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Return of the Black Sheep

Customer Rating:

'Before the Scandal' is the second of Suzanne Enoch's series 'The Notorious Gentleman', the first book being 'After The Kiss'. This series follows the romances of three soldiers who served together fighting Napoleon and in 'Before the Scandal' it's the turn of Phineas Bromley, second son of a viscount and family tearaway. Phineas left home aged 17 after causing an accident that crippled his older brother, the viscount, and hasn't returned for ten years. However after a letter from his young sister Beth telling him that brother William was at death's door, Phineas rushed back from the continent to the family home at Quence in East Sussex. When Phin arrives, however, things aren't as they seem. William isn't on his deathbed but Beth can't tell him why she begged him to come back. Phin also reacquaints himself with his childhood playmate Alyse Donnelly, now a lovely woman of 25. But Alyse's life has changed considerably since Phil left; she's now at the mercy of her cousin who treats her like a servant. As Phin gets to know Alyse again he discovers that Quence seems to have been suffering a run of bad luck and soon wonders if there's more to it than just misfortune. To find out more he disguises himself as a highwayman and starts to investigate - but can he keep his brother and sister safe, can he rescue Alyse from her dire situation and can he find out who it is who is plotting against Quence, and why? I enjoyed this book, particularly its main character Phin who was portrayed very well. Despite now being a heroic character, Phin's previous behaviour was not glossed over and his feeling of responsibility for some of the bad events in the past was probably fair. It was harder to understand Alyse whose characterisation was sketchy, but she was still an appealing character. Where this book fell down was the historical accuracy within the dialogue. There were some enormous clangers within the text, such as people saying 'no worries' to each other like modern-day Australians rather than English people from the early 1800s. On many occasions the dialogue felt like modern Americans were speaking rather than Regency Brits and for this English reader that was very noticeable. However overall I did like the story with its different plotline and, despite the rather unlikely events that took place at times, I was caught up with the story for most of its length. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

No worries!

Customer Rating:

"No worries". This is what the hero says - twice - in this book. And the author puts this phrase (a modern Australian saying of course) into the mouth of another character as well. The story is set at the time of the Peninsula wars! But this is only one of many problems with this title. I have read several Suzanne Enoch books and this is her worst yet. The contrived plot device of having the hero masquerade as a highwayman is risible, the dialogue stilted and the writing is not of the standard we have come to expect from this author. Miss this one.