Sebastian Sherbrook, a self-proclaimed scoundrel and the newly minted Marquess of Manwaring, returns to London after his estranged uncle dies, intent on reforming his rakish image once and for all. Yet through no fault of his own, he’s soon embroiled in the biggest scandal of the Season, and his secret plans to court the only woman he’s ever wanted are in shambles.Lady Katherine Manwaring knows … Manwaring knows her poor opinion of her late husband’s nephew isn’t about to change, even if the Times has dubbed him “The Singlemost Beautiful Man In London.” When fate casts Sebastian upon her mercy, however, she learns two shocking truths: he may not be the scoundrel his reputation suggests, and he’s hopelessly in love…with her.
But an irate squire, an even more irate dog, several dawn appointments, meddling friends, and a touch of blackmail aren’t the only things that stand in the way of their happy ending. Can Katherine accept Sebastian’s love—and will he still want her if he learns her own dark secret?
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I love this book!!! Maggie Fenton also wrote one of my all-time favorites, The Duke’s Holiday. The couple in Virtuous Scoundrel appear in The Duke’s Holiday and I HOPED HOPED HOPED they would get their own book because I knew their story would be delightful. And it is. It’s so much fun. And Sebastian Sherbrook is such a unique hero. Maggie Fenton rules!!!
Anyone who read the first installment in this series surely noted the sparks flying between Katherine and Sebastian and anticipated their story. Two years later Katherine is now widowed and Sebastian has just returned from abroad. Sebastian’s reputation is worse than ever and Katherine is as disgusted by him as she is intrigued. Almost immediately upon setting fit on English soil, Sebastian is challenged to a duel by an angry father who insists that Sebastian is the father of his very pregnant daughter’s child, which Sebastian vehemently denies. When he refuses to wed the girl, Sebastian is assaulted, beaten, and left for dead in an alley, only to be found and nursed back to health by Katherine.
**Potential spoilers ahead**
During this time spent together, Sebastian eventually confesses his feelings to Katherine and tries to woo her, explaining that his awful reputation is a lie, encouraged by him to hide the fact that he is really a virgin. He even pours out the shameful truth of just why that is to her, only to have Katherine scorn and cruelly rebuff his affections. And that is where I really began to get annoyed with this story and the heroine. In her own thoughts, Katherine describes herself as a martyr. She loves Sebastian but believes she doesn’t deserve him because of an indiscretion in her past and she thinks he is merely infatuated with her and will get over it. Both of these reasons struck me as feeble at best, but her acting as if Sebastian was merely infatuated with her was quite frankly infuriating after how he bared his soul to her and literally told her he didn’t even wish to be touched by anyone else. This made this heroine unlikable for me. I agree with her, she doesn’t deserve him. Only after Sebastian has made a fool of himself in public because of his jealousy over Katherine does she start to think he might’ve been telling the truth about his feelings for her. She then goes to his house and seduces him, despite his attempts to actually talk to her about their relationship. She seduces him because somehow the physical act and him not rejecting her is more meaningful than him baring his soul to her. She takes advantage of his inexperience and his feelings for her and seduces him, taking essentially everything he has to give her, without confessing any feelings or emotions to him. Then she tries to sneak out and leave him, which he fortunately puts a stop to.
I totally understand being afraid of rejection, we all are, especially after she had been so awful to him, but after she understood his true love for her, that excuse became real flimsy for me. Thankfully, then finally talk and she’s finally honest and they got it together, but I found her behavior to be ridiculous.
There are also some matchmaking attempts made by Astrid from the first book, with the help of her husband, the Duke of Montford, and Viscount Marlowe. Also included: a weird storyline involving a French duke and his pug as a bit of comic relief which does eventually tie in to the story.
I liked this one much more than the first book in this series, but I still have some mixed feelings about it.
Book 2 of the Regency Romp Trilogy. Returning to England, Sebastian Sherbrook is not surprised that he is called out by the father of a young woman who has found herself pregnant and without a husband. Considered England’s most desirable man for his handsome looks, he is also considered a scoundrel and a rake, thus no one believes him when he states that he is innocent of the charges.
Lady Katherine Manwaring, the only women for whom he has affections for and his reason for returning still has a grudge and dislike for him. She finds it hard to believe him of wrong doing after he snubbed her at a recital and his pension for being a rake. However, he hopes upon his return that perhaps her feelings have changed although she was once married to his hateful uncle and this thought runs through his mind over and over.
Both have a passion for the piano forte and gradually through the story, their relationship develops as they deal with the incidents of their past. The story is funny, witty and have its very laughable moments. The pace is on target and as with the first book in the trilogy, this one did not fail. Overall, I truly enjoyed the listen and will move on to the third book.
Just finished this after reading the dukes holiday… Love it when characters overlap in books and you get to see old favorite characters again and new favorite characters grow