The Seduction of Scandal by Cathy Maxwell

Romance full of intrigue and deception
4 stars

Daughter of a duke, Lady Corinne, refuses to marry Lord Freddie Sherwin. He may be the catch of the season but he’s also a pig and Corinne only wants to marry a man she can love. So rather than face a life of misery she runs away. Only to find herself in the arms of notorious highwayman, Thorn.

Thorn is involved in a dangerous game – his identity is a mystery, his life a secret. Until Lady Corinne tumbles into his arms and turns his world upside down. If he wants her silence he must hide her until after her wedding day passes. But when passion flares it might be the most dangerous thing either has faced before or perhaps the start of a lifetime of adventure.


This is the fifth book in Maxwell’s Scandals and Seductions series after A Seduction at Christmas, The Earl Claims His Wife, The Marriage Ring and His Christmas Pleasure. Corinne briefly featured in the last book but apart from that the books stand very much alone and in this one at least, there are no appearances by the main characters from previous books.

From start to finish I really loved this book. It is full of intrigue and romance all the while maintaining the lightness that put me in mind of The Scarlet Pimpernel. However, the real highlight of the book for me had to be Thorn. When we first are introduced to him I was intrigued as to how he would fare as a romantic lead but he turns out to be a brooding, tortured and lonely man who desperately needs the love of a good woman. I liked Corinne too and together the pair had good chemistry. The writing was sharp and this is the kind of story you’re desperate to pick up again if you can manage to put it down in the first place.

My one negative about the book was the sheer number of typos. It drove me mad to see duplicated words, spelling mistakes, grammatical mistakes on top of the smattering of Americanisms dotted throughout the book. I realise that this isn’t necessarily the fault of the author so it’s a shame that it affected my feelings about a book whose characters and storyline I otherwise very much enjoyed.

Having said that, if you like regency romances that you can get lost in and really root for the characters then I would very much recommend this book to you despite its faults. 4 stars.