Scandalous [Paperback]

As a teen, I devoured everything Louise Bagshawe (in her pre-Tory MP incarnation) produced. Career Girls, Tall Poppies, The Movie, Venus Envy... I read and re-read and thoroughly loved the trashy lot of them. So this, my first Tilly Bagshawe, had a lot to live up to in terms of familial expectations! To an extent, she didn't disappoint. She's perhaps even raunchier than Louise was in her hey-day, and that's saying something. Both Sasha and Theresa fit the Bagshawe mould of strong, intelligent women on a vengeful mission, and you really can't help but root for either of them. The settings are textbook glamourous affairs, but it's in hero creation and development that Tilly perhaps doesn't hit the heights attained by her sis. Or maybe I've just got older (a decade may do that to a girl) and find less of a no-holds-barred alpha male more attractive than the breathtakingly arrogant types trotted out in books like Scandalous.

Still, for an indulgent candyfloss beach read, I can't really fault this too much. It ticks all the titillating boxes and will keep you turning the pages waiting for the next explosive incident. All I'd say is: maybe check out Louise Bagshawe's backlist first, it's pretty identical fare, but somehow quite a bit juicier!

Sasha Miller is a young Cambridge physics student. She sets off for Cambridge with aspirations to become a scientist. What she doesn't realise is that she will pay the ultimate price for her ambitions. Her tutor, Theo Dexter, looks like a movie star. He has it all, the looks, the charm and the intelligence. He is also a married man. Sasha finds herself on the wrong end of Theo's self centred ways and leaves the UK for good with her heart broken. She is determined to make a life for herself so heads to the US and finds herself taking her career on a whole other path. Meanwhile, Theo's wife Theresa is also suffering. When Theo casts her aside for a younger and more attractive woman she too tries to move on with her life. What she doesn't realise is that in years to come not only will she meet up with Sasha Miller once again, but she will be asked to seek revenge against Theo.

Oh...my...GOD! Where have I been? This book has been in my ever growing pile of books to read for a little while and to be frank, would have stayed towards the bottom were it not for the rave reviews for it on certain websites. I am so glad that I made the time to read this because it was a corker of a book.

Although I tend to read a lot of crime and thriller type books I love a good Chick Lit book. I find that most of the more mainstream authors I have read or at least tried one of their books. Tilly Bagshawe however failed to reach my radar. I am also a huge fan of the Jackie Collins type smutty `bonkbusters' (I can almost hear people sighing with disdain). Tilly Bagshawe managed to create a perfect combination between the `bonkbuster' and the traditional `chick lit'.The characters were written brilliantly and you found yourself either loving or loathing them which is a true sign that the author is doing their job! Sasha Miller is more predominant in the first half of the book and slowly as the book and years progress we see much more of Theresa.

The book is set over a number of years but Tilly Bagshawe has managed to get the balance spot on in terms of time. We see just the right amount of each segment of their lives before moving 5 years down the road. She has created possibly one of the most arrogant male lead characters in this book which I just love. Not only do we get to see the book set over different times, but different parts of the world as well. It is set in Cambridge and then we move across the waters to New York once people's lives move on.I loved the fact that none of the storyline was predictable. Once I had finished I had a real sense of satisfaction and couldn't wait to order another of her books. She wrapped everything up nicely and managed to pull out many surprises over the course of the book. I read this book over a day and a half and am still slightly in shock that I have never read any of her work before.

This book had everything you could want, sex, glamour, revenge, love and fantastic characters. As a reader I could not ask for anything better and would highly recommend this book.

"Scandalous" isn't rocket science, it doesn't tax the brain but what it does do is give the reader a good read. For that, think holiday reads or on the plane. Tilly Bagshawe writes in a way that pulls the reader in and doesn't let go until the end. A very enjoyable way of passing the time even if I could see the ending pretty much from a third into the book!