[2DJ]∎ PDF Free Scandal Berkley Sensation Carolyn Jewel 9780425225516 Books

Scandal Berkley Sensation Carolyn Jewel 9780425225516 Books

Download As PDF : Scandal Berkley Sensation Carolyn Jewel 9780425225516 Books

Scandal Berkley Sensation Carolyn Jewel 9780425225516 Books

The premise was okay, but not the story. The storyline was disjointed and the disruption was increased by the lamentable use of flashbacks. When these are written well, they're seamless and guide the reader through the story. That didn't happen here IMO. These were too few, too far apart, and disconnected from the thread of the story. I kept wondering what I was missing, and the next return to the past never helped.

The dialogue was sketchy and we were told. rather than shown. We were only made privy to the protagonists' thoughts on a very superficial level, e.g., he's "beautiful," she has "fine eyes."

All we knew of Banallt was that he was married, a roaring rake, thought marriage vows were nonsense, marriage to the "right woman" would make all the difference, and he loved his small daughter. It was mentioned that his wife had died. When his daughter later died, he visited Sophie offering her carte blanche. She was insulted, of course. Then he went to Paris and had an epiphany.

Sophie was bitter and couldn't make up her mind. She hated her rat of a dead husband, Tommy, yet still clung to her grand love. She irritated me. And, of course, the rotten dead husband hung on till the end.....a trope that's overused and as tired as I am.

I suppose the plot was Banallt, the new man, wooing distrustful Sophie to marry him. Why? She disliked him, considered him a more lethal version of Tommy. They'd met four (4) times (the flashbacks) during two of which he had propositioned her. He "wanted her" and she had "fine eyes." That's it? Sophie thought they had a "rapport" with each other during their first meeting. How did that happen? He was drunk, propositioned her, and had a floozy on his arm to boot. We were later told that they knew each other so well...all from those four (4) meetings. How did that happen? I began looking for missing pages. Remember, he'd been carousing during three of those meetings, had a lightskirt with him on one occasion, and hit on Sophie twice.

During the last quarter of this tale, the author added three (3) contrivances, two dealing with Sophie's brother and one to do with Sophie's "confession." None of these added to the story and only succeeded in leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

Overall ~ Poor structure. Weak plot. Poor character development. Fragmented storyline. Contrived elements. Unlikable hero and heroine.

Negative reviews are the most difficult for me to write. I don't like to be unkind to an author. My responsibility, though, is to offer a prospective reader an unvarnished view of my opinion of all facets of a given novel. I would have liked this review to have been balanced, but that was impossible here. I liked the title and the premise, but had major problems with the story.

Enjoy your reading! :)


Tags : Scandal (Berkley Sensation) [Carolyn Jewel] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV>Sophie has nothing in common with the Earl of Banallt?s many women?and his attempts to seduce her fall flat. Good thing Fate has a way of giving second chances. But can Sophie entrust her heart to a man who appears to be as rakish as her dead husband? Or would that be madness? </div>,Carolyn Jewel,Scandal (Berkley Sensation),Berkley,0425225518,Romance - Historical - General,Love stories.,Regency fiction.,Regency novels.,American Historical Fiction,American Light Romantic Fiction,Fiction,Fiction - Romance,Fiction Romance Historical General,Love stories,Regency fiction,Regency novels,Romance - Historical,Romance: Historical

Scandal Berkley Sensation Carolyn Jewel 9780425225516 Books Reviews

I had very high hopes with this book. I liked the hero right off, even as a rake. He was at least being honest about it. I also liked the fact that he never gave up on Sofie despite her playing too hard to get. I also liked Sofie a lot in the beginning. She seemed really lost and deeply traumatised by her cheating deceased husband, which can account for her wariness. She is not particularly very beautiful, but she has some captivating features and intelligence to boot. Although she failed to captivate and straighten her husband, she seemed the perfect woman to reform a rake like Banallt. It seemed a good recipe for romance, but i had to really make myself finish the book. I set it aside to read other books and went back to it several times until i got to the end.

The book is well written, and obviously edited. There were still some typos but hardly bothers a reader. But, though I am not a connoisseur, something glared at me in Chapter 31 and i quote
["This is my very best Bordeaux,” he said. “From the Cote d’Or..."]
A Bordeaux wine, as the name implies, cannot have come from Cote d'Or, as Cote d'Or is in the heart of the Burgundy region (Bourgogne in French). Wine produced in Cote d'Or region is therefore a Burgundy. Some of the most famous Burgundy wines comes from Cote d'Or. Bordeaux wines, obviously, are produced from the vineyards of the Bordeaux region. French wines are labelled strictly under "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée", meaning they are named after the producing region, not the grape variety used. The same rule applies to the most famous sparkling wine, the Champagne. A sparkling wine may only carry the label "champagne" if it is produced in the Champagne region. Other regions or countries who produces quality sparkling wines may never ever label their product "Champagne". Examples are Spain (they name it Cava) and Italy (Prosecco).

What i didn't like
- The author employed too many flashbacks that really frustrated me and gave me a hard time digging the book.

- The book dragged too much. Really, Sofie got on my nerves with her insecurities about Banallt's affections. I understand that she was deeply hurt by her first marriage but how could she pretend to be blind, even after they were married when he has repeatedly declared and showed his deep affection?

- The role of Banallt's first wife and daughter was very thin, and i wondered why they were even created in the first place. They were only mentioned when some drama was needed, so it seems. In fact, more weight was placed on the character of Banallt's mistress Mrs. Peters.

- I liked Fidelia and Sofie's brother John, but the author had to go and kill him off just like that. And on top of that, she had to add that very explicit sex scene the very same night Banallt delivered the tragic news of his death. Goodness! Sofie was supposed to have been totally drained and deeply grieving by the loss of the only family left to her, worse even than when she lost her husband. No matter that Sofie is a widow and Banallt a widower and that they already previously slept together, i consider that scene utterly misplaced and uncalled for.

Overall, i find it an okay read now that i managed to finish it. An epilogue would have been very welcome. I wanted to know whether their careless night did produce a child for example. It could have been so much better.
I liked the premise but several factors spoiled it for me. There are not enough scenes about their past relationship to explain H's supposed deep and enduring love for the h. Instead of showing why, the author narrates why. Also, there's very little to explain why the H changed. He supposedly loved his wife but was still unfaithful. Also, for me the fact that the h stayed in love with her husband after his treatment of her makes it difficult to like the h. Does she have any self respect? Why did she love her husband and later the H? It is difficult to understand and sympathize with the h. When she finally starts a sexual relationship with the H her focus is on how "beautiful" he is and how she just wants to be with someone who"wants" her. While those certainly are valid reasons, on their own they paint a shallow picture of her. Similarly, what she consistently remembers about her husband other than his infidelities and mistreatment is how very "handsome" he was (why did she love him for so long? ). The pace was also a tad too slow for me. The last thing that ruined it for me was... Spoiler......... She tells the H and her brother to save the girl who was eloping with the fortune hunter. Her focus was on how terrible her life was because she chose to elope and it didn't turn out well. Although it was obviously not her fault, her request led to her brother's death. That was a tragedy- her brother was young, had a promising career, was a decent man in love and his love was reciprocated. Why add his death to an already dreary story?
The premise was okay, but not the story. The storyline was disjointed and the disruption was increased by the lamentable use of flashbacks. When these are written well, they're seamless and guide the reader through the story. That didn't happen here IMO. These were too few, too far apart, and disconnected from the thread of the story. I kept wondering what I was missing, and the next return to the past never helped.

The dialogue was sketchy and we were told. rather than shown. We were only made privy to the protagonists' thoughts on a very superficial level, e.g., he's "beautiful," she has "fine eyes."

All we knew of Banallt was that he was married, a roaring rake, thought marriage vows were nonsense, marriage to the "right woman" would make all the difference, and he loved his small daughter. It was mentioned that his wife had died. When his daughter later died, he visited Sophie offering her carte blanche. She was insulted, of course. Then he went to Paris and had an epiphany.

Sophie was bitter and couldn't make up her mind. She hated her rat of a dead husband, Tommy, yet still clung to her grand love. She irritated me. And, of course, the rotten dead husband hung on till the end.....a trope that's overused and as tired as I am.

I suppose the plot was Banallt, the new man, wooing distrustful Sophie to marry him. Why? She disliked him, considered him a more lethal version of Tommy. They'd met four (4) times (the flashbacks) during two of which he had propositioned her. He "wanted her" and she had "fine eyes." That's it? Sophie thought they had a "rapport" with each other during their first meeting. How did that happen? He was drunk, propositioned her, and had a floozy on his arm to boot. We were later told that they knew each other so well...all from those four (4) meetings. How did that happen? I began looking for missing pages. Remember, he'd been carousing during three of those meetings, had a lightskirt with him on one occasion, and hit on Sophie twice.

During the last quarter of this tale, the author added three (3) contrivances, two dealing with Sophie's brother and one to do with Sophie's "confession." None of these added to the story and only succeeded in leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

Overall ~ Poor structure. Weak plot. Poor character development. Fragmented storyline. Contrived elements. Unlikable hero and heroine.

Negative reviews are the most difficult for me to write. I don't like to be unkind to an author. My responsibility, though, is to offer a prospective reader an unvarnished view of my opinion of all facets of a given novel. I would have liked this review to have been balanced, but that was impossible here. I liked the title and the premise, but had major problems with the story.

Enjoy your reading! )