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Classic regency romance from beloved author Jane Ashford. Brash and handsome, Sir Justin Keighley is all wrong for a proper young lady like Margaret Mayfield. Everyone knows he is shocking in his opinions, arrogant in his manner, and completely without respect for the common decencies of civilized society. Margaret absolutely will not marry him - no matter what her parents say.
A scientifically minded noblemanLord Alan Gresham is the sixth son of the Duke of Langford and, as such, has been allowed to remain at Oxford to pursue his scientific studies. When the prince regent asks him to debunk the "ghost" of a dead actress haunting Carlton House, he cannot refuse, and is forced back to the Society he deplores. But upon meeting the daughter of the alleged ghost, his calm, logical investigation is disrupted. Learns the breathless chemistry of desire.
Finding themselves suddenly impoverished and alone in the world, the three Hartington sisters must rely on their wits, charm, and unique talents to support themselves. Forced to go their separate ways, each of these enchanting sisters is brought to a dead end by the perplexing ways of men and the inequity of fate. Then each receives a letter that changes everything... and if the sisters are going to overcome the obstacles to love, they're going to require some astonishingly creative solutions.
Pushed into a miserable loveless marriage, Charlotte Rutherford Wylde finds her late husband has spent her entire fortune and more astonishingly, he has an entire family that he never bothered to mention. The fashionable Wyldes are as surprised to hear of Charlotte's existence as she is of theirs. To the charismatic Sir Alec Wylde, she is at first just another obligation in his overburdened life. But when they are thrown together to unravel the dangerous tangles the old man left behind, the two soon find that they only want to investigate each other.
Anne was not best pleased when her godmother's family dealt with their troublesome ward by shipping her off to school. After years of being ignored by the aristocratic young Debenham brothers, a bit of revenge may be in order. Especially that arrogant, overbearing, insufferable Charles needs a lesson, and Anne is determined to teach it to him. And London may never be the same.
Laura Devane has been handpicked to fulfill an important mission: seduce the man she once rejected to prevent him from falling into the arms of a dangerous Russian countess. But she has betrayed him before. Will she be able to keep her cool beneath his heated gaze?
Classic regency romance from beloved author Jane Ashford. Brash and handsome, Sir Justin Keighley is all wrong for a proper young lady like Margaret Mayfield. Everyone knows he is shocking in his opinions, arrogant in his manner, and completely without respect for the common decencies of civilized society. Margaret absolutely will not marry him - no matter what her parents say.
A scientifically minded noblemanLord Alan Gresham is the sixth son of the Duke of Langford and, as such, has been allowed to remain at Oxford to pursue his scientific studies. When the prince regent asks him to debunk the "ghost" of a dead actress haunting Carlton House, he cannot refuse, and is forced back to the Society he deplores. But upon meeting the daughter of the alleged ghost, his calm, logical investigation is disrupted. Learns the breathless chemistry of desire.
Finding themselves suddenly impoverished and alone in the world, the three Hartington sisters must rely on their wits, charm, and unique talents to support themselves. Forced to go their separate ways, each of these enchanting sisters is brought to a dead end by the perplexing ways of men and the inequity of fate. Then each receives a letter that changes everything... and if the sisters are going to overcome the obstacles to love, they're going to require some astonishingly creative solutions.
Pushed into a miserable loveless marriage, Charlotte Rutherford Wylde finds her late husband has spent her entire fortune and more astonishingly, he has an entire family that he never bothered to mention. The fashionable Wyldes are as surprised to hear of Charlotte's existence as she is of theirs. To the charismatic Sir Alec Wylde, she is at first just another obligation in his overburdened life. But when they are thrown together to unravel the dangerous tangles the old man left behind, the two soon find that they only want to investigate each other.
Anne was not best pleased when her godmother's family dealt with their troublesome ward by shipping her off to school. After years of being ignored by the aristocratic young Debenham brothers, a bit of revenge may be in order. Especially that arrogant, overbearing, insufferable Charles needs a lesson, and Anne is determined to teach it to him. And London may never be the same.
Laura Devane has been handpicked to fulfill an important mission: seduce the man she once rejected to prevent him from falling into the arms of a dangerous Russian countess. But she has betrayed him before. Will she be able to keep her cool beneath his heated gaze?
In a one-woman war against scandal...
Lord Oliver Stonenden gets whatever he wants - except the beautiful and headstrong Katharine Daltry. Katharine is the only woman who has ever denied him, and he cannot forget her. When he sees a chance to aid her cause by seducing a troublesome countess who is threatening Katharine's family, he rises to the occasion.
Her heart is the battleground.
Katharine Daltry concentrates on developing her skill at painting and avoids Polite Society, not least of all the handsome, heartless Lord Stonenden, whose proposal she flatly refused five years ago. But when her country cousin appeals to her for help, Katharine quickly finds herself at the very center of both scandal and controversy. And it seems a heartless rake is just the ally she needs...
What disappointed you about The Marchington Scandal?
There was no romance between the H/H. the first kiss comes with 5 minutes left in the book. They don't hold hands, hug, or touch each other. I never got a sense that they had chemistry and so did not care if they got together.
Would you ever listen to anything by Jane Ashford again?
I don't know. I don't like to write off an author because of one book, so will try onemore. She is noted as a best selling author, so someone must like her books. It was an old-fashioned romance with little physical contact, but I was reading this type of HR 30 years ago, so she does not break any new ground.
Did Nicola Barber do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?
I think the narrator was good, but may have over-acted some characters. The two most notable were Mary ( who came off as a mouse, as the narrator used a quiet whisper) and Eleanor ( that sounded like a whining brat, the narrator used a high pitched, quaver for her dialogue). I think this must have been how there were written, but only have the narrator's interpretation of the character as a gauge.
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Marchington Scandal?
I think there were too many scenes of balls where Thomas's character was behaving badly and the next scene where his wife is crying to the heroine, Katherine. After a while it was just boring. The character of Mary/Eleanor being indecisive and saying " I don't know, became repetative.
Any additional comments?
This was a very "old school" romance and would appeal to people that don't want to read about physical contact between the characters. I think it is problematic in determining the attraction between two people, if they don't interact on this level. I don't need them to jump into bed, but some idea that they feel more for each other than extreme friendship helps to draw the reader into the story, which this book did not.
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