This is a great historical romance with fantastic characters and great banter. I love the pace of the story and the way the relationship developed from start to finish. It’s an enjoyable book.

This book was a struggle. What I loved: the chosen family that came to live in the house, the dogs, the appearance of Ivy and Sebastian, the “grand event.”What I disliked: the two main characters and their romance. It is a real problem in a romance novel when your central couple is the most underwhelming part of the book. I really don’t know what these two characters saw in each other. They seemed to have no emotional connection, which made the sex scenes awkward. I ended up skipping them as I got further in the book because they just felt cringey. I would have rated this one two stars if the supporting characters had not been so delightful.

Four Weeks of Scandal by Megan Frampton is the fifth book of the Hazards of Dukes series. Octavia Holton arrives to claim the house that her recently deceased father left to her and her sister. Only to discover someone else is there and claiming the house is theirs! Octavia is having none of this, as she needs to sell the house to pay off debt. Gabriel Fallon claims his father won the house in a bet against her father. Both unwilling to back down, the two strike up a bargain. For four weeks, they will pretend to be engaged. All while seeking out papers to prove ownership. But close proximity causes this fake engagement to become more real each day they spend together.

This was a very cute and low-angst novel. The doggies were such an adorable addition to the cast of characters. Overall, this is a super fluffy book!

This was a fun conclusion to the series. Octavia has been in this series from the beginning, so it was great to see her happily ever after. This book was a little bit enemies to lovers with lots of comedy.

Since I did not realize this was book 5 in the series it took me a while to get to it but what a pleasure it was! This was definitely one of those books you wish you read earlier - forced proximity, found family, a bet, etc!
Octavia arrives to collect her inheritance, the house she grew up in, only to find another person claiming that they own the house. Gabriel claims his father won the house in a bet. Therefore a 4 week bargain ensues and so does the fake engagement that leads to romance. A great read!

Forced proximity and Fake Betrothal tropes! It's a good one!
Octavia inherits her home and shows up to claim it. Only there's a conflicting claim from Gabriel. They pretend to be engaged so they can get to the bottom of this. Of course, they just must fall in love. Excellent story!

4/5 Stars

I really enjoy Megan Framtpon's books. I know every time I pick one up I will have a great time, and this book is no exception. I love the proximity trope, its one of my favorites. I had a great time reading about Gabriel, I absolutely adored him. That being said I wasn't the biggest fan of Octavia, she was mean and self-centered so it made it hard for me to connect and enjoy her character. While it wasn't my favorite book in this series, I still got enjoyment from it.

Octavia and Gabriel couldn’t be anymore opposite! She is a Londoner; spontaneous, lively, and independent. Gabriel is from the country; quiet, thoughtful, patient and relaxed. But these two are magic together! They are exactly what the other needs and the growth they both experience during their four weeks together is amazing! I love the references to Persephone and Hades and how that came full circle in the end. I loved the fact that they BOTH found family at that house together with the ‘chaperones’ and it was exactly what they both needed in their lives! I haven’t read any of the previous books in the series but I’ll be doing that now! Steam was decent; I’m a ‘it could always be more’ kind of gal, so I wish there had been a few more scenes, but I did appreciate that they fooled around and only had sex their last night together. It made the climax that much sweeter!

Hello

Apologies for the late notice, but I have decided not to review this title.

While I am certain it's obvious by now, I wanted to also clear this off NetGalley, so it's not showing as open for either of us.

I look forward to continuing to work with you in 2023 and beyond.

Laura

Funny, entertaining and a great take on historical romance. I really enjoyed the characters and the story line. Frampton managed to keep me engaged throughout the whole book.

I liked the set up of forcing these two together for a period time and their connection. It's the last of a series which I may also start

The perfect book to illustrate the saying (and trope!) “opposites attract”. Octavia, the heroine, is very impulsive, lively and reckless, while Gabriel is kind, soft-spoken and very controlled… But very hot as well! I so adore a sexy scholar! And of course the book “works” quite well because of this difference in temperaments. Sparks fly and hilarious situations abound. Add to the mix delightful internal dialogues and lovable side characters and you’ll have a very enjoyable book!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Another excellent story by Megan Frampton! I have yet to read a story by her that I didn’t absolutely love! This story takes a spin on fake-relationship-to-love with some wonderful supporting characters, two doggies, a shamble of a country home, some Greek Gods as inspiration, all wrapped up in a juicy Pomegranate Compromise.

Gabriel & Octavia are perfectly matched and their journey to HEA is one you don’t want to miss! Although this book is part of the Hazards of Dukes series you can enjoy it as a standalone - although we do get to catch up with Ivy & Sebastian from book one of the series, Never Kiss a Duke.

A Favorite Quote
“Gabriel had never thought, when he’d gone to take a dip in the pond those months ago, that he would now have a wife, a family, and a home. It was a gamble he was pleased to make. It would pay off. He knew that. Just as he knew he would love Octavia, and she would love him, no matter what the odds.


Overall I highly recommend this book and the entire series!
5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 5 Flames 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 | Contender for top book of 2022 🏆


📚Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from Avon and Harper Voyager publishing via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, comments, and interpretations of the story are my own and bias free. I did not receive any money in exchange for this review. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to review. Reviews are cross-posted to social media, goodreads, and blog. 🦄

4.50 stars
Octavia and Gabriel have history and lots of it! Far beyond both of their fathers loved gambling more than their children!
When they were mere teens their fathers had a wager to basically sell both daughters!
Thankfully Octavia older sister Ivy won and took Octavia mere teenager at the time away to give her some sort of normal life!
Octavia Is a manager and owner of a gambling center but it only allows women and men who can settle their debts that same night to gamble!
But they are so very different Gabriel is a gorgeous handsome scholar who loves Greek mythology and old texts and loathes gambling after it destroyed his father. He is a methodical thinker and planner!
Octavia is very impulsive do much so she had a carriage drop her off at her fathers old home sure he left it to her to escape at least temporarily loan sharks who wanted to break things like her bones!
Gorgeous Gabriel is rising out of the pond like a Greek God and she and her dog are the only ones there!
This is a very unlikely courtship with village neighbors and hiring chaperones and fake engagement! Well you name it and this story has it!
Laugh out loud moments, steam and a challenge that brings out the very best in both of them!
If you love a story that takes two people who are at odds and never should have met again well here you go!
The road to HEA is paved with laughs and good intentions and maybe just enough growth and compromise by Octavia that you grow to like and even understand her!
Bravo!!

I gave this book another try because I usually enjoy this author. However, I was really sad to find that I didn't enjoyed it as much as I wanted.
The characters and the whole idea was great, but it just didn't click for me.
I hope to read more by Megan Framptonin the future!

This book broke my brain in the most delightful ways possible. It's a forced proximity, rivals to lovers, fake relationship between two people who reacted to similar childhood trauma in completely diametrically opposed ways. (The part that broke me was figuring out how they would have been related to each other had their dissolute fathers been able to bring their machinations to fruition -- it's deeply twisted if you think too hard about it at 11:30pm like I did.)

Octavia Holton travels to her childhood home after the death of her father only to find that she isn't the only one trying to claim her inheritance.
Gabriel Fallon believes his recently deceased fatherwon the house from Octavia's father.
He plans on living in the house and making it a home.
She plans on fixing it up to sell, so that she can pay her debts.
They decide to spend a month together in the house trying to clean it up and look for proof of who truly owns the property.
They end up faking an engagement while they live there and of course end up acting their physical attraction.
I really enjoy Megan Frampton's writing. Her books are always filled with humor and some of the hottest sex scenes that I've read in Historical Romance. This one was no exception. It was an extremely enjoyable read!

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

I enjoyed this story. I liked the characters personalities and found their forced proximity/fake relationship worked. I enjoyed the side characters in the story as . It's definitely a cute read.

A super sweet and steamy love story featuring Octavia, Ivy's sister from book one and the gambler's son she was almost married to. Both of their fathers have died and now Octavia and Gabriel must figure out who actually owns the house that they wagered.

Gabriel is not the gambler's son you would expect, but a nice respectable scholar who is willing to share the house with Octavia and pretend to be her fake fiance while she searches for her father's will. I love how quickly they fall into a friendship and when Octavia suggests a physical relationship, it doesn't seem that far out of left field. And their equal lack of experience is almost endearing as they explore passion with each other.

I also loved their "chaperones/servants" who stayed with them to validate their relationship. The story felt like it moved fasted since they were pretty honest with their mutual attraction in the beginning. And I loved how everything was resolved. Definitely one of my favorites of the series. Ivy and Sebastian from book 1 also make an appearance.

I am a new fan of Megan Frampton and her books are always fun and entertaining. I find myself laughing out loud throughout the book. I loved the dynamic between the two main characters.