Before the Scandal

In Suzanne Enoch's Before the Scandal, the second installment in the Notorious Gentlemen series, get ready to be hooked into a wild ride of romance and danger. When Colonel Phineas Bromley received a mysterious missive from his sister Elizabeth, he took a leave from fighting the war and returned home to London. Little did he know and later find, someone tries to push his family into ruin. First the fire, then the wells, and the loose bloodhound. Phin needed his ally Thad Gordon, and someone close to help him discover the truth. Ten years ago, before the scandal when he accidentally handicapped his brother, Phin and Alyse were friends. Now he had returned from the war, he gets to know her more intimately and becomes her friend. For Alyse, she's been forced to be her aunt's companion and with her cousin, both people she couldn't stand to be with, ever since her parents died. As Phin learns more shocking revelations, he believed it was his neighbor Richard Donnelly, who wants the land for himself and insinuates himself into his family by courting Beth.  Both Phin and Alyse create a secret alliance of intimate proportions as she spies for her cousin and vice versa. Undercover, Phin poses as the French Highwayman to make some noise. Now her cousin Richard needs her to point the finger to Phin with a handsome bribe. When push comes to shove, Phin has the right evidence to make Richard confess and makes Alyse his own.

This was a fascinating and thrilling historical romance to read. I loved Phin and Alyse's story to read and how it captivated me from the beginning. I found Phin real charming and Alyse a real doll to put up with Richard and her aunt. I loved the ruse of the Highwayman concept real enduring as I liked the settings of England from the Bath ruins and to the Bromley house for the location's scenery. This made me want to swoon and sigh with their intimateness in every page with non-stop action, plenty of heated romance, lots of drama and intrigue along the way.

Will you be tempted to seek vengeance before the scandal?