Stevie‘s review of Scandalous Ever After (Romance of the Turf, Book 2) by Theresa Romain
Historical Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 04 Jul 17
Although I’m no fan of modern-day horse racing, I’ve found myself delighted by this series of historical romances about the Chandler family of Newmarket and their world of racehorse breeding and training. For this second full-length instalment, we get to spend some time away from the Chandler’s hometown in the company of older daughter, Kate, who has been living in Ireland with her, now deceased, husband, along with their children and his mother. Kate married after a whirlwind romance, only to find that the man she had fallen for was an unrepentant philanderer who ran up debts to the point where his creditors are threatening to seize everything of his, and Kate’s, that they can, and now he is no longer around.
In desperation, Kate returns to Newmarket, in the hope that her father can help her financially; however, on the way, she can’t resist attending a lecture in Cambridge by her husband’s former best friend, the historian Evan Rhys, whom she hasn’t seen since her husband’s death in a fall during a steeplechase.
Evan has secretly harboured feelings for Kate ever since his former friend first introduced them, but blames himself for the accident since he had quarrelled with Kate’s husband over his bad behaviour immediately before the race. Now they have been reunited, he accepts Kate’s invitation to visit her family, and then offers to escort her back to Ireland, once their stay in Newmarket is completed. On the journey, he takes Kate to meet his own family, and she discovers that they are completely different again from either the Chandlers or the family that she married into.
Although her father was unable to help Kate evade her husband’s creditors, she is still determined to clear his debts, while Evan is keen to solve a mystery he has been investigating, with clues pointing toward the answer having links to both Kate’s late husband and to the overarching mystery of the series – and the main villain who’s been lurking in the background all along. Evan finds himself entranced by Kate’s children, and easily able to sympathise with the problems Kate is having with her mother-in-law. As the pair search for solutions to their various problems, Evan is finally able to reveal his feelings for Kate, while she begins to explore her feelings toward him.
While this story cleared up some of the mysteries of the series and gave the main plots of the book itself a set of satisfactory endings, other threads were left hanging to be dealt with in subsequent instalments, which I hope we will be able to read very soon.
Grade: B
Summary:
After years apart, old friends Lady Kate Whelan and Evan Rhys reunite at a race. They’ve been masking their feelings for each other for years, but when Evan must protect Kate from her late husband’s secrets, he may not be able to resist her any longer.
After being widowed by a steeplechase accident in Ireland, Lady Kate Whelan abandons the turf. But once her mourning is complete, her late husband’s debts drive her to seek help in Newmarket amidst the whirl of a race meet. There she encounters antiquities expert Evan Rhys, her late husband’s roguish friend—whom she hasn’t seen since the day of his lordship’s mysterious death.
Now that fate has reunited them, Evan seizes the chance to win over the woman he’s always loved. But once back within the old stone walls of Whelan House, long-held secrets come to light that shake up everything Kate thought she knew about her marriage. Now she wonders who she can trust with her heart—and Evan must decide between love and a truth that will separate him from all his heart desires.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
