One Night of Scandal – Darcy Burke – NextBookAroundTheCorner

Jack Barrett is an ambitious member of parliament with no time or desire for a wife. When he catches the Duke of Eastleigh’s sister sneaking inside one of London’s private gentlemen’s clubs, he’s shocked—and dangerously charmed—and assumes the role of protector, only to discover she has the means to destroy him. Social pariah Lady Viola Fairfax masquerades as a man to pen a column in a popular women’s magazine. When she stumbles upon a brewing scandal that implicates a prominent MP, she seizes the chance to establish herself as a real journalist. However, the infuriating and intoxicating man may not be the radical he’s purported to be, and the more time they spend together, the more she risks the one thing she’s sworn never to do: fall in love.

My review

After One Night of Surrender, where we already met Viola Fairfax, I was happy to see that she got her own story. We had already seen that Viola likes to disguise as a man to visit her brother at the Wicket Duke. What she doesn’t know, is that Jack (one of Valentine’s friends) has already discovered that Tavistock, reporter for a woman’s magazine, is in fact Valentine’s sister Viola. As a MP, Jack is trying to be of value for his country. So, a wife is definitely not something on his mind. But he can’t seem to take his mind of Tavistock/Viola. When Viola sent in her writings as a woman, she was not accepted at the paper. But as Tavistock she can write. When she hears about a possible lead on the latest attack on the prince, she sees this as a chance to write more than only gossip. So she wants to do an article on the subject. Jack is shocked when he finds out that Viola is pursuing leads to the assassins of the prince. Those men will not hesitate to kill someone, who gets too close to the truth. But he also understands Viola’s frustration about not being taken seriously as a woman. Therefore, he reluctantly agrees to help her. But will Jack be able to keep her safe? And how will these endeavors distract him from his career? Or maybe a wife is in the cards for him. A wonderful read. Five out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.