A Scandalous Proposal
Grade : C+

This second book in Kasey Michael’s The Little Season series really had great potential: a smart, witty heroine, a principled hero who for the most part takes the heroine seriously, a mystery, and some wacky secondary characters. Despite a great backdrop, the book never quite lived up to the premise and story overall felt a little flat and disconnected to me.

Daniela Foster (Dany to her friends and family) is in town to gain some polish during the Little Season. Her sister Mari, the Countess of Cockermouth (yes, really! ) is being blackmailed. When her husband Oliver left her to go hunting in Scotland, Mari was convinced he did not love her anymore so, after receiving a letter from an admirer, she decided to engage in a harmless little flirtation. Unfortunately, she exchanged letters with him and now he is making her pay for her indiscretion. Dany wants to help her sister discover who the blackmailer is so they can stop him, but she is not sure how to go about finding him. Enter our hero…

Cooper Townsend IS a hero; a decidedly weary hero who has to run and hide from all of his admirers and the throng of unmarried ladies who have set their caps for him. After saving a widow and some children who were trapped between the English and the French lines at Quatre Bras, the Prince Regent awarded Coop a barony for his heroics. Two chapbooks have been published embellishing Coop’s heroic exploits and the London populace is enamored of him. Coop thinks it is a grand nuisance - until he receives a letter threatening to reveal something only he and the Prince Regent are supposed to know. He has to find the blackmailer before the next chapbook comes out or pay the price. Then he literally runs right into Dany on a London street. She needs a hero and fate has delivered one to her.

There is nothing substantially wrong with this book other than the lackluster chemistry between the hero and heroine, and humor that doesn’t always hit the mark. The witty banter and attraction between them feels forced at times, but at others it almost works and a few times did make me smile. The secondary characters are set up to be somewhat farcical but are sometimes too over the top. Their interactions did not really work for me, and it is hard to put my finger on exactly what was wrong.

I liked the promise of Dany, but her character was a little too all over the place for me to get a firm handle on who she really was. I also liked the potential of the hero, but he was a little too condescending in his relations with Dany to realize that potential. The backstory was interesting if not terribly original. Overall, the book was not bad, but I felt as though I was reading an unfinished manuscript that would have benefitted from stronger editing. I like Kasey Michael’s writing, but A Scandalous Proposal missed the mark.

Reviewed by Mary Skelton
Grade : C+

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : April 10, 2016

Publication Date: 2016/04

Review Tags: 

Recent Comments …

Mary Skelton

I am from Alabama where I live with my husband of over 30 years in our now empty nest. Our three adult children have flown the coop and my husband and I are getting ready to build that retirement house in the next few years when I hope to have even more time for reading. I am a lifelong reader and while I read primarily romance, I enjoy most genres. If an author can tell a good story, I will read it.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
What's your opinion?x
()
x