A Most Improper Rumor (Whispers of Scandal, #2) by Emma Wildes | Goodreads
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Whispers of Scandal #2

A Most Improper Rumor

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What is society to do when the diamonds of the first water are caught in compromising situations, one after the other? Can the young ladies survive the season with their reputations intact…or will the scandalous whispers surrounding them bring about the ultimate ruination?

Once the toast of the ton, Lady Angelina DeBrooke is no longer known just for her exquisite beauty, but more for her notorious marriages. Dubbed the Dark Angel, she has fallen in love for the first time and wishes to marry, but fears finding herself a widow for the third time. With two poisoned husbands and a cloud of suspicion hanging over her head, she turns to the only man in England who might help her…

Benjamin Wallace, Lord Heathton, isn’t interested in playing detective again, but when Lady DeBrooke approaches him in a quest to clear her name, he finds the challenge irresistible. Her second husband was an old friend, and when he takes a closer look, he catches the scent of a foe he has hunted before—and knows this is his chance to finally trap the elusive prey...  

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 5, 2013

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About the author

Emma Wildes

107 books357 followers
Emma was born in Minnesota and she lives in the Midwest, though she grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She attended Illinois State University where she majored in geology, and there she met her husband, Chris. They have three children, a temperamental cat named Poot, and are lucky enough to live on a beautiful lake. On warm days, she does enjoy a glass of wine on the dock now and then, and always loves to sit at her desk, winter or summer, and tap at her keyboard.

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
Profile Image for Becca.
677 reviews110 followers
January 18, 2024
This continues Ben and Alicia’s romance and then added a new one for another woman whose reputation was destroyed by an unknown villain. While I still
Enjoyed Ben and Alicia, a lot of their issue had been resolved in the last book so this felt like more of an extended epilogue-lovely but only if you’re already invested in the couple (their story began in Ruined by Moonlight). Unfortunately the other romance, with Angelia DeBrooke and Baron Lowe, they are already in love when the book opens. They just felt like filler with no depth to their relationship and just an excuse for sex scenes—this is my least favorite type of romance. How they fell in love with her dark past and reticence would have made for a much more compelling story but we only get glimpses of it as mentions in their thoughts.

The mystery was really good though and the stories overlapped more as a result which I liked. Ben’s past contacts from the war were also in it more and they were layered, complicated people (I wonder if Wildes had planned to continue with them too!). The bummer about this story is I think this was supposed to be a longer series but it stopped here. The villain’s presence is confirmed but his identity is still unknown and it’s left open for another London season for Ben to continue the chase. With no more books left this was a bummer since it was the component of this tale that had me most invested. That said, if you enjoyed the first installment, you’ll still enjoy this one but go in knowing it’s left pretty open ended. I felt the first book was a lot better and this one should definitely not be read as a standalone. But if you enjoyed Ben and Alicia they were fun to see here and the other romance, though shallower, was still fun. Just not one of her best since it felt like an “in between” book that was building but never fully got there.

Still rating it 4 stars because Wildes is such a comfort read for me.
Profile Image for Celia.
733 reviews117 followers
January 23, 2020
Bom. Emma Wildes e não há muito mais a dizer. Apesar de ter preferido, sem qualquer dúvida, o primeiro desta série.
Profile Image for Andreia Silva.
171 reviews4 followers
November 14, 2016
Embrulhei tanto este livro .. Das duas uma , ou q história não é boa ou não devia ter lido agora .. Mas ele não era mais forte do que eu ... Eu venci e acabei por achar que ele não vai além das 3 estrelas ... Fraquinho mesmo
Profile Image for Issa.
419 reviews20 followers
October 9, 2013
Book two of the Whispers of Scandal series and despite deciding I would not continue with this, the blurb that included Lady Angelina DeBrooke and Benjamin Wallace intrigued me because they are not the lovers in this book and both of them are different than the usual fare.

Like the first, this one contains two stories. Angelina has lost both her husbands and she was accused, though not convicted, of murdering them. Shunned by society, she has found a lover who wishes to marry her but refuses as long as the taint of her dead husbands hovers over her.

Ben has made a name for himself looking into mysteries like this and Angelina goes to him for help. Her story interests him and he agrees to look into it.

The two stories crossed and linked far more than the previous book, but they can still be discussed separately.

Angelina and her lover are a fascinating couple. Their fears and emotions are well portrayed and it’s different reading a book with committed partners. The author was able to pull in enough drama for what she created, but she backed them into a corner and could only do so much with it so it was a weaker story than I’d hoped for.

Unfortunately the Ben and Alicia story did not work for me this time. I can’t say I liked him very much. It’s the same pattern over and over. He forbids her to get involved, she does anyway, and they talk it to death....and talk, and talk. One of them can bring up a thought or idea and it can take a page or more of chatter before they get to the point. There were times I wanted to scream. That story would work so much better if the author would let them work as a team.

The best thing about this book is the mystery. The bad guy in this one is obvious from the beginning but putting that aside the Big Bad Baddie, who Ben’s been chasing from the beginning is still out there and so much more dangerous than we all thought. In this the author hooked me and I’ll have to continue to see the end of that.
Profile Image for Dabney.
464 reviews68 followers
March 16, 2013



this review was originally published at DearAuthor.com


Dear Ms. Wildes:


You are an author whose prose I’ve enjoyed in the past. Your 2009 novel, An Indecent Proposition (reviewed here by Jane), was a sexy fun read and I found the first book in the Whispers of Scandal series, Ruined by Moonlight, entertaining (My review is here.) Your latest, A Most Improper Rumor, however, left me disgruntled. Not only did the plot baffle me, the emphasis the novel places on physical beauty was so great, it pulled me out of the story.


This book begins with Lady Angelina DeBrooke, “a raven- haired beauty with crystalline gray eyes,” calling on Lord Heathton–Benjamin Wallace–to request his help. Ben and his wife Alicia are a Regency Nick and Nora who, in Ruined by Moonlight, discovered a nefarious plot to destroy gorgeous young ladies by decimating their reputations.



In A Most Improper Rumor, Angelina is the most notorious woman in the ton–she’s called the Dark Angel. Both of her husbands died and, when the second one perished from the same “mysterious ailment” as felled the first, Angelina was accused of murder. The evidence against her wasn’t strong enough to convict her at trial, but now, at twenty-four, she’s a social pariah. That, however, is not what she requires help with. Angelina is madly passionately in love with a man who wants to marry her. Angelina is terrified that if her love affair with Christopher becomes known he too will be killed.


Ben quickly realizes the villain ultimately responsible for Angelina’s problem is the same villain he and Alicia became aware of in Ruined by Moonlight. Given that Angelina’s first husband died six years ago, five years before the case in Ruined by Moonlight, Ben deduces that this reputation wrecker has been taking down diamonds of the first water for some time. In both cases, the ultimate villain whom I will henceforth refer to as the Big Bad learns of some lesser villain whom I will henceforth refer to as the Baby Bad. Each book has a different Baby Bad.


In Ruined by Moonlight, the Baby Bad wanted to force her brother to marry so that she could be free to stop running his household.  The Baby Bad connected with the Big Bad via a newspaper ad and then left the matter in the Big Bad’s hands. The Big Bad arranged for the heroine–a breathtaking blonde–to be locked in a stone room with the biggest rake in Christendom. This should have ruined the blonde but didn’t because the rake married her. Angelina’s case is far worse–here the Big Bad has killed–and Ben realizes the Big Bad is really really bad. I recount the plot of the first novel because it’s integral to making sense of this one. A Most Improper Rumor doesn’t work well as a stand-alone.


The Big Bad/Baby Bad thing didn’t work for me in Ruined by Moonlight and nor does it in A Most Improper Rumor. Ben and Alicia work to discover and thwart both Bads each of whom has a different motivation. The identity of the Baby Bad is obvious to anyone who has ever had a hinky friend. The identity of the Big Bad can’t be discovered–it’s the basis of the series–so Ms. Wildes gives the reader information, none of it very interesting, about the profile of the Big Bad.


The Baby Bad in A Most Improper Rumor isn’t really evil. The Big Bad not only is evil, he/she begins to target Ben and Alicia which kinda makes sense but doesn’t really work with the “I Ruin the Reps of the Young and the Beautiful” MO. At several points, the plot was so far-fetched I felt as though I were reading Dan Brown novel.


Ms. Wildes does a better job with characterization, at least in the case of Ben and Alicia. I really liked Ben and Alicia in Ruined by Moonlight. In A Most Improper Rumor, Ben and Alicia are a bit less appealing. Alicia is predictably pregnant which makes Ben spend lots of time thinking about the nature of his love for his wife and her baby bump. Alicia spends lots of time musing on how profoundly Ben loves her even though he has a tough time saying those three little words. Their sex life, which underwent a charming transformation in the first book, isn’t especially diverting here. It’s nice that a married couple is seen burning up the sheets but that alone isn’t enough to make their relationship especially compelling. It’s also nice that Ben who began the series with conventional ideas about the role of one’s wife now sees Alicia as his partner and intellectual equal. Their interactions are my favorite part of this book.


I am not as fond of the Angelina/Christopher piece of the tale. For starters, everyone in the book is so hyper-aware of Angelina’s beauty that it almost becomes silly. When she first calls on Ben he thinks, “She was entirely too beautiful to refuse.” When Alicia hears Angelina paid Ben a visit, her first response is to say, “When one of the most beautiful women in England calls on your husband, a wife is surely allowed to ask why.” Christopher who to his credit reminds himself regularly how much he loves Angelina for more than her form is still routinely distracted by her beauty whenever the two are in the same room. Furthermore, given that Angelina and Christopher are already deeply in love when the novel begins, there’s very little tension in their relationship. They struggle with the threat against them which is so external it does little to illuminate any internal facets of their coupling.


Ms. Wildes is a strong writer and in A Most Improper Rumor her prose is clean and clear. The setting however isn’t memorable and the descriptions of women in particular seem stolen from Maxim magazine. A Most Improper Rumor irritated more than it entertained. I give it a C.


Sincerely,


Dabney

Profile Image for Sandra Dias.
794 reviews
May 17, 2020
Uma trama deliciosa.
Um enredo intrincado que faria as delícias de qualquer leitor e que propulsionaria esta obra para o topo dos favoritos do ano.

O que falhou então?

A autora não sabe, ou não consegue construir personagens com tutano.
As personagens desta obra são de uma superficialidade que me dói.
Nota-se um pequeno esforço da autora em dar alguma dimensão a Heathton, por exemplo, mas depois é um falhanço retumbante.

E aquela resolução final tão mal atada?
Que pressa em finalizar a história.
Deram limite máximo de páginas à autora?
Ai Emma Wildes... não sei não.
Profile Image for Sunny☼.
171 reviews14 followers
March 8, 2013
This is the second book in the Whisper's of Scandal series by Wildes. Once again, Benjamin Wallace, is called upon to solve the mystery of a scandal ridden widow who is rumored to have killed off two husbands. She now wants to marry again but would rather not lose Christopher because she loves him.

Ben's relationship with his wife Alicia continues to bloom and she too of course becomes involved in helping to solve the case of the Dark Angel. Angst and passion aplenty from beginning to end. Thinking and plotting is actually plausable and believeable.

A good story and like the first book in the series,Ruined by Moonlight a page turner from beginning to end. The evil villian, Ben's nemesis, still at large but a little closer.
1,595 reviews33 followers
April 14, 2013
I'm really enjoying this series! Ben and Alicia are such a dynamic couple and watching their partnership and Ben's feelings realized has been quite captivating. Much darker than the first whispers novel, still Christopher and Angelina also engaged the reader, and even though their mystery was obvious from the beginning, their romance made for a fun read as well, can't wait for the next in this series!!!
Profile Image for Hasnamezied.
384 reviews72 followers
May 19, 2016
After reading Ruined by Midnight , I really wanted to read this book bcause I deeply fell in love with Ben and Alicia. Usually stories end with marriage but in their case it starts with it . Ben is an interesting character , he couldnt express his feeling ,choosed Alicia because she is beautiful and from the high class. Alicia ,really liked him from the start and she wanted his Love egarly.So she worked really hard not only to gain but also, to make him admit it .

REALLY INTERESTING BOOK
Profile Image for Barbara.
1,310 reviews
January 3, 2014
This is the second book in the series and Ben and Alicia are involved in another "case". Angelina has been married twice before and both men were murdered. Now that she is truly in love, she wants to safeguard Christopher. Ben recognizes that the villain is probably the same from the previous book so he takes on the case. Another very good story.
Profile Image for Anna.
212 reviews
June 6, 2017
Para além do grande mistério sobre quem quis prejudicar Angelina (com um vilão que parece já vir do primeiro livro da série) a grande sensação que o livro dá é que apanhaste uma história a meio. Talvez se tivesse lido o primeiro livro esta sensação não fosse tão forte e talvez não seja para se ler sozinho. Fora isto, como os romances já estão maduros: Angelina e Christopher já têm os seus sentimentos bem claros e Ben e Alicia também parecem estar a entender-se com os seus, a sensação que dá é que a relação de ambos é para mim estranha, porque já está tudo muito definido e delineado. Ou seja, normalmente conhecemos também as personagens como individuais e aqui não, só as conhecemos como casal e isso acabou por me retirar empatia. E nem o mistério salvou o livro para mim, apesar de ter sido o único motivo de não ter largado o livro a meio. Mesmo assim no fim não fica tudo resolvido, o vilão continua a solta, provavelmente para prosseguir com a investigação do Ben e da Alicia num terceiro livro e de mais uma dama cuja a reputação foi dilacerada por este vilão. Mas por mim a história fica mesmo por aqui.
Profile Image for Soraia Dias.
158 reviews3 followers
June 19, 2019
Eu que sou grande admiradora da autora não estava à espera deste livro.
Achei o livro um pouco maçador e o mistério não foi suficientemente interessante para me deixar envolvida na história. As personagens principais também não me cativaram, já para não falar do final...
Li o primeiro livro da série e foi bem mais interessante que este.
Profile Image for Loren.
140 reviews3 followers
March 20, 2019
Good read. Didnt like Angelina or her story.
Profile Image for Bárbara Tomé.
Author 1 book100 followers
February 17, 2020
Um Rumor Muito Inconveniente, de Emma Wildes, é o segundo volume da série Whispers of Scandal, comprei-o logo depois de ler o primeiro volume, Um Amor ao Luar, numa daquelas desgraçadas e irresistíveis promoções da wook.

Um Rumor Muito Inconveniente, apesar de ter sido uma leitura agradável, mantendo o clima de romance, mistério e sensualidade de Um Amor ao Luar, tem uma trajectória previsível e a história só começa a avançar depois de passarmos o meio do livro. Foram, até aí, as passagens eróticas a quebrar a monotonia da leitura e ainda assim achei as descrições menos elegantes e românticas que no livro anterior.

Como podem ler na sinopse, a bela Lady Angelina, mais conhecida no ton como Anjo Negro foi julgada pela morte dos seus dois maridos, apesar de não ter sido considerada culpada, ficou para sempre envolta numa aura de suspeita, sendo olhada com desconfiança por toda a sociedade. Angelina opta então por exilar-se, até que se apaixona, mas teme pela vida do seu enamorado. Recorre então ao auxílio de Benjamin Wallace, Lorde Heathon, que já conhecíamos de Um Amor ao Luar, que aceita mais uma vez o papel de detective, tencionando limpar o nome de Angelina em definitivo e quiçá encontrar o verdadeiro assassino da trama.

Um dos pontos fortes desta leitura foi a possibilidade de reencontrarmos Ben e Alicia, uma dupla que continuou a captar a minha atenção, cada vez mais próximos um do outro. Alicia conseguiu trazer para mais perto de si o frio e distante Lorde Heathon que cada vez lhe dá mais provas do seu amor, ainda que seja irritante a sua tentativa constante de afastar Alicia das suas investigações quando ela claramente é uma mais-valia.

Este foi o único livro que consegui ler para o desafio #janeirodeépoca da Sandra do blog Mil Estrelas no Colo e da Rita da página 007 Licença para Ler: Viagens No Sofá, mas sinto que para me apaixonar por este género literário preciso de ler uma narrativa com mais substância e que seja capaz de me emocionar. Deixem-me as vossas sugestões!
Profile Image for Jan Western.
20 reviews32 followers
March 22, 2017
I loved this series and fell into the books with such ease as Emma Wildes writing is a joy for her readers, no struggling to get into the plot as with some other authors, she has the skill to draw you in right from page one. The plot stays strong and alive throughout the book and her characters have a rich depth, human flaws and all as proven by our 'hero' Ben. My only grumble is that book 3 is still unwritten? I am a little late in discovering Ms. Wildes (2017) and now left bereft and gasping for more, on a cliff edge with the villain still 'out there' and no hint of a sequel? :-(
Profile Image for SidneyKay.
621 reviews45 followers
June 27, 2013
Mr. Peabody, it's time to get into the way-back machine!

This will teach me to read the second book in a series first. Now I'm going to have to go back and read Ruined by Moonlight. Why? Because, not only do we have a continuing husband and wife romance thread, we also have a continuing secret villain thread. This really wasn't a stand-alone book, at least not for me.

So here is the low-down. There are two couples in A Most Improper Rumor - Christopher/Angelina and Ben/Alicia. I believe Christopher and Angelina were supposed to be the main romance couple. Let me say this, Ben/Alicia stole the show. Ben/Alicia were introduced in Ruined by Moonlight and they seem to be detectives of sorts, along the line of Nora and Nick or Tommy and Tuppence. As I was reading this book, I found that my favorite parts were when Ben/Alicia were in it. I think it would be kind of interesting for a strong romance couple to continue on from one book to another. This might mean their characters would have to wander down into romantic suspense territory, maybe even have a TV series. Whatever the future brings for Ben/Alicia, they were a very strong couple and I really enjoyed their interactions with each other. It was great fun to watch as they worked together to solve the mystery and at the same time recognize their growing love for each other. I cannot express strongly enough how much I enjoyed Ben and Alicia!

On to some things I didn't enjoy so much. Let's start with Christopher/Angelina. Even though the plot revolved around them, they were relegated to second banana. I found myself not really caring about them or their problems. I'm not sure why, they were an ok couple, but I was more interested in the Ben/Alicia storyline. The story opens up with Christopher/Angelina in bed with each other and he's confesses he loves her. While I thought that this was an interesting way to begin a story, it also took away the tension that usually accompanies a romance. The tension in the story was created by outside forces and those forces, in my opinion were the main weakness of A Most Improper Rumor.

What are those outside forces? In this book they were two murder mysteries. You see, Angelina was rumored to have murdered her two husbands, she was a social outcast. No one liked her. Of course, that's all a lie. Someone is out to ruin all the pretty popular women of the ton and that person is our continuing villain. We also have a villain-stooge, someone who was helping the continuing villain. I had no idea who the villain was behind the main threat, ruining popular women, still don't. I have to say as far as murder/mystery/thriller set-ups go; this one seems a little feeble. What kind of a rube sets about to destroy pretty people in some really far-fetched ways? So, the explanation when it comes better be really good. The other helper stooge-villain I spotted right away, although I'm still not sure about this person’s motive. I wish I had not read this book out of order, I suspect there were some details that were needed to help the mystery feature of this story.

There was also another character, Mrs. Dulcet, a worldly woman who seems to have some kind of a past with Ben. I don't believe it's the kind of past Mrs. Dulcet wanted. She seems to be some kind of a covert person and she was also very fascinating. I see a novella in her future. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in future works.

I will be picking up the next in the series, mainly because I want to see where Ben and Alicia relationship takes them. The best part of the story was Ben and Alicia working together and me getting to watch. Even though Ms. Wildes is a strong writer with a clever voice when it comes to romance, she seems to be just a little weak as far as the mystery element in the story. It's a nice change to have a relationship develop through a series of books instead of that mad rush to the end. I wish I could have given this story a higher rating, I loved Ben and Alicia, but I just could not find any enthusiasm for the suspense ingredient of A Most Improper Rumor. And yes, I will be catching up on this series immediately!
KaysBlog
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Book Binge.
838 reviews153 followers
March 28, 2013
This is book 2 in the Whispers of Scandal series. You can my review of book 1, Ruined by Moonlight, here.

A Most Improper Rumor, like Ruined by Moonlight, features Benjamin Wallace and his wife Alicia. Because the story builds on the events from the previous book for this couple, I would suggest reading RbM. However, I do believe it could be read as a stand-alone. But it's Emma Wildes - why wouldn't you want to read the other book? *g*

Lady Angelina DeBrooke is in love and because her first two husbands were murdered, she needs help figuring out who did it so she can be free to marry her lover. As it stands, she is afraid that if she were to come forward with a new man, he would be killed. And she was hauled before the magistrate when her second husband died, so she wants to avoid that at all costs. And she's heard that Lord Heathton has a talent for solving mysteries.

When Angelina first approaches him, Ben is at first unwilling to accept her case. He wants to settle down with his wife! But the more Angelina tells him, the more he's sure that the person behind the murders is the mysterious villain from Elena's kidnapping (from Ruined by Moonlight). He wants to know who the villain is, so he takes on her case. But things get personal real fast when he becomes the target!

I enjoyed a Most Improper Rumor. I liked how it picks up Benjamin and Alicia's story again. And Alicia also helps out in this investigation as well. They're great characters so it was good to see them as central to the plot.

Angelina and her mystery lover - I wasn't as involved in their story. I seriously like Ben and Alicia that much! They overshadowed the other couple! But part of it could be that Angelina and her man are already in love. So this isn't so much a typical romance in that we see two people meet, fall in love and get their HEA. Angelina needs to overcome this obstacle (of someone trying to ruin her life) to get her HEA. I was invested though. I wanted her to have that. But I kind of guessed who was behind things quickly. Which is ok, Ben was right behind me. LOL

There was also the introduction of two of Ben's accomplices from his War Department days. I hope to see more from them in future books as well.

Overall, A Most Improper Rumor was a solid read with great characters. I'm giving it 3.75 out of 5. I recommend it.

This review was originally posted on Book Binge by Ames.
Profile Image for Tina.
1,796 reviews315 followers
May 26, 2013
This is the second book in the Whisper of Scandals series and I find that I am really enjoying what the author is doing with this series. She isn't just creating a series that is loosely tied together by characters who are related or friends. Instead she is treating this like a true serial. This book continues and builds on the plot of the previous book. In that instance it really is not a stand alone. It feels more like a mystery series than a straight up romance. The book is genre-blending in a good way. But I think to some readers it can be a bit confusing.

Like the previous book, the blurb would lead one to believe that Angelina and Ben are the hero/heroine. But that isn't the case and that is where I think some confusion lies. Angelina, while being the titular heroine, her romance really isn't the focus of the story. She is a means for Ben to do his thing.

In fact, Ben and Alicia, the married couple from the first book feel like central characters in the book and in the series as well. And frankly I like this quite fine because I find them fascinating and I am rooting for them.

Ben finds himself sucked back into investigating the mysterious figure who is -- for reasons unclear to everyone -- hell bent on destroying the reputations of young women. In this case is it a twice widowed Lady Angelina DeBrooke whose reputation was destroyed when it looked like he deaths of both of her husband were suspicious.

Lady Angelina is no dummy. She has fallen in love again and her new lover wants to marry her. She knows that someone else has killed her two husbands. Her own reputation means little to her, but she doesn't want to gamble with the life of the new man she is in love with.

Prior to this Ben simply had a curious interest in the mysterious figure. But now he has taken it as a real challenge. Alicia is still working to connect with her husband and forge a strong marriage where one of good bloodlines and convenience existed before. She begins to insert herself into the investigation and proves a worthy asset to her husband.

Lady Angelina does have a romance and gets her HEA in the end. But it is clear despite packaging that hers really isn't the primary romance even though she was an appealing and smart heroine.

I must say I am really enjoying this series. I haven't been this interested in keeping up with a historical romance in a long time and I attribute it largely to how the author is structuring the ongoing mystery story and the wonderfully charismatic characters of Ben and Alicia.
Profile Image for Chelsey Wolford.
685 reviews103 followers
March 27, 2013
This is the second book in the Whispers of Scandal series and is best if read after reading the first book. I do not believe that this one can stand alone because many of the events that take place in this book directly follow what readers learned in the first one. In this novel we meet a woman named Angelica DeBrooke who is the most notorious woman around and is commonly known as “Dark Angel.” Both of her husbands have died and what makes this more coincidental is that they died from the exact same causes. Of course she is accused for murder and needs help out of this sticky situation. This isn’t even the half of her problems. She falls in love with a man named Christopher, who would love to marry her, but Angelica cannot bear the thought of his fate being the same as her first two husbands.

I loved that this storyline ties into the storyline from book one and that the main characters from that book reappear in this one. I do not want to spoil anything for anyone so I cannot go any further into details where this is concerned, but I will say that I loved Alicia and Ben and was so thrilled to see them reappear in this story, and to be so involved in helping Angelica solve her case. I also enjoyed the fact that Alicia gets involved in this investigation because I absolutely loved her character. I found it hard to love Angelica’s character and I think that has to do with me just being so in love with Ben and Alicia’s story in book one.

I did enjoy this book and was invested in Christopher and Angelica’s story, just not as much as Ben and Alicia’s. I felt like in this book the details were given to me so plainly and that I didn’t have to work for anything. I wasn’t kept guessing at all. I also hated how Angelica’s beauty was constantly referred to. However, I was pleased with Christopher’s character and his devotion to Angelica. Some of my favorite quotes were when he was describing his love for her and the strong romantic pull that he felt where she was concerned.

I was most happy that Ben and Alicia surfaced in the story and I am just sorry to say that I don’t feel it would have been the same without them.

***A BIG thank you to the publishers at Signet Eclipse for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review***
Profile Image for Maura.
3,883 reviews100 followers
February 12, 2017
Very much like the first story in the series, this one was split into two story arcs. The first followed Lady Angelina, whose first two husbands died mysteriously enough that she's now suspect of their murders and scandal follows her everywhere. But now she's in love and she fears that the person who murdered her husbands will go after the man she loves, so she hires Benjamin Wallace to investigate. Thus starts the second story arc, as Ben Wallace, who investigated the disappearances in the first story, now investigates these murders and finds the same person to be involved. But simultaneously he's dealing with his very nosy and involved wife and coming to terms with the fact that he loves her.

Funny that the first book didn't, but this book totally made me think of a Sherlock Holmes spinoff. Ben is just socially awkward enough and brilliant enough to play the part. And Watson would probably be his equally intelligent but definitely not socially awkward wife. And I found that their story arc, with their problems and Ben's issues with dealing with his own feelings was probably my favorite. Granted, there was a lot more passion and romance between Lady Angelina DeBrooke and her paramour, but there was something so much more personal and unusual in Ben's relationship with his wife. And let's face it, I love a geeky hero and that's Ben. This was enjoyable, but not awesome. It also leaves the series wide open to be continued, probably with Ben and his wife along with another couple suffering from the "villain's" manipulations. The master villain, btw is never found, so that leaves us open for continuation, however given that this was written several years ago, it doesn't look like this author's interested in writing more for this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Gayle Pace.
1,110 reviews22 followers
January 16, 2016
REVIEW:

To really get into this book it would probably be best to read Book 1, RUINED BY MOONLIGHT: A WHISPERS OF SCANDAL NOVEL.You get some of the background that way. Each book is like a continuation of the previous book. You learn about the main characters and the storyline continues from Book 1. Like a real serial novel. It's still a good stand alone novel, you just don't have the background to continue on. I really didn't take it as much of a romance but more of a mystery. There was some confusion at first as to who the heroine and hero were. You will find out . At first you think it is Angelina and Ben. Are they where the real romance lies ? From Book1, a married couple, Ben and Alicia follow through the series. You become attached to this couple and want to read and find out more about them. I think this is great to keep them in the series. Once Lady Angelina turned heads because she was so beautiful and mysterious, but now heads turn for another reason. Her two dead husbands. Did she kill them or is someone else plotting against her? She has been dubbed the Dark Angel. She has finally fallen in love and wants to remarry, but how can she with 2 murdered husbands and suspicion she was involved. There are some very sensual scenes in the book which added to the mystery. Take this book and go out on the patio and indulge yourself. It's a great read. Anxious to read another.

I would give this book 4 STARS

The cover is quite good 3.5 STARS

I was given a complimentary copy of A MOST IMPROPER RUMOR, written by Emma Wildes, from Manic Readers for this unbiased review.

Profile Image for Catarina Magalhães.
261 reviews40 followers
September 27, 2014
Uma vez mais, Alicia e Ben foram dos protagonistas mais interessantes e exasperantes de "conhecer"! Adoro este casal e gostaria que a história tivesse continuado nem que fosse apenas para permanecer no papel de espectadora das suas vidas :)

Contudo, e infelizmente, este segundo volume da série Whispers of Scandal (e, tanto quanto consegui perceber, para já o último) não se redimiu aos meus olhos. A forma como todo o mistério foi resolvido foi deveras satisfatória!

Primeiro, foi um pouco óbvia, no sentido em que ainda antes de metade do livro, já tinha a minha desconfiança depositada numa das personagens, e veio a revelar-se que as minhas suspeitas estavam correctas. Não pelo motivo no qual apostaria, mas acabei por ter razão quanto à pessoa na mesma, e isso estragou um pouquinho o mistério.

Por outro lado, embora goste do facto de tudo ter sido deixado um pouco em aberto, isso em nada me consola a menos que a autora decida (rapidamente, por favor!) escrever outro livro em continuação! Caso isso não aconteça, ficamos apenas com um final em aberto que deixou o meu sentido de justiça inconformado :p

Ainda assim, consegui manter o sorriso e a curiosidade durante todo o livro, e gostei verdadeiramente dos novos personagens aqui tão preponderantes na história!

Só gostaria mesmo era de um novo livro com Alicia e Ben...e de enredo que satisfizesse a minha sede de justiça :)

Profile Image for Jennifer.
476 reviews33 followers
January 26, 2014
Enjoyed this one as much (if not maybe a little more) than the first in the series.

Also, as with the first, I find the storyline/romance between Ben and Alicia to be much more compelling than the book's other romance storyline, which in this case is Angelina and Christopher. Not that I didn't enjoy their storyline at all, I did. And actually, I thought the fact that as the book began the couple were already in love, and needed Ben to help clear Angelina's name to be quite refreshing. But...when reading the parts of the book devoted to them, however enjoyable, I still longed to be back with Ben and Alicia.

The overall mystery of who the villain actually is and why they're doing what they do is deepened and quite compelling itself, and I cannot wait to see how it's all resolved.

And again, as with the first book, the synopsis can lead one to believe that Angelina and Ben are the main couple of the story. And while they are indeed each a heroine and a hero, they are not each other's.

Also, I found myself quite interested in some of the side characters, most notably Mrs. Dulcet and Sharpe. I am hoping maybe some day they will have their own story...whether they're the actual couple or not.

I hope the next book in the series is released soon.
Profile Image for Karen.
321 reviews
April 23, 2013
This was an interesting book... more like 3 1/2 stars, but I didn't like it QUITE enough for a 4. It's marketed as a romance, but... it's not, exactly. The romance has pretty much already happened (though we do get a *beautiful* deepening of Ben's relationship with his wife Alicia-- this is basically Book 2 of *their* relationship).

Lady Angelina's heart is already won, and the only thing keeping her from marrying her secret lover is the cloud of suspicion and danger that hangs over her. Her previous two husbands died of poisoning; she knows SHE didn't do it, but she's very much afraid that whomever DID is still out there, and she can't bear to lose the man she wants to make Husband #3. The mystery is delightfully twisty, and the ante keeps getting raised with every new clue.

Romantic suspense, definitely, but I think this almost leans harder towards "mystery" than "romance." This is one I'd probably give to mystery readers who wanted to be convinced there was something worth their while in the romance genre.
Profile Image for Vanessa Montês.
700 reviews26 followers
October 28, 2014
(...)

A própria história não foi nada de mais. O ingrediente de Emma Wildes é sempre o mesmo. Início a apresentar as personagens, quase todo o livro a criar um romance adorável (que faz pessoas como eu suspirarem) e um final simplesmente excepcional. Tivemos pouco do primeiro, pois conhecemos Angelina mas o seu novo amor não é de todo memorável e nem é muito falado, a segunda parte simplesmente não teve nenhum acontecimento diferente, nem um pequeno pormenor que o conseguisse distinguir de outros romance do género. E o final? Admito que já estava à espera do que ia acontecer. Foi algo previsível e não achei um desfecho tão especial quanto isso.

No geral é um livro de bom entretenimento, mas que não tem nada de memorável e que simplesmente nos deixa com a sensação de que, comparando com outros livros da autora, falta algo. Apesar disso não deixa de ser um bom romance para desanuviar do dia a dia.

Opinião completa em http://blocodedevaneios.blogspot.pt/2...
Profile Image for Ana Luisa Henriques.
226 reviews24 followers
May 20, 2015
Gostei do 1º livro da saga e gostei ainda mais deste, muito provavelmente porque já conhecemos o casal que é o fio condutor das histórias e cuja vida a dois e melhor sintonia vemos crescer de um livro para outro.

Por outro lado, e por mais românticas que as noites na torre (do livro anterior) possam ter sido, achei muito mais interessante o desafio para Benjamin neste livro. Gostei de encontrar as familiares senhoras lindas e inteligentes e homens que realmente amam as suas mulheres, apenas fiquei algo desiludida porque adivinhei quem seria o/ a responsável pelas mortes.

A parte final, com a carta do "disciplinador", foi um toque de mestre e uma forma muito interessante de prever um interlúdio e aguardar por uma nova aventura.
44 reviews1 follower
June 25, 2015
Adorei! Gostei muito de continuar a acompanhar o Ben e a Alicia...ver as mudanças que acontecem com ele e muito giro! O casal principal também e muito bom, apesar de gostar mais do casal do livro anterior, o mistério de quem encomendou os crimes contra Angelina foi bastante fácil de descobrir para mim... Quanto à história do "Disciplinador" deixou-me com água na boca... quero realmente saber quem é... espero que haja uma continuação para esta saga!
Profile Image for Kathy.
428 reviews37 followers
March 20, 2013
I love Ben and Alicia together and can't wait to read more in the series. A "keeper" title.
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