MY SCANDALOUS VISCOUNT – Gaelen Foley
The Inferno Club , Book 5
Avon
ISBN-13:  978-0-06-207593-2
October 2012
Historical Romance

London, England – Early 1800's

Miss Carissa Portland is attending the theatre with her two younger cousins and their chaperone when she spots Viscount Beauchamp in a nearby box.  He is a friend of her special girlfriends, but his good looks and attitude always irk her, even though she's sure she's not attracted to him.  When he smirks at her as he notices her watching him she tries to ignore him, even when he receives a note from an orange seller and looks at someone across the theatre, probably a woman.  Beau writes a response to the note and gives it back to the orange seller, and Carissa can't stop herself from trying to get a look at the note.  Did I mention Carissa is a terrible gossip, or more properly, a lady of information ?  When she finally spots the orange seller, there is a man taking the note and writing a reply.  Carissa just knows the husband of the woman Beau is possibly making an assignation with is going to meet him and maybe kill him.  Carissa hurries to Beau to warn him, but he won't admit what he's about to do, so in a snit, she returns to her box and refuses to tell him what she saw.

Sebastian, Viscount Beauchamp and his friends belong to the Order, a group of men devoted to England and protecting it against those who would harm it, especially the Prometheans.  When their leader, Virgil, was killed last year, Beau became their new leader, and right now all his friends are in Germany.  They were on assignment to kill all the Prometheans at their meeting, and he has had news that perhaps several of them are dead. The safety of his friends is uppermost in his mind, well, except for maybe planning an assignation with a woman at the theatre.  He sees Carissa, but he had been seriously warned by all his friends whose wives are her friends to keep his hands off.  But when Carissa comes out the door as he is waiting for his lady friend, it's not a woman as he thinks, or even a jealous husband, as Carissa thinks, but Nick, another agent that Beau thought had been killed.  Beau can't believe his long-time friend is quitting the Order and now is on his own as a mercenary.  When he tells Beau he also is keeping another agent, Trevor, for security purposes, Beau cannot believe what he is hearing.  But even worse, Carissa is involved now too.  As Nick tries to leave, Beau draws his gun and shoots him in the leg, and then Nick shoots at Carissa.  What a mess!  Now he has no choice but to marry her, because with her gossipy lady of information tendencies, their situation cannot be given away.

A quick wedding surprises everyone; they didn't even know Beau and Carissa knew each other, but because of an “incident” the year before, Carissa's uncle is glad to see her safely married to a respectable man.  Unfortunately, with Beau under investigation by the Home Office, and particularly Ezra Green, the lizard man, Carissa just knows with her investigative abilities she can help.  Unfortunately, when she gets caught snooping around, Beau ships her off to the country, where the other men's wives are.  How can Carissa save Beau when he doesn't want her, and why is Ezra Green after the Order, and what is his plan?

Gaelen Foley continues the story of The Inferno Club, which is not an improper den of iniquity as everyone thinks, but a safe haven for the Order.  Told from Carissa's and Beau's points of view, they have different life stories.  Carissa was orphaned early and lived with grandparents and other relatives and then her Aunt Jo, until the “incident.”  After that fiasco, Uncle Denbury took over her welfare in London and ended up paying blackmail to keep the man in the "incident" from revealing all the nasty details.  Beau had a childhood with conflict between his parents, his mother's infidelities, and their final separation.  Beau joined the Order years ago to protect England against the Prometheans, and with his devoted friends has had many adventures.  Now the Order is being investigated for supposedly letting their power go to their heads and creating an incident in Germany where many important men of other countries were murdered.

Secondary characters include Nick, who says he is leaving the order and becoming a mercenary.  Nick thinks he's just getting away from the danger of the Order's assignments, but his decision will affect everyone in the Order's lives.  Ezra Green seems to have some special hatred for them and is determined to get rid of them all, hopefully in The Tower where all traitors are imprisoned.

MY SCANDALOUS VISCOUNT continues the story of the Order and the men who put their lives on the line for England.  Following the other stories, MY WICKED MARQUESS, MY DANGEROUS DUKE, MY IRRESISTIBLE EARL and MY RUTHLESS PRINCE, we anxiously await the final stories of the last two members of the Order.  MY SCANDALOUS VISCOUNT is a standalone story, and you won't miss out on anything by not reading the other stories, but I'm sure you'll be teased enough to give them a try.  Next to come is the story of Lord Trevor Montgomery, who is hoping the love of his life has waited for him while he has been gone the past several years, and poor old Nick, who must take his punishment and hopefully redeem himself to everybody.

Carolyn Crisher