Scandal

Scandal begins with be-speckled spinster Emily Faringdon. She thinks she's found her soul mate via letter because they're both passionate about romantic poetry, which she herself dabbles in to distract herself from her toxic family abandoning her in the country because of a scandal that no one knew about but which should still be concealed at all costs. Never once does she suspect that the real villain is actually her macho pen pal, Simon August Traherne, the Earl of Blade, for Blade only wants to use Emily as an instrument in his revenge against her father.

The revenge storyline is actually quite interesting: Blade's father commits suicide after betting the family estate and lands in a game of cards. Blade vows to exact revenge on the show more vile gambler and the men who refused to help him in the wake of this disaster. It's deliciously sinister, but Quick brushes away the revenge and treats it as an unfortunate quirk of the hero. It's something that must be corrected as if it's akin to him chewing too loudly or snoring when he sleeps. Instead, it's clear this revenge stems from deep, psychological trauma, and this isn't explored as deeply as it deserves.

Additionally, the style of revenge Blade seeks is reminiscent of Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo; although, Quick is determined to cast Blade's style of revenge as a distinctly Eastern style of revenge, which is just bizarre and tinged with racism. Not only is every surface of Blade's home covered in gilded dragons and lacquered furniture (so cringe), but everything that Blade does is "Eastern" from the way he fights to the foods he likes. It's quite clear Blade made his fortune by working as a colonizer and against oppressed peoples in various Asian countries (Blade seems to have been all over China and India). I know this was written in the early 90s, when this was more acceptable, but it illustrates that this book didn't age well. It is not a timeless love story.

Speaking of love... I and several other readers are not fully convinced Blade actually loves Emily. While Emily is convinced that they're soul mates who "communicate on a higher plane" and have an "intense metaphysical connection", Blade just makes fun of her. In fact, for most of the book he either lies to her or avoids her, but she just follows him around like a besotted puppy. She bedecks herself head to toe in gold dragons (super cringe) to illustrate he "owns" her, and she lives her life trying to do what is best for Blade because she's convinced her every action reflects on him; yet she's not at all concerned what it would mean for his reputation if she were to publish her terrible epic romantic poem. A slight tangent: it actually was considered emasculating for a husband if his wife was a writer, particularly one of sentimental, gothic, or romantic literature, as in the case of Ann Radcliffe and her husband.

At any rate, the most painful part of this whole story is how incredibly naive and stupid Emily is. Even when Blade admits to Emily that he's only using her, she's convinced she loves him and that they're soul mates. She doesn't believe anyone is capable of ulterior motives or of being selfish, and when she hears of her husband's plans for revenge, she invites the wives of his victims over for tea and lies her ass off that Blade will let his victims off the hook. I know Emily's supposed to be the only person who isn't afraid of Blade, but that's no reason to think you can just disrespect someone by butting into their personal affairs or relationships with other people. She treats the boundaries that Blade sets for her as lowly as dirt, and it's quite annoying and unromantic. How am I supposed to root for a couple where one half is constantly making snide comments about the other while the other is besotted because they're so blind? I really couldn't root for Emily at all, so what should've been a quick read ended up being quite a slog.

If you love be-speckled spinsters, black-haired colonizing Fabios, and phrases that are repeated ad nauseam throughout the book, this is the love story for you. Seriously, if I hear "metaphysical connection" or "higher plane" one more time, I'll scream. show less

Some books can be read anywhere, others suit a certain mood. After a heavy day gardening, I was in the mood for a nice fluffy relaxing book to read in the bath. Decided Stephen King probably didn't fit the bill, while Amanda Quick most certainly does.
So, another one of those books where you know nothing really nasty is ever going to befall our hero & heroine and prevent them from being together - although there are the necessary alarms and hurdles in the path of true love.
Simon, earl of Blade, lost his house, his security & his father after a game of cards with Broderick Farringdon. He was 12. But now he's back, having gained a fortune in the east, and a taste for dragons & exotic tea. Emily Farringdon is a romantic idealist who show more happens to be a financial wizzard. She's the one making the money that has kept the house and her family together while her father & brothers gamble their lives away. Simon intends to take his revenge on the family that ruined him through Emily. Things don't necessarily run to plan, though and he finds himself falling for the red haired elfin creature. So the plan for vengeance is modified and slowly Emily works something other than coldness and revenge into Simon.
Utterly predictable, but a load of fun and just right for relaxing both brain and body.

Re-read time. Again, after a busy day in the garden I found myself preparing for a bath and wanting something featherlight to allow the brain to float as I soaked in the bath. So this got pulled off the shelves again. These books are the intellectual equivalent of candyfloss, but then it's a mixture that makes for a balanced diet. The heroes generally have a flaw (in Simon's case it is a ruthless streak and determination wreak vengeance on those that destroyed his family when he was 12) her heroines usually are a little older and have some failing of their own (Emily has an Unfortunate incident in her past, having almost run off to elope with a poet before she saw sense and crowned him with a chamber pot). The ending is entirely predictable, but the alarums and excursions are eventful along the way. Safe, cosy, warming and just enough to titillate the soul a little.Candyfloss, but when it's this good you can;t begrudge a girl a bit of candyfloss occasionally. show less

Mixed feelings about this one: I didn't care much for the hero (yet another steely Regency he-man, this time with exotic Eastern tastes and skills), but I couldn't make up my mind at all about the heroine.

One minute she's TSTL-ing along,* vapouring about her connection "on a higher plane" with the hero, until I think I'm going to put the book down if I hear that phrase one more time. The next minute, her flaky manner is a plot point, and we're seeing her own brand of ruthless emotional pragmatism at work, as well as her unusual (anachronistic, really) financial skills. I rather loved the latter side of her, but it didn't appear often enough for me, and she did get herself into a damn-fool situation where she had to be rescued by the show more hero. Idiot. Sigh.

There were some hilarious parts, particularly with the hero's domestic staff and the heroine's literary club. On the whole, It's not good enough to tempt me into a reread, but I haven't given up on Quick. She does need to make her heroes more nuanced, but there are some very promising things about this book.

*(Too Stupid To Live, as they say over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books) show less

I am laughing so hard as I think of this book and what to write. Look I used to devour Amanda Quick's older books with the one word description and usually a random object on the cover. There were some that were really good. And there were some that may be wonder about the intelligence of the hero/heroine involved. "Scandal" is definitely the latter. You have a sort of reformed rake trope taking place here (though the hero is not really a rake, he's just an out and out ass) with a naive heroine that believes that love transcends everything. Seriously, learn to love the phrases "higher plane" and "cast adrift on love's transcendent golden, shore". Also she calls or thinks of the hero as a "dragon" so learn to love that word as well as show more the word "elf" that the hero calls the heroine.

The heroine in "Scandal" is Emily Faringdon. Emily is an aspiring writer (her epic poem sounds awful by the way) and thinks she is going to forever lead a solitary life in the countryside due to a scandal (where the title comes from) in her past. When Emily was younger, she ran away to get married and then realized on the way what a bad idea it was. Emily was not found til the next day, so of course in Regency era times this means she is considered an indiscreet young woman which no man would offer for. This suits Emily's father since he just uses Emily in order to have her keep him and her two twin brothers (Charles and Devlin) afloat due to her investment schemes. Emily starts up a correspondence with a man claiming to have her love of literature and then one days he announces he will be staying at a neighbor's home and they can finally meet. Emily meets Simon Traherne, also known as the Earl of Blade. Simon has his own reasons for pursuing Emily, and it's all about revenge.

So Emily...is kind of tedious and aggravating. When Emily finally meets Simon she decides that they are soul mates (I refuse to go back and look to see if that phrase is used) and even when she is told why Simon is pursuing her and wants to marry her (to avenge himself on her father) she still marries the guy. It was beyond ridiculous. Who marries someone who tells you that your father was responsible for his father committing suicide and you are part of his master plan to get revenge on all people who wronged him.

It baffles me throughout this book how cruel Simon is again and again to Emily and she is all, but I know that he loves me, so this makes it okay. I kept half hoping Emily would brain him with something. And though I had a small smidgen of sympathy towards Simon because of what happened to him and his mother due to his father's suicide, him going after in some cases the children of the men who wronged him gets you over that real quick.

Simon sucks. Seriously. I don't know what in the world made Emily even want to be with the guy besides the fact she kept saying they had a metaphysical connection. Simon the day after their wedding forbids her to see her father or her twin brothers again. I know back in Regency days you couldn't divorce, but I hated the fact that Quick has Emily decide to not be physically with Simon again after his announcement, and then has her run off. Simon thinks eventually Emily will be too curious about sex with him to not want to do it again and he will end up winning his way. Due to Simon spending time in the East (and no that is the way it is referred to in the book) he has strange notions about revenge, sins of the father, and apparently knows karate. Or Judo. Or Kung-Fu. I honestly did not get his movements at all, though at one time Quick references Simon chopping someone in the neck with his hand and I died laughing for five minutes. Iron Fist this guy is not.

We have other characters in "Scandal" and Emily's father is terrible. How she ignores it also drives me up a wall. There's a resolution about that guy at the end which made me smile. But I would have been happy with sharks being in play at some point. Emily's brother get some more detail, but not much in this one, and it would have been nice to follow up with both of them in subsequent books.

The plot in this one is really thin though. Due to Emily's past, no one is to refer to her scandal, and Simon is so powerful he believes he can squelch any commentary about it with threats or favors. Frankly, I don't really get why this would matter in Regency days, marriage fixes everything, or so most of the romance books I read had me believe. And there's a secondary plot that involves Emily's secret being discovered that is only a couple dozen pages. Honestly, most of the book is just Emily and Simon having sex, Simon being nasty, Emily being obtuse about his terribleness, and Emily deciding that love will see them through.

The writing at times was super hilarious though. Maybe because I cannot believe anyone back then spoke like this. It felt like very bad stage directions were being given to actors a few times.

Simon gently refolded the letter and sat gazing into the fire. After a moment's contemplation, he reached out to pick up the beautifully enameled Chinese teapot that sat on a nearby table. He poured the Lap Seng into a gossamer thin cup decorated with a green and gold dragon. As he started to lift the cup, he paused, studying the figure of the mythical beast.

The remainder of the comment was lost as Simon pivoted swiftly in the graceful movements of the ancient fighting art he had learned in the East. He knew his unorthodox, potentially lethal method would have astounded the young bloods who practiced boxing at Gentleman Jackson's academy. They would have been even more perplexed by the elaborate techniques for establishing mental discipline and control that the monks had taught along with the physical skills.
I can't help it, this whole book just makes me shake my head. We hear about references to China, monks, the "East" and whatnot.

The flow was up and down throughout. Like I said, there was very little plot with this one unlike with other Quick books so you are just really waiting for the hero to stop being a jerk and just fall in love with the heroine already. Or at least I was.

I do love Regency era books though. I think I get a kick out of them just because I cannot imagine a society like that nowadays. Of course you realize this was what Polite Society in England did back then, but still, these books always give you a good peek at them.

This is a romance novel so of course realize there is a HEA.

I read this for Romance Bingo 2017, and this book fits the regency romance square. show less

Scandal
4 Stars

Synopsis:
Resigned to a life of spinsterhood following a youthful indiscretion, Emily Faringdon never dreamed she would meet anyone who could see beyond her past. Simon Traherne, Earl of Blade, will let nothing stand in the way of his vengeance against the Faringdon family until he meets Emily and realizes that some things are more important the revenge.

Review:
Quick's books never fail to put a smile on my face. The writing is immersing and the dialogue exceedingly witty.

Emily and Simon are a wonderful couple. While some readers may find Emily’s naiveté ridiculous and annoying, to me she is a charming and gutsy character whose fondness for romantic escapism actually masks her awareness of the harsher side of life. The show more outlandish situations she gets herself into are refreshingly endearing and highly amusing. Simon is also a likeable character despite the fact that he initially comes across as cold and bitter. It is great to watch him struggle with his emotions until all his coldness and reserve melt away.

Like many of the readers here on Goodreads, I could have done without the excessive repetition of Emily’s "metaphysical, transcendental" nonsense. Once or twice was quite enough to get the point across. Nevertheless, this did not detract from my overall enjoyment of this highly entertaining story.

On a side note, if you have never read Quick’s books before, I would not start with this one. I can, however, recommend her first historical romance, Seduction, as a starting point. show less

Amanda siempre te atrapa en sus historias y en este caso no es diferente, me encantó el personaje femenino que creó, ella es dulce y graciosa.. él la verdad no dice nada, pero la historia me gustó y me hizo pasar un muy buen rato de lectura.

Emily Faringdon is resigned to a life of spinsterhood. A moment of indiscretion in her youth has left her haunted by scandal and she has no real hope of marriage, not respectable marriage anyway. She engages in some correspondence and finds herself attracted to the man she's corresponding with, what she doesn't realise is that she's a dupe, being used to get at her father.

Yes it's a romance and the hero and heroine have to jump through hoops to get to the romance and it's all finished up neatly, but the journey was fun.