"A refreshing Regency romance"
The Earl of Haverly, Dennis Hawthorne asks his nephew
Greydon Brakenridge, the Duke of Wycliffe to come to his
remote estate in Hampshire during the London season.
Needing an excuse to flee the females of the Ton including
his mother, Grey leaves for Haverly Manor. However, he
fails to rid himself of all his troubles as an entourage
accompanies him. Grey's uncle has accumulated bad debts, but refuses to
allow his nephew to pay it off. Instead he asks Grey to
come up with a plan to help him with his financial crisis.
Grey starts by raising the rents on the tenants including
the Miss Grenville's Academy. The schoolmistress Emma
Grenville argues with Grey that tripling her rent will shut
down the school, but he believes that is no loss as these
finishing schools are marriage brokers. Still Grey cannot
ignore how pretty Emma is when she makes a bet with him on
whether she could persuade him that females deserve a
formal education. When they placed the bet, neither one
expected her at the center of a school for scandal debacle
nor for love to grow between them. A MATTER OF SCANDAL is a refreshing Regency romance
that completes Suzanne Enoch's gregarious 'With This Ring'
series. The story line centers on the war of the sexes as
Grey and Emma clash over female education as much as their
love for one another. Through her shrewd characters, Ms.
Enoch provides a perceptive perusal of the options facing
aristocratic women in the early nineteenth century England
inside a strong romance that will delight sub-genre fans. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 16, 2001
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