Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage (Mackenzies Series)

In 1875 when she was eighteen, Lady Isabella Scranton and Lord Mackenzie eloped; his family delighted in their marriage while hers disowned her Three years later, Isabella walked out of her marriage to the shock of her spouse and the condemnation for her scandalous behavior by the Ton. Her estranged husband is a talented painter and three years since she left him, Isabella discovered someone is forging Mac's work. She goes to see him, but he is more concerned over winning a wager that he can paint an erotic portrait. He wants his wife to pose as the subject; she prefers to catch the forger. As they work on the painting the felonies, they recall why they fell in love and married; however neither is prepared for the forger whose obsession turns to having Isabella live and on canvas. Jennifer Ashley follows up on the magnificent Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie with a sibling's strong Victorian second chance at love romance and a solid supporting mystery. The lead couple is a wonderful pairing of a debauched rake knowing he is not good enough for the goodness of his wife and a not so innocent "debutant". Readers will relish this terrific historical wondering why did the wife who obviously loves her husband leave him. Harriet Klausner

Just going to make this review short and sweet.. I loved it. Loved the characters, their story... Everything about it.

Jennifer Ashley's Book 2 in the Mackenzie series, Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage is an instant classic. This historical romance is all about Mac Mackenzie - the ingenious artist - and Isabella - the runaway debutante. They met on her coming out party where Mac snuck in uninvited on a bet to kiss an unknown debutante. Smitten instantly, Mac whisked Isabella away and married her in a scandalous elopement. Their relationship began a tumultuous one and sadly continued down that same rugged path. We first meet Isabella and Mac in The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie where we learned they'd been estranged; separated when Isabella left Mac and neither one had spoken to one another in over three years. It was the near death experience Ian and Beth endured, that brought them somewhat back together. Mac, shaken by the tragedy, took a second look at his life, making a vow to get Isabella back in his life - and in his bed. Relationships are a funny thing. Isabella, after marrying the notorious Mac Mackenzie, was disowned by her family and then heavily scrutinized or slandered, rather by the ton. But the worst part of her marriage was Mac and his alcohol induced episodes. After three years of instability, followed by another three of loneliness - as much as Mac wanted her back - Isabella wasn't sure she could venture a second try at being married to such an incessantly maddening man. What I loved about this book was Ashley stayed true to the characters in the Mackenzie's series - Mac and Isabella. This tale is not a roller coaster of plot twists - like the previous novel. Oh, it wouldn't be a Mackenzie story if there wasn't some sort of an evil opportunist threatening the livelihood of Mac and his family. And so there is a no name man, trying to impersonate the great Mac Mackenzie to the point of being delusional about Mac, his career, his family and even his wife, Isabella. Oh the plot does get delicious but that's not the crux of the book. What is then? Love. The roller coaster ride in this book is an emotional one; all courtesy of its main characters, Mac & Isabella. Now with a renewed commitment on Mac's part, at what lengths will he go to mend Isabella's broken heart? In order to get a true appreciation for this book, you must...MUST read The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. Only then will you truly appreciate this tale. The Mackenzie dysfunction is alive and still thriving and as a vivacious reader of this series I promise you'll adore the glimpses of Ian and Beth as well as a few other family members. Mina B.

There was a few things that I loved about this book. First, the struggle between the characters felt really real to me. Many times you read a book where the relationship is completely one sided and it makes it really hard to appreciate the relationship. However, the relationship between Mac and Isabella was not that way at all. There was never any question of both caring for one another. No miscommunications as is always the case is romance novels, it was very refreshing. It was clear from the begining of the book that they were both healing and learning to trust each other once again. Essentially, both asking themselves if love would be enough to heal thier relationship. Another thing I loved about the books were the well developed characters. I have to love Isabella for her independant and strong spirit and Mac for his carefree nature. I also liked how the characters of Beth and Ian were woven into the story. I loved the previous story and it was a real treat to read about the characters once again and know that every thing had turned out the way that it did. It was also nice to see Ian as the insightful character, a trait almost non-exsistant in his character before. The only thing I would have changed about the book would have probably been to have a more passionate ending. It seems that the entire book both characters longed for each other and somehow that part of thier relationship got glossed over in the end. It was a little anticlimatic but I still liked the ending. I really enjoy Jennifer Ashley's book and highly recommend this author. I am looking forward to the Cam story and hopefully also the Duke's story as a fourth addition. This author has a great way of keeping reader interest with suspense, romance, hummor and most of all great writing.

I loved Max and Isabella's story. It was a good follow up to The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. I'm looking forward to Cameron's story already. Max and Isabella had a lot of bad history and tragedy to overcome to re-connect in their marriage. I thought it was well done and both characters had good personal growth. The book was also a lot of fun. Nice to see Beth and Ian again, too.