Lawson’s review of Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress (The Bachelor Chronicles, Book 5) by Elizabeth Boyle
Historical romance released by Avon 28 Apr 09

Gwen gave a review of Confessions of a Little Black Gown, which is definitely different than the way I felt about that book. But then I mentioned in my review of Love Letters From a Duke that I didn’t like Felicity, now Duchess of Hollindrake. When I read Black Gown, I’ve got to say, she just made me like her even less, and really her overbearing presence in that one took away from Tally’s story, as well as their cousin Pippin and her life. So I picked up Red Dress I was bracing myself for more grating meddling and smugness of being a know-it-all from Felicity. It’s so nice that I was completely wrong.

Red Dress follows what I’m sure a lot of Boyle readers have been wanting since This Rake of Mine, which is Pippin to finally get her dashing pirate, Thomas Dashwell. What happens instead is the book opens on the deck of a Royal Navy ship with Pippen, now Viscountess Gossett, at a ceremony that places her son John as the captain of the vessel. That’s right, we’re now 22 years after the events of Black Gown and Pippin is a widow with two grown children. Pippin thinks she sees a piratical figure in the crowd and mistakes it for Dash, and she faints.

Her children, thinking the best of their mother, want to ship her off to the country, as town life and the loss of their father has overset her too much and she needs to be somewhere peaceful. Instead Pippin sees the same figure in the square in front of her house and packs a bag to travel with him toward Baltimore. Though not Dash, it is in fact his son Nathaniel, and she’s been asked to save Dash’s life.

What she finds on the ship is a broken man, no longer the naval hero he was and while he kisses the same, it’s not the same Dash he was. With Pippen back in his life he attempts to overcome his weaknesses and rediscover who he really was. Pippin must also tell the truth about what happened more than 20 years before and when these two souls, though older than they were, rediscover their love it’s the best ending of all. At least if they can safely get across the Atlantic that is.

What was the best part of this story was the flashbacks that go into more detail about the relationship of Dash and Pippin, from the very beginning, the kiss on the beach from This Rake of Mine, through their reunion in Love Letters From a Duke and of course, the events in Black Dress. It was really sweet to revisit parts of these books (without Felicity) and see how they did fall in love with each other over the course of the years.

The second best thing was seeing Pippin all grown up, having raised her children, and seeing the Victorian era through the eyes of a Regency lady. Her frustration with the fashions, how her children view her and the fact that she feels life may have passed her by, until she meets Nathaniel and Dash, show a mature woman who longs for what might have been, even though she’s been happy with what she had.

What pains her still is the reason why she left Dash to his fate and married someone else, and the fact that he’s in the state he’s in because of what she did. Of course, there are a couple of his actions that make Dash not the best person in the world, but he still is a dashing hero when he gets his feet back under him and his charm helps to keep him the pirate Pippin fell in love with.

Dash, of course, has that charm in abundance, but he’d wallowed in self pity for so long he didn’t see he was hurting those around him. He has his own secrets, which while sad, show that he always loved the sea and what he could do there and when he met Pippin wanted to include her into his life, rather than sail away from her like he’d done everything else.

Such well drawn characters, a compelling story, and giving Pippin and Dash their happy ending in such a real and satisfying way makes this one a must read for anyone who’s read any of the rest of the series. Boyle’s next series follows more matchmaking from Felicity, which I’ve got to say I’m not thrilled about. But I like Boyle and her writing and I’ll read them for those reasons and ignore Felicity as much as possible.

Grade: A-

Summary:
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What if all you have are the memories of a pirate…
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…and the scandalous red dress that nearly brought you to ruin? Remembrances of the kisses he stole? Or his seductive, rakish smile as he charmed his way into your bed, stole your innocence and your heart? To proper and respectable Philippa, Lady Gossett such memories are best locked away. At least so she thought until a stranger arrives on her doorstep and offers her a chance to tempt fate once again… to tempt Dash back into her life and quite possibly into her bed…
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But the man Pippin loved all those years ago, and the man she discovers are hardly the same. Captain Thomas Dashwell has a score to settle with the now widowed Lady Gossett, the vision in red who has haunted his life for so long—ever since that fateful night when she betrayed him and married another. She’s the one woman he’s vowed to hate until the end of his days… and the one woman he can never forget…
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: