Sophie Irwin

After devouring Sophie Irwin’s first book, A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting, I was eagerly awaiting her next literary masterpiece. I’m ready for all the controversies, ball gowns, and juicy gossip. Bring on the whirlwind of scandal!

The story

When shy Miss Eliza Balfour married the austere Earl of Somerset, twenty years her senior, it was the match of the season–no matter that he was not the husband Eliza would have chosen.

But ten years later, Eliza is widowed. And at eight and twenty years, she is suddenly left titled, rich, and, for the first time in her life, utterly in control of her own future. Instead of living out her mourning quietly, Eliza heads to Bath with her cousin Margaret. After years of living according to everyone else’s rules, Eliza has resolved, at last, to do as she wants.

But when the ripples of the dowager Lady Somerset’s behavior reach the new Lord Somerset–whom Eliza knew, once, as a younger woman–Eliza is forced to confront the fact that freedom does not come without consequences, though it also brings unexpected opportunities . . .

My opinion

I was thrilled to read another book by Sophie Irwin because I absolutely devoured her first book, A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting. So you can imagine how utterly happy I was when I received this ARC of A Lady’s Guide to Scandal! While it’s not necessary to read her first book, I would definitely recommend doing so because you will absolutely love Sophie’s writing style and the well-crafted characters she has created.

While I must admit I picked up this book several times, only to put it down repeatedly, once I was immersed I couldn’t put it down anymore. I don’t know why I had trouble getting into the story that much because I simply love Irwin’s writing style. But eventually, it caught me and didn’t let me go until the last page. So it took some time to get to me, but once it did, I was hooked! It made me giggle like a little girl, made me sad due to some of the events, and made me feel a little bit proud of the development Eliza went through.

Quote

But if I saw her balanced precariously upon the edge of a cliff -perhaps about to fall in the ocean- I would hesitate to act. I wouldn’t push her, but I would most definitely hesitate.

Margaret – A Lady’s Guide to Scandal

The way Sophie knows how to write the best, might I say sassy, conversations just makes me smile and giggle while reading A Lady’s Guide to Scandal. We follow Eliza, who has just lost her husband and, to her surprise, inherits everything. However, there are some rules for her. No scandals are allowed; otherwise, all of it will go to other family members. That means, even though she is still in the mourning phase, she can do a lot more than before. On the journey to Bath, she meets the most intriguing man called Lord Melville. He screams scandal, which is quite interesting.

Quote

A sense of humour truly is a man’s greatest treasure.

Lord Melville

I must say, if you don’t like love triangles, this book is probably not the best story for you to read. But if you do love them, just like me, I can highly recommend it! There might be an old love interest from before Eliza was married. That makes the whole situation a lot more interesting. Especially since this gentleman is the one who decides if Eliza gets to keep her fortune. The two love interests gave me solid whiplash though, haha. Normally, I immediately root for one of the love interests, but this time I went back and forth between them. Let me just say that in the end, Eliza made the right choice, in my opinion. 😉

I also loved the story of Margaret and Caroline, two side characters who are pretty important to the story. Because of that, I would absolutely love to read some kind of spinoff about them. I feel like there is a lot of story to be told about the two. Whatever Sophie Irwin decides to write, I’ll be waiting (im)patiently because I absolutely love her writing style, and I cannot wait to devour more of it.

Final thoughts

I can go on endlessly about A Lady’s Guide to Scandal, but you have to read it yourself. Especially if you love the Regency era, you won’t be disappointed. Sophie Irwin did it again. That’s all there is to say. Go read it and go enjoy it. 🙂

Thank you so much @harper_reach for this ARC of A Lady’s Guide to Scandal in exchange for an honest review.


Title: A Lady’s Guide to Scandal
Author: Sophie Irwin
Pages: 400
ISBN: 9780008519575
Publisher: HarperCollins



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