His parents died young, his aunt and uncle who raised him disliked him, he spends his days and nights having fun, he’s ridiculously rich. Tristan is cut from a rather standard hero mold. Both help her figure out how to push for the things she wants. The first is Tristan, and the second is her twice-widowed and rather scandalous aunt. Her life starts to change when some new influences enter her sphere. She can basically see how her life is going to play out, full of unflattering clothes and keeping quiet on the sidelines but doesn’t know what she can do to change that.

She’s stubborn but fully under the thumb of her equally stubborn mother. This hasn’t made her desperate to marry, but she is even more aware than she was as a child of the things that a woman cannot do, even an independent one. She’s a heartbeat away from being a spinster. Joan is a type of heroine that I’ve been enjoying lately. But maybe I shouldn’t say lucky, since it’s all due to Linden’s writing. There’s very little to it aside from the romance between Joan Bennett and Viscount Tristan Burke. Love and Other Scandals is a lighter, more lively affair. Her recently completed series, The Truth About the Duke, was rather intensely plotted – there was quite a bit going on in every book. Luckily, her books rarely require me to lean on that soft spot. I have a massive soft spot for Caroline Linden since she is one of the first romance authors I ever read. Regency romance published by Avon 30 Jul 13 Liviania’s review of Love and Other Scandals (Scandals, Book 1) by Caroline Linden

It Takes a Scandal by Caroline Linden