A COURTESAN'S SCANDAL

Author: Julia London ISBN: 9781416547129 10/2009 HISTORICAL Publisher: POCKET BOOKS
Time Period: 1806-7

Kate Bergeron is the beautiful and mysterious former mistress of a cloth merchant...and the latest beauty to capture the interest of the Prince of Wales. Mired in a disastrous divorce, the Prince attempts to distract attention from his next amorous pursuit by ordering Grayson Christopher, the eligible Duke of Darlington, to pretend to London society that he is having an affair with Kate. When Grayson reluctantly agrees to his Prince's demand, he finds the lady no more willing than he is. Kate will grudgingly act the part in public, but her favors are not for sale to any man. As Grayson and Kate mimic ardor for the world to see, they find what started as a deception becoming all too real. And when passion flames into love, their predicament becomes extreme. For while marriage between a duke and a courtesan could never happen, Kate knows in her heart that she is willing to accept nothing less....

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

This is the final book in Julia London's Scandal Series, and unfortunately, the only story I've had the pleasure of reading. Not that that's a bad thing in the sense that this book stands well on its own. But it is a bad thing when it makes me realize just how much I've missed London's writing and emotionally-laden stories.

As always, I can count on Julia London to mix humor and emotional drama in perfect measure. In THE COURTESAN'S SCANDAL, Kate is a woman who has pulled herself up and out of poverty by becoming a courtesan. An extremely beautiful woman, she catches the eye of the Prince of Wales who "enlists" the aid of the Duke of Darlington to pretend he's having an affair with her until the time is right for the prince to officially make her his mistress. Though loath to do it, Darlington agrees. He instantly expects the worst of Kate, assuming she's a vain, selfish, cold, self-centered woman interested only in jewels and money. But soon the duke finds out just how wrong first impressions can sometimes be.

Kate's no fonder of this arrangement than Grayson. She doesn't need or want any emotional entanglements with men. She has plans for herself as well as the friends who surround and watch over her. She can no more forget her birth as a cloth merchant's daughter as she can those less fortunate that she's left behind—there, but for the grace of God go I, as they say. But Kate quickly finds herself as attracted to the handsome, arrogant duke as he is to this beautiful woman he cannot have.

While I loved London's writing, the characters, the dialogue, and felt there was a bit of a feel-good, Regency era Pretty Woman ring to this story, much of the plot—especially the ending—did seem pretty implausible to me. While this book is not one of my favorites from this author, I did enjoy THE COURTESAN'S SCANDAL enough to give it a 4 Rose Read.

Nancy Davis