Friday, July 20, 2012

Passionate Scandal by Michelle Reid

Passionate Scandal (Harlequin Presents, #1695)Passionate Scandal by Michelle Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a very good lovers reunited romance. I think for a short book, it successfullydelves into and explores what makes a relationship between two people who truly love each other fall apart. Sometimes it's a complex mix of internal and external forces. In the case of Madeline and Dominic, it was insecurity, differences in age, and fears on how that affected their relationship, and too much interference from their family in their relationship.

I liked that neither was perfect and neither was demonized. Neither was the bad guy who destroyed their relationship the first time around. Madeline was young and willful, and Dominic was presumptuous and controlling. Eventually that worked against their first chance at love. But four years later, they are able to see past all that and find the strong chord of deep love between them and refuse to allow their insecurities, pride and fears stand in the way. I truly liked that about this story. I love that idea that two people who truly love each other will get the chance to be together, and I like that Ms. Reid delivered that in this book. I also loved the intensity between them, that strong, fierce emotion that neither could deny. Even four years later, it was so strong that they couldn't move on with other people. That love drew them back together.

This was a quick, involving read. Not just a momentary diversion, but involving me emotionally in the story. Normally with lovers reunited, I feel like more than anything there is too much angst and repercussions about why it didn't work the first time, and this doesn't draw me into a story. I prefer the first contact and the build of their relationship to the happy ending. In this case, I found it interesting to see how they were able to get past what went wrong in the past and work it out in the future. The layers intrigued me and kept me enthralled in the story. I saw a lot of growth and maturity in both Madeline and Dominic, and I appreciate that. Of course the HP drama and zing also makes for a good read for me. Another thumbs up book by this author on my keeper shelf.

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