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Scandalous Lady Kindle Edition
For as long as Richard Hartford can remember he has wanted to see Turkey, and explore the antiquities of the once mighty Ottoman Empire. Now, he is fulfilling that dream alongside his sister, Olivia. Since their parents died in a carriage accident when she was 16, the siblings have been very close.
Now 23, Olivia is a strong woman who knows her own mind. Before Richard left their family estate for Turkey, he sent Olivia to London for the season, hoping she would find herself a husband. But scandal erupted when Lord Craybook, a gambler with huge debts who knew he could not win her hand any other way, set out to compromise her, keeping Olivia away from home overnight.
Olivia’s aunt, who she was staying with in London, insists she marry Lord Craybrook, but Olivia refuses and is shipped off to Turkey to avoid the inevitable scandal. Yet Olivia soon falls in love with the magical land of Turkey and she soon meets a number of interesting people, like Lady Hester Stanhope, niece of the prime minister of England, and intrepid world traveller. And then there is the handsome Selim, cousin to the Sultan. Selim works as an ambassador for the Sultan and Olivia quickly falls irrevocably in love with him. Things are looking quite promising for Olivia, until Lord Crayrook shows up, determined to win her hand.
Is Olivia destined to live a life of solitude and regret? Or will her past stay buried long enough for her to have her happy ending? Filled with the rich detail of the sunset of the Ottoman Empire, Scandalous Lady is a love story that crosses cultures and boundaries, showing what is possible when love is at stake.
Praise for Beth Elliot:
‘Beth Elliott's books are witty, engaging and totally entertaining’ – Nicola Cornick, USA Today bestselling author
Always keen to travel, Beth took a degree in Modern Languages in preparation for a life of adventure. Her first job was in France, where she met her Turkish husband, another keen traveller. After some years lecturing at Ataturk University in eastern Turkey, they became languages teachers in England. Inspired by the novels of Jane Austen, Beth set her own Regency Tales in the Napoleonic era, featuring adventure, intrigue and romance. Thanks to the years in Turkey, some tales include exotic settings and events. Nowadays Beth’s travelling is mostly done via the characters in her stories. According to an official review, her novels are “full of enjoyable moments”.
You can find out more on her website www.regencytales.co.uk
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateDecember 8, 2016
- File size1.8 MB
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Product details
- ASIN : B01N9FRBQ3
- Publisher : Lume Books (December 8, 2016)
- Publication date : December 8, 2016
- Language : English
- File size : 1.8 MB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 222 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,415,815 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #13,051 in Coming of Age Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #26,611 in Regency Historical Romance
- #28,983 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
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Beth Elliott always loved tales of long ago and far away, but soon the world of Jane Austen became her favorite place to go for company and pleasure. No wonder she sets her own stories in the era of Napoleon.
Beth's Regency Tales are stories of intrigue, adventure and romance, with a few real people in among the cast of characters, who find themselves caught up in events rather outside their normal lives. She hasn't yet put Napoleon in a story, but he's on the waiting list. On the principle of ladies first, especially in the Regency era, Lady Hester Stanhope played a small but vital role in 'Scandalous Lady.'
From her own experience of life in Turkey, Beth likes to add a touch of exotic to some of her stories, especially the series about the Montailhac brothers. But adventure and romance can just as easily occur in London, Bath or Brighton.
For more details and photos, see her blog, https://Regencytales.blogspot.com
and her website, - https://www.regencytales.co.uk/
Her stories are also available as ebooks and in Large Print editions
Customer reviews
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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonTop reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2017When Olivia travels to Turkey to join her historian brother in the days of Napoleon, there is not much left in England to return to: victim of a huge scandal and her soon to be sister in law insisting she will not live in the family Manor. While in Troy she is saved from an attack by a viper by a mysterious man. She sees him again in Constantinople sometimes looking like a Turkish noble sometimes as a European. Olivia feels strongly fascinated by this stranger.
The novel is a good story in which a lot happens and where logical decisions are made even when some might be very modern for a lady in those days. It is also nice to read when you have been in Istanbul.
While a lot of the romance novels set in Ottoman time even manage to have deserts around Istanbul the things described in this book are easily recognisable for one like me who spent weeks there for a course. The cysterns, the boating on the Bosporus, the view from the high cliffs near the Black Sea, the paradise of the Princes Isles (although now the sea is quite polluted.).
The one thing I do not understand is the need to make the hero part French. It is a habit seen in old romances like The Sheikh. As if a European woman and a Muslim non-European could not fall in love. I am sure it would not have been socially acceptable in early 19th century Britain but at that time the Turkish Sultan mother was rumoured to be a captured French woman and cousin of Napoleon's wife. And many haremgirls were. In this book the Sultan mother is mentioned but not her European roots. What I mean is if the writer wanted to make the lovematch not to have to cross too many cultural gaps she could have given Selim a Western slave as a mother or grandmother. The Sultan, the leader of the believers, marrying his sister to a Christian French nobleman sounds too far fetched to me.
I also doubt nobility living in France under Napoleon. Did the ones who survived the revolution not flee abroad and return after Napoleon lost? But jf they stayed working against France would be treason and Selim seems too honourable for that.
And I thought Constantinople as a name for the town ceased when the Ottomans conquered the Byzantine capital and renamed it Istanbul? Or kept the English using the old name?
But aside from those historical things the book is interesting, fast paced, shows a lot of cultural colour and has a hero you would like to have yourself : witty caring, smart, strong but vulnerable and good-looking
- Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2016This is a fun adventure set in the Ottoman empire, with mystery, romance and danger. Olivia is a woman ahead of her time -- stifled by a London season, she refuses to marry the cad who tried to compromise her as a way to get at her fortune. She heads out to visit her brother, Richard, an antiquities scholar. She is determined to make an independent life for herself, away from gossip and shallow London society. What a heroine! She is brave rather than foolhardy, loves with all her heart and fierce in support of those she loves. Her first meeting with the H is classic -- he saves her from a snake as he runs from a would-be assassin. It's just delicious, as is the rest of the book, their love story and the wonderful descriptions of Turkey. The food, the architecture and the customs all shine, but never overshadow this blazing romance. (I received an ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.)
- Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2016My disclaimer due to new Amazon rules: I was gifted a free electronic copy of this book by Endeavour Press, via Netgalley. I am not obligated, nor being forced, to post a review – I’m doing it of my own free will as I enjoy reviewing.
On advice from Amazon, and based on their emailed reply I can say – “My review is given voluntarily and the Author/publisher does not require a review in exchange for the book, or attempt to influence my review.”
It was a nice little romance… a little slow in places for me but all in all ticked all the right boxes to make it a decent little historical romance.
And, I have to say, you can really feel Ms Elliott’s love for the location and era this book was set in through her descriptions of people, places and even times of the days. It was a lovely connection and rather reminiscent of the late great Elizabeth Peters works set in Egypt.
As for the storyline? Well, as I said it was a little too slow for me, but I feel the fault lies with the reader and not the book. There are likable protagonists – heroes and heroines, villains causing scandals, mysteries, tension (both sexual and political/cultural) and the much needed HEA – Happily Ever After – this sort of romance requires and did well.
I will say that the formatting of the ARC I read wasn’t that good. Words ran together, paragraphs began mid-sentence, full stops were often missing. But I did not let this affect my score as I knew full well it was an ARC I was reading and so will assume the final eBook format is much better.
Would I recommend this book to others?
I would. It’s a nice little historical romance – not too heavy on any topic – that was very enjoyable to laze away my Christmas break reading. If someone wanted something that wasn’t too hot and heavy, too emotional or too troublesome, I would recommend ‘Scandalous Lady’. It has just the right balance of everything to be the perfect afternoon read.
Would I buy this book for myself?
I might… but only as an eBook and only if I knew the eBook formatting had improved since the ARC. It was a fun little read that I could possibly see myself drawn back to from time to time… but really, right now, something I would see more as a book I would borrow again and again from the library as the mood took me. Though it has made me interested to see what other works Ms Elliott has written.
In summary: A good little historical romance to be enjoyed with your feet up, a hot drink and some choccies.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2017Adventurous and romantic. Reminds me of an English period movie. It's set in Constantinople, circa 1800s. It would make a good movie, but as a book it dragged a bit. Still I enjoyed it.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2017Really enjoyed the story and the setting in Turkey. Very entertaining.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2020Considering the subject matter , history and location was quite disappointed, reads like a Harlequin romance with lead female weak.
Top reviews from other countries
- JimReviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Highly recommended
- ClaudetteReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2017
4.0 out of 5 stars The scandal is to be 2 centuries ahead.
Elizabeth's style is when Jane Austen meets Alexandre Dumas. I haven't finished reading the story. I keep the book in my bag to read when in the train, a queue or a waiting room; that way it is nice to escape in her world. It makes a change to see a lady of the Regency time having a very modern conduct, that's the scandal: to behave or try to behave like in the end of the 20th century! I must say the format of the book is not convenient, too big!.
- shazReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2017
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Enjoyed this story. Loved the H&H. Fast pace page turner. Sexy passion romance. Alpha hero strong heroine. Loved it would recommend