The Year of Living Scandalously

I'll give this book some points for keeping me reading. It had a strong plot, but I was constantly irritated by the inaccuracy of the portrayal of Ireland and the characters' relationship to it. It didn't ring true. The author apparently has no sense of the geography around Galway. Also, the characters' use of the Irish language seemed unrealistic for people of their class at that time period.

The Year of Living Scandalously by Julia London
Historical Romance -Oct 19th 2010
4 stars

The Year of Living Scandalously debuts a new Regency series by Julia London. The author writes a strong story with enthralling intrigue that kept me in suspense until the last page.

This novel starts out with the mysterious theft of the Countess of Ashwood’s famed ruby jewels. Young and mischievous Lily, the niece of the Countess is eager to point who she thinks may be connected to the theft and results in the hanging of the thief. But did her testimony result in an innocent man’s death? And where are the jewels? No on has been able to find them. Lily is sent to live with her other aunt in Ireland and discovers that the beautiful and show more vivacious Countess has tragically died.

Many years later Lily is now an adult and discovers that the old earl has died and she has inherited the estate. But dark memories of Ashwood haunt her and she begs her cousin Keira to represent her while she goes to Italy on a prior commitment.

Keira is tired of Ireland and wants excitement before settling down with a stodgy husband who is ‘good’ for her. But when she goes to London to represent Lily, she finds the estate in disrepair, unhappy tenants and a mountain of bills! Well meaning Keira is desperate to ’fix’ the situation until Lily arrives and finds herself masquerading as the Countess! But when her young crush, the Earl of Donnelly, (Declan O’Connor) arrives, she knows she must confess her situation to him before he blows her cover. Unfortunately, Declan and Keira have a past and her young escapades cost him dearly. He wants nothing to do with her but finds the beautiful Keira has matured and he is unaccountably jealous of other men! Their lives are complicated when Keira asks Declan to help her discover the mystery behind the missing rubies but they both uncover more than they expect.

The Year of Living Scandalously is an easy read but what I enjoyed most was the author’s skillfully plotted mystery. I wanted to know more about the poor Countess who was so unhappy in her marriage. The story started out with a lot of promise but I never felt the chemistry between the main characters was as real as the author’s prior books. Keira is a headstrong character who has a good heart and tries her best, but I also found her a bit clingy and immature.

Declan’s character is very realistic and human. Initially he does not respect or really seem to like Keira. He is definitely rough around the edges, and I kept wishing he would be more caring. I had expected or hoped his character would change a bit more in the story. My main difficulty is that I didn’t like the way he treated Keira. It is true Keira gets into one after another misadventure but most heroes handle these situations more gallantly. I must admit that her escapades made for a complex plot and I thrilled at the mystery. But I kept wishing her mishaps had been written more comically/funny rather than serious.

This was a wonderful suspense story that readers will enjoy. I could not stop reading because I wanted to know what happened to the missing rubies. However, I felt the author did not take advantage of the misadventures in the novel and made the story a bit more lighthearted and fun to balance the dark mystery.

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club show less

The Year of Living Scandalously (the cover itself is quite scandalously enough for me!) was a tale of star-crossed lovers whose passion reaches the stars. Nope. I’m lying to you. It’s actually about a girl turned woman whose beauty and charm attracts man out of their wits and an earl who loves horses. The rape and suicide of a childhood friend leave them both haunted and in hatred/guilt in each other’s presence.

But when Lily, Kiera’s cousin, finds herself a new title her desire to travel abroad overcomes her sense of duty and enlists the help of Keira to maintain her newest property. Keira finds Ashwood barely hanging on—a clear cry from when it held the grandest party of all time. There, she runs into Declan who plans to show more purchase a fine horse from the estate and cajoles him into helping her. Keira is determined that Ashwood stay afloat despite a new neighbor who is out to get the family and discovered what truly happened to the family jewels that led to one woman’s death and her cousin’s sudden arrival to her home.

Keira may find more than she ever bargained for.

The first thing that made me pause and think about the novel was the prologue and epilogue. See, they are both told in Lily’s perspective while the rest of the novel is told through Keira. It was such an odd match that I had to look up the synopsis of the novel to figure that the novel focuses on. The prologue was a much longer chapter than I expected and set things up more so for the sequel rather than this installment. It set the ball rolling for The Year of Living Scandalously but doesn’t play the biggest role in the romancing of Declan and Keira.

Declan and Keira are well suited for each other: both being born in Ireland, wanting to travel and experience life, and a strong liking to horses. They are both also like horses or rather mules—stubborn, head strong, doesn’t exactly think things through carefully before acting and reacting. Going with their guy instincts. Oddly enough, this is an appealing characteristic to the novel as the novel is direct about the plot while amusing as the two butt heads.

The novel ends roughly, which leaves plenty of tidying up to do in the sequel for Lily as she comes back from her trip. show less

When Keira steps in for her cousin Lily, she doesn’t mean to assume Lily’s identity as the new Countess of Ashwood, but she finds herself increasingly drawn into her lie and its growing complexity. To further exasperate her situation, Declan, a neighbor from her home in Ireland, appears bringing danger both to her secret and to her heart.

This was a great book. I loved it from the beginning. Keira is a wild young Irish girl who is supposed to marry a man she's sure she doesn't love. Lily her English cousin was about to go on holiday until she because a countess. So begins the plot. Instead of Lily going to England she sends Keira in her stead and goes to Italy. Only when Keira gets there the countess is desperately needed so she must assume her Identity. What she finds when she get there is more trouble than she bargained for. There is a theft from the past that an innocent man hanged for, and a young sexy Lord from her past that she still loves but has wronged in many ways. Will she solve the crime before Lily get s there? Also will Declan help her solve this case and show more heal there past? show less

Predictable and pedantic, clumsily written in places, but not a chore to read... 1.5, rounded down because the main conflict is unresolved at the end.

En 1792, en Hadley Green se ejecutó a un hombre por robar las joyas de la condesa de Ashwood. Quince años después, todavía no se han esclarecido los hechos.
Cuando Declan O’Conner llega a dicho pueblo para conocer a Lily Boudine, la nueva condesa de Ashwood, se da cuenta al instante de que la mujer que lo recibe no es quien dice ser. Tratando de evitar un matrimonio que no desea, Keira Hannigan ha asumido la identidad de su prima y se ha instalado en su propiedad mientras Lily viaja por el extranjero. Declan amenaza con desenmascararla, pero Keira lo convence de que guarde el secreto y, a la vez, le pide que la ayude en la investigación de las joyas robadas, pues está convencida de que acusaron a un inocente.
Incapaz de negarle show more algo, ni de admitir su ardiente pasión, Declan acepta su propuesta. Pero ninguno de ellos está preparado para hacer frente al peligroso desconocido que amenaza con dejar al descubierto las mentiras de la joven… aunque Declan siente que debe protegerla a toda costa, porque es la mujer que se ha apoderado de su corazón. show less