This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.
About The Book
Growing up with four unruly brothers made Lady Freyja Bedwyn far bolder than most society ladies. On a visit to Bath, Joshua Moore bursts into feisty Freyja’s room, entreats beauty with tumbling hair to hide him. The hell-raiser, Marquess of Hallmere, asks her to pose as his fiancée, to thwart family matchmaking. The plan is perfect, until passion blindsides both.
My Review
First Impressions
I have been meaning to return to this series, I have seen lately quite a bit of creators talk about this series lately and it helps me realize that I have been neglecting it in that I haven’t read it at all. I really wanted to explore it more and see how I would enjoy these older books from this series and I grabbed this one in audio and I am really happy that I did because It just ended up being such a win I am not sure if it was the book or the narration or a combination of both but it ended up being such a win of a read. I loved everything about this book here and I was really interested in seeing how this author would write this story and develop the story and the way it would differ from her more recently released releases and I have to say I love the charm and the higher level of heat that she uses and in Slightly Scandalous we see a story that just has this gritty feel to it with the same level of charm, regency authenticity and a romance you can cheer on,
Summary
Freyja Bedwyn has four brothers that she has had to compete with and even as much as she loves them she needs some distance from them and from a heart hurting when a man she thinks that she loves chose another woman to love. She decides to do a visit to Bath, and then she has a stranger storm into her room, who is being hunted by others, and instant chemistry builds between these two but through a set of events that occur, they come to a mutual arrangement that will benefit them both….a fake engagement, Jake the Marquest of Hallmere, is being almost forced into an engagement with his cousin by his aunt who is determined to claim the title for her daughter no matter the cost. And that is not whom he would ever want to marry, he loves his cousin but more in a brotherly way. Then Freyja agrees to act as his betrothed to protect him and then her family becomes involved and what was to be a temporary relationship turns into something more real than either of them imagined.
What I Loved
I know some people had reservations about this book due to Freyja actions in the previous books but, to be honest it’s been years since I have read those books so I didn’t have that issue at all. I will admit that she took some getting used to but she wormed her way into my heart. I loved her drive and passion and independent she wanted to be from her family and society. I liked that she wanted to make her own rules in life and have a semblance of control when there wasn’t much. Then we have Jake, who appeared to be a wild rake but is so much more to him than a playful rogue. He is trying to get away from some trauma that happened when he was younger but he also wants to fight his own battles and find his own way without his meddlesome family, The romance was such fun, the way that these two banter with each other was beyond fun and they are both so independent but also see each other. Even though they are in denial of what they are feeling, especially Freyja, we see how they can help but aid and fight for each other. The sex scenes in this book is steamier than what you will see in her more recent releases and I really liked seeing a different level of heat than we are typically used to. The involvement of the Bedwyn family was hilarious; the more you are around this family, the more you are charmed by them.
I Know what you meant when you told me she was full of love and brimming over with it. And so innocent that one fears for her. Perhaps we ought not to fear for such people but for ourselves whose experience has taught us not to trust one another or life itself.
What I Struggled With
There was hardly anything I had issues with, just had so much fun with this one
The Narration
Rosalyn Landor is such a queen when it comes to narrating historicals, especially the regency/victorian kind. She can take some getting used to, but I found that she reflected the personalities of the characters so well and really delivered on all fronts. The level of emotion and unrequited love that felt so real was so perfectly delivered by this narrator.
Overall View
Slightly Scandalous is a witty, challenging, and a fight for love type of romance. Its a story that won’t be easy to let go of and will charm you endlessly.
Book Details
Title: Slightly Scandalous
Author: Mary Balogh
Genre: Historical Romance
Format: Audiobook
Source: Hoopla Digital
Length: 11 Hours and 56 Mins
About the Narrators
Rosalyn Landor is an English-born television, theater, and multiple-award-winning audiobook narrator. Her television credits include Love in a Cold Climate, Rumpole of the Bailey, Sherlock Holmes, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. She has won numerous Audie awards and AudioFile magazine Earphones awards.
Book Links
Amazon| Barnes & Noble| Kobo| Goodreads| LibraryThing| Storygraph| Literal Club| Audible| Anyplay
Book Evaluation
Storytelling Quality: 5
Story Itself: 5
Character Development: 5
Writing Style: 4.5
World Building 5
Feels + The Romantic Heart 5
Pacing 5
Plot 5
Narration= 5
Cover Art 4
Ending 5
Book Ratings
Rating of the Book
Steam Level
Simmering cup of tea—soft warm touches and light intimacy
Warmin’ by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.
Steamin’ up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.
Blazing fire to the building-The prime focus is the sex scenes, scorching hot, and could burn one. Less focus on the emotional intimacy to the relationship.
Series Order
Bedwyn Saga
One Night For Love-Pub 1999 Prequel #1
A Summer to Remember-Pub 2002 Prequel #2
Slightly Married-Pub 2003 #1 in the Series
Slightly Wicked-Pun 2003 #2 in the Series
Slightly Scandalous-Pub 2003 #3 in the Series
Slightly Tempted-Pub 2003 #4 in the Series
Slightly Sinful-Pub 2004 #5 in the Series
Slightly Dangerous-Pub 2004 #6 in the Series
Once upon a Dream-Pub 2016 #6.5 in the Series
About The Author
Mary Jenkins was born in 1944 in Swansea, Wales, UK. After graduating from university, moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, to teach high school English, on a two-year teaching contract in 1967. She married her Canadian husband, Robert Balogh, and had three children, Jacqueline, Christopher and Sian. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, music and knitting. She also enjoys watching tennis and curling.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling ‘Slightly’ sextet and ‘Simply’ quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award
Great review! I added this one to my wishlist!
Oh Freya, she was such a spitfire. I enjoyed the Bedwyn family books.
Your glowing review makes me want to go back and read the Bedwyn books again! 🙂 I remember Freya being a bit much at first but of course Mary Balogh adds in all the wonderful emotions and wins readers over by the ending. Glad it worked so well in audio for you!