Review: Romance derailed by disjointed conspiracy
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 18, 2014
After readingScandalously Yours (The Hellions of High Street)- a delightful romantic comedy I wholeheartedly recommend - my expectations for the second installment of the series were much too high. I wanted to love this book, truly, but just... didn't. And even charming scenes between lead characters weren't enough make up for the weakness of the plot.At a house party in Scotland, the heroine, a prim and proper beauty, who supplements her income by writing mildly scandalous romantic fiction under a nom de plume, abandons all common sense and charges into danger, constantly getting in the way of hero's investigation into a possible conspiracy to commit murder of a foreign prince. That isn't to say that he's much better at figuring things out, mind you, which shouldn't come as a surprise, since he isn't a full-time spy. He free-lances on assignments from the Home Office - for a sizable reward - when he isn't busy upholding a reputation of being the most notorious rake of the beau monde and working on mechanical automations, which he sells to collectors to restore the fortune his wastrel ancestors squandered.The dangerous conspiracy, which should have brought the hero and heroine together, often interfered with the growing physical and emotional bond between them, and eventually eclipsed their romance. I wouldn't have minded it as much as I did had it been even remotely believable, but too many random events had to fall into place precisely as they did in order for the mastermind behind the plan to be as involved as she was.