You meet Finlay, our hero, in the first book of the series (To Love a Scandalous Rogue). This book can be read as a stand alone but I recommend the first because it gives you a better background of the family scandal, as well as just being really good so I’m going to recommend it anyway 🤣 Finlay is the twin brother of the heroine in book 1.

Finlay and Charlotte have a chance meeting at a house party. Finlay is feeling rather exasperated with the ton life, the parties, and doesn’t realize what is missing until he meets Charlotte.

Charlotte has just lost her husband while living in India. Abandoned and abused by his family, with no money, she is offered a job back in England that she finds she must refuse. They spend the night with each other, sharing their struggles and wants for life. Before Finlay can find who she is and form a lasting relationship she disappears.

The story picks up a year later. Finlay is in the middle of establishing his seat for parliament and trying to make a name for himself despite his father’s reputation. Charlotte has found work teaching at the foundling home.

I loved Finlay as a hero. He is so real and genuine. I really felt his struggle with wanting his career and wanting to love. They do not both come easy, and trying to tip the scale and balance it is a struggle. Charlotte was such a strong heroine as well. Being of Jewish faith, there were laws in place that restricted their rights and marriages during this time. The challenges she goes though with her husbands family are enough to break your heart.

I would have liked the main characters to spend more time together. This book felt a tad divided between Finlay working on the politics aspect of his life and Charlotte working through her past demons and trying to live a peaceful life. I also would have loved to have seen more details of Charlottes Jewish faith. I adored the epilogue so much, because it gave a clearer picture of her religion and how they overcame the struggles.

Flora was a hoot in this book and I’m very very excited to read her story in the next release!

This book was great. For me one of the most exciting parts of it was that there was a Jewish character who didn't have to turn away from their faith and found someone who was willing to be with them for who they were. I feel like a lot of times books portray an extremely homogeneous view of the past and this was one showcased a different segment of the population.

This is my first time reading this author and while this is book two in a series I didn’t know it until I sat down to write this review. To me that speaks volumes about both the superior writing ability of the author as much as my enjoyment of the book, and please know I REALLY enjoyed this book. I love this book for its historical accuracy even as it shines a light on prejudices of the era. It is so refreshing to me when an author isn’t afraid to show the darker side or history. I love how the leading characters overcome their societal differences and find passion in one another.
Finlay Swinton, Viscount Firthwell is in line to inherit a prominent Earldom as long as his family’s darkest secret stays a secret. After a renewed acquaintance with a woman he shared a single unforgettable night of passion turns sour will his entire future be lost?
Charlotte Taylor has found a perfect job, and with her fond memories of a night of unbridled passion and freedom, she is ready to start her new life. All until that perfect new job causes her become reacquainted with the man she shared that night with. When her past catches up to her will she betray the man she loves to protect herself or will she sacrifice her life to protect his future?
This was a book I couldn’t put down and I can’t wait to get my hands on its predecessor.

Review posted here: https://courtneyreadsromancesite.wordpress.com/2019/10/11/review-of-to-resist-a-scandalous-rogue-once-upon-a-scandal-2-by-liana-de-la-rosa/

I enjoyed this book and the fact it was about a less talked about marginalized group. However, the repetitive storylines kept the numbers lower than I liked. Sorry to say. If the book had been a little less bleak, I would have easily given it 3.5 or 4 stars. Bit of a depressing read but I appreciated the focus on something other than a coded white Christian Regency woman protagonist.

I picked up this book because it was on a list of books with Jewish main characters and I'm always down for reading that. Hoo boy. There was one thing I really liked about the book - namely the author's sensitivity to power dynamics in social relationships in England across class lines. But overall, this book didn't work for me for two reasons: first, the constant references to the Duke (hero's brother in law) making all his money in the West Indies. Given the time period, I'm not interested in books where the hero and his family's money explicitly comes from the slave trade. I know the Duke was the previous hero and maybe the author painted him as a reformer and abolitionist there, but it wasn't apparent here. 

Second, and more importantly, the way the author handled Judaism and heroine's Jewish identity was beyond frustrating. The random Hebrew words and references to Jewish instruments/stories from Jewish mythology were jarring (and at times wrong) and on any sort of deeper level, Judaism didn't seem to be integral to her personality. And the ending - where the heroine

CONVERTS  TO CHRISTIANITY - was just... Don't market a romance as having a Jewish heroine if in the end she converts to Christianity, even if only superficially. Especially given that in her first marriage, the heroine was committed enough to Judaism that her husband converted for her. Her no longer being legally Jewish isn't actually a happy ending.

I don't know the author's own religious affiliation, but a Jewish sensitivity reader would have helped with some of the serious problems here.