Book Review-Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage
Highland Pleasures Series
Jennifer Ashley
Berkley Sensation
316 Pages
Published July 2010
Victorian Historical Romance
ISBN: 978-0-425-23545-4

Synopsis:
Six years ago, eighteen-year-old Lady Isabella Scranton scandalized all of London by eloping the night of her come-out ball with the notorious rake, Lord Mac Mackenzie. After three turbulent years of marriage, she scandalized London once again--this time by leaving him.


Now the reformed Mac has returned, and he wants one thing: Isabella back in his life, his house, his bed. He'll do anything he has to, play any game, as long as he gets her back. Isabella resists, but when she agrees to pose for erotic paintings he's been working on, she realizes her body has never stopped craving her husband’s very skilled touch. Mac is determined to show Isabella that he's a changed man, but three years without her has only increased his hunger for her.


When an ingenious forger with designs on Mac's paintings, and Isabella herself, comes dangerously near, Mac sets himself up as Isabella’s protector and vows to never leave her side, whether his independent and proud lady likes it or not.

Summary:
Isabella six years ago, shocked everyone including her own family, when she married Mac Mackenzie, and since then their marriage has been stormy to say the least. Despite the fact that they both love each other, they each hurt each other, and its a never ending cycle. Now after having been separated for three years, Mac enters back into Isabella's life, much to her dismay. She wonders what game he is playing at, but the more he appears in her life, the more she becomes convinced that he is sincere in wanting her wholly into her life. However she remembers the pain they have both suffered in the past, and her fears holds her back from embracing their marriage as it was in the beginning. But with all the turbulent storms that are rising between them, there is also a danger that could threaten both of them.

The Hero 
Mac Mackenzie is a painter, and a well talented one at that. However his marriage and what it has become has haunted him. Mac is a charming devil who used to love to travel, paint and drink, only coming to Isabella when he felt he needed to. Then a tradegy hit them both, and finds himself separated from Isabella legally, and for three long suffering years, he has lived without her, but endeavoring to make himself worthy of her once more. But the road is just about to get even tougher, as he has to convince the one woman that hold his heart, to take him seriously and believe in him once more. Because she is his inspiration for his painting and his life.

The Heroine 
Isabella when she was eighteen was young and in love, and shocked everyone in society including her family in running off with Mac Mackenzie and marrying him. Being cut of from her family, she has not heard from her parents or her sister whom she misses deeply. Now six years later, despite how much she loves Mac, she has been separated from him for three years, since a tradegy hit them both, and have both suffered pain and loss. However Mac has reappeared in her life, wanting her back, and Isabella fears that he will hurt her again, only more so this time. Isabella is a woman of strong character, but lives in fear of pain and loss, and has a hard time trusting the one person whom she has loved more deeply than anyone else. But she aches to be with him again, and to have that hope of having a family.


My Thoughts
Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage is the second installment in the Highland Pleasures series. After reading the first one The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie, it was a delight to finally read Isabella and Mac's story. I found both of these characters a delight, and loved seeing both sides to their story. Both Isabella and Mac have suffered pain and loss, and having caused pain to one another, but they are also very deep and were brought out vividly throughout the story, that I felt I got to know them both as separate individuals, which was a treat. I have adored reading this story, as much as I adored the first one in the series. There was the perfect mixture of passion, intrigue, danger, and love that brought out a delectable story that had me until the very last page. Truly a romance that was heartfelt throughout the whole by this reader!!!

My Favorite Quote:
"It is a game, my love," He held her gaze " It is the most serious game I have ever engaged in. And I intend to win it. I will have you back Isabella--in my life, in my house, and in my bed,"

My Grade On This Book 
5 Blossoms

Other Books In The Series 
The Madness Of Lord Ian Mackenzie
The Many Sins Of Lord Cameron (2011)