Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Her Scandalous Marriage

Her Scandalous Marriage
Her Scandalous Marriage
Author: Leslie LaFoy
Genre: Romance
Book Type: Paperback
reviewed on + 503 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


This is one of those historical romances that takes place in the 1820's but the characters might as well be living today. The dialogue and behavior is very contemporary. (The hero and heroine have sex on the first day they meet.) On occasion, this can be forgiven for a well-told romance. In this case, it made a mediocre story that much more intolerable.

I had to put this book down halfway through because it was both boring and overly simplistic. I did finally pick it up and finish because I'd read so many positive reviews about this author. The second half was certainly better than the first, and if you can let go any preconceptions about interpersonal and social behaviors during that time period the book is easier to bear. Further the author has many interesting references to the clothing of the time, construction of garments, the making of draperies, bedding, etc. - forcing us to notice those things that people of the time had to work so hard to create (probably without benefit of sewing machines).

It did often seem like LaFoy didn't do a lot of research about England in the 1800's. She kept referring to fabric being purchased in meters. Our measuring system of feet and yards came from England, it is the English standard. They don't use meters anymore than we do. And if she's going to screw it up, I wish she'd been consistent - one minute Caroline needs many meters of fabric but then she's looking at yardage of fabric a few pages later.

There was a lot of sex but little of it was more than a paragraph so it wasn't particularly titillating, nor was it romantic. The book was overlong, then the ending was abrupt with no epilogue or closure.