Review: A Scandalous Affair by Karen Erickson

A Scandalous Affair
Book 3 in The Merry Widows series
Author:  Karen Erickson
Publisher:  Carina Press
Release date:  7/31/12
Author's website:  Link

From the moment Daphne, Lady Pomeroy, meets the mysterious Marquess of Hartwell at a masquerade ball, she’s determined to seduce him. The handsome, charming man cannot possibly be the cold, calculating lord who Society calls “Black Hart.” Risking everything, the lonely widow invites the elusive Hartwell to her dinner party . . . for two.

Hartwell’s arrogant reputation is built on a lie. For he has a shameful secret that keeps him in the shadows: a stutter—his downfall since childhood. He’d rather keep his mouth shut than look the fool. But he’s shocked to discover that in Daphne’s company—and in her bed—his stutter vanishes.

After one wanton evening together, Daphne is hurt when the lord lives up to his Black Hart name. Yet his reasons for leaving surprise even him. Now he must confess everything or risk losing Daphne forever…

After being a widow for some time, Lady Pomeroy never thought that she would find love again.  Most of the men that she has met haven't been all that interesting. That's until she sees the Marquess of Hartwell at a masquerade ball.  He has an air of mystery about him because he's a man of few words.  As Daphne gets to know him a little better, she realizes that there's so much more to him that what others have said.  He's a guarded man for a reason and she wants to know why.  Hartwell on the other hand isn't used to getting attention from women, so when Daphne shows interest in him he has to question why.  But he finds himself having a little more courage because he's wearing a mask at the ball and feel that he can be anyone.  But when the mask is off and Daphne still wants to get to know him better, that's when things get interesting.

What I enjoyed most about the two characters in this book is the instant attraction that they had towards one another.  Daphne is a woman that goes after what she wants and I applauded when she did!  She knew that she had to since Hartwell seemed so shy and there was something about him that it was worth taking the risk of being forward.  I enjoyed seeing Hartwell open up to her and allow her to get to know him better.   Learning more about his past allowed the reader to understand why he was so reserved, but it was nice to know that he was able to get past some of the challenges he faced to become the man was.  Together these 2 were a great fit and this made their love scenes even more enjoyable! 

I'm giving A Scandalous Affair a rating of:

I enjoyed Karen Erickson's storytelling so much that  plan on reading the previous 2 books in this series. A Scandalous Affair is a novella length story, and while I would have loved to read more about the characters, I feel that that author did an excellent job with the amount that was written.  I could easily see this storyline being a full length one because I would feel the tension between the two characters build and I love that in the stories that I read. I'm very happy to have discovered a new author that I can look forward to reading more from in the future.