Last Night's Scandal

Loretta Chase has written some of my favorite romance novels, and I think she deserves her fantastic reputation. Last Night's Scandal is good - I don't think that Loretta Chase is capable of writing a bad novel - but it's probably my least favorite of her books. If I hadn't seen her name on the cover, I wouldn't have guessed that she wrote it.

But it might just be me. I've discovered that I really don't like romance novels where the characters fall in love before the book starts, and that's what we have here. The main characters of LAST NIGHT'S SCANDAL - Olivia and Lisle - were secondary characters in another novel of Chase's that I didn't particularly love (that's the worst thing I can say about her), LORD PERFECT. They were children show more in the earlier novel, and their youthful escapades sparked a relationship which blossomed into love before LAST NIGHT'S SCANDAL even starts.

So the conflict in LAST NIGHT'S SCANDAL is that Olivia and Lisle need to admit that they're meant for one another. Olivia loves Lisle too much to leg-shackle him; she thinks he belongs in Egypt, and she doesn't want to play second-fiddle to his archeological excavations. Lisle loves Olivia, but he's afraid that she's too fickle and chaotic to build a life with. He also can't imagine giving up his passion for archeology.

It's kind of obvious from that brief description that Lisle underestimates Olivia. While Olivia has been nursing this epic passion, cherishing every crumb that Lisle sends her way and doing what she can to smooth his path in England while he's off having fun in Egypt, Lisle hasn't been nearly as devoted. He spends a lot of the novel dismissing her thoughts and ideas, and kind of belittling her. It's clear that he's scared of his own feelings, and that she's been the only girl for him all along, but I was angry at him for a good chunk of the book.

If this kind of plot appeals to you - the kind where the whole novel concerns an established relationship - LAST NIGHT'S SCANDAL is a good read. Saying it's my least favorite Loretta Chase still leaves it head and shoulders above most other romance novels. show less

Although I love a good hero as much - sometimes more - than the next girl, it's really the heroines who make or break stories for me. The most delicious hero in the world doesn't mean crap if he's with a TSTL heroine. Not only do I hate the heroine, but I start to question the hero..what's wrong with him that he's with this awful girl? What does he see in her?

As always Chase's writing is fabulous. She really excels at dialogue and creating beautiful imagery with her words. I kept reading right up until the end, hoping Olivia would be redeemed, or show some type of growth. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Even Chase's beautiful writing isn't enough for me to recommend this book.

I usually love Loretta Chase's books. This one was very disappointing. The two main characters, Daphne and Peregrine spend the first two-thirds of the book trying to convince themselves that they're not right for each other despite having multiple episodes where they are attracted/sexually attracted to each other. The repetition was boring. The last third of the book actually was readable -- it had action, humor, and movement in the relationship. If I hadn't been already familiar with her other books, I would never read another one after this one.

This was a nice comfort read. Olivia’s letters with the underlining and the unnecessary capital letters were hilarious in Lord Perfect and just as hilarious here. She was a bit annoying at times, but my annoyance as a reader probably paralleled Lisle’s. And just as he later discovered and came to appreciate how her madcap plans actually had a good rationale, I also felt less irritated with her as the story progressed.

The one thing that Ms. Chase could learn from authors like Lisa Kleypas or Julia Quinn is how to carry over characters from previous books. No, she doesn’t have to devote substantial subplots and pages throughout the book to them, but she could still throw us readers a bone; let us know what’s new with them. show more Instead, she’ll allude to Bathsheba or to Rupert and Daphne, but in a way that doesn’t take advantage of those glimpses. It’s a shame because it’s a credit to her that she’s created lovable characters about whom I'm still interested. So, of course, I get frustrated when their appearances in the new book only amount to standing in the background of some scene as cardboard cutouts, so to speak, for the main characters. show less

Olivia sometimes got on my nerves, but on the whole was glad to see the grown up children of a much loved previous book.

I particularly liked the handling of the hero's toxic family - and the recognition that there can be major dysfunction and unhealthy relationships without evil.

This was a bit slow moving at points, and the characters bickered and were childish more than I care for. I liked how they appreciated genuine qualities of the other though and each used their personal strengths to solve problems.

Last night's scandal is a funny romance involving an adventure crazy Lady and a taciturn Egypt loving hero. Oh yes, their crazy family and friends, too.

I really liked the characters and their personality. Olivia is just too much with her Ideas and Plans. She acts, manipulates everyone, is overly theatrical, but she also has a very big heart. I loved her arguments with Lisle and laughed out loud during the first part of the novel. The two chaperones are awesome.

If I liked the ending, I was a little bit out of it during a part of the "ghost" story. I could have been a bit shorter and it would have worked for me.

Overall, a fun read. I'll read more books from this series.

A more complete - and, I hope, better written review, in French: show more target="_top">http://moncoinlecture.over-blog.com/article-last-night-s-scandal-lady-carsington... show less