Last Night's Scandal [Mass Market Paperback]

This is a 4.5-5 star book which I , unfairly, cannot round up to a 5. Why unfairly? Because everything Chase writes get compared in my mind to her LORD OF SCOUNDRELS, which is still in my short list of top historical romances. But LAST NIGHT'S SCANDAL is excellent. Beautifully written, with witty dialogue, wonderful characters (like the two delightful old ladies chaperoning Olivia), an interesting plot and a romantic romance, it fulfills all my requirements for that warm and glowing romantic fix a really good HR provides. It's a 5-star paperback romance which I have perversely given 4 stars. (Well, Ms Chase, you really shouldn't have written LORD OF SCOUNDRELS or maybe I should not have read it.)

As to the H and h of this book, if you are a long-time Chase reader, you've met them before. In LORD PERFECT they are the two adolescents who embark on a treasure hunt and whose rescue thus brings together the H and h of that story. Our hero Peregrine Dalmay, Earl of Lisle, is the nephew of Benedict Carsington, Lord Rathbourne, and our heroine Olivia Wingate-Carsington is the daughter of Bathsheba Wingate, now Lady Rathbourne. After their adolescent adventure, the two are separated when Peregrine, aka Lisle, is sent to Egypt in the care of Rupert and Daphne Carsington (H and h of MR. IMPOSSIBLE). You do not need to have read either MR. IMPOSSIBLE or LORD PERFECT to fully enjoy this new book, but it's fun background info.

Now it's almost 10 years later. All this time (1822-1831) they have kept in touch through letters and the occasional token from Egypt sent to Olivia by Lisle. Lisle is back in England for a family celebration and sees Olivia for the first time in 5 years. One look at her and he realizes it's not a brotherly affection he feels for her, but Egypt is still calling to him and he tries to suppress his new-found attraction to her. His return to Egypt, however, is delayed by his parents, who threaten to cut off his funds if he doesn't go to Scotland to restore Gorewood Castle, an old, neglected and apparently haunted family possession.

Olivia is high-spirited, always looking for adventure and never finding any in her life in the ton. (Last real one was with Lisle when they were adolescents.) She envies Lisle his life in Egypt and sees this restoration in Scotland as her opportunity for another adventure and gets herself involved, much, of course, to Lisle's dismay. Once in Scotland, they find there's even a possible old treasure hidden in the castle, in addition to apparent ghosts to reveal.

But more than the mysteries to be resolved and the treasures to find and the ghosts to discover, it's the love to be revealed that's the story here. Chase's marvelous writing has you enjoying tremendously the process of the young couple's realization that their childhood affection has developed into true love. And both Lisle and the reader learn so much about Olivia in the process. We start out thinking she's just a Girl Who Wants to Have Fun and Adventure and find out she is so much more. And, of course, in addition, Lisle has to learn that maybe Egypt is not really his first love.

I have no real strong feelings either way on this book. It started off super funny then sort of fizzled when the sexual tension was cut short and replaced by a non-committal self-imposed internal conflict.

The book opens strongly with a few letters back and forth between the younger Olivia Carsington in England and Peregrine Dalmay, Earl of Lisle, who is in Egypt. Olivia's letter are true to the personality of the child we met back in Lord Perfect, full of exaggerations, Ideas and words underlined, bolded and italicized for GREATER emphasis. Lisle's more sedate letters also suit the deliberate voice of reason that had managed the wilder Olivia on their Noble Quest for pirate treasure in Bristol. I was chuckling at their interplay at the Dowager Countess of Hargate's birthday ball where Lisle was trapped between a sudden desire for the adult Olivia and his comfortable rapport with his old friend.

When Lisle's dramatic and overemotional parents demand he go to a family estate in Scotland to restore it, withholding his entire allowance unless he acquiesces, he's in a bind. He wants to return to Egypt to work alongside his scholar aunt, not freeze his rump off in Scotland. Luckily, and unluckily, for him, Olivia has an Idea. Before he knows what hit him, he's on his way to Scotland, and so is Olivia and two elderly and inappropriate chaperones.

And here's where the book started to lose me. I thought their desire was openly acknowledged far too early, deflating the sexual tension. They share passionate kisses before they even reach the castle and shag early and often. This left a rather flimsy reason as the impediment to their HEA so the ghost story could conclude first. Olivia couldn't accept Lisle's proposal because he's happiest in Egypt and she would only tie him to England. 1. That's sort of a false dilemma. Surely she could have gone to Egypt with him. 2. If that's the case, STOP HAVING SEX ALL THE TIME. Talk about being a tease. The conflict is basically self-inflicted until Olivia basically says, "Ghost story's resolved, I changed my mind, let's get married." Weak.

The rest of the book is comical in spots. The ribald old ladies were good for a chuckle or two and the recurring bagpipe gag did make me laugh a few times against my better judgement. I couldn't say I disliked the book in the least. It was a fun adventure with a cast of entertaining characters. I just felt that it could have been so much more of a book had she paced the sexual tension and romantic conflict differently.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Loretta Chase. Earlier this year another writer whose work I enjoy wrote a book featuring characters who had been children in a much earlier book. I was severely disappointed by that book and the change, for the worse, in those characters as adults. When I read that Loretta Chase's newest book would feature Peregrine and Olivia (orignally appearing to great comic effect in LORD PERFECT), I was worried. As Olivia might have written, in one of her letters to Peregrine, it would be an INTOLERABLE DIsASTER if Chase recked Havoc on the characters of Noble Peregrine and Cunning Olivia. I should not have Worried. Not only does Chase succeed in bringing those two Appealing Characters into the adult world. She goes further and makes them even more Delightful and Amusing!!

The plot includes a gloomy castle in Scotland, tart tongued old ladies reminiscening about their misspent youths, skullduggery, treasure and more. Yet, that is all merely a stage for the sparkling dialgue and steamy encounters between Peregrine and Olivia as they discover that the chemistry they had as precocious children has become downright COMBUSTIBLE. If you are a Chase fan, You know what to expect and will not be disappointed. If you are just discovering Chase, you will find you have stumbled upon treasure even more wonderful than the treasure Peregrine and Olivia find. I read the book straight through, and now must go read it again. Thanks, Loretta, for yet another delicious book!

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