Title: Scandal at DawnAuthor: Elizabeth Cole
Series: Regency Rhapsody #2
First Published: January 21, 2013
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 67
Genre: Historical Romance, Regency, Romance, Short Stories
Format: Ebook
Source: Free Promotion
Rating:
Synopsis:
The second story in the Regency Rhapsody series: lighthearted, sweet novellas set in regency-era England, celebrating the timeless power of romance with just a bit of mystery. Written for lovers of the classic regencies of the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
A notorious baron aims to prove himself to a proper lady, whose lack of sight does not impair her better sense...
When a cruel prank leaves the blind Olivia Blake ripe for humiliation on a ballroom dance floor, she is rescued...by an infamous rake. Soon she is seduced by the charm of Adrian Calwell, the scandal-chased Baron of Norbury, who is much more than he seems.
Adrian's only goal in rescuing Olivia was to thwart another man's heartless trick. But Olivia proves to be well worth it, and Adrian is impressed by the unusual young lady. Unfortunately, his reputation as a scoundrel sets the Blake family against him.
He is forbidden to court her, but when rumors threaten Olivia's own reputation, Adrian takes matters into his own hands. It will take all of Adrian's ingenuity and all of Olivia's daring to find the truth and prevent a scandal at dawn.
Review
I can appreciate a good short story to give me a taste of what an author’s writing is about. Sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn’t, and this case it was a bit of a flop for me. Since this book is a novella it doesn’t give the characters quite as much time to develop, which was a shame because I liked most of them. I had a difficult time believing in Adrian’s affections for Olivia. Not that there was anything wrong on Olivia’s end, her being swept up by a gentleman made perfect sense to me, and she’s a wonderful and sweet main character.
Adrian is supposed to be a reformed rake, but he puts his hands on her within a half hour of meeting. Their entire romance consists of him bombarding her with gifts for a couple of days before jumping straight to proposing marriage after a few brief meetings. It all just seemed too sudden to me. I don’t care for insta-love scenarios in books because, well, I just don’t feel it, and convincing the reader is the most important part of any romance story.
More believable was the friendship between Olivia and her cousin, Emily, who serves as Olivia’s eyes and closest companion. The friendship between the girls felt genuine and made me smile. The mild flirtation between Emily and Adrian’s friend was also much more amusing than the fluffy romance between Olivia and Adrian.
It’s unfortunate, but I really wanted a little more from this story and wanted to like it more than I did, but the story just didn’t feel all that well developed. The story was overall just “fine” and pretty forgettable. I have more books by this author and I may give her another shot with a full-length novel in the future.
Quote
“I have told you again and again. You’re charming and accomplished, and pretty into the bargain. You know there’s a man who will understand you are a treasure, just as I know it and our family knows it.”
About the Author
About Elizabeth Cole
Elizabeth Cole is an author of historical romance. She can be found hanging around museums, coffeeshops, and graveyards…but not after dark.
She studied English literature and medieval European history in school, but found that not many jobs required knowledge of the quadrivium or the Crusades (shocking, right?). She went back to school for a Masters in Library Science, but later decided she liked writing books even more than cataloguing them.
As a writer, Elizabeth finds inspiration in lots of places, whether it’s art or movies, or TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Jeremy Brett-era Sherlock Holmes. She grew up reading lots of fairy tales and fantasy, as well as the detective stories of Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, PD James, Mickey Spillane, and Ellis Peters. And of course, she reads romance! Johanna Lindsay, Mary Jo Putney, Mary Balogh, and Sarah MacLean all get snapped up whenever a new title comes out.
When not writing, she watches extremely bad movies—the kind with more explosions than acting. (Sometimes those bad movies feature the silhouettes of a human and two ’bots in the corner…) Just a bit of a nerd, she also loves board games and tabletop RPGs. She can not divulge how many dice might be in her house at this moment. However, she does know where her towel is.
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