ARC Review: To Tame a Scandalous Lady (Once Upon a Scandal #3) by Liana De la Rosa
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Series: Once Upon a Scandal #3
Author: Liana De la Rosa
Published October 21st 2019 by Entangled: Amara
Goodreads Synopsis
In the wake of a fire that decimates his racing stock, Christian Andrews, the Marquess of Amstead, struggles to keep his family's stud farm from slipping into ruin and painstakingly rebuilds the program. When one of his prime stallions is injured, he notices his new assistant trainer has a special way with the horses. As talented as the trainer is, once he realizes he is a she…and a very beautiful, spirited she at that…he should sack her before scandal breaks. But it’s only weeks before the high stakes race he’s counting on to build back his fortune, and Flora should be by his side for the win.
Miserable under the weight of the ton’s expectations, headstrong Lady Flora Campbell laments her privileged life in London. Embracing her dream of working with racehorses, she disguises herself as a lad and slips away to learn as much as she can from England’s premiere expert, Christian Andrews, never thinking of the scandal she courts but the glory to be had.
Although she develops a tendre for the dashing marquess, she can never let on that she’s not only a woman, but the daughter of a duke...
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
To Tame a Scandalous Lady follows Lady Flora Campbell, as she masquerades as the assistant trainer at the outstanding Amstead Gardens stables. Her entire life, she’s cared about horses, and knew that because of her position in society - being the daughter of a Duke and sister to a prominent Member of Parliament - she would never have an opportunity like this. Pretending to be William Grant, she’s loving interacting with the animals, especially thoroughbred Asad, and learning from the best under head trainer Baniti Mubarak, and Christian Andrews, the Marquess of Amstead. Christian is struggling to rebuild the Gardens into how it was in its heyday, before the devastating fire which left them in debt, and his father dead. Hosting a party to hopefully entice investors, he meets the new trainer, and when he realises that William is in fact Flora, that’s sparks are flying. The attraction between the two is undeniable, but both know that if word got out that one of the trainers was a woman, and even worse, a Lady, they’d all be ruined.
This book was a bit of an impulse request, but as soon as I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. Flora was an amazing character, who had always be put in a box that didn’t fit, and was finally feeling freedom when at the Gardens and with Christian, who seemed to respect and trust her. That more than anything really helped Flora to grow, as people were starting to see her as someone to be listened to when it came to horse training, and not just a lady to be admire for her position in society. She was a really caring person, and especially around the animals, which was wonderful to see. Christian needed someone like Flora to help him come to terms with the accident that caused the fire, and to support him through his endeavours in the stables. He fought their attraction at first, and we really see him struggle with reconciling the woman he loves with being in a position of some danger, when training flighty colts who want to bolt at anything. Both of the main characters grew as the story progressed, and their relationship was wonderful to read. Definitely a happy impulse request on my part!
Dates Read:
May 21, 2020
Rating
4 Stars
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