Guest Review: My Lord Scandal by Emma Wildes

Ames‘ review of My Lord Scandal by Emma Wildes.

Alexander St. James may be a thief of hearts, but he is no burglar. Nevertheless, he must recover and item belonging to his family to avoid a scandal, and so he has stolen into the home of Lord Hathaway, only to come upon the beguiling and chaste Lady Amelia in her bedroom, wearing little but a look of surprise. Alexander leaves Amelia breathless-but is it from fear or excitement? Captivated by her beauty and charmed by her intellect, he ignores the scandalous whispers as he sets out to seduce the woman of his dreams…

I’m a big fan of Emma Wildes. I am excited that her latest trilogy is being released back to back. My Lord Scandal is the first in her Notorious Bachelors series. Book 2, Our Wicked Mistake, comes out in October and book 3, His Sinful Secret, is released in November. Yay!

My Lord Scandal was the perfect non-angsty historical I didn’t realize I was craving. And it had a smart heroine. So I have to give kudos to Ms. Wildes because I like her heroines. Think of saucy, take charge Brianna from Secrets from a Scarlet Lady. Amelia Patton wasn’t as take charge, but she was direct, didn’t act coy and although she knew she shouldn’t be attracted to Alex, she just couldn’t help herself so she went for it full-throttle. Why couldn’t she be with him? Well! Amelia’s grandfather was married and having an affair with a debutante – who happened to be Alex’s grandfather’s sister.  It wasn’t widely known, but the debutante committed suicide because she couldn’t be with the man she loved and Alex’s grandfather killed Amelia’s in a duel.

What does this have to do with anything? Alex’s grandmother wants him to find something that is in Patton’s family’s possession but doesn’t belong to them, it belongs to the St. James’s. So in an effort to take it back stealthily, Alex breaks into Amelia’s home while the Patton’s are at a ball and starts looking around. Unbeknownst to him, Amelia has returned early from the ball and is in her room – which is the point of entry for his little break in. So he tries to sneak out and is trapped on Amelia’s balcony, with a front row seat to her undressing. When she comes out onto the balcony and appears faint, Alex comes forward to offer assistance. He scares her, but Amelia is quickly intrigued by him even being there and gets over her fear. Alex cannot help himself and kisses Amelia before he leaves. Amelia is curious about her visitor but because she’s a smart heroine, she knows she’ll see him again – she can tell he’s quality people. When Amelia next sees Alex and asks her aunt who he is, she finds out that he is not to be acknowledged, spoken to or be near him, ever. For a woman like Amelia, that’s like throwing gasoline on a flame – and that’s exactly what happens when these two get near each other.

I thought My Lord Scandal was delicious. Emma’s writing is very enjoyable and this book was no exception. The characters were good.  They were practical, smart and interesting.  Not just Alex and Amelia, but the secondary characters too.  There was a cute second romance plot that I enjoyed.  I also liked that the conflict wasn’t too angst-ridden.  Yeah an old family feud is somewhat of a barrier, but not to two people who didn’t really know those involved and acknowledge that they want to be together.  Yay for strong-willed lovers!  Also, I thought the whole family feud bit was interesting!  There is a bit of a mystery in regards to letters between the two dead lovers and I had the wrong character in mind!

As you can see, there is a lot that is good with My Lord Scandal. I enjoyed it and can’t wait to read the second book. 4 out of 5

This book is available from Signet Eclipse. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

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