Four Weeks of Scandal was an interesting
story and characters. I liked the characters it's like the switched. Gabriel was nice and Octavia seemed like she didn't care about anything and was rude. But that changed towards the end. Loved there chemistry!! I liked the story. I received an ARC for my honest opinion.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for providing an E-Arc for review



In this book we follow Gabriel and Octavia. Gabriel is a scholar who loves to study mythology; Octavia runs a gambling house in London. Both of their fathers were notorious gamblers, especially with each other. Octavia needs money to pay off a debt she made to a loan shark, when she learns of her father death she decides to go to her old family house to try and sell it to pay off her debts. Gabriel’s father has also recently passed in fire leaving Gabriel homeless till he learns his father had won Mr Holtons house in a gamble. He decides to take up residence there and build a ‘home’. That is until Octavia barges in claiming she in fact owns the house. Shocked to see each other after their families history they make a deal one month to prove who truly owns the house, but they will have to pretend to be engaged!
This book is awesome! It has fake dating, a little enemies to lovers but more like friends to lovers. The hero and heroine both looking for family after growing up with terrible fathers. They unknowingly create this home with a found family together

This one was weird for me. I spent the majority of the novel thinking I had read at least one of the others in the series because they sounded so familiar, only to find out that I had not. So for me at least, this book did absolutely fine as a stand-alone. We did get a bit of backstory of the two female leads (which was the main reason I thought I had read one of the prior stories as I definitely remember a card game of this sort taking place in another story I read), but it wasn't anything that I felt I needed to see more of in order to have this one make sense.

My issue with this one was mainly with Octavia. Her "act first, deal with the consequences later" personality would have been fine had that not been her only real personality trait. Time and again, she muses about all of the mistakes she has made because she didn't "plan", yet she doesn't for the most part even try to rectify her behaviors (to the point the hero has to bribe her with sexual favors for her to even complete a list of things she needed to do for a plan she herself had come up with).

I was also not a fan of the constant "internal" dialogue, but then I have this issue a lot, especially with historical novels. It is one thing for the character to come to a realization, or re-think some of their actions, but when it gets in the way of the story actually moving forward? There is a problem. And I feel like quite a bit of this story could have been taken out and therefore moved forward simply by having our two characters TALK to one another instead of thinking about their feelings. It was also hard to believe that Octavia didn't search every nook and cranny of the house (as evidenced by something that happens later on) for proof of just which of their fathers actually owned the house.

All things considered, I am sure there are others who will love this novel. I just couldn't keep myself interested in the outcome with how long it seemed to drag on.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

i liked this book overall, but something was a bit lacking for me. i hate to say it, but i think it was the actual romance part of this one that just didn't hit for me.

despite the fact that gabriel and octavia don't really get along at first, it never really seemed like they actually disliked one another. this is one of those "enemies to lovers" that definitely doesn't even come close to the characters being enemies. they like so much about one another pretty much right away, even outside of the initial attraction. it felt too easy for me, even though there is a lot at stake for both characters' situations.

i also think i maybe should have read the other books in this series before taking this one on. with a lot of historical romances, i feel like it is pretty easy to skip around in the order in which you read them, but i felt like i was missing a lot of important information from previous novels while reading this one. octavia's relationship with her sister didn't hit as hard for me as it maybe would have if i had read ivy's novel.

the setting of this novel was fun and kept me interested in seeing what was happening. i also really enjoyed the "found family" aspect with all of the people who lived in the house and worked for octavia and gabriel.

Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this book.

This is the story of Octavia, who runs a gambling club in London, and Gabriel, a scholar. Octavia and Gabriel both had fathers more interested in gambling than their families, Octavia’s father once watering her sister Ivy’s hand in marriage (only to be counter wagered by Ivy herself with Octavia to wed Gabriel— Ivy won and they escaped to London). Somehow Octavia and Gabriel have never met, but they both believe they own Octavia’s childhood home and spend time restoring it with a fake engagement.

This was an enjoyable read but was missing something. Lots of great side characters, and I loved Gabriel. This was my second Megan Frampton book.

Oof. This series has been very hit or miss for me, and this book was a struggle. What I loved: the chosen family that came to live in the house, the dogs, the appearance of Ivy and Sebastian, the “grand event.”What I disliked: the two main characters and their romance. It is a real problem in a romance novel when your central couple is the most underwhelming part of the book. I really don’t know what these two characters saw in each other. They seemed to have no emotional connection, which made the sex scenes awkward. I ended up skipping them as I got further in the book because they just felt cringey. I would have rated this one two stars if the supporting characters had not been so delightful.

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Gabriel and Octavia both have claims on the same house. The couple agrees to hunt for the document that confirms Octavia’s ownership. Opposites attract in this romantic battle of wills.

I loved the premise of this book, and the storyline was excellent. I felt the novel was too long. There are times when the characters were too much in their heads and were overthinking the situation. I think the story could have been just a bit shorter; it dragged at the beginning of the second half. This brevity of the storyline would have had better flow and pace.

That being said, I loved the writing style and storyline. Gabriel and Octavia were vivid, outstanding characters. I loved Gabriel’s conservative nature compared to Octavia’s impulsiveness. The couple’s chemistry was spot-on and passionate. The secondary characters were well developed and added depth and color to the story.

Four Weeks Of Scandal is the fifth book in the Hazards Of Dukes series. I’ll be honest; my attention wandered through some of the second half; however, the last couple of chapters were excellent. Also, the pace and speed of a novel are personal preferences. I recommend this book based on the colorful, lovable characters and unique, passionate romance.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have read and enjoyed the previous books in this series and was happy to be selected to receive a complimentary advance copy of the newest installment (all opinions herein are my own).

I enjoyed Octavia and Gabriel's story. Their fathers had a history, and the duo could have ended up married years before if only the cards had fallen a different way. Octavia is impetuous and independent, and her unwillingness to depend on or trust in others has gotten her into a number of jams, the last one a large financial jam. She believes that her recently deceased father would have left her his house, which she plans to quickly sell to pay off her debts. She arrives - sans maid or any human companion - only to find Gabriel already living in the house, which he believes Octavia's father lost to his father in a wager. Their agreement to allow Octavia a month to search the house for a paper to prove her ownership rights seems a bit incredulous - Gabriel's easy acquiescence to potentially losing a home he has supposedly dreamed of does not really follow. But the time they spend searching, after creating a fake engagement and bringing in half the town (and a whole host of entertaining secondary characters) to act as servants and chaperones, is funny and touching, while also being a decent amount of steamy. I did find Gabriel's switch in attitude towards Octavia's profession a bit out of nowhere. Octavia's development likewise seemed a bit abrupt - I didn't feel like there was steady buildup, more just a sudden change.

Overall, I enjoyed this story and plan to read Megan Frampton's future works.

I struggled a bit to get into the story, it wasn’t until I was 40% in where I felt any interest.

I found it hard to like Octavia, it seemed like she took advantage of Gabriel’s generosity and there didn’t seem to be any redeeming qualities from her to result with a satisfying couple between her and Gabriel, although the chemistry between the two was great.

This is my first Megan Frampton novel and I am open to giving one of her other stories from the Hazards of Dukes series a try, I have heard good things from her other books.

I think the fact I started reading this two weeks ago and I’m only on 20% says a lot. I haven’t really enjoyed this series much at all so I guess this title just goes with that. Octavia was the main problem because she was annoying with her impulsiveness. Not a fan of reading titles where I question what the hero sees in the heroine the entire time.

Ok but this books was so much fun! I loved Octavia, who is a bit…rigid in her need to do everything herself. Unfortunately, the moneylender isn’t as impressed, considering she is late paying off her debt. Watching Octavia grow and soften and create a family was truly lovely. And Gabriel is…sigh. I think he’s my new book boyfriend. Sweet and kind and thoughtful and understand and he loves books!! My hero!!

A really nice low-angst romance between a straight-laced (but secretly a little alpha) scholar and a spontaneous gambling hell owner who have a shared past. You see, Octavia's father and Gabriel's father were inveterate gamblers who constantly wagered their possessions. Once upon a time, Octavia's father even put her up as the stakes in a bet with Gabriel's father - and the outcome would have been a marriage between the two. Now, years later, Gabriel and Octavia have both lost their fathers. They also both believe that they have a claim on Octavia's father's property.

Since possession is nine tenths of the law, neither is willing to move out of the property, leading to a glorious fake relationship. They pretend to be engaged while they fix up the house and Octavia looks through the rest of her late father's possessions. Of course, fake engagements lend each other to a lot of scandalous encounters (you have to make that chemistry look real, right?), which then lead to emotional revelations and more.

There's not a lot that goes on in this book, but it's a delightful way to spend a couple of hours. It's not quite as steamy as some of Frampton's other books, but the understated love story and the ultimate resolution are both very satisfying.

Octavia Holton arrives at her childhood home following the death of her father, determined to claim her inheritance, fix up the property, and sell it off to settle her debts. There's one snag: Gabriel Fallon has already arrived at the estate, claiming that his late father won it from Octavia's just a month prior.

As Octavia has no way to prove that she is owed the property, she's a bit out of luck--except for the fact that Gabriel takes an immediate liking to her. He offers a four week fake engagement, which will give Octavia time to stay at the house without being questioned. If she doesn't find any documentation that the house belongs to her by the end of that time, it goes to Gabriel.

Of course... While they're pretending to be engaged, they might act on their physical attraction to each other, right? I mean, it's only right and proper.

This one has all of the things I like about Megan Frampton: a good sense of humor, great sexual tension, and a knack for blending those two elements in a way that doesn't come off as goofy. I love that there are two people duking it out for a house; I love that he had a tiny, cute dog and she has a big, intimidating dog; I love that Octavia is not shy about her sexuality, and doesn't feel any shame for wanting to get up to stuff and thangs with Gabriel.

So why didn't this quite click for me? I would say that it's because this is a good few books into Frampton's ongoing Hazards of Dukes series, and it's definitely well-connected to a previous one I haven't yet read (though I want to). I think that while this book definitely stands on its own pretty easily, there could have been some context lost from the fact that I wasn't super acquainted with the history between Gabriel and Octavia's families.

However, I don't think that was really it. I think this was largely a case of Frampton not quite going as hard for the drama as she could have. Which is fine--lots of people will love that. There's still good chemistry between the leads, hot sex, banter. All of that holds up. Plenty of people will prefer that to high drama. I'm just... a drama queen, I suppose.

There isn't that much that Octavia and Gabriel are struggling with internally, is the thing. Ultimately, they're both pretty good people with some emotional baggage, but nothing huge. He's a scholar. A very nice scholar. She is neither jaded nor totally naive. And again, as I mentioned in a review of another book... The obstacle that they think they face is not much of an obstacle. Gabriel is never dead set on fucking Octavia over if the house belongs to her, and vice versa. Their other obstacle is quite easily overcome.

And it's not that I think this should have been a book in which Gabriel was exposed as this vigilante or like, the true killer of Octavia's father or something--that's not really the style of this series, and that's well and good. However, I still feel like the emotional tension was higher in the previous installment, and that's what I was missing here.

Nonetheless, if you're looking for a lighter book with good smut, I would recommend it. Not everything needs to be super high stakes.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was cute! It wasn’t my favorite of Megan Frampton that I’ve read, I had a hard time getting into it at first but I am a sucker for a fake engagement/forced proximity trope!

"Four Weeks of Scandal" is the fifth book in the Hazard of Dukes series. I read it as a stand-alone, but I am wondering if I would have liked it more if I'd read the other books.

Octavia Holton manages a gaming hell with her older sister Ivy, but she borrowed money to improve it and that money is now due. They had run away from her father when she was just fourteen and in this book she learns of his death, so she goes back to his country house to sell it off in order to pay off what she owes. She finds Gabriel Fallon at her father's house, claiming her dad lost it in a gambling bet to his own father who has also died. They both then agree to share the house for a month while Octavia tries to find proof she should inherit the house. They start to work together cleaning it up and devise a lie they're engaged for them to share it while unmarried. To make it seem more proper, they hire local people to chaperone and take care of the household. .

I had a hard time liking Octavia. She comes across as rude and too impulsive. She is immature and very dismissive of Gabriel, so I found it hard to believe he'd fall in love with her when she doesn't treat him very nicely. I found some of the servants had more interesting story arcs than Octavia, but she does manage to grow up a bit and finds a way to sort out her debts and help some people.

3.5/5 stars

I just reviewed Four Weeks of Scandal by Megan Frampton. #FourWeeksofScandal #NetGalley

When Miss Octavia Holton's gambler father dies, she's determined to claim an inheritance by selling her childhood home and paying off her debts. When she arrives in the village, she discovers Mr. Gabriel Fallon, who also lays claim to the house. Gabriel has a marker proving his father won the property in a bet, but makes a deal with Octavia: a four-week bargain where they pretend to be engaged and search the house for a will or any document proving the ownership.

This is the fifth book in the Hazards of Dukes series. It can stand alone, but is connected to book one. Octavia is the sister of the first story's heroine, Ivy, and their family history comes up.

Octavia is headstrong and impulsive, often leaping before thinking. She needed money for updates to the family gambling club and borrowed from a loan shark. Selling her father's house will give her the funds for repayment, but a meet-cute with Gabriel spoils her hastily laid plans. Like Octavia, Gabriel's now-deceased father was also a gambler. It's possible that his claim on the house isn't the most recent record, but he's anxious to fix up the house and plant the roots that he never had. Hijinks ensue with villagers moving in as chaperones and chemistry fizzling between the hero and heroine.

This was a fun story and I think fans of other Avon authors such as Eva Leigh and Sophie Jordan will really like it. It thought it dragged a little in the second half, but I'm not sure how much of that was the story vs. me having a busy week and not getting enough uninterrupted reading time. (**3.5 stars**)

Tropes: Forced Proximity, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Working Heroine, Fake Relationship

Steam: 4

* I received an ARC and this is my honest review. #FourWeeksofScandal #NetGalley

Megan Frampton will have you falling in love with not only the lead hero and heroine, but also adoring the side characters you meet along the way.

Octavia was kind of selfish and immature in the beginning but she ultimately grew on me and I really enjoyed her character. Gabriel is pretty funny and just easy to like. It felt a little insta-lovey but its so cute that you really don't mind it.

Overall the book is a fun and fluffy historical romances, it's great if you just need a light and fun read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the Publisher for granting me an E-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

As I reflect on this book, I’m really impressed with the storyline. It is very unique-unlike any other story I’ve read. The main characters are relatable and you can’t help but root for them. That said, it took me an unusually long time to get through this book. Normally, I can’t put a book down once I start it. This book took several weeks as it moved slow and I wasn’t in a hurry to get back to it when I had the time. Luckily, we had a power outage and I was left with nothing to do but read my Kindle. Overall, it’s with the read.

Honestly, this one was a struggle to finish. The main female character was incredibly off-putting and that made it really hard to care about her getting a happy ending. Normally I can suffer an unlikable character if the writing style and plot are still engaging, but the storytelling never hooked me and the plot dragged on for about 1/3 of the book too long.

I didn't particularly like the "who needs planning" attitude of the heroine. She decided her life was a self-created mess, but hey, this guy's hot so I'll just shack up with him and see what happens. I like my female characters to have a brain and a backbone, not airhead gullible/trusting "this is a bad decision but I want to do it anyway." This one states multiple times that she doesn't think before she does anything and seems rather proud of that fact. Heaven forbid that she follow through on anything, even when it’s just writing down her job description….

She comes across as foolish and impulsive and doesn't deserve the main male character. She shows up laying claim to a house she has no right to, and dares to try to push out the actual owner. She admittedly had no relationship with her father, but seems to think she deserves his possessions. The whole premise of her being there is that she would have inherited the house, but why would she even think that given her past with her father? It doesn’t make sense and just makes her even worse as a person.

Plus, she’s not very considerate of the hero. She’s trying to steal his house with no proof, she’s pushy with him both sexually and otherwise, and she gives him a book he clearly highly values, then snatches it away again at the first opportunity. Why on earth would he like her or even be nice to her?

There was far too much internal dialogue, in the middle of actual conversations. Several times in this book, after two pages of "oh my gosh, I have feelings? Let me analyze this now!" when they finally come back with an answer, I had to flip backward just to figure out what the other character had actually asked.

All in all, I felt like the author was writing the book exactly as her character would - with no outline, impulsively, and not really knowing where the story was going.

I loved Gabriel, he is smart, and such a nice guy... also like incredibly sexy... Octavia took me quite a bit longer to decide that I liked her. She makes very impulsive decisions, which led her to her current predicament and why she needs to have the house so desperately. But throughout the story, she really grows as a person and starts taking some real responsibility for her actions. The longer she stays in the house, with basically the entirety of the little town in her house as staff and chaperones she begins to see this place like a home with a family, and the more time she spends with Gabriel the more she wants those things. Each member of the house has their own distinct personality, and I loved each and every one. They really brought something extra to the story.

I loved watching Gabriels and Octavia's interactions, seeing them slowly fall in love was so cute and heartwarming. One of my favorite scenes for each of them is the moment they realize they are in LOVE.

I can't wait to see what Megan Frampton will write next!