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A review by lisajo85
Every Scandalous Secret by Gayle Callen
2.0
The saying goes "save the best for last" but unfortunately that is not the case in Every Scandalous Secret the final book of the Scandalous Lady Series. While I normally enjoy Callen's work, this was a difficult book to get through.
Leo Wade...was the ever a hero I disliked as much as Leo Wade? Maybe...but right now I'm having trouble thinking of any. I was constantly comparing him to Daniel from "Never Trust A Scoundrel" - both were considered rakes and scoundrels, but at least Daniel had some form of decency left. I didn't get that impression from Leo. I ended up loving Daniel...Leo, not so much. He continually pushes the heroine. Maybe it should have been romantic and cute, but his constant badgering and stalking of Susanna made me extremely uncomfortable. When Daniel was playing his game with Grace, it was a game they both agreed on. Susanna wanted nothing to do with him and made that very clear. It wasn't happenstance that these two crossed paths...Leo forced them to cross paths and interact with each other. And when Leo's stalking leads to a problematic situation I did not understand why Leo forced Susanna's hand. It didn't make any sense to me because I didn't understand his motivation. I didn't understand Leo's motivation to do ANYTHING. He was a lazy, unrepentant jerk.
My favorite part was the middle...when Susanna was mad at him at letting him have it. That should be a sign of how much I liked this book. lol When the heroine was thoroughly and righteously angry with the hero...that's when I was enjoying it. Actions lead to certain consequences in this novel and while both parties accept those consequences, Susanna doesn't go down without a fight. She lets Leo have it, lets him feel like a jerk and he absolutely deserved it. And this is the point where the book just lost any purpose for me. I didn't want them together, I didn't like seeing them together and I didn't care what happened from that point on.
I was really looking forward to the banter between these two since it was so freaking charming at the beginning of book one, but the banter wasn't even present in this book. Susanna became such a flimsy star struck girl, she was left with nothing to defend herself. From all previous appearances, I came to really like Susanna, but it was so frustrating to watch her fall in love with Leo. She was such a strong, brave, resilient character. I thought she deserved so much better.
And Leo's act of self discovery in the end was great and all, but I was so mad with the first half of the book I really couldn't even be bothered to care what happened with him in the end.
Honestly, there isn't much else to say...Ever Scandalous Secret was a huge let down.
Leo Wade...was the ever a hero I disliked as much as Leo Wade? Maybe...but right now I'm having trouble thinking of any. I was constantly comparing him to Daniel from "Never Trust A Scoundrel" - both were considered rakes and scoundrels, but at least Daniel had some form of decency left. I didn't get that impression from Leo. I ended up loving Daniel...Leo, not so much. He continually pushes the heroine. Maybe it should have been romantic and cute, but his constant badgering and stalking of Susanna made me extremely uncomfortable. When Daniel was playing his game with Grace, it was a game they both agreed on. Susanna wanted nothing to do with him and made that very clear. It wasn't happenstance that these two crossed paths...Leo forced them to cross paths and interact with each other. And when Leo's stalking leads to a problematic situation I did not understand why Leo forced Susanna's hand. It didn't make any sense to me because I didn't understand his motivation. I didn't understand Leo's motivation to do ANYTHING. He was a lazy, unrepentant jerk.
My favorite part was the middle...when Susanna was mad at him at letting him have it. That should be a sign of how much I liked this book. lol When the heroine was thoroughly and righteously angry with the hero...that's when I was enjoying it. Actions lead to certain consequences in this novel and while both parties accept those consequences, Susanna doesn't go down without a fight. She lets Leo have it, lets him feel like a jerk and he absolutely deserved it. And this is the point where the book just lost any purpose for me. I didn't want them together, I didn't like seeing them together and I didn't care what happened from that point on.
I was really looking forward to the banter between these two since it was so freaking charming at the beginning of book one, but the banter wasn't even present in this book. Susanna became such a flimsy star struck girl, she was left with nothing to defend herself. From all previous appearances, I came to really like Susanna, but it was so frustrating to watch her fall in love with Leo. She was such a strong, brave, resilient character. I thought she deserved so much better.
And Leo's act of self discovery in the end was great and all, but I was so mad with the first half of the book I really couldn't even be bothered to care what happened with him in the end.
Honestly, there isn't much else to say...Ever Scandalous Secret was a huge let down.