A Lady's Guide to Scandal follows recently widowed Eliza Balfour as she navigates life after her husband's death. I was hoping for much more scandal and for this book to be quick-witted and humorous. Unfortunately, Eliza did not live up to the hype that I was hoping for and a scandal she did not create.

Sophie Irwin's A Lady's Guide to Scandal trades on all the core elements of Regency romance, but has a little something extra. The plot is what sets Irwin apart. It flies. This is the sort of book you can read in an evening and be happy that you did. I enjoyed it, but would have liked a few more innovations within the genre.

This was the most delightful and fun regency-era read! Yes, it was a romance. Regency-era chaste. But more than that, it was a wonderful story about a young widow finding her way in the world and making her own place in society.

Excuse me while I book a trip to Bath, because this book made it sound like an amazing place to vacation.

I found myself laughing and cringing and crossing my fingers for happy endings for most of the characters we met in this book. Not all. But definitely most. And the irony and sarcasm are so well written. I will gladly read anything else this author ever chooses to publish!

I enjoyed this story! I thought it was whitty and well written. I love a strong woman character. I was sad that it kept moving to the bottom of my TBR pile. Great read.

5 blazing stars for "A Lady's Guide to Scandal"! I absolutely devoured this book. I was expecting to love it because it has all the hallmarks of a successful romance for me: Jane Austen vibes, strong women, friendship, and witty banter. My god, the banter! It was so vibrant and had me laughing out loud. The writing is impeccable. The amount of highlighting I did is simply obscene. I must admit, I went with grand assumptions about how the story would go and I was happily surprised for who I was rooting for in the end.

I am excited to push this book into everyone's hands.

Brava, Sophie! x

I love Sophie Irwin! Her previous book, A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting, was terrific. This sophomore title hasn't lost any sparkle. There is still the same wit readers have come to expect from Ms. Irwin. Eliza is widowed at the young age of 28 (well, in these times, is that so young?). Poor Eliza finds herself awaiting her fate---what will her future hold? She surprisingly discovers that her old codger husband has left her the entire estate---she is free actually to live her life!

This delightful book brought me laughter and tears. Please keep them coming, Sophie! BTW, I adore the cover art work.

Timid Regency lady Eliza married for duty at 18, even though she was in love with someone else; a decade later, she is a wealthy widow and duchess. When her first love comes back into her life, does the old fire still exist? This sweetly satisfying Regency romance follows Eliza's slow unfurling from a woman who made herself smaller and smaller to fit societal expectations to an independent painter who refuses to fold herself small again for someone else's demands.

Minor love triangle that fits Eliza's growth; wonderful female friendship between Eliza and her cousin Margaret; no on-page sex or even suggested sex.

Reading Sophie Irwin is always delightful, and she's created another fun cast of characters here. The romance ultimately disappointed me, largely because I'm a big Persuasion fan and this is not a book that gets Persuasion — so I did that to myself! But for entertaining characters and shenanigans, this book was a good time.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of A Lady's Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin.
A Lady's Guide to Scandal is a fun British romance book that is highly predictable, but a joy to read. Although it is the second book in the Lady's Guide series, this book can also be a stand alone novel.

Rating: 4/5

Read it for the:
-Great Character Growth
-Witty dialogue
-Plot Twist
-Historical notes
-Love triangle
-Echos of Jane Austen’s Persuasion
-Uplifting and modern message

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭:
Romance: Clean (kissing only)
Trigger warning: prejudice

𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
My first read by Sophie Irwin, and I was not disappointed. I will admit that as I began reading this story, it reminded me of the classic, Persuasion, so much so I thought this book a retelling until I got further into my reading. Original, sweet, and empowering, A Lady’s Guide to Scandal was a refreshing tale of finding yourself and embracing love on the way.

I so loved the main character Eliza and the wonderful character arc she experienced throughout the story. What started as a quiet woman who couldn’t voice her thoughts transformed and grew stronger with every turn of the page. I was fully immersed in her journey. I also loved the historical notes the author added to the story, the research on the time was seen and combined with her writing style, served to immersive me in the setting and time. I laughed at many of the witty comebacks and felt shocked at the twists.

I also loved the cast of side characters, including the love interests - whom I won’t go into because of spoilers. Just know the romance was there and the chemistry was felt. I knew who I was rooting for, and was immensely satisfied with the ending. While a clean romance (no language or explicit content) I applaud the author for her skill in writing a romance that was very much emotionally driven, and entertaining to watch blossom.

Overall, A Lady’s Guide to Scandal is a light read, with depth, a sweet romance, and great character development that I recommend! I cannot wait to read more from Sophie Irwin.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Sophie Irwin!! This was fantastic, I love a good historical romance but I also love when they are this fun.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

"She did not want to make herself small again, in any way—not her character, not her desires, not her life. Not even for him."

My rating: 4 stars

A Lady's Guide to Scandal was a fun addiction to the Lady's Guide series. It's lighthearted and fun, and kept me laughing throughout.

Sophie Irwin has a unique and engaging writing style, and her stories reflect that. It was delightful getting to know Eliza and Margaret and Melville and Somerset. The cast of characters was varied and entertaining and their antics kept me engaged and entertained.

I would recommend this to Regency and romance lovers alike. Both would find something to enjoy in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’m a sucker for a historical romance so I was very excited about this one! However, I wasn’t in love with it by the end. I wanted to connect to the characters more and when the plot is not usually something I can relate to, this genre is really hard for me to enjoy if I can’t connect with them. Eliza made poor choices but it doesn’t seem that out of character since this was her first real chance at freedom. I love a love triangle and this one just wasn’t angsty like I had hoped. Overall, I’m happy I read it but won’t be recommending it to my friends unless they love historical romances.

Reminiscent of Jane Austen yet still uniquely written, A Lady’s Guide to Scandal, is enjoyable. While the main character begins the story as a widow, readers are quickly presented with an awkward encounter with her first love. However, he seems not to remember her! Readers will be entertained at the development in both plot and characters throughout.

Normally I am not a fan of love triangles but I will say that this one worked pretty well for me! Eliza is recently widowed and still in mourning when her late husband's heir (who happens to be Eliza's first love) returns home to take over his property. Not wanting to return home to her overbearing family Eliza decides to head to bath for her "health". While there she befriends Duke Melville who does not have the best reputation. This book was so fun and I am glad that I finally got to it. I also liked that this book addressed race as Melville is of Indian descent and this is a part of his character development. If you are a fa of historicals then I recommend picking this one. Thank you Penguin for my gifted copy!

I was looking forward to reading A Lady's Guide to Scandal as I very much enjoyed A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting, but it did not live it up to the first book. I would say it is overall, fine. I enjoyed the premise of second chance love, but from there it was a bit hard to get behind the characters. They were not as fully-fleshed out as book one, and I felt that the nods to convention were a bit wooden. I think I would have liked a little more drama as opposed to less, like have a little fun with it!

I adored this read, the cover is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to read more by this author. It takes a little while to get invested in the story but once you do, you will absolutely love it.

A Lady's Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin surpassed even my most hopeful expectations. I start by saying that I have never been much of a romance reader, beyond reading contemporary YA in my young adult years. Last year, I picked up Evie Dunmore's League of Extraordinary Women books and realized that while some romance was not to my taste, clearly some of it worked for me. I was lucky enough to come to this realization right around the time that Sophie Irwin's A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting had come out and was able to get my hands on a copy.

A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting was so tender and emotional. I loved it's protagonist, and I read it all in one day. A Lady's Guide to Scandal succeeds in all the ways that its predecessor did. It walks a fine line between being a progressive modern book representing honestly the ills of the time and also being a fun romance. I think it does so marvelously, but those who like straight romance, not political take may find themselves less interested.

Altogether, I found this another satisfying installment from Irwin and look forward to what she publishes next.

DNF: too wordy, boring, the beginning just could not get me to keep going. I just couldn't follow the plot lines as well as I'd hoped to be able to, it was a turn-off to have the prose be so heady.

This book was a ton of fun! I really enjoyed the true love triangle and feminist take on a classic regency era story. Including some diversity in characters and perspectives was really well done, and I liked that the world felt really lived in. I wish we had gotten a little more of the families in the book, and wish we had a little more of Somerest on the page vs in flash back memories. Overall very enjoyable and would certainly read more by the author!