Her Scandalous Pursuit by Candace Camp | ARC Review

Series: The Mad Morelands, #7
Tropes: virgin hero; intellectual heroine
Publication Date: 01.28.20
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; England
Rating: 4 stars

As a scientist Lady Thisbe Moreland is quite used to being treated poorly and not taken seriously by the men who inhabit the same scientific circles.  So she's happily surprised when an attractive man sits next to her at a lecture and winds up engaging her in a lively scientific discussion.

Desmond Harrison is thrilled to sit next to the beautiful and obviously intelligent Thisbe, even if his shyness means she's the one to start their conversation.  He longs to spend more time with her but she's obviously a lady and he worries his low status as the son of a laborer will be problematic, as well as the fact that he works for the once respected and now heavily scorned Professor Gordon.

Gordon is seeking proof of the existence of a spiritual realm and tasks Desmond with procuring an artifact for him, the Eye of Annie Blue, a device reported to have great, and not necessarily good, power.  Desmond soon realizes that the lady reported to be in possession of the Eye is Thisbe's grandmother, and he is torn between his loyalty to the mentor who has done so much for him and his growing love for Thisbe.

This was a classic situation in which both the hero and heroine have concealed some facet of their lives from each other.  It was actually quite well done in this instance, although Thisbe got on my nerves with her stubborn and rather hypocritical insistence on being angry with Desmond for doing essentially the exact same thing she'd done.  Thisbe's stubbornness in general was a bit annoying, especially in its repetitiveness, however I found her quirky and unconventional family to be delightful to read about.  I was very rather thrown off by the paranormal aspect of this one, as I wasn't expecting its extent and it really freaked me out a bit, so I suppose that's a good show since it held my attention.

This book was well-written and I plan to read the rest of this series, which I've been collecting for awhile now but have yet to read.  Luckily this is apparently a prequel to the series so I haven't missed anything and this can be read out of order with no problems.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.


Comments