Madeline de Lacy, the duchess of Magnus, prides herself on being one of the most sensible young women in England, which is why she can't believe that, in a turn of the cards, her noble father has lost his entire estate -- and her! -- to a stranger. On a mission to salvage her family fortune, she changes places with her cousin and companion, sending the meeker Eleanor to confront the man who had won Madeline's hand. Now, Madeline is free to enter the home of a notorious gambler, and pretends to be meek, humble, and competent with an iron. She is, of course, none of those things; she simply is resolved to win her family's fortune back. Just when she thinks matters can't get worse, she meets Gabriel Ansell, the earl of Campion, and they do. Horribly worse. Four years ago, Madeline was engaged to Gabriel, and worshiped his arrogant kisses. Now, being forced to marry a man she doesn't know pales in comparison to the ordeal of facing Gabriel again, the man who betrayed her -- Gabriel, the only man she ever loved.
★★★★☆
Suffolk, England, 1806: Madeline de Lacy, duchess of Magnus, is handed over to a stranger via her father's lost poker wager. Madeline's hand in marriage --- and, in turn, the family estate itself --- is given to newly wealthy American businessman Remington Knight. Having no intention of giving everything up so easily, Madeline makes the appearance of traveling to meet with Remington, her meek cousin Eleanor along as escort.... but en-route puts forth her plan that Eleanor present herself, posing as Madeline, to Knight --- just temporarily, she assures Eleanor! Meanwhile, the real Madeline intends to crash another high stakes poker game in hopes of finding a way to win back her family's fortune.
Her plan isn't as easily executed as she'd hoped. Madeline finds a way into the poker game while maintaining her disguise, but it means she has to pose as the companion to Lady Thomasin, stepdaughter of Lady Tabard. Tabard is trying to get Thomasin married off to Thurston Rumbelow, the host of the poker tournament. (Sidenote: there is a proposal scene involving Thomasin and another man, that the way it's set up, the dialogue... it almost definitely pulled inspiration from the ick-laden proposal scene between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Collins in Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. Just sayin'.)
Collins' proposal to Elizabeth
Madeline nearly blows her cover quite a few times, being that she is actually a woman of noble birth, and accustomed to being catered to; her tendency to be strong-willed and outspoken tends not to mesh well with the expected decorum of a servant.
Madeline's plotting also brings an unexpected reunion with her ex-fiance, Gabriel Ansell, Earl of Campion. He recognizes her immediately, but intrigued by what she's up to with the disguise, chooses not to let on to anyone else. He also still has a bit of a flame for her, so the environment proves advantageous for him possibly winning her back. It'll be tough going for him though, since things didn't end great between them and Madeline is still sore about it.
Gabriel also has his own secret plot he's working on. It's believed that Rumbelow is actually a thief / spy hoping to win the favor of Napoleon, and that he has some connection to the suspicious death of Gabriel's younger brother. Gabriel intends to both win Madeline again AND avenge the loss of his brother. Oh, and yeah, win the poker game of course!
Scandalous Again has a nice blend of everything you want in a good light-hearted romance. Madeline and Gabriel's interactions are a hoot to read, very reminiscent of Rhett and Scarlett from Gone With The Wind. And as far as chemistry, they are perfectly suited to each other. There's also extra comedy brought in the form of Gabriel's opinionated, grumbly valet, MacAllister. MacAllister and Madeline aren't on the best footing most of the story, but it's fun to see their bond progress once they iron out their differences.
There's also a healthy dose of action and suspense near the end!
If you get to the end of this one and wonder how things fared for Cousin Eleanor, her story is addressed in the follow-up novel, One Kiss From You.
A bold woman known as the "duchess of Magnus" was wagered—and won—in a card game. But the woman who arrived was her shy, quiet cousin Eleanor. Eleanor de Lacy must have been mad to agree to exchange identities with her stronger-willed cousin. She would never convince Remington Knight of the folly of this union—especially since the man seemed so determined for it to take place. Worse still, she finds Remington dazzlingly attractive—and she's charmed by his attempts to seduce her, even though he believes she is already his. But if he ever learns of Eleanor's deception, this daring rogue will wreak havoc . . . upon her reputation and her heart. Remington had expected a haughty, unbending aristocrat who would ensure his entrance into good society. But this "duchess" is a most pleasant surprise—modest, warm-hearted, endearingly awkward, and a delight to the eye. In short, she is exactly the sort of bride Remington could fall passionately, completely in love with.........if he weren't so intent on his revenge.
★★★★☆
In this sequel to Dodd's Scandalous Again, we get a follow-up episode regarding what happened to Madeline de Lacy's meek cousin Eleanor after she was foisted (in a way) onto Madeline's intended, Remington Knight.
So if you missed or forgot Book 1, here's the deal. Madeline de Lacy, duchess of Magnus, was promised in marriage to American businessman Remington Knight, after Madeline's father lost a card game to Knight. She goes on the trip to meet up with Knight, her cousin Eleanor in tow as an escort, but en route, Madeline comes up with this plan where Eleanor is to go on ahead and present herself as Madeline, while the real Madeline goes in disguise to another high stakes poker tournament to try to find a way to win back the family fortune her father lost. It's explained in the first book how the two look enough alike to often pass as siblings and often enough have been mistaken for each other, so she figures it's a solid plan. Madeline has every intention of Eleanor only being in this position temporarily, but as it often goes with these kinds of things, the plan in reality turns a lot more complicated than it went in Madeline's mind.
Unbeknownst to either Madeline or Eleanor, Remington is seeking revenge against the de Lacy family, so he knew exactly what he was doing going after Madeline. It is Remington's belief that Madeline's father is responsible for the demise of Knight's family; now Remington is set on taking down every de Lacy one at a time. He hears rumors that Madeline is bold and outspoken in nature, so he's looking forward to the challenge of "breaking" her. Imagine his surprise when "Madeline" arrives but instead of the expected strong-willed, spoiled snob he's looking to train down, he meets with Eleanor's (posing as Madeline) humble, kind, demure way of moving through the world. Remington is also thrown by her bookish tendencies... not something previously attributed to Madeline, as he understood. Regardless, he admits he's looking forward to seducing his beautiful bride-to-be... while also carrying out his revenge plot, of course.
"I thought you would object. I find it easier to ask forgiveness than beg permission."~ Remington's reasoning on why he bought Eleanor a whole new wardrobe without consulting her on anything
Eleanor likewise comes into this meeting with preconceived notions of Mr. Knight. She's heard this Boston native described as an "American barbarian from the colonies"... but on first sight, her initial impression decides he is "hewn from rugged granite and adolescent dreams". Someone catch this girl, she's falling! LOL Still, she must keep her cool and ride this charade out just long enough for Madeline to arrive and come clean to Knight about all this. Until then.... she'll just have to dodge his questions about her repeatedly speaking in third person.
Madeline's aunt is called in as a chaperone for Eleanor until the wedding date. Knight might throw some sly looks his fiancee's way, maybe a naughty hand once in awhile, but for the most part he wants to keep things above board until the wedding night. But as you'll see, easier said than done with these two. Madeline's aunt naturally realizes it's really Eleanor from the start but for her own reasons she'll later explain, decides to keep mum about it. It's mentioned that Eleanor and Madeline's aunt are not related, so I'm guessing that means Eleanor is a cousin on the father's side?
Eleanor's anxiety doesn't end there. This poor girl spends the majority of the story in fear of having the secret revealed. During one ball, she figures her cover is blown for sure when she runs into a best friend of Madeline but soon realizes the girl won't stop talking long enough to notice it's not really Madeline she's speaking with! In several other moments, Eleanor has the repeated occurrence of people saying "so nice to meet you again", believing they are speaking with Madeline. Eleanor wonders if maybe she might actually pull this off! And then she comes face-to-face with her own evil stepmother. But here again is a relative who seems to have their own motives for going along with the ruse, at least for awhile.
The story in this sequel takes longer to get off the ground than its predecessor, but once again Dodd crafts a truly interesting and cute coupling. There's just the right amount of early dislike, mystery around Knight's background --- Dodd initially writes him as a bit of a thug type, but is he really? --- and there's good character development all around to boot! While Eleanor starts out as the meek, skittish push-over type, it is wonderful to see her find her backbone later in the story. Everyone has their "enough is enough!" line and I inwardly cheered to see a liberated Eleanor find hers. And funny thing, her bold, confident side ends up being a huge turn-on to Remington, much to his surprise! He spends all this time thinking he's going to love training his wife into this broken, submissive thing but sure enough having a woman call him out and say NO from time to time ends up being the unexpected aphrodisiac for him!
The ending was a bit sappy-sappy for my taste, but overall it was a nice wrap-up to the adventures of the de Lacy ladies. Fun, lighthearted escapism... no complaints here!
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