Review of My Scandalous Viscount by Gaelen Foley

Title/Author: My Scandalous Viscount (The Inferno Club #5) by Gaelen Foley
Publisher/Date published: Avon, September 25th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: Meet the courageous men of the Inferno Club as they face their greatest challenge yet: marriage!

Sebastian, Viscount Beauchamp, lives by a code of honor, and now honor dictates he must marry Miss Carissa Portland. He has no regrets over stealing a kiss from the adorable little busybody - a fitting punishment for putting her delectable nose where it didn't belong. But now, caught in a compromising situation, he knows he must make her his bride. He's faced danger before - but nothing like this!

Carissa is not a gossip - she's a "lady of information." And all she was trying to do was warn the rakehell Beauchamp away from an irate husband. But even she can't flaunt Society, and while her head tells her that Beau's a notorious scoundrel, her heart - and her body - are captivated by his dangerous charm. But when Carissa next goes snooping, the secrets she uncovers about the Inferno Club may prove even more hazardous than falling in love with her own husband.

I went into My Scandalous Viscount feeling all excited for two reason, one being that it sounded like there would be epic heartbreak and tension and the second that it's a historical romance, and I was craving a good historical romance. I'm kinda sad to say it didn't really live up to my expectations.

With Beau and Carissa already having been sniffing each other out for a while, I'd been expecting somewhat more sexual tension between them. And while it was there for a couple of pages in the beginning, after that it was pretty much over, at least in my opinion. They get engaged, married and well, it was kind of un-exciting. Beau falls for Carissa and she falls back in love with him and the two are just stupid enough not to admit this to the other. I was pretty annoyed that Carissa continued to doubt his sincerity when he gave her the most awesome wedding gifts EVER. I mean, seriously, they showed a lot of consideration and affection.

Carissa fell just short of the category too-stupid-to-live, she has a little more sense than that, but she was just one of those girls that you couldn't get to but out of something, and while I sort of got that she wanted to be involved, I still thought she should have left it to the professionals. That's what they're for.
Anyway, I mostly liked Beau, though I felt a bit of female indignation at the 'I'm your husband and therefore you must obey me' attitude he had going on at one point. Cavemen are not attractive in my opinion.

Gaelen Foley has an engaging writing style, but I just found myself rolling my eyes at the characters at times. The beginning was really promising, but the tension was just gone for me after they got married, which was pretty early on in the story. It might be time for me to give up on this series...

My rating: 2 stars