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Looking for a feel-good read? Look no further. Lauren Layne’s first book in her new Man of the Year series, Yours in Scandal, is a great read for these homebound days – you’ll finish it in a day and have a big, happy smile on your face!
Robert Davenport’s tenure as mayor of New York City is about to come to an end, so after two successful terms, he’s thinking about what’s next. Maybe a run for governor of New York? His campaign manager thinks he has a good shot, especially if they can get the dirt on the very slippery incumbent. And who better to give them that dirt than the governor’s estranged daughter Addie Brennan – recently returned to NYC as a party planner and calling herself Addie Blake. Against his better judgement, Robert is convinced to hire Adeline in an effort to see what he can find out about the governor.
Adeline hates her father. After ignoring and criticizing her for years, she snapped as a teen and ended up being a huge thorn in his political backside. Parties, boys, drugs, sex, Addie did it all. What she wants now is to fly under the radar and make a life for herself on her own terms. Adeline would rather not see another politician in her lifetime, but when the job to plan the mayor’s farewell party is offered to her firm, she knows she has to take the risk and go for it.
Robert and Adeline have immediate chemistry. She agrees to work for him but tries very hard to keep their relationship at the friendship level. Robert knows that Adeline and Addie are one and the same and he’s falling for both sides of her.
He’d never felt the sting of being friend zoned before, but he felt it now, and it was decidedly unpleasant. He was the mayor of the most populous city in the country, for God’s sake. He was fucking Man of the Year. Generally, single women at least looked twice. They certainly didn’t pass him off to their friend.
Most irritating of all was that some part of the back of his brain knew he should be relieved. Interest in Adeline Blake, elite event planner, was one thing. Interest in Addie Brennan, daughter of his future primary opponent and a ticking time bomb of potential scandal, was political suicide.
What will happen when Addie realizes Robert has known the truth all along? What will happen when Robert decides to run for governor?
This is my first Lauren Layne novel and it definitely won’t be my last. Robert and Adeline are a fun, believable couple with great banter and terrific compatibility in and out of the bedroom. Robert is easy to cheer for – he’s full of integrity and has a playful side. Adeline is also easy to love – she’s had her share of hardships but is taking charge of her life and making her own happiness. The challenges Layne throws in their path are credible and I loved how the author chooses less predictable actions and reactions. I cheered when instead of going down the Big Misunderstanding route, Ms. Layne took us on a more mature character journey than we often see these days.
Yours in Scandal is a quick read at under 250 pages and I would have loved to have a longer epilogue, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in smiles and laughs. I’m looking forward to reading the second Man of the Year installment coming out this fall.
Buy it at: Amazon or shop at your local independent bookstore
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Grade: B+
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 09/04/20
Publication Date: 03/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
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If it helps at all,, the politics in this book is really low-key. Very much a minor character. Horrible timing on the release date but still a lovely romance.
I like Lauren Layne, but anything politics isn’t relaxing for me.
Yeah, uh, a hero who is a mayor and governor of New York City definitely feels loaded right now.
I live in a NYC suburb and I think a romance novel about a NY politician would read weird to me even in normal times (like, why not just invent a fictional big city?). I understand that publication schedules likely mean this book was finished and ready to go LONG before the current crisis, but ‘awkward timing’ is, just… I can’t think of a more massive understatement.
I live in Manhattan, and same. I kind of struggle with politics romance novels for this reason anyway, unless it’s a fictional town, because the sort of warp in reality you need to create a world that is exactly this one except with key people erased hurts my brain. Unless there’s something else about the plot that really draws me, or it’s a series I’m following or a very favorite author, I tend to skip them. But when it’s NYC, the reality warp is too big. And right now… no.