The Importance of Being Scandalous
Series: A Tale of Two Sisters #1
Author: Kimberly Bell
Published July 25th 2017 by Entangled: Select

Goodreads Synopsis
A horse race in trousers on Rotten Row. Visiting a gaming hall in a dress that would make her mother faint. Sneaking an invitation to a masquerade ball attended by only the wickedest, most debauched members of society…

None of these things are scaring off bookish but strong-willed Amelia Bishop’s stuffy, egotistical fiancé.

The only thing left is to entice childhood friend Nicholas Wakefield into a truly engagement-ending scandal. The Wakefields are the height of propriety, and Nicholas’s parents have made it clear a wife from the neighboring Bishop family would be unacceptable…

But Nicholas would give up his family and his fortune if Amelia would ever see him as more than just a childhood friend. He’ll go along with her scheme, even if it means ruining them both, because he’s got a plan that will change her mind about him being merely the boy next door.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Just as he returns home, ready to tell his best friend, Amelia Bishop, that he loves her, Nicholas Wakefield, discovers she is engaged, and to an Earl. Though he is from an aristocratic family, he's only a second son, and has no hope of competing. So discovering that Amelia doesn't actually want to marry Lord Montrose, and she is dead set on doing whatever it takes for him to agree to let her call it off, Nick can't let her go through with it alone. 

This book filled in so many gaps for me. I actually read book 2, A Scandal by Any Other Name, first, and loved the camaraderie between Nicholas and Amelia, and Julia and Jasper. Being able to read Nicholas and Amelia's own story, and seeing how Jasper came to be involved in the family, was fantastic. I hated Amelia and Julia's mother as much as I did in the other book, and especially when we saw how she was willing to let her own daughter be kidnapped, and basically sold off to marry a man she didn't want, but because he had a title it was okay, was abhorrent. Amelia's feistyness, and her actions over the course of the book were joyful, and made this book so much more enjoyable. She and Nicholas were great together, and though it took a while to get there, the journey was part of the fun.

Dates Read:
November 5-6, 2022

Rating
4 Stars