My So-Called Scoundrel
by Fenna Edgewood
My Review:
“My So-Called Scoundrel” is the third book in the ‘Blakely Manor’ Regency romance series by Fenna Edgewood. It can be read as a complete standalone; I haven’t read the previous books in the series, but I was able to enjoy this one independently. I do think I’ll be going back to read the previous books because I’d like a more complete picture of the main and secondary characters involved.
It’s quickly established that this is the story of Lord Leigh, the younger Blakeley brother, and Marigold, the younger Spencer sister. His older brother and her older sister are married. Leigh is known to everyone as a womanizing rate and a scoundrel. Marigold is what we’d consider plus-sized, knows her own mind, and is having trouble finding her place in the aristocratic circles wherein her sister’s marriage has landed them both. When she first encounters Leigh, it’s a dramatic and shocking situation, but she takes it in stride. As it turns out, neither of them is really what society thinks them to be, and both are trying to find the truth about themselves. A lot takes place in this story and I don’t want to divulge to much of it because they are things better experienced firsthand. Leigh and Marigold try to fight their attraction to each other for various reasons, but it’s romance novels so you know how that going to go!
I like both main characters and how they didn’t quite fit expectations for this genre. There were a variety of excellent secondary characters, some of whom I wish I had more complete endings to their stories because they were so intriguing. I thought the dialogue and banter in the book were very well done. I’ll be looking to read other books by this author.