Marguerite Kaye

SPOTTED: LONDON'S FAVORITE FALLEN HEIRESS, TAKING UP WITH THE ROGUE MARQUIS! Amongst the gossip-hungry ton, no name has become more synonymous with sin than that of Lady Caroline Rider, cast out by her husband and disowned by her family. Rumor has it that the infamous "Caro" is now seeking oblivion in the opium dens of London! There's only one man who can save her—notorious rake Sebastian Conway, Marquis of Ardhallow. Soon Caro is installed in his country home, warming his bed, but their passion may not be enough to protect them once news of their scandalous arrangement breaks out….

Rumors that Ruined a Lady

Angela Guilherme

*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Rumors that Ruined a Lady is the fourth book in a series but, even though I haven't read the previous ones, I didn't feel like it was necessary since the story is independent, even though there is some degree of continuity. Each book is focused on one of the five Armstrong sisters and, this time, is Caroline's (Caro) story.

Caroline is the obedient daughter, the one that always tried to obey her father, and the only one who married the man her father chose to be her husband, but her reward was a lifetime of unhappiness and suffering. Because, unlike her sisters, who chose their own paths, Caro tried all her life to fulfill her father's will and, at the time she needed his support the most, he abandoned her on her own luck.

And that is how Sebastian comes to encounter her completely blacked out after taking opium at a party and he ends up taking her with him to his family property, where he provides her with a place to recuperate and try to reorganize her life. The version that circulates in londoner society is that her husband has expelled her from home because she cheated on him, but that is not exactly the truth and her father refuses to even hear her side of the story and is imperative that she will only be welcomed back in the family when she returns to her husband.

Caro and Sebastian have history, they've known each other since they were teenagers (since their fathers have neighbouring properties) and they have in common the fact that they are both maternal orphans and have controlling fathers, but the love they felt for each other then wasn't strong enough to overcome Caro's obedience and Sebastian's problems.

But now it seems destiny is giving them a new chance for happiness if they both allow themselves to take it... And if Sebastian is instrumental in resolving Caro's situation (including giving her the strength she needs to finally rebel against her father), it's Caro that finally breaks down the walls that Sebastian has built around him and gives him the closure he needs, namely reconciling him with his father's memory.

I liked the story and the protagonists, both with a heavy past, which made this romance more melancholic than I'm used to. I liked that the author mentioned what happened with the other sisters, an important context for someone who, like me, hasn't read the previous books. But I'll admit it troubled me that Caro didn't turn to any of them, since it was mentioned that they were very close (Caro does explain why she doesn't do it, but it still troubled me). I ended up liking Sebastian's story more, because he had no one to turn to and things could not have been any different...

To finish, I'd like the author to write Caro's half-sister's story because I would love to see Sebastian's christening desire to her fulfilled...

Rumors that Ruined a Lady

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