#Review: HIS STUDY IN SCANDAL by Megan Frampton

 

3 of 5 stars

Alexandra, Duchess of Chelmsworth, is finally out of mourning after 2 years--mourning a man she never loved. She's finally no longer beholden to a man telling her what to do. The only thing the duke did right was to give her a daughter, and now Alexandra must navigate the marriage mart to find her daughter a husband. Except, the current duke, her stepson, has just informed her that Harriet will marry Mr. Theo Osborne. Alexandra has one last night of freedom before the Season starts, and she heads to the pleasure Garden of Hedon where she meets the most extraordinarily handsome man--one who listens to her and does what she wants without demanding anything in return. He gives her a night of unimaginable pleasure, and she never gets his name. Imagine her shock when the duke introduces Theo as the suitor for Alexandra's daughter. Theo has never been so affected by a woman as he was when he spent the night with a beautiful woman, only to discover she is the mother of the young woman the Duke of Chelmsworth wants him to marry. How can he marry the daughter when all he can do is think about the mother?

This story started off great. Alexandra had been browbeaten for nearly two decades by the former duke, and she was finally starting to assert herself in making choices for the rest of her life. She wanted her daughter to have a choice to decide her life--choices she was never given. After she discovers who Theo is, the story could have been an opportunity for tremendous growth for both her and Theo, but that's not what happened. In the last 3/4 of the book, all Alexandra does is complain about men who make unilateral decisions, and when Theo tries to rush in and save a very bad situation, she gets furious with him for interfering, which is really ridiculous seeing as she had been relying on him for weeks to help her navigate the sticky situation with the duke. I didn't really connect with Alexandra. She was just so whiny about how she's never given a choice. I loved Theo. He is so honorable and wants to do everything in his power to help Alexandra, but when he steps into a very tense situation and offers a solution, Alexandra turns on him and lumps him in with all the other men in her life who have controlled and disappointed her. I'm surprised Theo stayed around after that. While I absolutely loved the first book, this one fell a little flat for me. I'm looking forward to reading more about the orphans!

I voluntarily read the advanced reader copy, and all opinions are my own.