Lord Scandal (Zebra Historical Romance) [Mass Market Paperback]

Imogen, the Portrait Divorcee, is living in the dowager house of her friend Lady Somercote. George, Lady Somercote, has invited guests (including her friend Gabriel) over for a party. Imogen and Gabriel meet at the beginning of the party and become attracted to one another. Gabriel immediately decides to use his time at the house party to seduce her, while Imogen decides to avoid him because she can't handle any more scandal. George is working to restore Imogen among the ton after she had been cast out for being divorced on the grounds of adultery. What follows is a game of hot and cold with Gabriel pursuing Imogen.

There was nothing wrong with the writing in this book, although it took me awhile to adjust to the abrupt way the scenes were cut, but I just couldn't ever immerse myself in the story. I never felt any depth to the characters so the storyline fell rather flat for me. I didn't like that so much time was spent on secondary characters (who I gather were the stars of a previous book) when I craved more details of why Imogen and Gabriel even liked each other beyond sex.

I think the major problem I had with the story was Imogen. I just didn't like her. She came across as rather whiny and melodramatic. It seemed like every chapter there was something new for her to have a minor drama about. I was also very bothered by her interactions with Gabriel. She wanted him but she didn't want scandal (which is understandable). She decides to have sex with him anyway but then doesn't let him know. She seemed to expect him to read her mind and sweep her off her feet so she wouldn't ever have to admit aloud that she wanted him. It seemed as though if he made all the moves she could justify it to herself because he seduced her. It just bothered me immensely.

I also didn't understand the little drama with her brother. One confrontation and he backed down? That was it? After seeing that it seemed comical that she would be afraid of him at all. It ended up giving me the impression that the drama was included only to manufacture a reason for Imogen to deny Gabriel.

Also, the separation at the end between Imogen and Gabriel made me shake my head. Can she never stick around and face a problem? Must she always be so weak that she needs to run away so she won't let her desire for Gabriel sweep her away? I just wanted to shake her and tell her to grow a backbone. Then when he finally catches up... nothing? It's like she never had a reason for leaving. It was baffling.

Overall I never got a sense of any real love between the main characters. All I felt was lust and even that fell flat for me. I have no doubt that this book will find fans. I think it's just a matter of taste and this story just didn't have a flavor I liked.

I loved this author's previous book "Lord Sin", so I thought Book two in this series would be pretty good. I was wrong! Lord Sin at least had a great subplot that involved murder and revenge that made the book very interesting and the romance really pop. This book has nothing like that.Gabriel and Imogen's romance seems bland with nothing driving it. This book consisted of just more George and her many many male friends going from one boring event to another. In fact, George has such a prominent presence in this book. The extra space could have been used to further develop Gabriel and Imogen's romance. Also, the character's inner thoughts in this book were so redundant and long that it seemed its only purpose was to just fill up space.I really wanted to like this book, but it was very hard and I wish I had never bought it.

Gabriel Angelstone (also known as Brimstone) is a rake. He loves women and women love him. However, he doesn't believe in love per se, he goes through life enjoying women on a "casual" basis.

Showing up early to a party being hosted by his close female friend George and her husband Ivo (the main couple in the author's previous book Lord Sin), he initially mistakens Imogen for George. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that it isn't George but a mysterious woman who's witty, well-read, and of course, beautiful. He's immediately attracted to her and can't resist making a pass at her. Imogen finds Gabriel attractive, but the last thing she needs is any notoriety, as she is trying to recover from being outcast from society.

Imogen is a divorcee. Her husband divorced her after a shocking portrait of her was painted. Since that time, life has been hard for Imogen. She's been cast off by her family (and a brother who hates her) and prior to meeting George, was living in a boardinghouse.

What follows is the romance of Gabriel who finds that yes, he now does believe in love and Imogen, torn between Gabriel and the hope of getting back into society - something that can't happen if she's with Gabriel.

If you read Lord Sin, you'll find that there are some familiar characters back in this book (like the heroine, George) and lots of secondary characters. Timing-wise, this book takes place after the main story of Lord Sin, but before the epilogue in that book.

I read and enjoyed Lord Sin and was curious to see how the author did with a second novel. I actually think I enjoyed this book more than Lord Sin. One of the issues that I had with Lord Sin was the lack of dialog in some key scenes. No such problem here, it seems like the author has done a great job with dialog. All in all, I enjoyed reading about Gabriel falling in love and Imogen unable to resist Gabriel.