Whisper of Scandal by Nicola Cornick

Title: Whisper of Scandal (Scandalous Women of the Ton #1)

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: HQN 2010

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 368

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf

Lady Joanna Ware has no desire to wed again but that doesn't stop the flurry of suitors knocking on her door. Desperate to thwart another proposal, Joanna brazenly kisses Arctic explorer Alex, Lord Grant. Unable to deny the blazing attraction that flares, Joanna knows she's just set the gossip mill turning.

After suffering countless infidelities during her marriage, she's accustomed to scandal. But nothing prepares her for the shocking news that her deceased husband has bequeathed his illegitimate child to her and his friend Alex. As rumors run rampant in the ton, Joanna and Alex travel to the Arctic to claim the orphan. Battling blizzards, dangerous wildlife and a treacherous plot, Alex must protect Joanna, but not before he wickedly seduces her….

Ultimately this was such a disappointment. I was intrigued by the plot and wanted a fun steamy romance. Instead, we get two characters that hate each other right until the last 15 pages or so. Other than sexual chemistry, they were completely ill-suited to one another. I wanted to see more actual connection between the characters. All of the side characters were either boring or incredibly irritating. I just came away from this book with lots of meh feelings. In reading the plot summaries for the rest of the books in the series, I think I will be abandoning this series all together.

Scandalous Women of the Ton

• #1 Whisper of Scandal

• #2 One Wicked Sin

• #3 Mistress by Midnight

• #4 Notorious

• #5 Desired

• #6 Forbidden

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Undoing of a Lady by Nicola Cornick

Title: The Undoing of a Lady (Brides of Fortune #3)

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: HQN 2009

Genre: Regency Romance

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf

Courting scandal since girlhood, free-spirited Lady Elizabeth Scarlet vows there is just one way to save her childhood friend from a loveless marriage: to kidnap him! But Nathaniel is furious. So angry that he challenges her to take their assignation to its natural conclusion and seduce him.

When her inexperienced attempt flares into intense passion, Lizzie is ruined…and hopelessly, unexpectedly, in love with Nathaniel, the Earl of Waterhouse. Now the wild and willful Lizzie must convince Nat that they are a perfect match—in every way.

I really really wanted to like this one. I thought we would get another fun couple, but instead we get an entirely too obtuse hero and an annoying heroine. I did not like Lizzie and Nat at all. They were a terrible couple. The steamy scenes were kind of awkward and felt voyeuristic in a bad way. I wasn’t excited about how the overall mystery played out. And don’t get me started on Flora and Lowell. Not a great ending to a sometimes enjoyable romance series.

Brides of Fortune

• #0.5 The Secrets of a Courtesan

• #1 The Confessions of a Duchess

• #2 The Scandals of an Innocent

• #3 The Undoing of a Lady

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Scandals of an Innocent by Nicola Cornick

Title: The Scandals of an Innocent (Brides of Fortune #2)

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: HQN 2009

Genre: Regency Romance

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf

Miss Alice Lister feels anything but respectable. Bad enough that she is a maid-turned-heiress. Now the insufferably attractive Lord Miles Vickery is certain he can gain her fortune by blackmailing her into marriage—even though it was his deceitful charm that broke her heart once before. But she's positive the terms of her inheritance will prove an impossible task. After all, what rake could be completely honest for three long months?

For his part, Miles finds his newfound frankness invaluable in entangling Alice in positions deliciously unbecoming of a lady. Of course, he doesn't yet know that he's falling hopelessly in love with this formidable innocent…or that he will soon go to impossible lengths to prove himself hers forever….

Another fun Regency Romance for the week. I enjoyed Miles and Alice much more than I did the previous couples in the series. Alice has so much grit and resolve, it’s hard not to like here. And Miles is a great version of the rake who reforms. I enjoyed their back and forth sparring. I enjoyed their arguments. I enjoyed their romance. As always, I wish that the ending spent a bit more time on the resolution, but that’s a reoccurring complaint of mine.

Brides of Fortune

• #0.5 The Secrets of a Courtesan

• #1 The Confessions of a Duchess

• #2 The Scandals of an Innocent

• #3 The Undoing of a Lady

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Confessions of a Duchess by Nicola Cornick

Title: The Confessions of a Duchess (Brides of Fortune #1)

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: HQN 2009

Genre: Regency Romance

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf

When an ancient tax law is invoked requiring all unmarried ladies to either wed or surrender half their wealth, it's not long before the quiet village of Fortune's Folly is overrun by a swarm of fortune-hunting bachelors. Marry again? Never! Not after what Laura, the dowager duchess, was forced to endure. Even if the arrival of her onetime paramour, Dexter Anstruther, is oh-so-tempting, she knows the secret she's kept from him would destroy any chance at a future together. Young, handsome and scandalously enticing, Dexter suspects Laura has a hidden motive for resisting his charms…and he intends to expose her, by any means necessary.

This one was much more fun than the prequel short story. I really liked Laura and Dexter. The whole hidden child plot in romances is not my favorite, but this one was done better than usual. I was much more interested in the back and forth between the main characters. The subplot involving Lydia was a bit much, but thankfully the book rarely focused on it. What I really want is more from Miles! Here’s hoping the next book stars him and Alice.

Brides of Fortune

• #0.5 The Secrets of a Courtesan

• #1 The Confessions of a Duchess

• #2 The Scandals of an Innocent

• #3 The Undoing of a Lady

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Secrets of a Courtesan by Nicola Cornick

Title: The Secrets of a Courtesan (Brides of Fortune #0.5)

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: HQN 2009

Genre: Regency Romance

Pages: 69

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

All's fair in love and matrimony in Nicola Cornick's wildly romantic new series that introduces the ladies of Fortune's Folly--spirited heiresses who are more than a match for society's most dashing rogues!The epitome of privilege and power, the handsome Duke of Welburn sets all the ladies' hearts aflutter as he strides into the village of Fortune's Folly.

For Eve Nightingale this fluttering is a mixture of wariness and wonder. Once his glittering society mistress--caught up in his glamorous world by day and tangled in his bedsheets by night--she is now no more than a penniless yet proud shopkeeper.

It's a world Eve can't go back to--she has secrets to keep. But this determined duke seems very keen on unravelling them....

Hmmm… I liked the premise, but wasn’t the biggest fan of the characters. Eve is fine. Alasdair is much too much of a pompous ass for me to really like him. At least this one was quick…

Brides of Fortune

• #0.5 The Secrets of a Courtesan

• #1 The Confessions of a Duchess

• #2 The Scandals of an Innocent

• #3 The Undoing of a Lady

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Woman in the Lake by Nicola Cornick

Title: The Woman in the Lake

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: Graydon House 2019

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 310

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Keyword - July; Cloak and Dagger

London, 1765

Lady Isabella Gerard, a respectable member of Georgian society, orders her maid to take her new golden gown and destroy it, its shimmering beauty tainted by the actions of her brutal husband the night before.

Three months later, Lord Gerard stands at the shoreline of the lake, looking down at a woman wearing the golden gown. As the body slowly rolls over to reveal her face, it’s clear this was not his intended victim…

250 Years Later…

When a gown she stole from a historic home as a child is mysteriously returned to Fenella Brightwell, it begins to possess her in exactly the same way that it did as a girl. Soon the fragile new life Fen has created for herself away from her abusive ex-husband is threatened at its foundations by the gown’s power over her until she can't tell what is real and what is imaginary.

As Fen uncovers more about the gown and Isabella’s story, she begins to see the parallels with her own life. When each piece of history is revealed, the gown—and its past—seems to possess her more and more, culminating in a dramatic revelation set to destroy her sanity.

Random pick from the library. I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting, but was pleasantly surprised by this dual time line story with a twist crossover. I can’t say that I loved any of the characters, but I was intrigued by their stories. I enjoyed watching the three women navigate the trials and tribulations of life. While I wasn’t a huge fame of Hamish’s role in the story, he grew on me over the pages. And I didn’t quite see the twists come, but they were entertaining. I could have done without the very last reveal.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Heart of Christmas

Title: The Heart of Christmas

Author: Mary Balogh, Nicola Cornick, Courtney Milan

Publisher: Harlequin 2009

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 378

Rating:  4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Read My Own Damn Books; Popsugar - Guaranteed to bring me joy

A Handful of Gold

Not only is Julian Dare dashing and wealthy, but he's the heir to an earldom. So what do you get a man who has everything? Innocent and comely Verity Ewing plans on giving Julian her heart—the most precious gift of all.

This story was very cute. I loved Verity and her plan to help her family. My problem with the story was that I wanted to see it as a full length book instead of a novella. I felt like the story has much more left to be told...

The Season for Suitors

After some close encounters with rakes in which she was nearly compromised, heiress Clara Davenport realizes that she needs some expert advice. And who better for the job than Sebastian Fleet, the most notorious rake in town? But the tutelage doesn't go quite as planned, as both Sebastian and Clara find it difficult to remain objective when it comes to lessons of the heart!

This story was my favorite of the collection. I loved the will-they or won't-they romance between Clara and Sebastian. They were great characters! Definitely enjoyed reading this one.

This Wicked Gift

Lavinia Spencer has been saving her hard-earned pennies to provide her family with Christmas dinner. Days before the holiday, her brother is swindled, leaving them owing more than they can ever repay. Until a mysterious benefactor offers to settle the debt. Innocent Lavinia is stunned by what the dashing William White wants in return. Will she exchange a wicked gift for her family's fortune?

My least favorite of the stories, I still enjoyed the story of Lavinia and William. I just didn't quite fall in love with this couple.