Scandal Takes the Stage audiobook

Time stopping touches and dizzying kisses. Scandal Takes the Stage is slow (very slow) burn romance between Maggie and Cam. I'll have a full review on my blog soon, but I will say, I don't think this is everyones cup of tea for the simple fact that it Is slow. At one point I was conflicted as to..when is slow burn just Slow? But it's beautiful and when the ending comes and the curtain falls, it is absolutely worth it!

I am writing a lot of nothing just to get to my point but I wanted it out there. So for about 2 months now, I've been trying to work on reading books that have been sitting on my Kindle fire and that I needed to read. I really wanted to clean them out of my Kindle. Some had been sitting there for several years and I just wanted them gone. I also wanted to review authors again I thought I wanted to read to really see if I actually wanted to read them. Basically spring cleaning my Kindle.With all that being said, I decided there were a lot of authors I didn't really want to read anymore and could mark off my list and finally get to those books sitting on my kindle and get them read.Well to say I have been disappointed is not a strong enough word. I can't tell you how many books I've returned to Kindle Unlimited or asked for a refund. Even though I had some really good reads from my established authors in between, I felt like I wasted 2 months but finally at a good place with books cleaned out, removed or read.Since my favorite authors new releases have been slowly trickling into 2022 and since I read almost a book a day or more, I had to find something to read. So I went through my huge word doc of all the authors I've read and my notes on them and found old authors I had previously read and forgotten.One of those authors is Eva Leigh. I had bought Book 1 in this series back in October, 2019 but didn't actually read it until February, 2020. I made no notes about it, nor did I say anything on Goodreads so don't remember if I liked it or not. So after researching Eva Leigh again, I decided to pick up this book 2 and give her another go. (I know! All that "talk" just to get to this)I am so glad I did. Even though this isn't my usual style of read in Regency and it took me a bit to "get into it" it was really good. Eva Leigh writes very well. I found there was no confusion on who was who and what was what. I really liked this book. A Lot. I loved Maggie and Cam. Their chemistry was hot and the sex was hotter. I love the comfort and ease they came to have with each other. I love how they fed off each other. I loved the angst, the uncertainty, the suspense, the excitement. Just such a great read. I loved it.I've already downloaded book 3 and book 1 of another series of hers.I would definitely recommend.

Wow! I really, really enjoyed book one, Forever Your Earl, but this book impressed me more! I found myself loving it even more than book one, but they're both simply fantastic.Again, this is very smart, feminist historical romance with everything in it. There's a delightfully slow burning heat between the hero and heroine, wity banter, and enticing story. I read it all in one sitting because I simply couldn't put the book down!Book three can't come fast enough!

3.5 Stars Reviewed at Roses Are Blue http://wp.me/p3QRh4-f7Cameron Chalton, Viscount Marwood is enjoying his privileged life, indulging his passions for fun, beautiful women, and the theatre. His ego takes a slight beating when he finally meets noted playwright, Margaret “Maggie” Delamere, and she can’t get away from him quickly enough. Used to women who long to be in his company, Cameron is all the more determined to win Maggie over. Not only is she very attractive, but she’s penned some marvelous plays, and Cam is a serious fan of her work. What Cam doesn’t know is that Maggie had a very painful experience with another aristocrat when she was younger, and is determined to avoid them at all costs.Maggie has another issue – for the first time, she has writer’s block. The pressure is on, as the theatre’s sponsors need to have her new work in a matter of weeks. If she can’t produce, the theatre will have to close, putting herself and her actor friends out of work. In a weak moment, Maggie confesses her problem to Cam. To her surprise, Cam decides to support the theatre financially, and also offers Maggie access to his country estate, where she can write without all the distractions happening in the city.Initially, Maggie came off as prickly and not very likeable. Instead of confessing that she was having trouble writing, she let everyone believe that things were fine. Her treatment of Cam, without even knowing him, was rude and abrupt. For his part, Cam originally acted the part of the frivolous, shallow rake. As we learn later, the injury Maggie suffered at the hands of another aristocratic lord when she was still in her teens was great indeed, and sheds light on her behavior. Once Cam allows his real self to emerge, he’s quite a different person. He has a serious love for the theatre, and respects Maggie and her work. When he comes to visit the country estate, his company actually feeds Maggie’s muse, and she begins writing ferociously.Away from the city and other distractions, Maggie and Cam begin to see each other in a new light. They begin an affair, knowing that it’s doomed to be of short duration. Once they’re back in the city, each must return to his own world. This was a very original story, with an atypical heroine. For their love to survive past this idyllic interlude, they will both have to be willing to spend part of their lives in the other’s world, and face the prejudice of those who scorn an aristocrat and a working class woman. Eva Leigh’s Scandal Takes the Stage is an entertaining and compelling read. I recommend it, and look forward to future books from her.

All the world may be a stage but very rarely do things happen according to script. It is these deviations from the expected that create compelling stories and entertaining characters for us to enjoy. Author Eva Leigh directs her characters through the pitfalls of duty, love and classism with a backdrop of the London theater scene in her newest book Scandal Takes the Stage.Please read the full review at Romantic Historical Reviews

It is now 1:15AM. I have just finished Cam and Maggie's story, and my eyes are brimming with happy tears. This is truly an awesome romance. I can't wait to release my full review closer to publication. Wow! Just wow!Great series!

Margaret "Maggie" Delamere makes a comfortable living as the popular playwright of the most successful burlettas (because the theatre doesn't have an official licence, every line of all the plays has to be sung by the actors) at the Imperial theatre. In the past, she's never had any problems getting new ideas or getting her plays finished on time. Now, with the Imperial's board of directors and the audience clamouring for the sequel to her most popular play yet, Maggie is suffering from a terrible writer's block. The board can't wait too much longer for a new play, and unless Maggie can produce the sequel soon, they're threatening to replace her with another writer. Maggie wouldn't just lose her job, but have to leave the place she considers home and the people she considers her family.Cameron Chalton, Viscount Marwood, is an unashamed libertine and rake, quite happy with the idea of his stuffy and proper younger brother's offspring eventually inheriting the title. Marwood certainly has no intention of growing respectable and tying the knot. Of course, now that his good friend and former carousing buddy, the Earl of Ashford, has settled down into matrimony, Cameron's father is more insistent than ever that Marwood also remember his duties. The constant partying isn't as much fun without Ashford either.Cameron's true passion isn't for wine or women, though, although it does involve song. Marwood loves theatre of all kinds, and he's absolutely mad for Mrs. Delamere's burlettas at the Imperial, spending part of nearly every evening in his private box watching the performances. When he discovers that Mrs. Delamere may be replaced by the board of directors, he vows to do anything he can to help her.Maggie made the mistake of dallying with a nobleman once in her youth and it ended badly. She has no intention of falling for another peer of the realm, not even one as sinfully charming and handsome as Viscount Marwood. When he not only promises to fund the theatre to give her time to complete her new play, but offers the privacy of his country estate as a writing retreat, she'd be a fool to refuse. Maggie knows the rakish viscount will probably try to seduce her, but realises that she wouldn't mind all that much if he did. Cameron genuinely tries his best to give Maggie her space, but can't get her out of his mind. There are tenants to visit and a neglected estate to oversee. If that brings him into company with the most stimulating woman he's ever met, what's Marwood to do?I was pleasantly surprised by Forever Your Earl, and found myself liking Scandal Takes the Stage even more. As in her previous novel, Eva Leigh acknowledges that a romantic liaison between a high-ranking peer and a woman of common birth most likely would be brief, and unlikely to end happily for the woman. Anything permanent would be viewed as shocking and inappropriate. As Marwood is quite happy to flout conventions and his responsibilities, with plans to let his brother's family take over the title, he's not going to let public opinion keep him from Maggie, once he decides that she's the woman he wants. Clearly more comfortable among artists, bohemians and those of looser morals, Cameron fits well with Maggie's "found family", her theatre friends.Maggie has pain and heartache in her past, and was disowned by her family after being seduced by a careless nobleman. Left destitute, she has been taking care of herself for a long time, working hard to gain the relative respectability she now has. She doesn't want to throw that away for a brief affair, even with someone as tempting as Marwood.After her's best friend became the Countess of Ashford, Maggie's come into contact with Marwood a few times. She is surprised when he genuinely seems interested in her work and soon discovers that he's more or less memorised all her plays. It is extremely difficult for her to approach him for help when her livelihood is at stake. She's quite prepared to offer herself up as "re-payment", but Cameron isn't interested in forcing women. He only wants her if she comes to him willingly, without obligation. That doesn't mean that he doesn't intend to tempt her, of course. Once Maggie arrives at his estate, she discovers that all her needs have been anticipated and prepared for. Being cared for and pampered after having to take care of herself since she was a fairly young girl may prove more seductive than Maggie could imagine.This book has a slow build-up and tons of unresolved sexual tension. The relationship builds gradually and slowly, but I found it all the more satisfying because of it. For people who like that sort of thing, Ms. Leigh has revealed on her Facebook page that her inspirations for Cameron and Maggie were Aiden Turner and Kat Dennings. The next book in the series is going to feature Cameron's cousin, a village Vicar (he has a couple of scenes in this book), modelled on Tom Hiddleston. Let's just say that Eva Leigh is very close to becoming one of my auto-buy authors.

I definitely enjoyed this book, though not as much as the first book in the series. I have to say that I generally struggle with the gentry + commoner stories, because they feel so wildly unrealistic. The first book made it work better than this one, to me. YMMVIt also lost a half star because of the loose end of her family. (view spoiler)[I would have loved to touch on them - are they still under the fist of her controlling father? Did this change antthing? She notes her sadness that they didn't show up at the wedding, but... did they even know that she was Mrs. Delamere? Seems unlikely. And it's not like they would see her picture in the news and put 2 and 2 together. (hide spoiler)]But these are quibbles. It was a good read.

"I need to be put in my place every now and then. Who better to see to my humility than a sharp-tongued playwright?"This was a sweet second book in Eva Leigh's Wicked Quills of London series. Though it wasn't quite as good as I thought the first book, Forever Your Earl was, I did enjoy it and read it quickly and am mildly curious about the third book in the series, Temptations of a Wallflower. What I liked most I think was the way Cam's character unfolded and transformed throughout the book. Leigh did a fabulous job with doing just this with Ashford's character in Earl and I thought she continued it nicely with Cam. Here is this lord who, as he said at the end of the book 'was merely playing the rake' while keeping his true and truly humble and caring self hidden from most everyone. I would have liked to see more interactions with Cam and his family throughout the book. The only time they appear, aside from his cousin Jeremy, who plays the hero in #3 Wallflower, is at the very beginning when Marwood's father impresses on Cam the importance of his marrying and continuing the line. Here we see that Cam's father truly cares and shows affection for his oldest child, despite his blustering way. We also see a stodgy brother, a loving mother and a rarely-seen marriage of love between two aristos. I think a few scenes with Cam and his family could have really rounded out his character more, though the beginning scene seemed to do it pretty well, and also set the stage, as it were. I liked Maggie's character and, while her early tragedy seemed predictable, her triumph over it was much more admirable. I loved her friendship with Lady Ashford (formerly Eleanor Hawke from Earl) and the Ashford dinner party scenes were some of my favorites because it allowed Maggie to view aristos in a new and much more relatable light than all her previous experiences. She came away with new perceptions that continued to shift and change as she interacted with Marwood more. I also enjoyed the theatricals, Maggie's 'family'. As a former drama nerd myself, it brought me back to the stage days and several characters reminded me of some of my drama friends! Overall solid story and a great companion book to the first one!