The Scandals of an Innocent

Novel - The Scandals of an Innocent
Author - Nicola Cornick
ISBN-13: 9780373773893




In reading Nicola Cornick’s ‘The Scandals of an Innocent’, I found this book kind of slow going. Regardless, I enjoyed it. This is the 2nd in a three book series, but the first that I have read by Ms. Cornick. I found her to be an intriguing voice (most of the time) and am interested in reading more…Mostly, I like the newness of the plot, characters and the rich banter between hero and heroine.

Alice Lister, our heroine, has come into quite a bit of money and must find a man or else lose have her fortune to taxation! Enter Miles, Lord Vickery. He is a rake and a fortune hunter. What makes him worse than most is that he actually wooed Alice once before only to abandon her to test his wiles on a more wealthy heiress.

Miles may be as indebted as they come, but he makes no qualms about being a gold-digger. Alice desires him and he lusts after her because of her beauty. These two have a cat and mouse relationship. In general, he takes a personal affront to most things that she does and is dragging her off to another room and ravishing her. There are several of these types of scenes until the ultimate ravishing takes place. For some reason (my cave-woman instincts, maybe) I enjoy reading about dragging and the ravishing, so these parts were a solid read.

The overarching plot arch is that Miles enters a pact with Alice that he will tell the truth in all things. He must do so in order for him to prove that he is worthy to be married to her. This pact comes crashing to a head when Miles hands her over to the Law in the name of truth, and she is taken away in shackles! Like any half-intelligent woman, Alice questions why he didn’t protect her instead of telling the truth. His reason for telling the truth is that she would not respect him if he had not told the truth. Ultimately, she agrees and forgives him – even after she spent a night in jail.

Thus my issue: In my mind it would have been more poetic if he had lied. What did these characters gain by telling the truth – nothing! She spent the night in prison and is humiliated – all because he felt the need to come clean. Maybe it is my quixotic tendencies but I tend to be a believer that truth is not so easily discerned!

Of course, I understand why the author chose to write his redemption this way, but it begged the question: Why do our characters – and it’s usually our male characters – have to be redeemed for us to have closure? Why can’t they stay true to their nature in the beginning? Isn’t it the darkness and imperfections of their character the reasons that we are drawn to them in the first place? Would it have made that much of a difference had he lied, especially if it was in the name of protecting her? Thoughts?

So while the book slumbered along in places, I kept on reading. As such, I will most likely go back to the first book and see if she delivers just as, if not more successfully, than this one. Either way, I will surely let you know when I do…

Happy Reading!
FindingAlpha

PS – I forgot to mention that there was also this unnecessary intrigue at the end in which our heroine is kidnapped. It really had no business being there, and I continue to question the inclusion of tedious plot twists that add nothing in bringing our characters together. They were already together. Just end it already.