Your Scandalous Ways

Chase has demonstrated her genius yet again. Set in 1820's Venice, YSW is a wonderful book full of charm and wit. Francesa Bonnard is an unapologetic courtesan. In fact, she calls herself a "great whore". After she is publicly humiliated and divorced by her husband, she flees to the Continent and becomes a notorious and much sought after woman. James Cordier is a spy for the English government and is anxious to retire and return to England. But his last assignment is to steal a packet of letters from Francesca that are potentially damaging to her ex-husband's political career. Francesca and James are wonderfully intelligent characters, the dialog is witty and the setting was so unusual and realistically portrayed. The humor is show more wonderfully written as well. This is a very funny book. Here is the first paragraph:

"Penises. Everywhere."

Ha! That caught my interest immediately and the story never let me go. And the sex scenes are nice and steamy. But there is a lot of depth to this story too. (GRADE: A) show less

I'm such a big Loretta Chase fan. I'm always eager to head to the bookstore when I know she has a new book coming out because I know I'll be entertained and amused. "Your Scandalous Ways" is no exception. I don't know how she made me enjoy a book about a courtesan I was sure I wouldn't like and a spy who was willing to use sex to get information from his suspects!! But I ended up liking them both, wanting them to be together, and knowing they were perfect for each other.

Francesca calls herself a 'great whore'. In reality, she's the highest priced courtesan in Venice, maybe the entire continent, but she did it HER way. After her husband, cheated on her, broke her heart, publicly humiliated her, and divorced her, she fled to the show more continent. She learned her trade from a famous retired courtesan and uses the information she has on her evil ex to torment him with the possibility of exposure for his past. She doesn't realize that with his current political aims, she's become a danger he can no longer ignore.

James just wanted to finish his duties, go home to England, find a quiet biddable wife, get married and raise children and dogs. But, once again, he's now in Venice trying to seduce letters from the continent's most famed courtesan. With all his experience and all his knowledge, he never expected to fall under her spell himself.

Now danger is all around these two and they must learn to love and trust each other...or die.

Loved it!! She's a strong woman who survived the worst life could throw at her and he's a man who was willing to sacrifice his all for his country. They deserved happiness and they deserved each other. You'll laugh and snicker at their 'courtship' and be rooting for their success. show less

Francesca Bonnard has worked hard to have a life with freedom and jewels and pleasure - even if that doesn't include love. James Cordier finds himself enamoured with his new target but he can't afford to forget his mission of vengeance - because Francesca holds the last piece of the puzzle to who betrayed him and his men.

This was good. It wasn't great though. I think part of it was that I found it hard to understand. There was a lot of Italian and French words and phrases and while it definitely set the scene and atmosphere, it also tended to jolt me out of the book. The other part was it was somewhat vulgar. The constant references to whores just made me feel uncomfortable. It wasn't that she was having sex for jewels - that was fine. show more But the way it was spoken about seemed degrading and I didn't like it. The other issue was that I found the first half kind of bland and boring. It felt long and kind of endless. But the second half was a lot better than the first - it picked up speed and had more action and romance and kept my interest.

I liked the characters though. Francesca and Cordier were great. And I loved Francesca's friendship with Giulietta. I also came to quite like Lurenze (the Prince) and I loved how him and Cordier find common ground. The plot was alright, pretty straightforward spy suspense. Francesca's hiding spot for the letters was pretty funny. She hides them in the decorative ceiling inside a boy's naked butt and then proceeds to plaster over it - all by herself. Plus she managed to prop up a ladder in the middle of the room so as not to make it even more obvious where it was. But it was also fairly impressive. I like it when characters have clever solutions to things.

Francesca and Cordier were good together. I liked their flamboyant personalities and the over the top arguments played out. They were funny.

An enjoyable historical romance with a mischievous and daring woman and a dramatic jaded spy. 3 stars. show less

When Francesca Bonnard was divorced by her husband Baron Elphick, she stole letters from a hidden drawer of his desk which could prove him a traitor to the Crown. Now that he has designs to become Prime Minster those incriminating letters are of vital importance not only to Elphick but also to those he suspect his crimes. Thus world weary spy, and thief, James Cordier has been set on the trail of the now infamous courtesan with a final mission to obtain the letters. Amidst the backdrop of Venice, James sets out to seduce Francesca and find the letters. Instead, he finds a woman who is both more and less than her infamy implies.

I just love the way Ms. Chase writes, so my reaction to the story itself is almost of secondary importance. I mean, I think she could write the day's political news and I'd probably enjoy it.

To me, her characters live and breathe; they're fun people with honest emotions. I want to get to know them and hang out with them. Even the bad guys/girls have personality, whether you like them or not!

The story's setting is Venice, so there's lots of schlepping here and there in gondolas, and lots of falling into (being thrown into, jumping into) the canals...which of course means sopping wet gowns and suits that lead to one thing or another (sighs with hand over heart).

I can't wait to get my hands on another of Ms. Chase's books.

I couldn't quite shake the feeling that I'd read this book before. If I had, it was somewhat forgettable. If I hadn't, it was so familiar that it seemed that I had.

Reading this, it seems like more time is devoted to descriptions of Venice and Venetian life than is devoted to the characters. Still, I had a pretty good picture of both Francesca and James. Both of them made sense (as individuals, and together), though, again, a bit too much insta-love for me.

Before I comment I have to say that Loretta Chase is in my Top Five Favorite Authors list and giving her such a low rating makes me want to weep. I enjoyed the book but somehow, even with the lovely Venetian setting, the fallen-woman heroine, the yummy hero, the trademark Chase humor, this book falls just a bit short of great. A co-worker, another Chase fanatic, was even more disappointed than I was. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of any Avon publications, they usually lack a lot of depth, more reading fluff than reading depth, so I hope Chase hasn't fallen too deeply into the Avon guidelines, it would be such a waste of her immense talent.