Love and Other Scandals by Caroline Linden
Ahh historical romances, one of my many guilty pleasures. The covers are horrible and super cheesy, the plots are usually very similar and the main dumb goal, in most cases, is to marry a high ranking noble man. Yet, I still love these suckers. Suffering through tons of really bad ones has been totally worth it when I come across gems such as Love and Other Scandals. I love the characters developed by Caroline Linden, they’re smart, funny and very well developed. The heroine in this story isn’t some simpering idiot, she is strong minded and outspoken. I also loved the simplicity of the story. There’s no unnecessary conflict or insurmountable problem to overcome. While I still enjoy mystery romances and complicated plots, it’s nice to have just a straightforward romance.
I’m really happy to have come across a new historical romance author. I can’t wait to read the rest of Caroline Linden’s books.
Happy reading!
<3 Izzie
Live The Cute Life – Episode #15- Love and Other Scandals Book Review
Izzie: Hello, welcome to Live the Cute Life. I am Izzie.
Coco: And I am Coco. We are going to be reviewing Love and Other Scandals by Caroline Linden.
Izzie: It is a historical romance and she has become one of my favorite of historical romance authors. I have just read two books and I really like them.
Coco: I only read one and I liked it.
Izzie: Good.
Coco: I will definitely give this one four stars.
Izzie: Yes, I give it four stars.
Coco: It is definitely recommended.
Izzie: Yes, we both agree.
Coco: What is this book about?
Izzie: Joan, the main character is a rich noble family but she is going the steps of being a spinster. She is not that attractive. She is big boned and she wears really frumpy outfits and really unflattering.
Coco: The latest fashions that her mom is always buying her. The latest fashions are not flattering.
Izzie: For her.
Coco: Which is I am so glad we live in nowadays where we do not have to follow the latest fashion.
Izzie: It was like a big deal if you broke from the group back then. Her love interest ends up being her brother’s best friend Tristan Burke, which is notorious rake. He is part of a noble family and he had loads of money. But her parents don’t care about that and don’t like him.
Coco: No, because he sleeps around and then he is not settling down.
Izzie: Yes, he is super notorious. Exactly.
Coco: When he was little, he came over for a summer vacation and got into trouble with her older brother. Her mom always thinks that —
Izzie: He is the worst.
Coco: Her mom thinks he is a bad influence on her son. They do not want her to get close but then her mom got sick and her dad takes her mom away to a city closer to the sea. Her brother gets sent away to take care of some business. Her brother recommends this guy, Tristan, “Please take care of my sister.” At first, it was a chore for both sides. They both end up falling in love with each other and that is it.
Izzie: Let us get into the books, spoiler alert.
Coco: Do you like it or did you not like it?
Izzie: I liked it so much.
Coco: I loved it.
Izzie: Yes, I loved it.
Coco: Well, it was no non-sense book. Usually for historical romance, there is this like, “I love you but I can’t because of whatever reason”
Izzie: “Of my reputation.” I understand they are being faithful to the actual history and how things work but I like it what they did with her. She is like, “You know what, it is not proper and I don’t care.”
Coco: It was really cute because the first time that they see each other, once they were old because they had seen each other when they were little kids.
Izzie: That was a cute scene too. They do like a little prologue, no? They do a prologue, he busts into the room and they were children.
Coco: She does not on tell them to her dad.
Izzie: Yes, she lets them hide in her bedroom.
Coco: But then, they are grown up and they meet at this ball. The guy is really mean with her. He is like, “You look frumpy in that dress, why don’t you —“
Izzie: “You look like an umbrella.” He keeps being mean and telling her that.
Coco: I would never look at that guy again after being treated that way. But also, she has been like a spinster. She is heading to spinster land. So she is like, “Oh, well.”
Izzie: And she has a really sharp tongue so she holds nothing back. And he gets furious because she’s like, “Phew,” tells it like it is.
Coco: She hits him up. The guy is falling in love with her. And coincidence, her aunt who was also a little bit of a rogue and had an affair outside of her marriage become her chaperone.
Coco: It turns out her aunt also has her body type and she does not follow the current fashion. She wears flattering dresses that don’t follow the current fashions but that made her look really hot. Of course, she gets some make over from her aunt and she looks really hot and the guys are like, “Oh my God now I love you.”
Izzie: No, you know what? That is not true. What I liked about this? The guy grudgingly admitted he was liking her before that. I really like the sparring, they would always fight but it was really —
Coco: He could not get her out of his brain and he would always bump into her around town. Something else I enjoyed about this book is that they have the 50 Ways to Sin. The 50 Shades of Grey back then. Super cute.
Izzie: You know what, the other books that follow it is kind of all have to do with that. It is like the secret comic that these young ladies read but it is a secret.
Coco: Super secret because it was scandalous. You are not allowed to read that stuff if you are single. If you are married, you are allowed.
Izzie: You may, yes.
Coco: Because all of those moms read them. The guy is so funny. The guy has been falling in love with her and he can’t get her out of his brains. He is like, “What is going on?” Then she becomes this fashionable beautiful lady and then he is like, “Oh my God. I am in love with this lady.”
“I’m done. I am done being a rake. I’m going to be the best boyfriend over now.” He takes her on the hot air balloon, right? Which was really romantic. Then that is it, right?
Izzie: You know this is what I liked about it. There was no crazy conflict or mystery. It was very straightforward. I like it. It was a straightforward romance. The challenges to overcome is getting her to like him and accept that they could get married.
Coco: Right. Because she tried to follow, her mom asked her to stay away from the guy. She tried that first but then she is like, “I’m in love with guy. I am just going to hang out with him, I am sorry.”
Izzie: There was no crazy conflict and I liked it. It was simple. A simple romance and that is what I wanted it.
Coco: They keep dating and they fall in love with each other. They go to balls and balloon rides and then she is like, “You know what, I’m in love with this guy. I am just going to screw him. Even though that makes me an outcast and you know what the hell.” And I was like, “If the guy really loved her, why didn’t he just propose?” He is like, “Yes, I’m just going to screw you right now.”
Izzie: You know, that is I guess the little bit of drama that they had to add was that and then he has to follow her and propose to her.
Coco: Right.
Izzie: But why not propose to her. But why can’t he do it?
Coco: I was like, “Yes, whatever.” They have sexy times in this book which is I like.
Izzie: Pretty good.
Coco: It was pretty good. Then her parents arrived and she got whisked away before the guy can even say that he is going to marry her but then her dad goes asking, “Hey you better marry my daughter.”
Izzie: And he was like, “I was on my way to propose so there is no problem.”
Coco: Then that is it. It was really cute. It was a happy ever after with a little bow. I love those endings.
Izzie: I like the characters. They are smart and funny.
Coco: They are not be afraid to be themselves even in those times. It is cute.
Izzie: I highly recommended it. I am excited about this new author. I know she is new but to me I just discovered them, historical romances. Those are tough to find, there is a bunch of shady ones in there.
Coco: This one is good. I recommend this one. Go and check it out. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Dapper Animals.
Coco: And we will see you next time.
Izzie: Chao.