As the third and final book in the Notorious O'Neill's
series by Molly O'Keefe, I was expecting a lot from THE
SCANDAL AND CARTER O'NEILL. Specifically, I was looking
for resolution to the missing gem storyline that has tied
these books together. Were the missing gems going to turn
out to be the scandal that Carter was facing? If not the
gems, what else had the potential to derail his
up-and-coming political career?
THE SCANDAL AND CARTER O'NEILL was my favorite book of the
series. I really liked that Carter had the drive to improve
him community and to protect his family while setting aside
his own personal wants and needs. However, as we all know,
ignoring our emotions and needs doesn't always work the way
we want, and quite possibly leads us down a road we don't
really want to travel.
Zoe Madison is a pregnant woman who is also passionate about
her community and wants what is best for it. When she
stands up at a community center meeting to attract Carter's
attention, the attention she attracts isn't what she
expected. Will the attraction wear her down? Will she
maintain her own integrity, or turn to the dark side and
help others to expose Carter?
I really enjoyed the chemistry between Zoe and Carter. Even
when they were at odds with one another, they were
respectful of each other. They really wanted what might be
best for one another, even if it wasn't the path they had
originally envisioned for themselves.
The only real disappointment in THE SCANDAL AND CARTER
O'NEILL was the missing gem story. Why Ms. O'Keefe
thought this thread was necessary in this trilogy I'm not
quite sure. For me this particular thread started out in
the first book with some great potential, but by the end of
Tyler O'Neill's Redemption I had personally lost
interest, and felt that perhaps so had Ms. O'Keefe.
Setting aside my dislike of the missing gem thread, I did
enjoy THE SCANDAL AND CARTER O'NEILL and would rate it my
favorite in the trilogy.