Darcy Burke: One Night of Scandal

Meet the unforgettable men of London’s most notorious tavern, The Wicked Duke. Seductively handsome, with charm and wit to spare, one night with these rakes and rogues will never be enough…

Jack Barrett is an ambitious member of parliament with no time or desire for a wife. When he catches the Duke of Eastleigh’s sister sneaking inside one of London’s private gentlemen’s clubs, he’s shocked—and dangerously charmed—and assumes the role of protector, only to discover she has the means to destroy him.

Social pariah Lady Viola Fairfax masquerades as a man to pen a column in a popular women’s magazine. When she stumbles upon a brewing scandal that implicates a prominent MP, she seizes the chance to establish herself as a real journalist. However, the infuriating and intoxicating man may not be the radical he’s purported to be, and the more time they spend together, the more she risks the one thing she’s sworn never to do: fall in love.

This is fourth in the Wicked Duke Series of novellas, with titles alternating between Erica Ridley and Darcy Burke. See my review for the first, second and third novellas in this series. This one was just released, right in time for the weather to heat up and those lazy days of summer (and lots of reading) to start.

Viola has been masquerading part time as a man to live out her dreams of being a writer. And no, thank you very much, she doesn’t need a man. But when frequent Wicked Duke patron and MP Jack SexyMcPants Barrett busts her, they decide to team up to uncover the roots of some scurrilous political gossip.

Okay, so I named him SexyMcPants. He’s the type of hero I adore. He’s a salt of the earth type of guy who is kind to people, cares about stuff, and is supportive of a strong minded woman. Swoon. He is also described as being pretty hot. So hand in chin, I am here for it. I also love that he is often in awe of Viola. I think that is sexy as hell.

And Viola is fun. She dons disguises, ferrets out info at a coffeehouse, and throws herself into learning more about politics. She is not the heroine for everyone,but I adored her. She is also older, 26, and believes herself to be a confirmed spinster. Of course, her grandma has been throwing some shade. And also, she notices how smoking hot SexyMcPants is…

Neither Viola nor Jack want to marry, but they can’t seem to fight their attraction for each other. This is more of a will they/won’t they (and of course they will, because HEA) type of plot…along the lines of what I love to classify as Spinsters and the Men Who Love Them.

Their chemistry is on point, there is some action driving the plot forward, and there is some intimacy…although true to the novella form its pretty abbreviated. And true to novella form, its not sink your teeth in depth, revolutionary or unique. But the history and tone seem on point and its a fun story to spend one or two evenings with.

This whole series has been fun so far, and I would recommend giving them a whirl if you are needing short novellas for the summer. I recommend reading them in order, but you can also give one or two of them a try as standalones and they should work fine.

5 Stars 4.5 out of 6 Strong and ambitious heroine teams up with sexy MP to uncover a political scandal