Adele Ashworth, Duke of Scandal

Duke of Scandal

Adele Ashworth

Avon, May 2006, $6.99, 384 pp.

ISBN: 0060528419

In 1860 Lady Olivia Shea and her new spouse Lord Edmund Carlisle are on their honeymoon in Paris when he goes out but never returns allegedly on business leaving her a virgin. When she realizes that he wasted her money leaving her broke and her family firm the House of Niven perfumes in jeopardy she vows to find and expose the cad unless he returns her fortune.

At a London gala, Olivia confronts her husband threatening to expose his actions. She gives him one week and their kiss affects both of them. A few days later Edmund visits Olivia who realizes he is not her spouse. He admits that he is Edmund's twin brother Samson, the title holding duke by three minutes, which his brother has always resented. They have not seen one another in years. As Olivia and Samson fall in love, Edmund remains a shadow between them.

DUKE OF SCANDAL stars two protagonists in love, but a ghost remains between them making a relationship seem scandalous to high society. The fine Victorian romance focuses on the war between Olivia and Samson with the missing sibling ironically serving as the matchmaker. Though Edmund seems to have no redeeming qualities as an amoral scoundrel (perhaps his girlfriend Brigitte can find some), fans will enjoy this entertaining historical tale.

Harriet Klausner