Looks can be deceiving, the same is true for reputations As the head of his family, Robert Beckford, the Earl of Masten, was accustomed to dealing with various problems his siblings had caused of one sort or another. However he wasn’t prepared when his cad of brother ruined and then abandoned a young lady. To right the wrong, Robert married the girl himself; but his chivalry only went so far. He … He didn’t want a wife, and most certainly not a scandalous one. So after repeating his vows, he sent her packing, off to a secluded estate and expected her to stay put. After years of mistreatment at the hands of her family, Lydia was prepared to be an accommodating wife; but her rigid and unforgiving husband asked too much of her. After languishing for years in her opulent prison, Lydia leaves her country estate for the glamour and excitement of London—and unfortunately her husband’s path.
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This was a slightly different take on the usual girl-meets-duke kind of story. The two main characters fall in love LONG after getting married.
Both were very delightful and strong in their ideas, however, not unyielding. I particularly loved the scene when she accidentally stabs him with her knitting needles. Hilarious!
I enjoyed the book. Loved Lydia’s backbone, and could get behind Robert, but he ran a little hot and cold. I wish he’d had a little more middle ground. I definitely enjoyed his friends as secondary characters and will read more of her books just to see what happens to them.
Good historical romance with some unpredictable moments. Solid characters made me want to continue the series
Love a good historical romance with adventure..
I absolutely loved this book! Amazing characters, wonderful character building and a true love story. Cannot wait to continue the scandalous series.
I wanted a book that was entertaining but not too heavy. This book was perfect.
Love this series! Looking forward to more.
Really enjoyed this book. At first I didn’t really care for Robert, the hero, but then he became much more caring and loving to the wife he abandoned 5 years earlier. A twist that was interesting and kept the story moving. Definetly 5 stars.
A Well written romance with fast and easy reading. Some twists and turns but definitely a happy ending.
Lydia is one of the strongest characters I have ever read….at 16 she thinks she is in love with Luke Beckford, and makes a stupid mistake, which young girls are wont to do…and gets caught…he takes off so to avoid a scandal his MUCH older brother Robert, the Earl of Masten, steps in, marries her, and proceeds to inforn her she is a whore, she deserves what she’s got, and he sticks her in the country to rot…alone…
Well fast forward 5 years and Lydia isn’t a little girl anymore, she’s a grown woman now…she is DONE playing the docile little house mouse in the country, alone…she is ready to live…after all her ‘husband’ has been living it up in London, with friends, family, mistresses…so Lydia decides it is time for HER to assert herself. And when Robert sees her, at first he doesn’t even recognize her, then it is a mission…get her BACK to the country so she can’t cause any scandal…he is SUCH a jerk when we first meet him and it REALLY takes a LONG time to warm up to him…but when we FINALLY get Robert and Lydia connected, open, honest and communicating….in LOVE.
WOW, they are so perfect together…yes, he has his moments, after all he is a man set in his ways..,but he opens his heart so much, loves Lydia and his newly formed family so completely…it is just beyond perfection.
Chet, Bren, Caro, Beth, Jamie, Penny and Petey are wonderful characters and I adored them…but Luke…ugh not sure I will ever like him
But the Lord and Lady Masten and family are magical…I wish I could just spend more time with them
Goo
If you don’t mind reading about infidelity, child abuse, murder, harlots, blackmail, incest and a whole lot of other deprived behaviors, this book may be for you, but I have better things to do with my time. The book lacked a real storyline it just moved from one social denregation to another.
Loved this book.
Life in 1800’s England wasn’t easy for young single women. For Lydia her beauty was much the cause of her troubles. Starting at the tender age of 16 an unfortunate event in her life happens to ruin any chance she may have had in so-called decent society. With the gossip of the Ton flowing freely she is a branded woman. For a young innocent victim of a cad who’s destroyed her reputation and abandoned her she lets others take control of her fate and finds herself married in name only to a cold hearted older man she doesn’t even know, and is once again abandoned. After 5 years of being hidden away and lonely she grows up in body and mind and takes control of her life. Things start to change for the better when her absentee husband Robert notices her, and together they plan to become aquainted and make a life together. But not without her sad past surfacing. Of course it has a happy ending, but the only question I have is what was the purpose behind the highwaymen that were stopping the coaches? That was never explained and it was just dropped.
A Scandalous Wife. Hmm…where do I begin.
A very young and naïve woman, Lady Lydia Beckford, is caught in a compromising position with Lucas the brother of Robert Beckford, the Earl of Masten. In order to save the family’s name from scandal, Robert ends up marrying her and then banishes her away to the country estate. He doesn’t lay eyes on her until he spots her at a society ball. He even goes as far as to try to find his friend a wife and points her out in the process. His friend is full of laughter when Robert is told that the lady in question is his own wife. Seeing how beautiful she has become over the years, and the focus of every man’s eyes he is bent on making sure she gets sent back to the country to avoid another scandal for the family. There’s the crux and starts the hate to love story between the two.
In order to complete his mission of sending her back to the country, he has to obtain physical control over her. He then comes up with a lie that he needs an heir and she is forced to live with him until she is with child. After the birth he will send her back to the country. Being in so close proximity, they become attracted to one another much too soon in the story. As there was much dislike between the two, I would have liked a little more banter. The story has its moments as it includes the possibility of scandal to her name again, a “somewhat” changed long-lost brother, a mistress that becomes spiteful and two adopted children that somehow went cold in the story. There are times that made you want to hit the jerk of an Earl for his overbearing belief in propriety, but there are moments where you wanted to fall for him. Each character had much to learn from one another. Robert breaking down his hatred for Lydia because of the past and Lydia, not wanting to be cast aside because of one discretion.
Having never read any of Ava Stone’s novels, this was an okay read me. The story had me starting, then putting it away, then re-starting and then putting it down again. To keep myself from a DNF, I decided to finish without stopping.
good escapist fare.
I loved this book. The author is quite talented. The book was spell bounding and I couldn’t wait to finish it! I am looking forward to reading more books by this author.
Formulaic but still enjoyed the read.
This book was really enjoyable I couldn’t put it down
Not believable, especially the characters. Didn’t bother finishing