Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress by Elizabeth Boyle

Emotional and romantic read

4 stars

Prim and proper Philippa, Lady Gossett has vivid memories of a dashing pirate, the kisses he stole and the love the pair shared together. Now, twenty years after she made the decision to marry another to save his life, she finds herself back in the company of Captain Thomas Dashwell.

The twenty years have not been kind to Captain Dashwell and he is embittered by the woman that broke his heart and betrayed him. Yet she has haunted his dreams since they were together and since he can't forget her, he'll just have to try and win her back!

This is, I believe, the final book in the Bachelor Chronicles series (after Something About Emmaline, This Rake of Mine, Love Letters from a Duke and Confessions of a Little Black Gown). This book does mention things that happened in the previous books in the series but probably does stand alone well enough.

The book is told with the use of flashbacks but this doesn't stop the story from flowing nicely. The flashbacks were beautifully written and you really felt the emotions from Dash and Pippin as they desperately tried to stay together. Despite changing over the twenty years, I also liked the 'present day' scenes and both Dash and Pippin didn't lose their sparkle with age!

I have to admit I was torn between giving this book 4 or 5 stars. It really was an excellent book but the ending just didn't have the same emotional impact as the rest of the book for me and so I decided to go with 4 stars. Despite that, it's still an excellent book and one that I really couldn't put down. It's emotional, romantic and a really good read. Definitely recommended.