Review + Giveaway: Never Judge A Lady By Her Cover

NEVER JUDGE A LADY BY HER COVER
The Rules of Scoundrels #4
Sarah MacLean
Adult Historical Romance
384 pages
Avon Romance
Available Now
Source: eARC from publisher for review

THE STORY
By day, she is Lady Georgiana, sister to a duke, ruined before her first season in the worst kind of scandal. But the truth is far more shocking-in London’s darkest corners, she is Chase, the mysterious, unknown founder of the city’s most legendary gaming hell. For years, her double identity has gone undiscovered...until now.

Brilliant, driven, handsome-as-sin Duncan West is intrigued by the beautiful, ruined woman who is somehow connected to a world of darkness and sin. He knows she is more than she seems and he vows to uncover all of Georgiana’s secrets, laying bare her past, threatening her present, and risking all she holds dear...including her heart.

MY THOUGHTS
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover, the fourth and final installment in Sarah MacLean’s outstanding Rules of Scoundrels series, is every bit as emotionally engaging as the previous three, delighting us with a well-matched pair both gloriously stubborn and fiercely protective. Despite this being a romance and therefore predictable in that we know a happily ever after awaits the two of them in the final chapters, Ms. MacLean does a heart-wrenchingly beautiful job of instilling doubt along the way, wrapping the two of them up in so many secrets we honestly wonder if they’ll be able to untangle themselves before we reach the end.

Georgiana, aka Chase, the most mysterious of the four owners of The Fallen Angel, is someone who has us wanting to leap up in her defense from page one, her ruin–as London Society calls it–at a young age leaving her vulnerable to those who seek to empower themselves by belittling those around them. The contrast between Georgiana and Chase–the former at the mercy of other’s opinions and the latter holding the fates of those same people in his mythical hand–is absolutely striking, and we throw ourselves fully behind Georgiana’s masquerade in the hopes she’ll bring London to its knees as it once brought her to hers. She’s immensely intelligent and in possession of a sharp wit, reigning over a male-dominated world in the dead of night but yet forced to carefully navigate female cattiness and disdain in the light of day, playing both roles with grace, aplomb and her head held high.

Duncan is every bit her equal in terms of intelligence and a desire to protect those he loves from societal disapproval, wanting nothing more than to free everyone he can from their perceived shackles just as he struggles to free himself. He has as many skeletons in his closet as Georgiana, making their careful dance of courtship a breathtakingly tense affair that has us wanting to scream the truths they both hold tight to their chests at the top of our lungs just to clear the air. It’s at times extraordinarily painful to watch the two of them desperately want to trust that their secrets will find safe harbor in the hands of the other, but their pasts keep both of them understandably silent, aware of dark corners but terrified to shine a light on them.

When we finally reach the point where silence is no longer an option, we have to remind ourselves that happiness awaits if we just keep reading, so nervous are we for the two of them to come completely clean after years of crafting new lives for themselves. The end for Georgiana and Duncan is everything we could have hoped for, Ms. MacLean delivering on every level and wrapping this series up in utterly satisfying fashion. Overall, The Rules of Scoundrels series is one that should not be missed for any romance lover, historical or otherwise, the stories moving, the characters memorable, and the happily ever afters the kind that demand a reread immediately upon finishing.

Rating: 4/5

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TOUR and GIVEAWAY

My review today is part of the promotional tour organized by Tasty Book Tours, so be sure and check out the full list of participating blogs for more reviews and excerpts! 

Thanks to Avon, one lucky winner will receive a $50 gift card to the book seller of their choice as well as a print set of the first three books in The Rules of Scoundrels series. This is one of my all time favorite series, so I can't recommend it enough! To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below.

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