worries that if he come's clean that Kat will leave him.
I really had to feel for Kat when all the secrets surrounding her marriage came out, especially when everyone but her was privy to said information. Add on her own past it's no wonder that she has trust issues. I did LOVE the ending and I wont spoil it was Very sweet!
4.5 stars!
March 21, 2014
Loved it !
4 Stars
I was interested to read this as it was the author's first novel and I have already read several of her other later works written under the name of Jess Michaels and enjoyed them. Plus I needed to read it to find out why the one star reviewers hated it so much.
It started a bit hesitantly, but once she got going with the story the book really improved and I loved the second half and the ending. The writing style was good - in fact lots better than heaps of other books I have read lately.
I have read almost 600 romances (both contemporary and historical) on my Kobo (and in print) in the last 18 months - and yes, I do work part time as well, so I have many other books to compare it with.
These type of books are meant to be a fantasy and with feel good moments and unbelievable plots - they are romances after all and are there to entertain us and transport us away from reality for a few hours.
I look forward to reading more from Jenna Petersen.
4 Stars
I was interested to read this as it was the author's first novel and I have already read several of her other later works written under the name of Jess Michaels and enjoyed them. Plus I needed to read it to find out why the one star reviewers hated it so much.
It started a bit hesitantly, but once she got going with the story the book really improved and I loved the second half and the ending. The writing style was good - in fact lots better than heaps of other books I have read lately.
I have read almost 600 romances (both contemporary and historical) on my Kobo (and in print) in the last 18 months - and yes, I do work part time as well, so I have many other books to compare it with.
These type of books are meant to be a fantasy and with feel good moments and unbelievable plots - they are romances after all and are there to entertain us and transport us away from reality for a few hours.
I look forward to reading more from Jenna Petersen.
November 20, 2010
I enjoyed this book. After reading all other kinds of genres this month, it was really nice to get back to my first love: historical romance. I liked the love story, it flowed naturally I felt. I really enjoyed reading about Dominic's search for his father. It was really heartbreaking at times. I also felt like the author really expressed the feelings Dominic had with his family really well. I really felt the effects of their cruelty on Dominic, more so than other authors have been able to do for me. At the end there were some really really really sappy sweet moments, I mean thats why we read romance, but I sorta winced they were so sappy! :-) All in all a nice sweet read. I'm interested to see what the next book I have by her will be like.
July 11, 2008
I would have probably given this a 3 1/2. But it wasn't bad. It was the debut of the author. First I have read. There was a lot of sex at the beginning... enough to make you wonder where the substance was. I think the conflict between the h/h could have been quickly resolved but that wouldn't make a novel right!? I did like the relationship of the brother and hero. It was very understandable why there was such dislike.
I will definitely try her novels again.
I will definitely try her novels again.
April 15, 2018
2.5/5 rounded up to 3 stars
December 12, 2017
So happy to recently discover this one by Jenna Petersen (aka Jess Michaels) when I thought I had read all of her books. Awesome love story. I so enjoyed Dominic and Katherine. Highly recommend! ❤️
April 27, 2013
DNF. Stopped at chapter six.
The story did not keep my attention. Hero is the black sheep of the family. He returns home during his brother's betrothal ball to ask again to purchase a piece of family property he wants for some mysterious reason. There is something there that has to do with his origins. His mother is still alive, so why he needs the property instead of asking her questions is beyond me.
The entire family knows that he is not their father's child (they call him a bastard, but that is an untruth. Technically, he's a coo-coo, not a bastard. His motehr was married at the time of his birth. He can inherit property. He is not a bastard. Ugh!! But I digress.
Hero sees the heroine on the terrace and even though he is certain she is a virgin, he tries seducing her. Before it goest too far, they are interuped (not seen by anyone) and he finds out the woman is betrothed to his older brother.
Aside: I'm getting to hate the instant attraction thing in romance novels. These speak a few rods to each other and are suddenly panting and groping in the dark. They don't even know each other's names for heaven's sake!!!!
The older brother (widowed for three years) is ready to toast his comming wedidng when a messenger rushes in to tell him that his first wife is very much alive and will return to the estate in a couple of days.
To avoid scandal (yeah, like a wife coming back from the dead after three years won't be talked about), the older brother convinces the hero to marry the heroine, to protect her from ruination that the breaking scandal will cause.
They all seem to think no one will want to marry her if people find out she had to step aside because a wife returned from the dead. Yeah, but she is a wealty heiress!! Have money; get husband.
The brother turns out to be a snake. He knew his wife wasn't dead and he manipulated the heroine into a betrothal because he needs her money and property (he seems to have a gambling problem). In exchange for handing over all of her money, property and inheritance, the hero will gain the title to the property he so desperately wants. The hero agrees without much of an argument. He has moeny of his own and really wants the property (that his brother will not sell to him at any price. Yeah, seems they hate each other.)
Neither of them plan to tell the heroine that she's being used by the family and by her guardians, for her money. She's been thoroughly duped by them all.
Oh, yeah. Seems the brother's wife had slipped into the hero's bed. He kissed her, but nothing more. And was caught kissing by his older brother. The wife and elder brother are a perfect match - and more interesting characters than the hero and heroine.
The hero plans to "guard his heart." The way he describes his intimate female relationships, where does he even get the idea he has a heart to guard? Whenever a mistress asks for more than the physical, he pays her off and finds another.
Okay, on to the heroine. She's twenty. She selected the hero's brother as a husband because she doesn't want to marry a man she could possibly fall passionately in love with. Guess her mother loved her father, but the feelings were not returned. Her fahter used her mother's love to manipulate. So the heroine decides passion and love are not for her.
Do writers even know what love is anymore????
So, I got tired of the heroine's internal thinking, why she had to keep her emotional distance from the hero (doesn't even want to like him, or get to know him, or to become friends with him. And where does she get the idea that lust is love? How does she think she can be a wife and NOT feel some type of affection? WTF!!!)
The wedding night is "recipe sex."(I explained recipe sex in another review).
Best guess as to why I lost interest: the internal dialague of both characters hammered on the same theme for seven chapters, even after the wedding night. One would think they would be planning the rest of their lives, not obsessing about the feelings that they DON'T have for each other.
The story did not keep my attention. Hero is the black sheep of the family. He returns home during his brother's betrothal ball to ask again to purchase a piece of family property he wants for some mysterious reason. There is something there that has to do with his origins. His mother is still alive, so why he needs the property instead of asking her questions is beyond me.
The entire family knows that he is not their father's child (they call him a bastard, but that is an untruth. Technically, he's a coo-coo, not a bastard. His motehr was married at the time of his birth. He can inherit property. He is not a bastard. Ugh!! But I digress.
Hero sees the heroine on the terrace and even though he is certain she is a virgin, he tries seducing her. Before it goest too far, they are interuped (not seen by anyone) and he finds out the woman is betrothed to his older brother.
Aside: I'm getting to hate the instant attraction thing in romance novels. These speak a few rods to each other and are suddenly panting and groping in the dark. They don't even know each other's names for heaven's sake!!!!
The older brother (widowed for three years) is ready to toast his comming wedidng when a messenger rushes in to tell him that his first wife is very much alive and will return to the estate in a couple of days.
To avoid scandal (yeah, like a wife coming back from the dead after three years won't be talked about), the older brother convinces the hero to marry the heroine, to protect her from ruination that the breaking scandal will cause.
They all seem to think no one will want to marry her if people find out she had to step aside because a wife returned from the dead. Yeah, but she is a wealty heiress!! Have money; get husband.
The brother turns out to be a snake. He knew his wife wasn't dead and he manipulated the heroine into a betrothal because he needs her money and property (he seems to have a gambling problem). In exchange for handing over all of her money, property and inheritance, the hero will gain the title to the property he so desperately wants. The hero agrees without much of an argument. He has moeny of his own and really wants the property (that his brother will not sell to him at any price. Yeah, seems they hate each other.)
Neither of them plan to tell the heroine that she's being used by the family and by her guardians, for her money. She's been thoroughly duped by them all.
Oh, yeah. Seems the brother's wife had slipped into the hero's bed. He kissed her, but nothing more. And was caught kissing by his older brother. The wife and elder brother are a perfect match - and more interesting characters than the hero and heroine.
The hero plans to "guard his heart." The way he describes his intimate female relationships, where does he even get the idea he has a heart to guard? Whenever a mistress asks for more than the physical, he pays her off and finds another.
Okay, on to the heroine. She's twenty. She selected the hero's brother as a husband because she doesn't want to marry a man she could possibly fall passionately in love with. Guess her mother loved her father, but the feelings were not returned. Her fahter used her mother's love to manipulate. So the heroine decides passion and love are not for her.
Do writers even know what love is anymore????
So, I got tired of the heroine's internal thinking, why she had to keep her emotional distance from the hero (doesn't even want to like him, or get to know him, or to become friends with him. And where does she get the idea that lust is love? How does she think she can be a wife and NOT feel some type of affection? WTF!!!)
The wedding night is "recipe sex."(I explained recipe sex in another review).
Best guess as to why I lost interest: the internal dialague of both characters hammered on the same theme for seven chapters, even after the wedding night. One would think they would be planning the rest of their lives, not obsessing about the feelings that they DON'T have for each other.
May 28, 2012
There's very good story telling in this debut tale, which includes high emotions, passionate interludes, and characters that you love and hate. Both Dominic and Katherine have painful and traumatic childhoods though my heart ached more for him. I never understood how a heroine could be passed off from one fiance to another to save a family from scandal, and this rarely sits well with me. But it's wonderful to see the growing love between Kat and Dom and the resulting outcome with his brother, sister-in-law, and mother. 3.8 stars.
November 8, 2010
Once again, Petersen does a brilliant job of developing readers' emotional connection with the main characters. I only wanted to see the heroine stand up for herself a bit more. She was essentially robbed by the two men who were supposed to be protecting her, and while it's implied that this is OK since she married rich, I still wanted to see her husband make some effort to restore her dowry and heritance. Still, I liked the story a lot and I'm hooked on the author.
April 14, 2013
A really good book...loved the heroine...Katherine was a really good character and she suffered all the angst at once during the book and OMG you had to feel for her as each betrayal and lie was all unloaded..Dominic was a rakish hero with ALOT of issues and you wanted the HEA for them.
October 4, 2010
Great book, review to come once my stupid computer is fixed!
January 18, 2012
I just finished reading this book and loved it. I plan to read more of her books when I can find them.
February 2, 2025
This was a decent read...emotional, suspense, sexy and heartfelt.
March 15, 2020
2 Stars
March 4, 2012
Women finds fiance is wedded, force to marry illegal brother
November 5, 2021
very compelling hero misfit, Dominic; very lovely heroine, Katherine. Very ugly family Mallory. Very buried secrets. the writing was somewhat stuttering, as the plot unfolded reminded me of roadwork, bumpy, interrupted, aggravating. but the plot was unusual and thus had to continue despite the roadblocks. ending a little too fairy tale. the anguish carried on too long. the cruelness of Cole and his wife off the pages. always knew it was the piano in the attic. overall not the worst read, but a definite one time.
December 14, 2023
Quem lê romances de banca geralmente não se incomoda com certas características do gênero... elas estão lá por uma razão. Mas, como primeiro romance publicado por Petersen, Scandalous abusa da boa vontade.
Não há trama, o fio narrativo é uma sequência de clichés em que é possível prever a próxima página sem problema algum.
Dispensável.
Não há trama, o fio narrativo é uma sequência de clichés em que é possível prever a próxima página sem problema algum.
Dispensável.
May 23, 2025
Katherine is getting some air at her engagement ball, musing about how proud she is for finding a marriage that won't involve passion at all, when she is interrupted by a handsome man that immediately makes her feel things. Dominic is in town to negotiate something with his brother not realizing that it's his engagement ball when he spots a gorgeous woman on the terrace and flirts only to find out she's his brothers fiancée. All hell breaks loose when Colden's thought to be dead wife shows up at the party, now Kat is married to Dom and all sorts of secrets and lies follow.
I did like the characters but all the secrets and lies where tiring and at one point pretty stupid and nonsensical to me.
I did like the characters but all the secrets and lies where tiring and at one point pretty stupid and nonsensical to me.
January 3, 2020
3 stars!
I enjoyed this read but have to admit - I prefer my regency heroines with a little more sass and my stories with a little more hijinks! Despite that I have to say it was a sweet classic regency romance and I am very happy that Dominic and Kat found their happily ever after!
I enjoyed this read but have to admit - I prefer my regency heroines with a little more sass and my stories with a little more hijinks! Despite that I have to say it was a sweet classic regency romance and I am very happy that Dominic and Kat found their happily ever after!
October 24, 2017
2 - 1/2 stars
February 24, 2020
First book. No plot. Stupid. Could not get past chapter 6. Could not care what happens.
Read
July 20, 2021Read 2021
February 27, 2016
2.5 stars. This book started out promising, but something I really hate in romance novels is when the story depends entirely upon someone keeping a deep, dark secret, especially when literally every problem this person has could be solved merely by revealing the deep, dark secret. It is one thing when the reader knows what the deep, dark secret is and also knows that the character has nothing--literally nothing--to lose by revealing it, and everything to lose by keeping it. That's frustrating. It is another thing, though, when it's getting on Act III and the reader still has no clue what secret could possibly be so deep and dark, and let me tell you, if you wait until the very last minute to reveal this secret, thinking it's going to be all dramatic and crap, then you had better have something damned deep and dark up your sleeve or someone's going to be pissed. That's all I'm saying.
Don't keep stupid secrets.
Don't keep stupid secrets.
February 25, 2009
An OK story for a debut author.
Katherine and Dominic both appear to view love as a weakness - Dominic doesn't believe that love can last, and Katherine doesn't want to be in love because she feels it's nothing but a prison for women. Both of these views have been caused by their backgrounds, but the reader is left to fill in the blanks about much of the background - where was the rest of the story? Dominic's mother had a child by the man she loved, but she then denied Dominic any of her love, even after her abusive husband died. And she refused to give Dominic any information about his father, even though she knew how much he craved an identity, and how much Dominic's father wanted to be in his life. Instead, she exposed Dominic to the hate and venom and beatings of her abusive husband - sorry, not my idea of motherly love.
Katherine and Dominic both appear to view love as a weakness - Dominic doesn't believe that love can last, and Katherine doesn't want to be in love because she feels it's nothing but a prison for women. Both of these views have been caused by their backgrounds, but the reader is left to fill in the blanks about much of the background - where was the rest of the story? Dominic's mother had a child by the man she loved, but she then denied Dominic any of her love, even after her abusive husband died. And she refused to give Dominic any information about his father, even though she knew how much he craved an identity, and how much Dominic's father wanted to be in his life. Instead, she exposed Dominic to the hate and venom and beatings of her abusive husband - sorry, not my idea of motherly love.
August 27, 2018
Katherine Fleming has lived her life without even a hint of indiscretion. So she is devastated to discover the nobleman she's engaged to has a secret he's kept from her: a wife! Suddenly Katherine's enmeshed in a scandal that has the ton buzzing—and forced to accept a most unconventional proposal from the notorious seducer Dominic Mallory, her faithless fiancé's brother… and precisely the sort of rake she has sworn to avoid! Charming and dangerously sensual, Dominic has desired the stunning beauty from the first moment he spied her. Now, with Katherine's reputation in tatters, it's the ideal opportunity to bed her—though it will take wedding vows to do so. But can a rogue be reformed by the unleashed passion of a normally reserved lady? And can a marriage made for all the wrong reasons flame into the love match of the season?
October 18, 2010
I was disappointed in this novel. It had such potential, especially when the summary made it sound like it was going to be a fun Regency romp. The characters just killed it for me. Both Katherine and Dominic were one dimensional, and the cast of supporting characters were even worse. The 'obstacles' between the couple were nothing more than flimsy excuses and as soon as anything resembling a plot or action of any kind the story immediately changed scenes and left every situation incomplete. Good idea, no follow through. By the end, I was practically skimming just so I could finish and get it over with.
I'll be donating this one to the local library.
I'll be donating this one to the local library.
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