The Scoundrel and the Debutante (The Cabot Sisters #3)

This is an OK romance, if you can get past the fact that it is not very historically accurate at all — and it features a heroine who is not very likable and does really stupid things.

**** Minor Spoilers Follow ****

First, no young woman of that time period would have done what Prudence did. She wouldn’t have ever really considered setting out on her own, because she knew it would destroy her reputation. No young woman of that time would have even been allowed to leave home without a maid or chaperone with her. Also, Prudence knew just how badly a ruined reputation would affect her and her family. The things her older sisters had done had already ruined her reputation, so men were not interested in courting her — even though she was considered beautiful. Her pain from that would have been enough to keep her from doing what she did.

Second, it was irritating how she kept telling her sisters it was their fault she couldn’t attract any suitors. Yes, it was their fault, as their actions were scandalous. But, in Honor’s book, Prudence encouraged Honor to do whatever would make her happy — knowing that Honor would do something scandalous to get what she wanted.

I liked Roan fairly well, but didn’t like that he was OK with ruining Prudence’s reputation and then going home to America. Yes, it was mostly Prudence’s fault, because what she did was incredibly stupid, but he did go along with it. That was odd, especially considering he was in England to get his sister, who was ruining her own reputation with stupid choices.

I also got irritated at both Honor and Grace, Prudence’s older sisters. They got upset when she told them it was their fault she couldn’t find a suitor. But it WAS their fault, and they knew it. They just didn’t want to admit that their actions had hurt her so badly.

Because of the historical inaccuracies, and my dislike of Prudence’s stupidity, I didn’t really care if she found her HEA. This one gets 2.5 stars from me, rounded up to 3 stars.

**** End of Spoilers ****

My rating system is below.
1 star — Hated it, or did not finish. I usually only give this rating if some of the content is truly objectionable to me, like if one of the main characters does something really awful, and gets away with it.
2 stars — Didn’t like it. This rating usually means that I thought the writing wasn’t very good, the editing was terrible, I didn’t like the characters, or it had other major flaws.
3 stars — I liked it, but had some minor issues with it. This rating means that there were minor editing issues, the story needed more character development, it was just too unrealistic, or had some other fairly minor issue. The majority of books I read get this rating I do not consider it a bad rating.
4 stars — I liked it a lot. This is a high rating for me, and I rarely give a higher one.
5 stars — I loved it, and will probably read it again. Very few books are good enough to get this rating from me. The ones that do are usually classics.

Originally Reviewed For: Bodice Rippers, Femme Fatales and Fantasy

The Scoundrel and the Debutante is book three in Julia London’s Cabot Sisters Series. The story of four sisters worried about finding a place. Knowing that their stepfather is dying, their mother is fading to some sort of dementia and their stepbrother is planning to marry a woman who would prefer to not have to see them around.. at least not to have to pay for them to be around.

The first two book dealt with women who weren’t perfect but would do just about anything to save their sisters and managed to fall in love in spite of it. But this one? Well it’s a bit jarring. It’s more about “Me, me, me”. I found the heroine rather self centered and obnoxious with little or no thought about her family. Of course big sisters didn’t come off all the perfect either.

Prudence Cabot, the pretty one, has been out for two years and has yet to receive a proposal. She knows she won’t. Her sisters were too scandalous. No one wants to be attached to a scandalous family. Since she needs a break, the family suggests she head out to visit a friend who just had a child. Bored, Prudence agrees.. But instead of meeting the couple that was supposed to chaperon her, Prudence decides to go off on a bit of an adventure.

Roan Mattheson is a really decent brother and son. When is scatterbrained sister remains in Europe instead of returning home to marry.. Roan goes after her. Being a stranger in England, he is constantly lost and frustrated but when a pretty passenger at a Whey station helps him out, he’s a bit smitten. When he discovers she is also a passenger on his stage, he begins a slight flirtation..

Oh my… One Wild and Crazy Weekend where two people who shouldn’t have anything to do with each other fall in love, fall in scandal and fall apart.

I liked the premise, I liked the fun but I felt this book was a bit forced. Prudence and Roan fit but their story didn’t. I also realized that sisters Honor and Grace have turned into boring society matrons more worried about what people will think than what is best for Prudence.

Ms. London, paid careful attention to detail, made realistic interactions and did her usual stellar job when it comes to creating her world. But this time, it just didn’t mesh. Had I not read the previous two books I would have absolutely loathed Honor and Grace. Prudence was a flibbergibbet and the youngest sister, Mercy? Well she was totally self centered and even more obnoxious than Prudence.

I wouldn’t recommend this book unless, like me you are finishing the series and need to see what happens.

Shauni

This review is based on the ARC of The Scoundrel and the Debutante, provided by netgalley

Even the Good Sister deserves some adventure in her life. In this book third sister Prudence has done everything right but feels like it doesn’t really make a difference. Her 2 older sisters have married scandalously and now she has had no offers and worse, her other sisters don’e even recognize what she is complaining about. Maybe because I’ve always been the good sister I really felt for this character.
All Prudence wants is a little adventure – who knew she’d get more than she bargained for – both adventure, a scandal of her own and an American love.
Once more Julia London has brought delightful characters to life. The story balances on the idea of responsibility to the family (on both sides) and responsibility to yourself. Both Prudence and Roan are torn between what they think they should do for the family and what they want. Of the 4 sisters, Prudence is the one most likely to be overlooked because of her good behavior, so when she goes on an adventure it is so out of character that it is delightful. At every turn, she has a choice to go back to her old good girl ways but instead she chooses adventure and Roan.
Since Roan is an American he provides a nice change to the story. I enjoyed the change from the regular aristocracy – he’s a fish out of water trying to find his sister.
Roan’s sister, Aurora is the mystery girl and once she is found I almost wish she was lost again. Unlike Prudence and even her sisters, this sister seems selfish and only concerned for herself. Certainly not deserving of (but definitely needing) a brother like Roan.
Overall, I enjoyed this book but not as much as the 2nd book in the series

Excellent
I read the three books about the cabot sisters really enjoyable

Disappointing.

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