More of a 2.5 - I'm long past my love of the "plain jane"/She's All That sort of romance. I find it rather unlikely in most cases where the Hero and Heroine have met countless times before.

I mainly was in it to find out who fathered the kid (shocker - you'll guess pretty easily based on behaviors of the candidates) and what happened to the mother. For what its worth how the mother disappeared was surprising if not the rest of it. ( )

Thea is a plain, insecure heroine, just like I adore. This had a nice mystery to it as well. One complaint: I really thought less of Gabriel after he took her virginity and the thought of marriage didn't even cross his mind. In fact, it didn't even occur to him until randomly at the end of the book, it seems. I have a hard time respecting a man who is so cavalier about something that is so huge and dangerous for a woman. He was just planning for her to be his mistress, I suppose?? ( )

I have mixed feelings about this novel. I wanted the heroine to be stronger than she was -- sure she had an acerbic wit and a honest, blunt way of speaking. She also lived in the shadow of everyone else and worried a LOT about her appearance as the vicar's sister. I hated how ignorant she was, and I got rather annoyed with everyone constantly jumping to conclusions. There was a lot of accuse first, regret later going on. That being said, I actually enjoyed the way the romance blossomed between the two main characters, and I think a couple of the side characters are interesting in their own right (not the vicar, though). The mystery of the baby is what really kept the story moving along. Without it, the book would have been much shorter, and honestly, I do think it could have been shorter and still kept all the main elements. ( )

A Winter Scandal was an entertaining read.It bothered me though, that the heroine, a vicar's daughter & sister, is having unprotected sex with the hero multiple times and there was no talk or thinking of marriage until almost the end of the book. He has compromised her with servants in the house and they spent the night together in a cabin. It makes no sense that the hero and heroine would not be more concerned about consequences, as she clearly could have become pregnant. 3.5/5 stars ( )

Thea is a plain, insecure heroine, just like I adore. This had a nice mystery to it as well. One complaint: I really thought less of gabriel after he took her virginity and the thought of marriage didn't even cross his mind. In fact, it didn't even occur to him until randomly at the end of the book, it seems. I have a hard time respecting a man who is so cavalier about something that is so huge and dangerous for a woman. He was just planning for her to be his mistress, I suppose?? ( )