In Scandal They Wed is a story of serious mistaken identities, or perhaps the better term would be mistaken lives. Evelyn, known as Evie, has sacrificed her entire life to raising Nicholas, her sister’s illegitimate son. For nearly five years she’s lived in a small village, afraid someone will guess she’s not really the Widow Cross. Things are hard, but she’s happy and Nicholas is happy and that’s all that matters to her. And then Spencer Lockhart turns up at her door to see Nicholas.
All Spencer wants is to make right by his recently departed cousin’s child. Ian had gone to the grave loving his “Linnie” and regretting that he couldn’t give his name to his child, and Spencer saw it as his sworn duty to protect Linnie. Except the Linnie he meets is nothing like the Linnie his cousin talked about, and she’s dreadfully afraid of him.
I’m a sucker for romances where one or both leads are under a mistaken assumption (a harmless mistaken assumption, at least). More often than not these things backfire, and the sparks are spectacular. This is no different. What I found dissatisfying and disruptive to my overall enjoyment of the book was Spencer’s reaction to Evie’s deceit.
Throughout the novel certain inconsistencies appear between Ian’s version of Linnie and the Linnie whom Spencer meets and interacts with. I understand that Spencer thought some of it was probably because Ian was so blinded by love for Linnie that he maybe overlooked some things (such as her feisty spirit?), but he accepted everything too easily. He accepted that “Linnie” wanted to be called Evie. He accepted that she seemed reluctant to discuss what happened since Ian left for soldiering. Then during their first intimate encounter he doesn’t pause to wonder that she seems so tentative in her responses. So “fresh” and “untouched.”
It takes two to tango, so Evie is just as culpable as Spencer is. Many of her fears felt groundless after she got to know Spencer and understood that he truly wanted to do right by Nicholas. As it stood, however, I understood why Spencer felt the way he did. I was ready to throttle Evie. Spencer’s actions after learning her secret are what turned me off. He doesn’t listen to her explanations, he doesn’t stop to consider that she wasn’t doing things maliciously, and he doesn’t even give her the benefit of the doubt. She lied, ergo she was a gold-digging, unfaithful, and heartless woman who could be treated however he wanted.
More annoying is that Evie allowed it and then forgave him quickly when he begged for forgiveness!
Her father was also beyond the pale. It was not explained in great detail why he turned his back on her (it was almost a Cinderella set-up; she goes from his darling to a pauper thanks to a stepmother) or why he didn’t protect either of his daughters. The few times he is shown or talked about he seems a pushover and craven coward. So it made little sense when he finally shows some fatherly attentiveness. Why did he suddenly care? Why should it matter to Spencer?
In Scandal They Wed is my first Sophie Jordan book, and the premise held great promise for me. However, the delivery was less than inspiring. It’s never a good thing when I want to murder the hero, strangle the heroine, and don’t give two hoots about the rest of the characters.
