Book Review: A Scot in the Dark by Sarah MacLean

Title: A Scot in the Dark

Author: Sarah MacLean

Series: Scandal & Scoundrel #2

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Avon

Pub Date: August 30, 2016

Pages: 352

My Copy: Courtesy of Edelweiss and Publisher For Review

Book Summary:

Lonesome Lily Turned Scandalous Siren

Miss Lillian Hargrove has lived much of her life alone in a gilded cage, longing for love and companionship. When an artist offers her pretty promises and begs her to pose for a scandalous portrait, Lily doesn't hesitate...until the lying libertine leaves her in disgrace. With the painting now public, Lily has no choice but to turn to the one man who might save her from ruin.

Highland Devil turned Halfhearted Duke

The Duke of Warnick loathes all things English, none more so than the aristocracy. It does not matter that the imposing Scotsman has inherited one of the most venerable dukedoms in Britain—he wants nothing to do with it, especially when he discovers that the unwanted title comes with a troublesome ward, one who is far too old and far too beautiful to be his problem.

Tartan Comes to Town

Warnick arrives in London with a single goal: get the chit married and see her become someone else's problem, then return to a normal, quiet life in Scotland. It's the perfect plan, until Lily declares she'll only marry for love...and the Scot finds that there is one thing in England he likes far too much…

Book Review:

Two unlikely people who find themselves looking for something to fix. I like how you get a duke who really doesn’t want to be Duke and then gets a ward as well, a female ward. Alec and Lillian are two individuals find themselves needing one another more than they realize.

I like how this starts with Alec being notified that he is a duke and doesn’t want the title. He feels like this has nothing to do with him. Alec is not informed after several of the dukes have died that he also inherited a ward, a young woman named Lilian Hargrove. Also we get some background on Lillian Hargrove’s situation and the scandal that is going to erupt. Lillian thought this man, Derek loved her, and that they were going to marry, otherwise she would have never posed nude for him. If this painting of her, the nude, will ruin her reputation. So the mere fact that she even did this, is causing a scandal, even though the nude has not been revealed.

One of the things that I like about this book is  that these two individuals have strong willed personalities. Two people who have strong wills are going to have conflict between them. This conflict is about Lillian never having need of a guardian. Alec thinks otherwise. This mess that she has gotten involved in, this proves otherwise at least in Alec’s mind. We also learn that she has issues with trust, like him.

We get a lot of ups and downs with these two individuals as Alec thinks that getting Lillian married to some English lord will be good for her and help to lessen the blow of the scandal. The painting hasn’t been revealed yet, but will soon, so to ease this possible scandal, getting someone to marry her, means she will be protected and not his problem. Plus Derek the one who painted the nude, will have to deal with things.

As we get to know both Lillian and Alec a little bit more we find that both of them have felt like they were damaged by being neglected and that they didn’t have any friends to talk to. We also learn that there seems to be an attraction between the two of them. So they get to have a deeper emotional attachment despite him trying to set her up with someone else and it doesn’t work. Lilian also gets to meet some interesting young women. These are some characters from Sarah MacLean’s other books, which was nice to see.

I love how both Lillian and Alec work together to get the painting back. The way that this unfolds is really interesting and such a different way of solving a problem. Yet things never go as planned and utter hijinks ensue. Also things happen between the two of them that neither of them expects or sees how things will transpire. I like how Lillian is the one who decides that she wants Alec to be hers regardless of what he says, because deep down inside knows he is the man for her. 

This book had a great ending for me. I also like how both Alec and Lillian started off not really thinking that they needed anyone, but realize they need each other more than they ever thought possible. This was an awesome romance. I really love these two characters.

Rating:

4 Hearts