Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage

When Lady Isabella Scranton eloped with notorious rake and scandalous artist Lord Mac Mackenzie the night of her come out ball, the ton was shocked and captivated. Their turbulent marriage has been fodder for the gossip rags ever since. Under the weight of their heady passions, including frequent rows and reconciliations, and one heartbreaking and tragic event, their marriage collapses into a formal separation. But three years later, Mac has changed his ways, stopped drinking, and returned to London to try to woo his wife back. Though much has passed between them and Isabella guards her heart fiercely against the man who hurt her so badly in the past, she still has feelings for him and Mac will not let her go so easily... As a study of a marriage in crisis due to ravages of Mac's alcoholism, this novel shines. The issues Mac and Isabella face as they try to rebuild the trust that has been broken and reshape their marriage according to the people they have grown into are handled delicately and sensitively, and are ultimately quite relatable. Unfortunately, while the complication of someone attempting to assume Mac's identity adds drama to the plot, it rings rather false. In the end, while it provides the impetus for Mac and Isabella to declare their true feelings, it is so melodramatic that rather than adding to the novel, in the end, it actually detracts from the beauty of the the love story central to the plot. The performance quality of the audiobook is quite good. Angela Dawe has a pleasant and expressive voice with an impressive range that allows her to imbue particularly the male characters with the deep, rich timbre consistent with the way they are described in the novel, while still giving female leads the softer, more feminine voices expected for their characters.

How can two people who are so perfect for one another, be at such odds with themselves? Mac and Isabella had a tumultuous, wild, wedding and married life. When reality set in, things fell apart. Time has passed and Mac is ready to admit his errors, right his wrongs, and make things right again. Isabella still holds a lot of pain, and Mac has his work set out for him. Add in splashes of a mad man, and things get more complicated There was no easy fix, but there is a lot of heat, emotion, and fun with the pain and the healing. But once these two capture the magic that they always had, without the heartache, it truly is a magical romance!

Beautiful prose, witty, funny, filled with love this book is. Better than the first in this series!