Scoundrel of My Heart by Lorraine Heath: Book Review

Scoundrel of My Heart

by Lorraine Heath

Rating: 4.25/5 
Genre: Historical Romance
Steam: Explicit
Publisher: Avon
Pub Date: March 30, 2021
Available: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop

Scoundrel of My Heart Synopsis: To get her inheritance, Lady Kathryn Lambert must marry a titled gentleman. Lord Griffith Stanwick is the second son with no claim to a title. But when Kathryn gets the attention of a duke, everything is not as it seems. And Griffith’s luck takes a different turn. When sparks fly, Kathryn will have to decide what she’s willing to risk.

Scoundrel of My Heart Review

After a long dry spell of not reading and not being interested in anything this book was exactly what I needed. Thank you, Heath, for making me actually read an entire book! Woo! So, I liked this one a lot. It was sweet, layered, steamy, and honestly a lot of fun. I didn’t feel like I missed out on any background information either with not having read other Heath novels, as I find to be the case with so many historical romances.

Loved:

It’s a forbidden romance!! My absolute favorite romance trope. The pining, the “oh I shouldn’t but I want to”, the decision making! Ugh so damn good. Heath just layers it on and keeps you rooting for the couple against all of the odds. I absolutely loved that! Plus the rationality behind Griff and Kathryn was tangible. The forbidden aspect was something that I could actually imagine happening and wasn’t made up by the characters themselves like in other forbidden romance novels I’ve read.

Kathryn a joy to read about. Sure she had flaws, but it made her a complex and compelling character. Her wants and desires were clearly described and there was no confusion as to why she was doing things. Like it was great to have that and be something that I could get behind. I do wish I knew what she wanted outside of the cottage, because there wasn’t much more described beyond that. Just something else to drive her would have been great.

The plot was nicely paced and kept me wanting more throughout the entire book. When one subplot was coming to an end another would pick up, and none of it was too outlandish. Between the characters and the plot it made for a quick, enjoyable read!

Meh:

The so called change in character of Griff didn’t feel legit. He didn’t change that much. There wasn’t that much of a time jump for all to have happened that apparently did. Or it felt that way to me. There were several times where the characters would say that Griff wouldn’t have done that before, but like I think he would. He wasn’t that weak the first half of the book.

The beginning relationship/childhood between Griff and Kathryn didn’t feel fully developed either. I wanted more from it. Perhaps I’m being too demanding, but I expected them to have more interactions before the story started than what the book implies.

A little more on Griff’s brother, Mason, would have been nice too. For being an integral part of the story his character was highly underdeveloped. I am partially expecting a book featuring him to be apart of the series because it would work well, but as of this novel he has no character. More would have been perfect.

Long Story Short

Do I recommend this book? Yes. It’s a really good historical romance and I didn’t feel like I missed out on anything with this being the first in a series and my first Lorraine Heath novel. I’m really looking forward to reading the rest of this series as it comes out! I think it’s going to be a good one🤞.

If You Liked This One…

I would highly recommend picking up Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore. Review here. It also features a woman forced to make decisions around love and being in love with a person who goes against her plans. Definitely a different tone and a lot more political-ness to the novel as it deals with suffragettes and with parliament more, but it a phenomenal read and is part of a great series!