A Proper Scandal

By: Esther Hatch

Narrated by: Abbigail Warren

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

Grace Sinclair has been callously cast out of her home. And though taken in as an orphaned child by the vicar and his wife, her unsurpassed beauty makes it impossible for her to remain in the vicar’s household - with two daughters of their own about to enter Society, the vicar and his wife see Grace as nothing but competition. Thankfully, Grace’s estranged Aunt Bell has agreed to take her in to her home in London. But Grace soon learns her situation has just gotten much worse.

It takes only a moment’s acquaintance for Grace to ascertain that her aunt has married a detestable rake. And Aunt Bell, recognizing the danger of having her lovely niece too near her husband, gives Grace an ultimatum: The young woman has two weeks to find a man to marry, after which she will be turned out. With no experience in the art of attracting a husband, Grace quickly realizes that a worthy suitor might not be so easy to ensnare.

©2019 Covenant Communications, Inc. (P)2019 Covenant Communications, Inc.

Ugh. Narration with an American accent

They should have spent more money to get a narrator capable of better accents. It ruined the book for me and I had to quit during the first chapter.

I Could not like Grace

Grace was an idiot. How could she continue to lie to the only person willing to help her and keep the rapist she called an uncle, how could she call such a despicable creature family, secrets... all that extra drama was necessary she should have just confessed and saved all that time

I wanted to be able to love this book!

I would really love to be able to say all good things about this book. It has the makings of a really fun story line. The author was inventive, and the performance of the book was excellent! But the abuse in this book was nauseating at best. The love interest "Nate" was too self depreciating and lacked trust or thought for the feelings of Grace. The author wrote it like a love story but the problems coming from a man who is so engulfed in the stories he is telling himself, leaves the woman (Grace) in a position of continually defending herself whenever something comes up that (Nate) finds unpalatable. Grace was continually apologizing and taking the blame for everything Nate couldthrowat her. Then in the process of getting punished and mistreated, she became more attracted to this man. Nate was accusing Grace of withholding and then withholding himself. And Grace was happily taking the blame for everything... (that is not the responsibility of women to take abuse from men and keep coming back) Every time he made up yet another story about her, he would victimize himself and proceed to punish Grace for it. Where was his resilience, respect and thinking the best of Grace when you just dont have all the information yet? I get the author was trying to create a sense of misunderstanding, and that is a fun part of stories like this. But the punishing and condemning is ridiculous! I would probably have just put in mistrust, worry, and some avoidance or something. It was disturbing how Grace kept taking the abuse and then coming back more determined and more attached to the idea of being with him. It speaks strongly of abuse. Just can't support books that promote abusive relationships. Twilight was a fun story but it was all about abuse.. Couldn't support that one either.

It’s fluffy, which is what you want from these kinds of books anyways.

I listened to this in all my spare time over a couple days, which I haven’t done yet with any other audiobook so the story does move along and kept me engaged.

The main characters were likable, though the focus on Grace’s beauty may be grating to some.

There were some points that were a little silly, and I do shake my head when I’ve listened to several minutes of kissing descriptions but the book left me with a stupid grin on my face so I have to admit that I must have wanted a sweet and satisfying story to begin with.

Sometimes you may want to scream “just speak honestly to him and you both won’t have to keep suffering” but then there wouldn’t be a story. All the endings are just, and the unexpected twist will make you say “wait, what?” So if you’re looking for a mostly fluffy story with a happy ending then this fits the bill. I enjoyed it.

Great clean romance

I loved it!! It’s refreshing to find really good romance that doesn’t turn into some kind of erotica book. This story was really good and I look forward to downloading the next book on audible!

Bad accent, good book

The accents were terrible but I eventually got used to it. The story was good.

Fun story

This story made me laugh so much! Well written and I would recommend to anyone. I docked one star because towards to end there were some clicking sounds that distracted from the story.

Fantastic!

I have read a lot of regency novels and really enjoy the genre. This novel takes a popular plot of scandal in the 1800’s and turns it on its end to create a unique and very refreshing plot. Fantastic! Loved the characters with their strengths and weakness—except for Mr. Bell—no one can love him. But Grace and Nate go through the most delightful maze of events as they learn to trust and love each other. I highly recommend this book—the narrator creates the best pictures with just her voice alone. I think it was better than a movie!

Great Story

I really enjoyed this book. This writer is great. I will be getting the second book for sure.

Loved it

Couldn't put it down. The best part was the ending where everyone received their just deserts.