A jam packed romance

To round out my Sarah MacLean reading (until her latest one is published at the end of the month) I started up her newest series Scandals and Scoundrels. The first in the series starts with a tertiary character from her last book (Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover), so it appears that continuing to go in order with her books is the right choice.

This time we have Sophie, the least scandalous sister in a family of scandals, and King (real name Aloysius!), the heir presumptive to a dukedom. They meet after Sophie causes a scandal, surprisingly, by insulting her awful brother in law, and she runs away, just a King runs from his own scandal. Sophie, fed up with society sneaks a ride on King’s carriage in disguise as a footman, and our story is off and rolling from there.

And wow did this story pack a lot in. There’s a road trip, fake marriages, highwaymen, gunshots, estranged family members, tragic backstory, social climbers, and a hero and heroine who don’t particularly like each other for half the book. They both come around, obviously, but yeah. There was a lot. Overall though Ms. MacLean comes off pretty well, and I enjoyed the ride that it was.

The one thing I’ll say for her books… she’s not afraid of a hero who isn’t particularly likable. Kingscote (Aloysius always in my head!), is a d*ck. A lot. At least though, unlike some of her previous heroes, he notes when he’s being an *ss to Sophie, and realizes he should rectify his behavior. He doesn’t for most of the book, but at least he notices.
It was fun. Sophie was a delightful, independent heroine. King turns himself around by the end, and they together have a rollicking good adventure. I’ve now read pretty much all Ms. MacLean has to offer. Bring on her new one at the end of the month!