A Note of Scandal

By: Nicky Penttila

Narrated by: Michelle Ford

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

What's the harm in a little white lie?

Especially when it could carry so much good-a new life for a wounded soldier, catharsis after long years of war, and an opportunity for lady composer Olivia Delancey to finally hear her music played in public.

Newspaper publisher Will Marsh refuses to compound the sins of his father's generation by taking money to print propaganda. But with the end of the wars in France and America, he needs something new to drive Londoners to grab his paper first. Why not publish the score of the "Tune That Took Waterloo", by a wounded vet, no less?

As Olivia struggles to keep her secrets from this unsuitably alluring publisher, and Will fights to find the truth without losing his hold on this bright-eyed angel who has descended into his life, both discover another sort of truth.

Being the talk of London can be bad-or very, very good.

This is a Regency romantic historical novel, 83,750 words, sensual (heat level 2 of 4). London & Plymouth, 1815

©2012 Nicky Penttila (P)2013 Nicky Penttila

An Different Kind of Storyline

Where does A Note of Scandal rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Among all the audiobooks I have listened to A Note of Scandal ranks in my top 20. It is interesting with well rounded characters, plenty of suspense, an intriguing plot line with a lot going on that Pentilla manages to keep track of seemingly effortlessly.

What other book might you compare A Note of Scandal to and why?

A Note of Scandal is the first historical romance I have listened to on Audible - I usually listen to paranormal romances - so I really have nothing to compare it too.

Which character – as performed by Michelle Ford – was your favorite?

Oliva is undoubted my favorite character. She does not fit the mold of what a proper lady should be and that brings lots of interesting conflicts including the one that is central to the storyline.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

What if society kept you from doing the one thing you excelled at? How far would you be willing to go in order to do that one thing?

Not your typical historical romance...

A Note of Scandal by Nicky Penttila is not my typical read. Historical romances always leave me feeling like something was missing. I did not get that feeling with this book, at all. This book made me feel. The heroine made me mad in so many places, although that may be annoying to some people, I love it. Anytime I can get into a book enough to truly want to shake a character it’s a victory.

I listened to this book in audio format. Michelle Ford did a very good job at narrating this book. There were times that it moved a bit slow for my liking, but I’m not convinced that it wasn't a small lag in the book rather than a lack of excitement and attention by the narrator. It wasn't enough of an issue for me to warn anyone away from the audible version or the book in general.

Will Marsh has spent his entire publishing career trying to overcome his father’s sins. His dad paid the ultimate price for his mistakes, but since Will went into the same field he’s always been haunted. Trying to keep his newspaper afloat he decides to print a score written by a wounded vet. Although, he has a bad feeling about it he is assured by the vet himself and his friend Olivia that all is as they say it is. As things heat up in the publishing business and he is close to truly losing his newspaper he should be giving it his complete attention. However, he can not get his mind off of Olivia Delancey and the way she makes him feel.

Olivia is taken advantage of by everyone in her life. Her parents are so in love with each other, so bad at managing their money and so ambitious for a career in politics that Olivia is nothing more than a “tool” for them to use. Her closest friend is selfish and has made no secret of using Olivia to get ahead in social circles. Once she falls in love, she uses Olivia to hide her relationship with her beau and to solve the problem of convincing her father to approve the match. In an attempt to help the couple, Olivia convinces the beau to take credit for a score that Olivia herself had written. He can get money and notoriety for the piece. This all seems like such a good idea until Olivia finds herself falling in love with Will. It all started out so innocently. She didn’t think anyone would be hurt over it all, but now she knows different. She has to find a way to tell Will the truth and convince him to forgive her.

I absolutely loved Will. He has his share of demons and is not perfect, but he is a good man. Did I mention he is sexy and all alpha male? It begs to repeated, he is hot! Olivia is likable, but she drove me crazy. She is sweet and selfless to the point of self sacrifice. I wanted to shake her and make her stand up for herself. It made me so sad to see everyone using her and she just let them. Even in the end, she never found her inner bitch. But, I never disliked her. She is a truly good person. I just wanted her to take charge of her own life instead of making sure everyone else’s ran smoothly.

I would like to thank Vickie Dold at I.O. Book Tours for the loan of this book in exchange for my honest review.