A Novel with Thoughts and Ponderings

PRELUDE TO A SCANDAL

Author: Delilah Marvelle ISBN:9780373775378 1/2011 HISTORICAL Publisher: HQN
Time Period: 1829 London

Preclude to a Scandal by Delilah Marvelle
Marriage is NOT the end of desire.
 
THE BATTLE BETWEEN LADY AND RAKE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN...

Lady Justine is willing to trade her good name, her reputation and her place in London's gossip-hungry ton, to secure her father's release from prison.  But when the notorious Duke of Bradford counters her offer with a proposal of marriage, the stakes grow higher still.  For while the smoldering lord is famous for his conquests, the man is oblivious to both her devotion and her charms.  And Justine is soon afraid she has wagered all for naught...

A red little book by an unknown author. 
Three unlikely couples...and scandal galore. 
Look for the rest of the scandal series!

ARE YOU READY TO BE SCANDALIZED?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

According to the back cover, PRELUDE TO A SCANDAL appears to be one of those heroines who offers herself up to a rake for marriage to save the family. In some ways, that’s exactly what it is, but there’s also a "Letter to the Readers" behind the front cover that introduces two of the more important plot points: sodomy and sex addiction. You see, Justine’s father is currently in jail for publishing a paper that essentially says sodomy is natural, and man should take his cue from the animal kingdom and embrace, rather than shun, sodomy. Second, Radcliff suffers from an uncontrollable sex addiction, and spends most of the book trying to keep his insatiable need for sex from scaring away his new wife.

While I didn’t enjoy PRELUDE TO A SCANDAL as much as I could have, it wasn’t because of these unusual topics. I actually thought it was refreshing to see a romance tackle a topic that’s usually considered taboo but had to have been present in that time period. However, I did think that the reader needed some more warning than just the letter to readers on the inside cover. Some mention of the delicate nature of the stories in the back cover would have been appreciated.

What makes PRELUDE TO A SCANDAL a captivating book is the grittiness of the prose. This is not a book filled with flowery language and purple prose. Given the seriousness of Radcliff’s addiction, I appreciated that. The problem for me was that I never really connected with Justine or Radcliffe. I didn’t really believe that Justine loved Radcliffe; I believe she had a crush on him when she was younger, but that doesn’t translate into love for me. I thought Radcliffe was a walking erection, and while I’m willing to believe in how his addiction developed, I don’t believe that just the love of a good woman was enough to cure him.

PRELUDE TO A SCANDAL is the first in a three book series released back-to-back-to-back. I’m not ready to put Delilah Marvelle on my auto buy list, but this was a different enough of a read that I would at least be interested in finding out the plots of the next books and deciding then.

Melissa Stratford

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