Book Review: Some Like It Scandalous (The Gilded Age Girls Club #2)

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Maya Rodale

Format: E-book

Pages: 368

Publication Date: June 18, 2019

Categories: Romance, Historical, Enemies to Lovers

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Book Blurb:

They are sworn enemies… 

Theodore Prescott the Third, one of Manhattan’s Rogues of Millionaire Row, has really done it this time. The only way to survive his most recent, unspeakably outrageous scandal is marry someone respectable. Someone sensible. Someone like Daisy Swan. Of all the girls in Gilded Age Manhattan, it had to be her.

Pretending to be lovers… 

Daisy Swan has plans and they do not involve a loveless marriage with anyone. But when a devastating family secret threatens to destroy her standing in society, suddenly a fake engagement with Theo is just the thing to make all her dreams come true.

And now it’s time to kiss and make up… 

Daisy Swan aspires to sell cosmetics that she has created, but this brainy scientist needs a smooth talking charmer’s flair for words and eye for beauty to make it a success. Before long, Daisy and Theo are trading kisses. And secrets. And discovering that despite appearances, they might be the perfect couple after all.

MY REVIEW

Thank you to HarperCollins Avon and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc.

I enjoy Maya Rodale’s novels but never got a chance to read her Gilded Age Girls Club series until now. And though this is the second book in the series, it read fabulously as a standalone.

Daisy Swan is a high society young lady in New York City who garnered the nickname Ugly Duck Daisy in her adolescent years. The person who gave her that name is none other than Theodore Prescott the Third. Daisy grows up without much change to her looks but she’s got a mind for chemistry and plans to run a business some day selling face cream. Theo grows up to run circles around New York City creating scandals wherever he goes.

Her mother wants her to marry, and his father wants him to marry. So of course they get thrown into a farce of an engagement. They don’t like each other and now are forced to marry. It’s a common trope in a historical romance novel, which I usually enjoy, but there is a really interesting element in this story, the focus on women’s history in the Gilded Age.

This story is set in a time when women aren’t allowed to dine in a restaurant without a man accompanying them. Women are expected to marry but Daisy wants her life to be different. She creates a face cream for women but not even her high society friends would be caught dead buying something so vulgar. Cream for their faces? Oh the horror! Oh we’ve come a long way in cosmetics, haven’t we? Daisy’s friends that are featured in this book are strong women and that was my favorite part of this book. It reminded me how much I take for granted the things I’m allowed to do in this day and age. Who knew lipstick was such a dangerous statement back then!

Now this is still a romance novel and it’s a delicious part of the story. They are enemies due to some adolescent bullying, but Theo realizes how foolish he was when he gets to know adult Daisy. She’s a bright, no-nonsense woman who he really is intrigued by. Theo has a reputation for a being handsome playboy, and that’s all he things he’s good for. But he helps Daisy with her business plans and it becomes a partnership, with sparks. He encourages Daisy to push the boundaries and he’s a great business partner. The sex is steamy and the love is sweet. They make a great team.

This was a really quick, enjoyable read. It’s a story that is a fun balance of romance and women’s history. I look forward to reading the other books in this series and meeting more strong women from the Gilded Age.

Get it here: Amazon

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