Rating: 
Summary: Scandalous Love
Review: Again Brenda Joyce does not fail us! This is another one of her best, these characters sizzle throughout the entire book. Nicole Shelton is a tough and bold heroine who goes after what she wants , a bit different from the ususal lead women.
I could not put it down!
Rating:
Summary: Scandalous Love
Review: Again Brenda Joyce does not fail us! This is another one of her best, these characters sizzle throughout the entire book. Nicole Shelton is a tough and bold heroine who goes after what she wants , a bit different from the ususal lead women.
I could not put it down!
Rating:
Summary: Sinfully Scandalous
Review: Brenda Joyce is so skilled at writing novels rich with historical detail and strong characters. Novels that once you have read, you can never forget.After hiding away in the countryside, due to a scandal, Nicole Shelton is challenged into attending a Masque in honor of the Duke of Clayborough. It is very brave of her to go due to the fact that many people who treated her badly after the scandal will be there. She is dressed as a gypsy, hair loose, calves exposed and barefoot. She makes an unforgettable impression. Everyone stares but no one says a thing because she catches the eye of the Duke, and he compliments her. Hadrian Braxton-Lowell is not the typical Duke. He doesn't drink or gamble and society does not interest him. He has had a rough childhood that has forced him to live by his honor and duty. He is indeed drawn to Nicole, and finds he cannot resist her. She is wild, full of spirit and refreshingly different, and a wonderful heroine. She is nothing like the lady's that he has known. She has had free reign and is more interested in riding horses than in painting watercolors. She is drawn to Hadrian as well, he is strikingly handsome and seems interested in her. What she doesn't know is the kind of interest he has and that he has been betrothed since childhood to Elizabeth Martindale. Though they try, they cannot fight their mutual attraction and desire. The pages heat up whenever they are together and you cannot help but long for them to be together as well. They go through a lot of emotions during this book and Brenda takes you along with them. I cannot say enough about how well written and interesting this book is. There is no villain, no other twist but the characters and their feelings. Scandalous Love is just the kind of book that makes you realize why you love historical romance.
Rating:
Summary: A Keeper
Review: Delightful read, strong characters, this book will not bore you.
Rating:
Summary: Well written characters
Review: I liked this book and these characters. Nicole and Hadrian are sensuous, vibrant, and funny. Their mutual attraction to each other was what I liked most, even though Hadrian had a lot of "emotional baggage". The storyline was somewhat predicitible, but had enough turns to keep you interested. I read this book in 2 days and was disappointed when I was done! Brenda Joyce writes the story true to the period in history. Very well written. My next book will be another by Brenda Joyce.
Rating:
Summary: Well written characters
Review: I liked this book and these characters. Nicole and Hadrian are sensuous, vibrant, and funny. Their mutual attraction to each other was what I liked most, even though Hadrian had a lot of "emotional baggage". The storyline was somewhat predicitible, but had enough turns to keep you interested. I read this book in 2 days and was disappointed when I was done! Brenda Joyce writes the story true to the period in history. Very well written. My next book will be another by Brenda Joyce.
Rating: 
Summary: Not her best
Review: I love Brenda Joyce, but this book was barely warm compared to some of her other works like "The Conquerer" or "The Game." Yes, there was lots of scandal and propriety involved, but not enough steam to keep your interest. She can get alot juicier than this!
Rating:
Summary: Why!!!!
Review: I really liked the character's, don't get me wrong. It's just that I clearly saw Elizabeth (Hadrian's fiance`) was going to die just so Nicole and Hadrian can get together, how obvious. It was awfully sad, though honor bound, that Hadrian marries Nicole when Elizabeth's not even "cold in her grave" (That sorta put some distaste in my mouth especially when Brenda Joyce went that far in character with Elizbeth). I thought that Hadrian kept repeating himself though. It's like I'm the Duke, I'm the Duke, I'm the Duke, and all you want to say is "Alright already, you are the Duke!" This book was alright though. I liked the display of his lordship's influence and I have to admitt, Brenda Joyce busted out some pretty good lines along the way. I have to say that in some parts of this book, Hadrian always seems to think "No" is "Yes"
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent read..
Review: Lady Nicole Bragg Shelton is an (in short) a eccentric spinster. Her life consists of hiding out at her parents country home ever since running out on Percy Hempstead whom she was supposed to marry.
One day she recieves an invitation to a masquerade ball. Determined to go to show up to spite those attending she shows up in the most outragous costume. It is there that she mets the Duke of Claybourgh, Hadrian Braxon-Lowell their mutual attraction causing sparks.
At first he believes Lady Shelton to be married and seeks her out to make her his mistress.. however Nicole is furious at his idea and finding out that he is bethrothed to Lady Elizabeth Martindale (his cousin).
Despite his feeling for Nicole Hadrian is determined to live by his family's motto "honor first" and not be the scoundrel his father was infamous for being.
Unfortuantly his hormones do not agree and the passionate journey to find true love starts. On a personal note: I found Nicole's flirtaous attitude mixed in with double meanings rather humourous (eg when she innocently remarks on the way Hadrian becomes easily aroused around her to her mother).
I've also become addicted to the entire Bragg saga and the de Warenne dyntasy because of this book.
Of all the books by Brenda Joyce i've read this one is a firm favorite.
Truthfully, I thought there were far too many similarities between Firestorm and Scandalous Love. The personalities were roughly the same and some of the situations were as well. There were times when I believed that Scandalous Love was a more finely tuned British version of Firestorm (which is why I took one star off).
Rating: 
Summary: Not Joyce's best.
Review: Lady Nicole Shelton jilted her fiancé, ruining her in the eyes of the ton. She's not terribly bothered by her fall from grace because she is sort of a country girl anyway, so she just lives quietly on her family's rural estate. Things are fine until she goes to a ball and dresses like a whore. She's only saved from complete disgrace because the Duke of Clayborough says he thinks she's original.
Hadrian Braxton-Lowell, Duke of Clayborough, is instantly enchanted with Lady Nicole. Mistaking her for a married lady of experience, he makes romantic overtures toward her. After a hot make-out session in the woods, Hadrian learns that Lady Nicole is in fact an innocent spinster. Hadrian has been betrothed since childhood and is nearly ready to marry his fiancée, so he breaks things off with Lady Nicole.
"Scandalous Love" is almost a good book. I like the idea of the story. Nicole is sort of an underdog heroine and I like that. There are some really poignant moments where she is embarrassed and Hadrian helps her or makes her feel better about herself. I like the idea of Hadrian too. He's torn between his growing attraction for Nicole and his genuine affection for his lovely little fiancée. This story's problems, however, outshine its finer points.
Lady Nicole is spunky to the point of annoyance. She constantly puts herself in embarrassing situations, then has to be "saved" by Hadrian. We hear that she wasn't exactly a success as a debutante, but she is easily convinced that the eminently eligible Duke of Clayborough is interested in marrying her--making her seem a bit simple. There's an eye-roll inducing misunderstanding at the end of the story that has her flouncing off in a huff and then demanding a divorce. She's just too much.
Hadrian is a pretty good character. I like that he's honorable and tries to do the right thing. There are some nice moments when he comes to Nicole's rescue. Really, my only problem with him is that he falls for Nicole to begin with. Not that the reasons why he likes her aren't covered, they are, it's just that those reasons make me lose all respect for him. It seems to me that he didn't know what a good thing he had with his fiancée, and I really wish he'd spent a little more time mourning her loss.
In classic Brenda Joyce style, the story never drags but clips along at a brisk pace. There's not much subtlety to the resolution of the situation with Hadrian's fiancée--we all saw that coming--but I do appreciate that the fiancée wasn't vilified, though she was a little too conveniently disposed of. We're shown a passionate romance, but I'm not very enthusiastic about it.
With a lackluster heroine, a more likable "other woman", and a less than suspenseful plot "Scandalous Love" gets two stars--it's not awful, it has potential, but it just didn't do it for me. Brenda Joyce has written some good books, but this isn't one of them.
And I can't end without doing this. I have two quick nitpicks:
First up is title misuse. The daughter of an earl, a marquess, or a duke who has been given the courtesy title of "Lady" like Lady Nicole would only ever be "Lady Nicole Shelton" or "Lady Nicole". Never would she be referred to as "Lady Shelton". Nor would Nicole's mother, or any nineteenth century British noblewoman, be called "the Countess Jane" or anything like that. She would occasionally be referred to as the "Countess of Dragmore" but mostly as "Lady Dragmore", and only ever called "Lady Dragmore" to her face--not to be confused with some common usage in other European countries.
Second is the fact that Nicole's mother was an actress. It's flaunted as a point of pride in the book, as if Nicole were living in contemporary Beverly Hills and not Victorian England. While it was not unprecedented for a peer to marry an actress in Victorian times, the bride would have been shunned by society. It hurts the believability of Nicole's situation when she's ostracized for jilting a fiancé, but her mother is in no way censured for having been an actress. An actress would have been grist for the gossip mills of the Victorian nobility for at least a generation or two and she never would have been accepted anywhere, in fact her children would have been lucky to have entrée into every echelon of polite society.
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