GIVEAWAY & REVIEW - Toni's Review of Invitation to Scandal by Bronwen Evans ***4 Stars***

   

Her secrets are coming undone...

Plagued by scandalous rumors, Rheda Kerrich will stop at nothing to restore her reputation and make an honest living for herself—and she’s determined to do it without a husband. But times are hard, and smuggling is a risky though profitable trade. So when a dashing agent for the English government catches her in the act, she desperately resists his charms and conceals her illicit profession. Until she realizes he may be the key to her ultimate freedom—and unbridled passion…

Rufus Knight, Viscount Strathmore, has never had trouble beguiling the ladies of Kent. When his search for “Dark Shadow,” a cunningly elusive smuggler, leads him to alluring and headstrong Rhe, her objections to his amorous advances merely incite a tantalizing game of cat and mouse. Soon, they’ll find the very secrets driving them apart could ensnare them in a love they can’t escape…

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Take one self sufficient smart woman and a man on a mission to clear his family’s name and you get a clash of wills that the small town of Deal has never seen before.

Growing up witnessing the unhappy marriage of her parents has jaded Rheda Kerrich.  Then add an unforeseen scandal and Rheda is now in the perfect position to stay unmarried, which is just fine by her.  She has worked too long and hard to allow a man to rule her world.  She has a community to take care of and a husband would only be in the way.

For over a decade, Rufus has battled the lies that have clouded his family’s world.  He is closing in on the truth and he is not about to let one allusive woman get in his way.  He will just have to be smarter and use every trick he knows to find out the truth.

These two have many secrets between them.  Neither knows what is really at stake and until they can be honest with each other, they won’t get anywhere.  The problem is there is a spy lurking around and is tangled in both their lives.  The spy has secrets that they will kill for and has done so in the past.  Can Rheda and Rufus protect all they love and each other? 

This was an exciting read.  While the antagonist hid in the background, you had these two strong people battling their feelings and guarding their individual secrets.  The novel did not revolve around the mystery of their secrets; it was more about the unveiling of it amongst the characters.  As the reader, you knew what was happening most of the time.  But Ms. Evans was very clever and she had other secrets buried that were just as juicy.  It was great to be able to enjoy them later on.  I also had a very good idea, who the antagonist was early on, but the way that Ms. Evans wrote the story, it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the plot.  It was very well done.

All of the characters involved were such a pleasure to read about.  At times I wanted to clobber Rheda’s brother Daniel and at other times, cheer on the townsfolk.  I enjoyed how they were all unique and how they enhanced the storyline.  But I loved the cat and mouse game that Rheda and Rufus played, most of all.  Just sitting back and wondering who was going to get the upper hand was the best.  Not to mention Ms. Evans starts the book rather saucily and sets the stage for sexy scenes without being too erotic.  Invitation to Scandal is a complex vivid tale that is well balanced. 

I did not have the opportunity to read her prior book in this series Invitation to Ruin.  I don’t feel like I missed anything either.  These two books are linked, but they seem to be their own stories.  I truly enjoyed Invitation to Scandal and I plan to read Invitation to Ruin as soon as I can get my hands on it.  It is my hope that Ms. Evans has future plans for the other bachelors in her little corner of England.  She has a wonderful talent to write distinctive plots that are above and beyond the norm and she is a real pleasure to read.  This is a relatively new author to watch.  Great Job!


Thanks for reading - Toni

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