How to Handle a Scandal

Greenwood gets the mix of sweet romance and sensuality just right in this tender Regency. Lizzie Tarryton met Tommy Halifax while her guardian, the Viscount Grandville, was courting Anna Black (heroine of The Beautiful One). Lizzie is carefree, joyous, and slightly scandalous, surrounded by beaus. All the fun and games end the night Tommy asks her to marry him and she embarrasses him in front of their family and friends. When Tommy returns to London six years later to visit Will and Anna, he refuses to see that Eliza has changed. A chance encounter where Tommy doesn't recognize Eliza leads to a passionate interlude, an unexpected pregnancy, and a hasty wedding ceremony. The golden boy charming his feisty wife during the day and teaching her about lovemaking at night is a staple of the genre, and Greenwood adeptly weaves in engaging conversation and moments of personal growth to deliver a satisfying happy ending to this romance. However, readers who admired Anna's spunk and wit in the first book will be very disappointed that they're missing from this one. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (Mar.)