Laura Lee Guhrke’s LADY SCANDAL is set at the Savoy Hotel in London in the Victorian era, with plenty of good ton, dukes and all the trappings of aristocracy. This is an opposites-attract story, with the tried and true enemies-to-lovers trope.
Simon Hayden has been newly elevated to the peerage and made Viscount Calderon for his bravery in the Boer War. Simon is brought in by the board of the Savoy to investigate why the hotel is hemorrhaging money. Simon’s job is to both rein in expenses and ferret out the many people on staff who are engaging in fraud, including several true historical figures (which makes it so fun to read about those real characters!). Simon is fairly middle class in his outlook, naturally, but I find it difficult to believe that he is uneducated about moving socially through the ton as he is made out to be.
Simon immediately clashes with Lady Delia Stratham, the hotel’s extravagant event planner. The Savoy is known for being outlandishly decadent, and Delia is in the thick of the lavish and spendthrift practices of the hotel. I had a hard time warming up to Delia. She’s a conniving wastrel too used to getting her way, in my opinion. Pretty Delia is widowed three times over, and despite her flirtish ways thinks she has no more use for a romantic liaison in her life.
Sparks fly between Delia and Simon, and the heat between them makes the pages shimmer. Delia schemes to seduce Simon but he tries manfully to resist, since he knows that he is there to investigate her for fraud, not spend time between her sheets! I do appreciate Simon holding the witty Delia off for as long as he does.
Laura Lee Guhrke writes historical romance books, and most of them I have enjoyed. LADY SCANDAL is book two in the Scandal at the Savoy series, and looking back at book one, BOOKSHELF CINDERELLA, I did not care for the first in this series either. Guhrke has been a dependable author for me, however, I will continue to try her future works. The book blurb says this historical romance is good for fans of Julia Quinn and Lisa Kleypas (neither of whom are to my taste), and I think the comparison is apt.
Grumpy meets sunshine in this charming tale featuring a haughty businessman and the headstrong event planner who steals his heart.Delia Stratham is an unconventional woman. While other ladies learned proper decorum at finishing school, she composed naughty limericks and admired the gardener’s muscular legs. So naturally when she’s widowed for the third time, she does the unthinkable: she gets a job. Planning events for the Savoy Hotel is perfect for someone with her skills. But her dream career turns into a nightmare when she’s forced to work with the most annoying—and gorgeous—man she’s ever met.Hotel magnate Simon Hayden knows something fishy is going on at the Savoy: the hotel is constantly busy, yet the books say it’s in the red. He’s determined to root out the fraud and its perpetrators, and that means spending time with one of the most likely suspects: the delectable, infuriating Lady Stratham. She’s definitely getting in his way and under his skin and he can’t decide whether to fire her or kiss her until she stops arguing. But when the sparks between them flare into flame, Simon must choose between his love for Delia and his duty to the hotel. Will his choice bring them together or tear them apart?
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