Search - Every Scandalous Secret (Scandalous, Bk 3)

A good, solid offering that neatly tied up the ongoing thread of the trilogy about the identity of the model for the painting.

I found this story enjoyable all the way through, although it did slow down in the middle and I wasn't flipping pages with the excitement I did on the first book. I just wish this author would quit having her characters repeatedly "roll their eyes." It made me think I was back reading Stephenie Meyers.

Review originally posted at Ramblings From This Chick

I admit that this book was a little hard for me to get through at times. I just loved the beginning of this book. I am a big fan of banter between characters and this book was chocked full of it in the beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Leo and Susanna go back and forth with each other. But once I got to the middle it's where things seemed to slow down for me significantly. It just seemed to drag on for a few chapters and there wasn't anymore of the banter between Leo and Susanna. By the time I got to the last third of the book everything picked up again I really began to enjoy Leo and Susanna again.

I honestly love the character of Leo. He's just so forth-coming and honest about things. He isn't ashamed of his past and he doesn't make excuses. I really enjoyed watching him pursue Susanna at the house party. We also saw a different side of Leo in this book. In previous books he perceived as a Rake who doesn't really give a damn about anything, but in this book we were able to see that he's actually very intelligent. I secretly love it when the ton rake turns out to be a hidden scholar. I just love a smart and intelligent hero!

As for Susanna, I had my ups and downs with her. I loved her in the beginning of the book. She is a bluestocking and isn't ashamed of it. In fact, while at the country house party she is giving painting lessons. She seems so confident and self-assured. Then, all of a sudden when her and Leo get together she loses all of that. She becomes sort of a downer and is constantly questioning her actions and whether Leo's feelings are real. What happened to the confident self-assured woman I came to love?

As I said before, my favorite part of this book was experiencing all of the banter between Leo and Susanna. I just wish we were able to see more of it throughout the story. I did enjoy Leo and Susanna together as a couple and I think that they both balanced each other out quite well. They both brought out the best in one another and that is always refreshing to see.

This third story in Gayle Callen's trilogy of two sisters and a cousin and an indecent portrait of one of them is the best of the three. Leo follows Susanna to a house party only to get caught inflagrante and forced to wed. Knowing they were "stuck" together, they each try to understand the other and bring out the best in the other person. The growth to their love was a refreshing treat from all the angst which usually encompasses these stories. I highly recommend this story as a quick, pleasurable read.