A Marriage Made in Scandal

Rescued from Ruin Series, Book 9

By: Elisa Braden

Narrated by: Mary Sarah

With a family legacy tainted by murder and madness, Phineas Brand, the Earl of Holstoke, is having a devil of a time securing a proper wife - or even an improper one. Society misses faint at the sight of him. Matchmaking mamas scurry to avoid him. Only one woman is bold enough to keep drawing near, and she's more scandalous than he is.

Lady Eugenia Huxley knows all about running aground in the marriage mart, thanks to a scandal involving a footman and too much drink. No matter. She'll gladly pursue millinery over matrimony. But when her sister's spurned suitor returns to London in search of a wife, she can't resist offering him a bit of courtship advice, even if the chilly, brilliant, honorable Lord Holstoke does give her shivers - heated, head-to-toe shivers that are anything but fearful.

After a series of vicious murders brings suspicion to Holstoke's door, Eugenia risks everything to be his alibi. The only rational remedy is to marry the minx before she generates another scandal. Yet, the dangers don't end at the altar. A poisonous enemy coils ever closer, threatening the woman who awakens his soul. How far will he go to protect her? That may be the greatest danger of all.

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Elisa Braden (P)2020 Tantor

I liked the story..but

I enjoyed the rescue from ruin series in print and was excited to learn that it would be narrated. However, It surprises me that no one really comments on the narrator.
I would have enjoyed this book as well as the others in this series a lot more without her whispering sing song voice.. it grates and I am still not accustomed. I listened to it on 1.5 speed and was able to finish the books.
Now this book; it was ok
The story was not too slow and the characters were somewhat interesting. I liked Pheneas best of all. He was a man with controlled passions. Eugenia annoyed me somewhat. She was at times rudely brusque and the narration made the voice of her character grating! There was too much sex and not enough discussion.
There was a dark mystery and which was a good follow up to the last story.
These books are enjoyed in order and difficult to listen to as a stand alone.

Great addition...

To a great series. I love Eugenia and it is wonderful to see Maureen and Henry again...with all their kids!

Phineas was always an interesting character...nice to get a better understanding of him.

Highly recommend.

Excellent

Wow!
Different in the way that is so good. This is a book that break a readers slump! It’s got every essential and then some.

The narrator can be…. Odd. I forget it’s a book I get so into it until she says CHaPTer in the sing song bizarre way she does…. The rest of the time it’s no problem to get used to. But shocking every time she says CHapTer that way.

Heat factor, scorching!

Benedict Cumberbatch gets a love story!

I don’t know why but I imagined Phineas as BC throughout this story. I loved it as much as any of Eliza Braden’s other stories but this one was particularly sweet. Two rejected oddball hearts finding each other.
The heroine was Phineas’s sunshine and the mystery was pretty well done too. Her feeling of inferiority next to her sister was so heartbreaking and I’m so glad that Phineas didn’t let her feel that way for long. He was sweet and protective and perfect. With just enough of the rigidity and need for control typical of these British males. The heroine chipped away with that easily.
Beautiful romance! Well done!

Another chance at Love

Another wonderful Ruin series. We last read about Phineas Brand, the Earl of Holstoke in Confessions of a Dangerous Lord when he was trying to court Maureen Huxley but she married the love of her life. When women start to die that had either spurned, rejected Holstokes suit he is being accused of there demise since his mother has killed or hired people to kill her victims in the same manner in POISON!
Lady Eugenia Huxley knows about scandal, too much drunk and the marriage mart. She has been working at a haberdashery to gain experience so she can open her own shop. When she spies Phineas in the men’s side of the shop she speaks to him and lets him know she is working. He is appalled that’s her parents aren’t there to protect her.
When she finds out what he is accused of, he never once believe it was true. She comes to his aide and lies to the bow street runners that he was with her all night so he could not have done it. She basically just sealed both there fates. They marry and try to find out who is trying to make him look guilty. Another wonderful book by Elisa Braden. The narrator Mary Sarah was excellent.

Romance/suspense

Another book well written of mystery and romance. I like how she really made the character of Phineas come to life. It wasn’t my favorite of this series but not my least favorite either. Exterior characters where a minimum, I wish we would have seen more of previous hero’s and heroines. On to the next.

Interesting premise

The story was interesting but the narration was unbearable.
Her affectation made me cringe! I listened to the end but it was a struggle.

Tiresome...

I need to be honest up front, the poor narration may have influenced my enjoyment of the book. Had I read it traditionally I may not feel as negative as I do, but here are my immediate thoughts regarding the writing. The "love" story was absent. There was, however, a great deal written about the Lust the two found for each other. Sadly, it was obvious that these 2 people were very broken individuals pulling at anything to heal themselves. This amounted to a rather disturbing rape scene of a virgin. Whose response to the rape was unquestioning unrealistic. There was so much sex and thoughts of sex the writing became tedious not titalating. The murder mystery behind the scenes was intriguing but too muffled by constant repeated thoughts of him 'taking' her, or her ridulous thoughts of doubt, even during or after extreme events. It was just absurd. snore.
After reading about 5 books in the series I began seeing a pattern of the same things being written over and over. The H/h personalities no longer changed from one book to another. Frankly, aside from their hobbies they could be interchangeable. The writing qualiry of the stories rapidly declined from the originality of Book 1. There was so much repetitive content that it read like filler in order to bulk up the word count. I continued reading books in the series because I very much enjoyed book 1, Annabelle, and veiwed it as a true romance story. Even though I never felt any as good as book 1, continued with the other books in hopes of recapturing that satisfaction. It rarely came. Therefore, I've decided not to finish the series. I won't be reading this auyhor any further and especially hope to avoid books narrated by Mary Sara. There are too many other exceptional narrators & books to read.

I can't stand the FL character.

I love the Ruin series but Eugenia is my least favorite female lead. She's very self centered, annoying and materialistic. I would've left her for ruin if I was Phineas.