Reviewer: Tracy A Scandal By Any Other Name (A Tale of Two Sisters #2) by Kimberly Bell
Series: A Tale of Two Sisters #2
Publisher: Entangled, Entangled: Amara
Publication Date: January 30th 2018
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 306
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Julia Bishop has led a very sheltered life. Protected by her family from those who might ridicule her for her secrets, she stays hidden away in the country. But she longs for more, if only for an evening. To kiss a rake in full view of the stable boy. Unchaperoned picnics. Romance. But she knows she’ll never experience any of those things.
That is, until a handsome duke with a mysterious past of his own arrives…
Duke Jasper DeVere left London to grieve his grandfather’s death privately, away from the prying eyes and gossips of the ton. Seeking solitude at a friend’s country manor, he’s surprised he finds himself drawn to the company of the shy beauty determined to present the epitome of proper behavior.
That is, until the mysterious woman makes an indecent proposal…
Julia can’t believe what she’s suggested to the duke. Nor that he agrees a distraction is what they both need. But what will happen when Jasper must return to his duties and leave Julia behind? Will the memories of their time together be enough for a lifetime of solitude for either of them?
Because Julia can never leave her country haven and a duke can never stay…
Jasper is distraught over the death of his grandfather – the man who raised him. He feels that he can’t live up to his grandfather’s legacy and right before the ceremony (with the Queen) that will officially make him the Duke of Abermarle, he does a runner. He decides to head to his friend Nicholas’s house in the country – not realizing that Nicholas isn’t back from his honeymoon. He runs into Nicholas’s new sister-in-law, Julia, but she tells him that she’s a cousin and her name is Juniper. Jasper is instantly attracted to Juniper and wants nothing more than to bed her.
Julia has never had adventure. She’s got spina bifida and has been sheltered her whole life. When Jasper shows up and doesn’t know who she is she sees it as her opportunity to be someone else and live an adventure.
This book. I’m not even sure how to state my feelings on it. First of all, the blurb led me to believe that Jasper couldn’t avoid his grandfather, who was alive. I mean it says “it’s difficult to avoid your own grandfather” in the blurb. More like it’s hard to avoid his legacy, cuz the man is dead! Anyway, when Jasper runs from his own ceremony I lost some serious respect for the man. Then he shows up and acts the complete rake and fool with Julia. I found it annoying.
Julia, I could understand, wanted to live a little. Ok, I get that, but she acted so incredibly immaturely that I couldn’t help but yell at my kindle for her to get her act together! LOL Her sister let her just do whatever, even after being caught in a compromising position and I couldn’t understand that.
Later in the book Jasper finally completes the ceremony and becomes the Duke but by that time I truly didn’t care whether Julia and Jasper were ever together. I guess I felt these two immature beings were perfect for each other but frankly, I wasn’t interested in their HEA.
When you put the book down when you’ve only read 13% of it, it’s a sign I should have see with red flashing lights. I had to force myself to go back to it and then barely got through it. I wish I could say good things about this one but it did nothing for me.
A Tale of Two Sisters Series
Rating: 1 out of 5