Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart by Sarah MacLean

[book-info]

My Thoughts

“A little bit frustrating but ok”

Eleven Scandals is the third book in the Love by Numbers series and it features Juliana Fiori and Simon Pearson, Duke of Leighton (we know him as the fiance of Lady Penelope in A Rogue by Any Other Name).

In Eleven Scandals, we find out the real reason why Simon is averse to scandal. His younger sister is actually embroiled in a scandal herself and he plans to wed before the ton gets a whiff of it. Enter Lady Penelope Marbury (read my review for A Rogue by Any Other Name), who is the perfect English miss. Simon is determined to marry her and avoid Juliana at all cost but a chance encounter in his carriage with Juliana late at night changes everything. Before he knows it, Simon is given the duty of watching over Juliana and keeping her out of trouble and scandal.

Simon and Juliana first meet at a bookshop and both are instantly attracted to each other despite not knowing who they were. When Simon finds out the identity of the woman, he immediately avoids her.

I enjoyed reading this book but it isn’t one of my favorites. I like Simon but Juliana, however, is another story. We meet her being taught how to act in society by Lady Calpurnia (read my review for Nine Rules to Break while Romancing a Rake) but she is too Italian to act like a normal British lady and does not really want to stay in England. I thought her antics were just too over the top to be believable for me. There were parts where I was so frustrated with Juliana’s antics that I just wanted to stop reading the book altogether.

I love the chemistry between Juliana and Simon. Despite there being not much s-e-x going on, every meeting with these two had sparks flying all over the page. Their witty banter is awesome and totally Sarah MacLean.

Overall, the plot moved pretty fast for me and it was enjoyable.