Book Review: Scandal of the Summer
Scandal of the Summer
by Alexandra Vasti
I guess I’m attracted to pirates now? If you need to be transported to the past and scenic Cornwall, you NEED to read Scandal of the Summer and fall in love with a quirky heiress, Lady Ruby, and a con-artist/pirate with a heart of gold, Malcolm Archer. I haven’t read historical romance in several years, but the plot and setting of this book enticed me, then once I started reading, I really enjoyed the writing style.
I really enjoyed the romantic aspects of this book, but I may have enjoyed the friendship aspects as much, if not more. Lady Ruby and her two besties Alice and Tamsin are truly friendship goals; all have distinctive personalities and weird intellectual hobbies and I am here for that!
Lady Ruby Ballimore to me is a badass. I love that she roasted a guy for buying fake sculptures with her deep intellectual knowledge, so I could not stop reading after that. At the beginning of the book, she makes a faux pas (re: telling a man the truth about how stupid he is) at a party and decides she HAS to get away from the London Scene. I agree with you, girl!
Years after her debutante ball, she has not had a proposal (gasp!). So she decides to head away with her two best friends for a summer full of joy and freedom in Cornwall. She and her friends devise a scheme to pose as ladies-in-waiting for a princess they assume will never visit her Cornwall mansion. I love this plan and wish I could go squat in a mansion in Cornwall for the summer for FREE!
When they arrive at the mansion, however, it is not as empty as they had hoped…the steward is actually a pirate, and he is busy trying to keep his former naval crew above water by smuggling—a time-honored tradition in Cornwall. Yet he tries to hide his crimes from the ladies, but you can’t get anything past Lady Ruby! No matter what he does to drive her away, she is maddening! And he starts falling in love with her!
While the plot might sound a bit absurd and like a caper, I really enjoyed the well-developed characters! Lady Ruby and Malcolm both grew, helped each other, and yes they also had steamy moments while also almost drowning in cold seawater. What could be more romantic? Just kidding, there were some very well-written ENGAGING spicy scenes and I loved their love story!
This was a strong beginning to a new series and I look forward to the next two books!
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
