CBR14 Bingo: “Scandal”
A few weeks back, Mysterious Galaxy featured Scandalized on their Instagram with rave reviews. I needed a book for the ‘Scandal’ square and decided to pre-order it. When I picked it up, the booksellers commented that four of the staff had finished it with in 24-48 hours. I brought it home around noon on Thursday. It is now Saturday afternoon (as of the start of writing this review) and I’ve read it twice. The MG staff and myself aren’t the only ones swooning over Ivy Owens’ perfect romance. These authors featured on the cover succinctly convey my feelings.
The most steamy, scorching, smart, sweet, exhilarating, passionate, swoony book I could ever imagine”. – Ali Hazelwood
Bursting with tension and teasing, banter and blistering chemistry”. – Rosie Danan
This book is pure magic!” – Helen Hoang
If I could stop the review here I would because this is all you really need to know.
Georgia Ross has been on a whirlwind, two week, investigation in London for a story she is working on for the LA Times. She is on the verge of a breakthrough moment in her career but currently is on the verge of a meltdown as the final leg of the journey home, a flight from Seattle to LA, keeps getting delayed and then cancelled. A familiar face in the terminal turns out to be the object of her teen crush, Alec Kim, older brother of her childhood best friend. Due to the Kims moving, it has been fourteen years since they last met and Georgia is blown away at how attractive Alec has become. When Georgia can’t get a hotel room, Alec offers her the use of the shower in his suite, so she can at least clean up after the international flight and then work on finding another hotel.
While having drinks at the hotel bar, instant connection and attraction blooms. The flirtation and banter lead them back to Alec’s suite for a night of mind-blowing, soul connecting sex. Alec is vaguely weird the following morning as they head back to LA. Upon arrival, Georgia learns that he had been holding a part of himself back. Alec Kim is now famous actor Alexander Kim, one of the leads on the BBC’s hit drama “The West Midlands”. He has Instagram accounts devoted to his dimples. Georgia is at first mortified she had no idea but then appreciates how she was able to able to be with the real man, without the cloud of his celebrity hanging between them.
The two can’t get enough of each other and jump through hoops to spend time together, working around Alec’s schedule and celebrity status. The fling has a set deadline as Alec returns to London in two weeks. Things quickly become complicated for Georgia when Alec turns out to be a source for the story she is working on. The deeper these two fall in love and the hotter the sex gets, the more anxious I became for the scandal. From the moment it drops, through the resolution, my heart was in my mouth. I finished the book Friday morning and by Friday afternoon started re-reading it so I could soar once again on the high of reading this book. If you like steamy romance, I really can’t recommend this enough.
Trigger Warning: Georgia is investigating sexual assaults at a night club. Sexual assault don’t happen on the page but character testimony and video evidence are briefly described.
Note: I tried to make the Scandal square look like fireworks to match the cover of Scandalized.
