Friday, April 15, 2011

Review: My Lord Scandal (Notorious Bachelors, Book 1) by Emma Wildes

I've been meaning to read this series for quite a while. An old friend from the now defunct Phade highly recommended Emma Wildes a while back and I meant to read her works then. Nath assured me that this is a wonderful historical romance series by this author. Well, finally!

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...
My Lord Scandal is the first book in the Notorious Bachelors series by Emma Wildes. She begins by telling the story of Alexander St. James and Lady Amelia Hathaway, a well-known rake by reputation and a rather naive young lady with what was considered a "disability" in her time.

What did I like about this book? There's romance, intrigue, a mystery, well-developed characters and a plot line that kept me reading until the last page was turned. Alexander and Amelia are the type of characters that you like at first and the more you read about them, the more you love them.

There's a certain lack of conflict between Alexander and Amelia's romance that makes this an interesting read. There's no real angst there between them... instead they fall in love and fight others in order to have a relationship. I loved the way they both stood up for each other and their love. I liked that although Amelia was the "virginal" female protagonist, she was also honestly passionate and seductive without the coyness or over-the-top innocence found in similar characters.  Portraying Alex as the "reluctant" rake who inherited his older brother's reputation was also a rather unexpected twist to that type of character.

The intrigue and mystery in the story kept me reading, although the final resolution was a bit anticlimactic for me. However, not enough to dampen my enjoyment of the romance or characters. Of the secondary characters, Amelia's Aunt Silvie was my very favorite with Alex's two friends and future male protagonists coming a close second. I already have the second book, Our Wicked Mistake, and hope to read it soon.

Category: Historical Romance
Series: Notorious Bachelors, Book 1
Publisher/Released: Signet-Penguin, September 7, 2010 - Kindle Edition
Grade: B

Visit Emma Wildes here.

9 comments:

  1. I haven't tried this author yet, but I love your review! I'm going to add this book to my list of books to buy.

    :)

    Thanks!

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  2. I have this one too because of Nath. :)

    I had no idea the Phade is no longer. :( I hadn't been there in a long time, kept meaning to but I can barely keep up with blogs & blogging. I rarely visit message boards anymore. Lots of great memories and even more wonderful friends made at The Phade.

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  3. Alex, definitely worth the read! I'm reading the second book in this series, and will be reading Wildes' new release next month too. :)

    Leslie, Nath has been pimping this series forever! LOL!

    The Phade! :( Yes... it closed down officially on January 31st. I miss the ladies and all those wonderful recommendations, great honest commentaries, discussions and instant impressions we used to get there about the latest releases and even the obscure. I have GREAT memories and yes we made some wonderful friends there. Wildes was a recommendation from our old friend Nifty. :D

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  4. Hey, it can't be forever, since the books have just been released last fall!! but you have to admit, it's a good story. Good story, good writing, good characters and more important, freshness!!

    I'm glad you enjoyed it, Hils. I thought the lack of conflict between Alexander and Amelia was refreshing and more realistic in a way :) I understand the need of conflicts, but not in all relationships :)

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  5. I'm rather intrigued by this disability of the heroine's...

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  6. LOL, Nath. It feels like forever... I remember we talked about this series at Borders when you came to Jersey in October and after that. :) And I agree with you! It's fresh and the story is good, plus I enjoyed the writing. Great recommendation. Thanks.

    Also agree with the fact that the lack of conflict between Alex and Amelia works. There IS conflict in the story, it's just not between the two of them. I really liked the way they fell in love, Nath. Loved that way they fought their families together. It WAS refreshing. :D

    Orannia, it's an interesting bit in the storyline. Her "disability" is a medical condition that today is not necessarily serious. But during that time, for Amelia, it was shameful and affected her life. I liked the way it was portrayed by the author.

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  7. I'm glad you enjoyed this one. I liked the whole series and can't wait for Emma's next book. :P

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  8. I really liked this series - I thought the first one was the best of all three, though, even though I enjoyed the other two.

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  9. Oh good to know you enjoyed these too! I really liked this first book, Lori. I'm hoping the others are just as good or better, let's see. :D

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