Scandalous Historical Romance Book Series by Caroline Linden

Love and Other Scandals by Caroline Linden (2013)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Scandalous series. Joan is the plump and tall daughter of a baronet who is practically a spinster and has an overbearing mother. While she is delivering a message to her brother to attend an upcoming ball, she encounters her brother’s friend Tristan staying at her brother’s lodgings. Although Tristan does not typically attend society events, he’s intrigued and irritated by Joan so he seeks her out at the next ball. This ball ends up being pretty eventful for Joan and Tristan, as he scandalizes her with his behavior, insults her, but also dances with her and kisses her. It’s an amusing mix of actions here that leave Joan and Tristan totally confused about how they feel about each other. Joan’s mother disapproves of Tristan due to his scandalous reputation, and extracts Joan’s promise to avoid him in the future. However, as Joan’s parents and brother need to leave town soon after that, Joan’s brother asks Tristan to look after Joan and visit her. There’s a slow build up of real feelings between Tristan and Joan here, both getting over their initial reaction to the other.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

It Takes a Scandal by Caroline Linden (2014)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Scandalous series. We start with a tragic prologue for Sebastian, where he’s injured from war, his former best friend is accusing him of eloping with his younger sister, and his madman of a father has gone missing. Life is pretty awful for Sebastian. Fast forward six or seven years and the wealthy Weston family has moved to town so that heiresses Abigail and Penelope have the chance of meeting more gentlemen suitors. Abigail happens to meet Sebastian in the adjoining property when her mother’s puppy runs into the woods. He’s hesitant to introduce himself or spend any time with Abigail, probably due to his own tarnished and impoverished circumstances. Despite his reticence, Abigail is intrigued by him. They continue to accidentally meet in the woods until they start purposefully meeting there and it’s a slow burn romance as Abigail learns Sebastian’s secrets. At some point, Sebastian’s former friend Benedict joins the story to serve as a rival for Abigail’s affections, but her choice between the two men is pretty obvious to everyone else.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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All’s Fair in Love and Scandal by Caroline Linden (2015)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2.5 of the Scandalous series. Novella-length story. Douglas is wagered by his somewhat disreputable friend to dance with Madeline, the somewhat aloof widow who stands at the sidelines of balls. Upon rejection, Douglas is faced with an even bolder wager: unmask Madeline as the author of a scandalous pamphlet. While the reader is unsure of Madeline is the anonymous authoress, we do know that she writes some sort of column and passes it on to a publisher. She tries to maintain her distance from society, while still being invited everywhere, so that she can collect gossip from society events. She’s also completely wary of Douglas’ attentions, even though she is attracted to him. Douglas aims to spend more time with Madeline, escorting her places and attempting to flirt with her. Their acquaintance grows over the next few weeks until Douglas is convinced that he will not expose her in any way and Madeline is completely unsure of herself and her feelings for him. This all wraps up pretty quickly and was an enjoyable novella to read.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Love in the Time of Scandal by Caroline Linden (2015)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Scandalous series. We start with a tragic prologue of Benedict’s upbringing to highlight just how cruel his earl of a father is and why he might behave in certain ways. The story starts with Penelope being bored and lonely at a ball now that her friend and sister have married (in Books 1 and 2 of the series). Penelope is trying to be supportive of her new friend’s suitor, but quickly realizes that she’s talking about Benedict, the man who previously courted Penelope’s sister and turned his back on a childhood friend. With this prior experience with Benedict, Penelope is wary of his affection for her friend. Benedict tries to make amends with Penelope, but they end up bickering instead, and ultimately Benedict blames Penelope for not being able to secure an engagement with the other lady. However, when Penelope ends up being the subject of scandalous rumors, Benedict decides to marry her. For two people who cannot seem to agree on anything, it’s interesting to see how they find common ground. This book has lots of drama here with a treacherous villain in the background, plus dealing with Benedict’s horrible father.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

A Study in Scandal by Caroline Linden (2016)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3.5 of the Scandalous series. Quick novella here about an earl’s daughter who runs away from an unwanted engagement. Samantha’s cruel father has decided to punish her by arranging a marriage to a monstrous marquess’ son. She seizes the opportunity to run away, nearly gets kidnapped, but then is rescued. Gray is the son of a duke and also a painter who feels instantly protective of Samantha, even though she pretends to have forgotten who she is and will not reveal what she’s running from. In exchange for room and protection, Samantha assists Gray in his art studio and poses as his model. While the romanting relationship between Samantha and Gray develops swiftly, there is the looming danger of being caught by her father.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Six Degrees of Scandal by Caroline Linden (2016)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Scandalous series. This book starts with a heartbreaking prologue where Olivia and James meet as youths, are nearly engaged, and then Olivia is married off in exchange for money for her father’s debts. Ten years later, Olivia is widowed and being pursued by one of her late husband’s associates looking for smuggled treasure. When Olivia flees London to investigate a lead, she’s soon caught by James who vows to assist her and secure her safety. He’s been feeling guilty and regretful ever since he missed his chance to marry her all those years ago. We get these two partnering up to solve the mystery her late husband left behind and rekindling their lost love. Super interesting to uncover the mystery and see it tie back to characters from previous books in the series. And we eventually unmask the writer of the notoriously scandalous pamphlet that has been circulating in London.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Secret of My Seduction by Caroline Linden (2017)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4.5 of the Scandalous series. Quick novella here with Bathsheba asking for bedding lessons from Liam, the publisher of her anonymously penned naughty novels. Bathsheba is running out of ideas (and experience) for her books, so she figures some hand-on research is needed. While Liam tries to reject her at first, he soon realizes that he doesn’t want her turning to anyone else. As they spend more time together, Liam slowly realizes that he wants to keep Bathsheba in his life for good.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.