A Dash of Scandal [Mass Market Paperback]

A Dash of Scandal by Amelia Grey
Grade: C

"Can a startle be good?' she asked.
"Yes."
"How so?"
"I'll show you sometime, but in order for it to work you can't have a guilty conscience."

Millicent Blair never thought she would have a season in high English society, The Ton, after twenty years earlier her mother was driven from London by scandal and never returned. An unfortunate accident involving her dear aunt, her aunt's dog and a flight of stairs make it impossible for her aunt to go to society parties and listen for the gossip that she then uses for her Lord Truefitt's Society Daily Column. Millicent now has to be her aunt's eyes and ears at parties and in ballrooms and been instructed to stay far away from three men known as the Terrible Threesome, three famous rakes, who happen to be Earls she may find herself in way over her head.
Chandler Prestwick, the Earl of Dunraven, and a member of what the Ton calls the Terrible Three, has one goal this season and that is to find the person who stole a priceless heirloom from his estate after a party his mother hosted. Soon the gossip pages are filled with news of the Mad Ton Thief who just happens to be a part of the high society he or she is stealing from. and Chandler searches for clues at society parties and balls looking for the thief. At one such party he stumbles across newcomer Millicent Blair who always seems to be in hidden corners. Millicent is unlike any woman Chandler has ever met and he soon finds himself forgetting all about his family heirloom and spending time finding out all he can about Millicent Blair.
Chandler and Milicent are very typical historical romance characters: he is an Earl who has never had to worry about anything but getting into a compromising situation with a young lady and having to marry before he decides to grow up, where she has some scandal in her family's past and has some how gotten to come to society but know one can know who she truly is. They meet, fall in love although it's not a good match and somehow everything turns out perfectly. If that paragraph sounds cynical or like I've read too many books from this genre you might be correct but that didn't stop me from enjoying A Dash of Scandal anyway.
Even though Chandler and Millicent are typical characters I found that I liked both of them very much and found their banter to be very clever and funny. I did find it annoying at times that Chandler seemed to go out of his way to try to ruin Millicent's reputation even though she begs him over and over to leave her alone. I got even more annoyed when later on Millicent begs Chandler to ruin her reputation after she fought so hard to keep it in tack. These two issues are the main reason that I didn't give the book a higher grade. I felt that both characters were being selfish and I didn't enjoy either of them behaving this way.
I loved that at the beginning of each chapter there is blurb from Lord Truefitt's Society Daily column and in the blurb Mellicent has added a Shakespeare quote. I found these entries to be something that I looked forward to at the beginning of each chapter and I looked forward to seeing of I could identify the quote that was used. It was very clever little things like this that made me enjoy this book and set it apart from others in it's genre. The Mad Ton Thief was another one of these clever things that I looked forward to and I wish that there had more focus on catching the thief then on Chandler and Mellicent going on and on about her reputation and him being a rake. I was very surprised that I couldn't guess who the thief was and even more surprised when it's revealed who it is.
I know from one of my earlier paragraphs it may have sounded like this is just another typical historical romance novel and if you've read these novels before this is just like all the rest of them and in parts this is true and parts its not. If you are looking for characters to break out of the historical romance lord and lady this is not for you but if you are looking for a clever story, a little Shakespeare and a mystery that will keep you guessing to the end this is the historical romance novel for you.

Just the book to curl up in front of the fire and snuggle into a warm blanket to lose yourself in Regency England. The dialogue is witty, the pace fast, and the Shakespeare quotes from Lord Truefitt's column that begin each chapter are so clever! One of my favorite books of the year!

A DASH OF SCANDAL by Amelia Grey is a historical romance set in Regency England.It is the story of the dashing,handsome,sexy,Chandler, Earl of Dunraven and Millicent,a gently bred lady who is in London to help her aunt,who writes a gossip column for Society's Daily Column as Lord Truefitt.It has witty dialogue,with mystery,a clever scheme,vivid characters,sensual tension,romance,thief,and a spice of love. This is an engaging story full of charm,set at a lively pace that is sure to appeal to any historical,romance,mystery and Regency readers. "A Dash of Scandal" is a dash of spice in a world there there is upheaval,a thief,uncertainity and a few complications.A great,light read full of charm and characters that will capture your heart. Received for review from the publisher.Details can be found at Sourcebooks Casablanca,an imprint of Sourcebooks,Inc. and My Book Addiction Reviews.

It was originally published by Jove Books in 2002.