A Scandalous Marriage

Marriage #2

by Cathy Maxwell

Leah Carrollton had dreams of meeting—and marrying—the perfect man. Then a scandalous affair ended in abandonment, and she left London rather than face her disgrace. With no one to turn to, Leah ran away to the country. Abruptly Devon Marshall, Viscount Huxhold, strides into her life, enveloping her in his strong embrace and offering her a chance to recapture what she'd lost.

Heir to one of England's most honorable titles, Devon has spent his life breaking the rules—and giving Leah and her fatherless child his name is just one more way to flaunt convention. But Devon discovers Leah tantalizes him as no other woman ever has, making him long for all the sweet bliss that marriage has to offer. But can a marriage made in scandal become a happily-ever-after affair?

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Regency, Audiobook, Marriage Of Convenience

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

CATHY MAXWELL spends hours in front of her computer pondering the question, "Why do people fall in love?" It remains for her the mystery of life and the secret to happiness.

She lives in the Austin, TX area where she is having the time of her life.

Visit her on Instagram, Twitter, FB, and TikTok at maxwellcathy (Yes, some other Cathy Maxwell nabbed the handle. However, she does own www.cathymaxwell.com and she'd love for you to swing by.)

Reviews

[Morgan Many Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was recommended to me when I expressed a craving for a very good pregnancy historical romance, and my oh my did this not disappoint. I've read a few books fromCathy Maxwell, but remember being underwhelmed and promptly forgot her. I think in my formative HR reading days, I wanted scandal and excitement and sex and now I just want good, real love stories. This has completely changed my mind about Maxwell and I will be voraciously consuming her writing until I've exhausted everything, ever. To convey how much I enjoyed this, I read it in less than 10 hours and stayed up till 3AM to finish it.

This book felt very different from any historical romance I've read. There were similarities to Mary Balogh's Heartless (a favourite of mine) because it essentially is just a couple figuring out how to be adults, how to be a unit, how to love one another, trust one another, and be parents. Where Heartless had an external threat looming over the main characters... the only thing hanging over Devon and Leah in A Scandalous Marriage is the lack of trust created by their shared past. On the surface, one might expect this to be boring: They are not immature or terribly traumatized people. In fact, Leah is plagued only by doubts and questions I think most women deal with in their lives. Devon, despite a cultivated rake's reputation, is honorable and loving and devoted. They are in love in the flashforward (Part I), are in love at first sight when we see them meet... so the falling in love is notably absent, but I don't think 'the falling' part of their relationship was the point.

Maxwell cleverly tells a story, skips around in time to tell it, never giving us too much or too little to make it feel plotless... and it all coalesced into a quiet masterpiece in my opinion. There are unique blend of tropes present with slightly atypical the characters for the circumstances. It is a very simple story and it was beautiful.

Highly recommend giving this a go if you want a very well rounded, carefully constructed love story that comes full circle and ends on a note of triumph and hope.

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about an impossible romance between two characters whose families are feuding ALA Romeo and Juliet. The two meet, instantly connect but are forced apart when their identities are revealed.

Fast forward to the future. Leah, the former debutante, is now heavily pregnant and apparently destitute having spurned Devon months earlier. Devon is on the way to visit his dying grandfather when he just so happens to stumble across Leah. Hmmmm, my oh my, what an unexpected coincidence! Leah falls in an attempt to run from Devon and goes into labor.
Devon sticks around and helps her deliver the child that is not his.

All that happened in the past between these two is explained away so quickly my head was spinning. Here's what happened when we weren't looking: Devon and Leah's brother dueled, her brother was permanently injured and Leah refuses to leave with Devon when he declares his love. Instead, she decides to do what is best for her family and tries to snag the richest man of the ton who happens to be a raving lunatic. Then she thinks for a minute and realizes she doesn't want to be tied to a loon and runs off with a handsome rake who impregnates her and conveniently dies. She's on her own now, and even has calluses, when Devon comes upon her. Why this chick who supposedly wants to save her family from poverty so badly that she runs off the love of her life decides to do these nitwitted things is completely beyond my comprehension. This glossed over section really marred my enjoyment of the book.

Fortunately, Devon is a charming, stand-up guy and was the only reason I continued to read on.

The remainder of the book nearly put me to sleep. Tedious, dull and downright boring. It was extremely average and seemed to go on and on. I didn't feel any emotional attachment to the story at all and didn't particularly like any of the choices made by the heroine. This (and the zillion others just like it) is the reason I've bought only a small handful of romances the past few years . . .

[Esra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devon ve Leah'nın hikayesi Romeo ve Juliet hikayesi gibiydi..
İki düşman aile ve onların birbirine aşık olan çocukları...
İlk kitaptan çok daha güzeldi bence... Bunda Devon'ın büyük payı var sanırım. :D

[Lisa (Remarkablylisa) · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be fair i bought this series because of the stunning stepbacks and not for the storyline. This one involved a single mother who falls in love again with her first and only love and him accepting her baby as his. It's also a star crossed lover romance where the family had a feud and misunderstandings happened.

[Misfit · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a bit of a twist on the Romeo and Juliet story. Devon Marshall, Viscount Huxhold, unknowingly falls in love with the daughter of his family's arch-enemy (some feud that goes back generations). It's twu-wuv, but events happen to tear the pair apart with some big misunderstanding that I can't even remember two days later. FF to the next year, and Devon's received a summons to London to attend his grandfather's deathbed, but his horse loses a shoe and lo-and-behold where does it happen but the place where former true love Leah Carrollton is working as a servant, and hugely pregnant on top of that (not Devon's child).

That's pretty much the basics. The story started out OK for a brain candy type of read, but the improbabilities really dragged things down and I just can't rate it higher. Slightly spoilerish ------>> Leah took a tumble and went into labor prematurely and it was a close call that she even survived, but she's up and about the very next day, and even able to stand up at her own wedding and a carriage ride to London. I was rather liking Devon's character through most of this, until he's trying to be romantic or something and he wakes her up from a sound sleep and orders her out of bed so's she can scrub his back whilst he's taking a bath! This is still just days from giving birth and almost dying!

Sorry, but that doesn't fly. I appreciate the author was trying to make it romantic or something, but please don't try to fit a square peg into a round hole.

[Karmen O · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Scandalous Marriage by Cathy Maxwell
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Cover (stepback): 5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Steam: forgot to count. At least two?
Ending: HEA
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Series or Stand Alone: book two of series. Can be read as stand alone
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England, Regency (1815)
Business Minded Viscount
Run Away Debutante
Second Chance
Star Crossed Lovers
Romeo & Juliet Vibes
Forced Proximity
Marriage of Convenience
Ruined Heroine
Baby in Plot
Deep Family Secrets
Higher Angst
Rival Families
Slow Burn
Family Difficulties x2

[Nonieღserenity2bliss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best by the author, but the simplicity of the story is absolutely charming. The story is interesting enough to keep me up until late at night. However, it lack the swooning romance, which is a shame because I'm such a huge fan of ex-lovers (in this case, almost lovers) reunited storyline.

[Dinjolina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different than the standard regency novel, which makes it a solid and entertaining read.

[Funda41 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aşk, skandallara göğüs gerebilir mi?

Leah Carrollton mükemmel erkekle tanışıp evlenmeyi hayal etmektedir. Ama skandallarla dolu bir ilişki yaşayıp terk edilince dedikodularla yüzleşmek yerine, dönmemek üzere Londra’yı terk eder. Ancak hiç ummadığı bir anda hayatına Huxhold Vikontu Devon Marshal girer ve ona kaybettiği şeyleri geri alma fırsatı verir.

Devon, hayatını kuralları çiğneyerek geçirmiştir ve Leah ile oğluna soyadını vermek bile geleneklere karşı gelmesi için başlı başına bir fırsattır. Ama Devon, diğer kadınların aksine Leah’nın kendisini büyülediğini ve evliliğin sunduğu mutluluğa özlem duymasına yol açtığını fark eder. Peki skandal yaratmış bir evlilik, onları sonsuza dek mutlu edecek bir ilişkiye dönüşebilecek midir?

[Debby *BabyDee* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook Review:

I decided to finish this series as I've already read books 1 and 2. I was glad to pick this up at my public library and especially as an audible read.

A Scandalous Marriage by Cathy Maxwell was a likeable story. In enjoyed the fact that both the H/h had their own independent goals to satisfy their needs to a successful end. The pace was on key, however some parts of the story were not realistic. Maybe if timelines were placed in between some parts of the story it would have been a bit plausible, however I don't believe that becoming intimate that quick after childbirth was unrealistic. In the end, I did love how the hero put so much of himself in loving a child that was not his because he loved the woman who had it and how he made those in his circle become more acceptable to that fact. Nicely written story with a wonderful HEA.

[yare · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. i liked this one wayyyy better than the first book. i didnt know how much i was gonna like it with a baby being a main plot point but it wasn't so bad.

on to the next book!

[Rema · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent romance to help pass the time. Despite that, it was a page-turner for me. I can't explain why because there isn't really anything compelling about the plots or the characters. The characters are certainly likable enough and the plot (what there is of it) isn't too tedious. It's been a while since I picked up a historical romance so this did very well in filling that void.

Devon is a much more sympathetic character than Leah, which is a little surprising for me because I tend to feel more for women in Leah's situation. The baby felt like a plot device more than anything. All that felt contrived. There wasn't anything real or threatening that the characters had to struggle against. Which is weird because I felt like there should be something that they had to overcome. But both being sensible characters that communicated rather well (for characters in this genre), anything that might have created a hurdle in their relationship wasn't really much of an obstacle. They trusted each other, even when they had their doubts. I do wish there was more moments in the book that showed them spending time outside of the baby. I felt like it was all about the kid without them really spending much time with each other and rediscovering the changes in each other.

I would give this a solid three stars because it is enjoyable for what it is. There isn't really any angst or great drama. And the minor conflicts between the characters gets resolved a little too easily. The latter shouldn't really be a complaint because that's usually my main gripe with HR books--that the conflicts are stretched far too long.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, in my opinion, was even better than the 1st book. Leah Carrollton fled London in order to escape a scandal and is now living as a servant girl for a family on a farm. Devon Marshall is on the way to see his dying grandfather when his horse throws a shoe and he's forced to stop his journey and seek help at a nearby house. There he runs into his past (and maybe still present) love Leah. They come from rival families which caused them to separate from each other to begin with. The blurb gives further details on what happens in this story. Safe with exception due to **gasps** the HEROINE was with someone else after they were together(not sexually) and the Hero remained celibate. She is pregnant when he comes across her. That doesn't bother me however. Its always the other way around so its nice to see it work out like this in a separation.

[Crystal P · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I enjoyed the story and believe the main characters loved one another. The two characters mended broken parts in the other throughout the story. However, there were a few parts that were a little over the top - I am not sure if it was the writing or the narration. And there were some things that were a little unresolved or rushed in my opinion. However, there was emotion aplenty. I didn’t regret reading the book as it was a quick read and a decent story.

[Neşe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skandal bunun neresindeydi acaba? Bu kitaptan olsa olsa mükemmel koca olur. Devon canım ya tüm kitabı baştan aşağı sırtlanan yiğidim sen de olmasan valla çekilir bir yazar değil seni yazan. Serinin son kitabını da sırf karakterleri merak ediyorum diye okuyacağım onun dışında cezbedici değil.

Skandal evlilik falan da ortada yoktu. Yayınevi abartması resmen. Aileleri kan davalı iki genç Leah ve Devon bir baloda karşılaşır birbirlerinden etkilenirler. Ama sonra ailelerin düşman olduğu ortaya çıkınca araları bozulur ama Devon vazgeçmez kızın abisi ortalığı karıştırır. Kızı başka bir zengine vermeye karar verirler(3.kitabın esas oğlanı) ama kız asilik eder bir askerle birlikte olup hamile kalınca Londra'yı terk eder. Devon zaten kızdan önce gitmiştir.

Bir gün tabi uzak bir zaman da değil tabi büyükbabasının ölmek üzere olduğu haberiyle acele yola çıkan Devon'un atı şans işte Leah'ın sefilce yaşadığı yerde nalını kaybeder. Devon'u görmenin heyecanıyla kaçarken düşen Leah'ın da doğumu başlar. Sonrası Devon'un kocaman kalbi ve büyük aşkı...

[ofluyorumcu Elif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keyifle okuduğum bir kitap oldu. Bayadır bu türde bir kitap okumamıştım iyi geldi 👍🏻
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Sosyeteye takdim edildiği sezonun kraliçesi olan Leah, borç batağındaki ailesini kurtarmak için iyi bir evlilik yapmak zorundadır. Fakat bunun aksine imza attığı bir skandal sonrası ortadan kaybolmak zorunda kalmıştır.
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Huxhold Vikontu Devon, hayatını kuralları çiğneyerek geçirmiştir ve bunu yapmak içinde iyi bir sebebi vardır. Şimdi ise skandallar kraliçesi Leah’ı korumak için onunla evlenmeye karar verir , üstelik bu kadının ailesi yıllar evvel kendi ailesinin ölümüne yol açmışken.
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İki düşman ailenin bu imkansız birlikteliğe tepkileri, çiftimizin korkularına rağmen birbirlerine çekilmeleri, aradaki söylenmemiş sırlar, kıskanç aile üyelerinin ünvan için neler yapabileceğini okuyup öğreniyoruz
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Yazarı ilk kez okudum ve bu ilk kitabında sevdim. Basit bir dille yazılmış kolay okunan bir kitaptı 👍🏻

[Aşkın Karataş · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tatlı bir hikayeydi. Historical özlediğim bir dönemde okuduğum için hızlı bir okuma oldu.
🧺
Konu, anlatım ve karakterler güzel olsa da ben tutku hissedemedim ve benim için romantik kitaplarda bu çok önemli. Karakterler arasındaki çekim zayıftı ve bir tık mantıktan uzak buldum.
🧺
Leah evlilik sezonunda Vikont Devon ile tanışır. Aralarında anında bir kıvılcım oluşan bu ikilinin birlikte olması imkansızdır. Aileler arasında düşmanlık yüzünden uzaklaşmak zorunda kalan Leah ile Devon aylar sonra tekrar karşılaşır. Fakat bu sefer her şey çok farklı, çok daha imkansızdır. Devon artık düşmanı olan bir kızı ailesine kabul ettirmekle kalmayacak onun çocuğuna da soyadını verecektir.
🧺
"Ben de seni seviyorum." diye cevapladı, ikisi de nefes almak için durduklarında.
"Seviyor musun?"
"Ah. Leah, seni ilk gördüğüm andan beri seviyorum"
🧺

[Yvonne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook. This book was ridiculous (and not in an enjoyable way). So much did not make sense, even for Romancelandia. Leah and Devon’s story read like New Adult/Young Adult—which technically speaking many historical romances are, given the typical age of histrom MCs, BUT these two seemed stupidly young. I listened to this on audio and the narrator’s voice acting might have contributed to the leads sounding so immature.
I nearly DNFd when the FMC referred to a penis as a “stick”. I appreciated that Leah made naive mistakes, and Devon was an immature hothead, but I did not care about Leah and Devon’s HEA.
Two stars for Devon stepping up and outgrowing his immaturity.

[Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

So tedious, I DNF'd after the Prologue!!!

This book starts off with Devon riding hard for London to his grandfather's deathbed. Yadda yadda yadda he sees his lost love, Leah, and over the next three pages -what should have been a romantic/love flashback at first sight description of their first meeting, was instead insipid (stupid & sickly sweet) and quite awful. Leah's fall into labor was beyond, and I just couldn't continue for the backstory.

[Angelica Morado-Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I was confused with some of the actions of the two main families but after reading more, then I understood the conflict and the different characters as the story progress. Some of the unsolved beginning of the two family conflicts was left vague in that there was arguments about a land disagreement which in the end led to hatred about a race and a duel. At these issues were resolved.

[Beachreader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing fresh or original in this romance novel. The writing in the opening is amateurish. I loaded this to my Kindle because I was out of books to read. Otherwise I would not have read it. Everything is predictable. It's not a bad book, but certainly not on par with other romances that I have enjoyed.

[Amber Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a decent read as far as historical romances go. I did feel it was very serious in nature, but it had depth and emotion. I do think the reader missed out on some of the initial courtship as the story jumped around after Leah and Devon's first few meetings. It was a touching story though once they rekindled their romance.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

Leah was in love with Devon even though there was feud amongst Thier families. When she refused him he left after duel with her brother years later he runs into her and see her belly is swollen with child. With birthing in process he makes a decision . Good book loved their story

[penelopewanders]

I'm trying to fill in the holes in the series books I have on my TBR shelves, and as I have the third on my shelves waiting to be read, I was happy to borrow this from the virtual library and read it on a trip.
It took me a bit of time to get into it, and the main characters spent a lot of time to-ing and fro-ing in their emotions, but by the end I really enjoyed this.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful! Problems resolved without a ton of angst! I really enjoyed this one! Although I can't give it 5 for the glaring anachronisms. Yet it was still a book I would recommend. The sex was pg13 and the afterward was perfect

[Mila Sikora · Rating 2 out of 5]

It hit the spot when I was in need of a romance while on holiday as the resolutions were satisfying and there were few conflicts that felt serious (which made for an easy read where I could focus on the romance).

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent read

[Patti Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Issues of forgiveness loom large—the need for and the difficulty to. Enjoyed it.

[Karen Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad.

[Debbie Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading.