Elena Reviews: A Lady's Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin (Coming out July 2023!!)

Title: A Lady's Guide to Scandal

Author: Sophie Irwin

Publication Date: July 6th, 2023

Genres: Historical Romance

Internationally bestselling author Sophie Irwin brings us another fresh, witty take on a romantic escape led by a deeply lovable heroine determined to start living on her own terms

When shy Miss Eliza Balfour married the austere Earl of Somerset, twenty years her senior, it was the match of the season--no matter that he was not the husband Eliza would have chosen.

But ten years later, Eliza is widowed. And at eight and twenty years, she is suddenly left titled, rich, and, for the first time in her life, utterly in control of her own future. Instead of living out her mourning quietly, Eliza heads to Bath with her cousin Margaret. After years of living according to everyone else's rules, Eliza has resolved, at last, to do as she wants.

But when the ripples of the dowager Lady Somerset's behavior reach the new Lord Somerset--whom Eliza knew, once, as a younger woman--Eliza is forced to confront the fact that freedom does not come without consequences, though it also brings unexpected opportunities

I received this book from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I want to preface this by saying that A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting has been on my TBR for a while now, long before I came across its companion, A Lady's Guide to Scandal on Edelweiss! Which means that after been completely blown away by how enjoyable this was, I plan on picking that one up soon as well! Just a little heads up, since this has a Victorian setting, be prepared to be outraged by the ridiculous treatment of women at the time, which resonates with a contemporary framework as well, especially now!

This book was purely enjoyable, there's nothing revolutionary about it, which in hindsight sounds bad, but believe me, it's not. Reading books just for the pleasure of it is what I consider more therapeutic than anything, and even though books have always been a form of escape for me, growing up and having less time to enjoy them has put many things into perspective. With that being said, the plot itself was interesting enough and its development quite easy to follow. The worldbuilding was simple and got the point across, which made the story easy to read in the best way possible. After the first couple of chapters, I was completely hooked and powered through this like my life depended on it.

The characters were also likable and even though I couldn't relate to Eliza, I really admired how she finally had the guts to stand up for herself and assert her independence within a society that objectified women and bartered them around for the sake of marriage and family. I didn't find the transition from shy to confident smooth enough, to be completely honest, I feel like she went from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye and I would've definitely appreciated a certain amount of building-up this -brilliant, nonetheless- transformation where her character development is concerned.

It's safe to say that as much as I liked Eliza, I detested Somerset, which made the choice I had to make as a reader coming across a love triangle and inevitably having to choose sides even easier for me. This doesn't mean that I'm inclined to overlook his contribution to the plot in general, on the contrary, his function as a character whose traditional outlooks on women and marriage are no longer compatible with Eliza's made him the perfect love interest that was just not meant to be. He's not really the one that got away, he's just the person who would've forced Eliza to conform to society's expectations once again, by sacrificing her newfound happiness and spirit. Somerset was the safe choice I'm so glad Eliza didn't make!

Which brings me to Melville, whom I absolutely adored from the second he was introduced. Throughout the narrative, his open mind and disregard for etiquette made him even more appealing in my eyes and he was perfect for Eliza. He truly helped her come out of her shell, something the secondary characters contributed to as well throughout the novel. And of course I can't help but stress the importance of Margaret's presence in Eliza's novel and the plot in general, she was a force to be reckoned with and I would've definitely read a book dedicated to her! Back to Melville, he was fun, intelligent and supported Eliza in a way that hardly any had done in the past. Their relationship definitely needed to be explored by the author a bit more, in my opinion, just for the sheer pleasure it would've resulted in!

Overall, I really enjoyed A Lady's Guide to Scandal, which I was kind of sure about before I even started reading it. I was a quick and light read that I highly recommend if you're a fan of Historical Romances, looking for something easy and fun to lift your spirits up in between some, say, Fantasy!

Stay tuned! Until the next post,