ARC Book Review-My Season of Scandal by Julie Anne Long

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

About The Book

In USA Today bestselling author Julie Anne Long’s latest installment in the Palace of Rogues series, a notorious rake meets his match in a doe-eyed girl from the country, changing the course of both of their futures…

A London season is the chance of a lifetime for Catherine Keating. But the ton’s glitter and decadence and casual cruelty threaten to crush her hopes of finding a husband before her season even begins…until she accidentally acquires one of the most scandalous men in England as a secret chaperone.

Famously fiery Lord Dominic Kirke can hold the House of Commons—and any woman he chooses— in thrall. But when his house goes up in flames in the dead of night, he finds himself at the Grand Palace on the Thames. And there he discovers his cynical armor is no match for another an innocent country girl with a crackling wit and eyes like a summer sky.

He’s maddening, elusive, hopelessly charismatic, wrong in every way—perfectly designed to break her heart. But she doesn’t know she holds his battered heart in her hands. And though it will destroy him, Dominic knows loving her means setting Catherine free for the life—and man—she deserves.

My Review

First Impressions

My Season of Scandal is the seventh installment in the “Palace of Rogues” series and I still can’t believe how large this series has become. I hadd high hopes for this one because the previous book “How to Tame a Wild Rogue” was epic and everything I could have hoped for. I wasn’t sure how this installment would match with the previous book and I will say that even though it didn’t meet my full standards, this book was cozy and charming and the type of story to relax with on a cold night with. Although when this review comes out winter will be almost out, but as I read this book in November it was just perfection for the type of vibe that I was looking for. I think what was the struggle was the pacing. This story is super slow burn. Its probably one of the slowest slow burn’s I have seen from this author and so I definitely feel like you need to know this going into it. I really enjoyed the way that this story was implemented but the execution was slight off and read this NOT right before bed is my best advice.

Summary

Catherine Keating has a chance to find a husband and she comes to London for the season to hopefully find the husband that her father wants for her, as he wants her to find a love match like what he had with her mother. Catherine would do anything to never disappoint her father and so she comes to London to fulfill her father’s dreams for her. But when she resides in the “Palace of Rogues” she comes across the most delicious man that is almost forbidden to her….Lord Dominic Kirke. He is rumored to have mistresses and to be bold in the commons and fighting for children’s rights. Kirke is forced to find a place of refuge when his home is accidentally burnt down. He puts on armor as a matter of protection and keeping people at bay. He is more of a recluse, and doesn’t like people and only interacts out of necessity. He is intrigue and drawn to Catherine. They have a interaction that makes him come alive. But the issue now is that he has a past, a past that if trust isn’t carefully built will crumble around them.

What I Loved

So for the aspects that I really loved. The connection that Keating and Kirke have together were so intense at times. And the moments in which these two banter with each other was so endearing. Everytime these two would talk with each other, I was laughing all over the place. It just delivered all the happy feels that I was expecting for this couple. They seem like they would be too opposite from each other, but in the end they ended up just right for each other. I also was intrigued by their cute meet. It was so different but adorable in how it really added some complexity to their relationship. There were some poignant moments between this couple and I was really drawn into the quiet moments that this couple have together. Honestly, the best parts of the story were when they were “together” and I wish that we could have received a bit more of these moments. We do get some beautiful atmospheric vibes of the actual place they are staying with and I loved seeing our previous characters that we have fallen hard for within the series. All in all this was a solid win of a story that was charming and delectable.

What I Struggled With

So I want to cover the issues that I had with this story. There were a few with this one. This book could have been a bit more quicker paced. The writing is very similar to what she has been writing with the series but it was very slow. I feel like the slow burn was not quite written correctly because this book almost put me to sleep. I just had a hard time staying invested in the story when it took forever for any action to happen within the story. The chemistry between these two was so so slow and it took some time to adjust to it. And also the conflict in the story. *sigh* this one was a struggle for sure. I really had a hard time with the third act conflict. It just felt so unnecessary. Like it was placed in the story just for dramatic effect but not for a real purpose other than that and I wanted to shake the heroine. And quite frankly she should have done some groveling worthy of this hero for this one.

Overall View

MY Season of Scandal is a story that delivered a intimate slow burn that grows this relationship from friendship to lovers and in seeing a couple learning to fight for the relationship and how their dynamic flows to match up with expectations. A COZY SWEET ROMANCE!

Title: My Season of Scandal

Author: Julie Anne Long

Genre: Historical Romance

Format: eARC

Source: Avon

Length: 384 Pages

Book Links

Amazon| Barnes and Noble| Kobo| Goodreads| LibraryThing| StoryGraph| Literal Club

Series Order

About The Author

Well, where should I start? I’ve lived in San Francisco for more than a decade, usually with at least one cat. I won the school spelling bee when I was in 7th grade; the word that clinched it was ‘ukulele.’ I originally set out to be a rock star when I grew up (I had a Bono fixation, but who didn’t?), and I have the guitars and the questionable wardrobe stuffed in the back of my closet to prove it.

But writing was always my first love.

I was editor of my elementary school paper (believe it or not, Mrs. Little’s fifth grade class at Glenmoor Elementary did have one); my high school paper (along with my best high school bud, Cindy Jorgenson); and my college paper, where our long-suffering typesetter finally forced me to learn how to typeset because my articles were usually late (and thus I probably have him to thank for all the desktop publishing jobs that ensued over the years).

Won a couple of random awards along the way: the Bank of America English Award in High School (which basically just amounted to a fancy plaque saying that I was really, really good at English); and an award for best Sports Feature article in a College Newspaper (and anyone who knows me well understands how deeply ironic that is). I began my academic career as a Journalism major; I switched to Creative Writing, which was a more comfortable fit for my freewheeling imagination and overdeveloped sense of whimsy. I dreamed of being a novelist.

But most of us, I think, tend to take for granted the things that come easily to us. I loved writing and all indications were that I was pretty good at it, but I, thank you very much, wanted to be a rock star. Which turned out to be ever-so-slightly harder to do than writing. A lot more equipment was involved, that’s for sure. Heavy things, with knobs. It also involved late nights, fetid, graffiti-sprayed practice rooms, gorgeous flakey boys, bizarre gigs, in-fighting—what’s not to love?

But my dream of being a published writer never faded. When the charm (ahem) of playing to four people in a tiny club at midnight on a Wednesday finally wore thin, however, I realized I could incorporate all the best things about being in a band — namely, drama, passion, and men with unruly hair — into novels, while at the same time indulging my love of history and research.