Just what I needed – an enjoyable read.
★★★★★☆☆
Title: Marriage Most Scandalous
Author: Johanna Lindsey
Genre: Fiction/ Historical Romance
First published: 2005
Edition: Mass Market Paperback, publisched by Corgi in 2006
Lady Margaret Landor first met Sebastian Townshend as a child. Tall, dashing and handsome, he cut a romantic figure, and she never dreamt that one day she would be living at his family’s magnificent estate with his father, the Earl of Edgewood, as her guardian. But by this time, Sebastian has been banished after a duel which ended tragically. When Margaret starts to fear for the life of her beloved guardian, she suspects his younger son may be impatient to succeed to the title. She travels to France to enlist the aid of the one man she believes can help her… and discovers that Sebastian has taken on the identity of The Raven, a deadly mercenary who undertakes any mission however dangerous. Sebastian has vowed never to return to England, but Margaret persuades him to pose as her husband in order to uncover the plot against his father
***
First line(s):
They met at dawn.
***
I was in the mood for some historical romance and this one ticked the box quite nicely. Is it mind blowing? No, but I did not expect or want it to be. It did what it needed to do pretty well.
I think Margaret was a likeable heroine and Sebastian a suitably broody hero. Not all their actions made complete sense to me, but the author did manage to insert some chemistry and the attraction between them felt believable. It has the enemy to lovers and fake marriage tropes, so if you are into those, this will probably work for you.
There were some plot points I was not completely enamoured with and the ending felt a little too tidy and far fetched, but overall I enjoyed the read and it was just what I needed.
I would definitely read more of Johanna Lindsey’s books.
5 out of 7 stars
CAWPILE score: 7.8
- Characters: 8
- Atmosphere: 8
- Writing Style: 7.5
- Plot: 7.5
- Intrigue: 8
- Logic: 7
- Enjoyment: 8.5