⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

𝘼 𝙤𝙣𝙚-𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚—𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙮 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙨𝙚𝙪𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙮𝙢 𝙄𝙫𝙮 𝙊𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝘽𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨.

When I began this book I was not aware that it was written under a pen name - who ended up being Lauren Billings from the Christina Lauren duo. I went into it with low expectations as I didn’t hear much talk about it when I was reading it, however, I’m so happy to say this book blew my mind and the expectations I had.

Let me start off by saying this book is extremely STEAMY, which if you know me then you know I don't tend to gravitate to those romances. Therefore, you know this book is incredible when I absolutely loved it… and the steamy scenes.

In this romance, we follow Gigi - an investigative journalist who went through a long relationship going wrong. As she’s traveling to London, she ends up finding out that her flight got delayed by a day. There she miraculously finds her childhood best friend’s brother, Alec - who moved to London so long ago. He ends up offering his room to her... And there they end up having an unforgettable night. Seriously, a night like that after knowing each other for so long is just unforgettable.

I loved these characters so much! I was shocked when I found out Alec is a famous actor, who also happens to be connected to the case Gigi is working on. As the world can’t know about them for various reasons, they end up hiding their relationship. I can’t explain how shocked I was after finishing this book. It was a pleasant surprise and I wasn’t expecting to absolutely love it, but I did!

Sometimes the characters aren’t done well in romances, and even if one of the love interests is unlikable then you find yourself not rooting for the relationship. However, Gigi and Alec were both super likable and I was rooting for them from the very beginning. I felt an instant connection right away. I loved Scandalized so much and I would highly recommend it.

I loved this book so much. Thank you Ivy Owens for this treasure and for creating the character of Alec Kim. What if your childhood crush became a mega star and you happened to bump into him in an airport? And the twist is- you are so clueless, you don’t even know that he’s famous. You just remember him as a teenager on a skateboard and you still have that crush from long ago. This one takes some heavy topics, some steamy scenes and some great characters and just pulls you in from the first page. I was sad when it was over.

4.5 stars

LIKES:
📝 witty, emotional, bingeable writing
📰 journalism vibes
🤫 full of secrets
🕵️‍♀️ an investigation
📱 social commentary on survivor experiences
⭐️ celebrity romance
💞 second chance romance
🪝 just a hookup (5/5 steam level)
🛏 only one bed
👫 childhood best friends older brother
😊 All the cute moments!!
🌪 a HUGE twist!
🎢 an emotional rollercoaster!
•
DISCLAIMERS:
⚠️ dm me for TW
🤢 insta-love CITY
🐆 ended really quick imo
🧞‍♀️ would have loved multi-pov
•
VERDICT: one of the BEST insta-love romances out there bc of the second-chance story, celebrity vibes, & investigative journalism plot! Full of emotion, STEAM, & a bingeable plot!

hot and steamy one-night stand between childhood friends Gigi and Alec turns into more than either of them expected. When a scandal threatens their relationship, they have to decide if love can really conquer all.

This was an Insta-love troupe that worked for me! From their first encounter, their attraction is undeniable. Owens does a great job of making the reader connect with the characters as the chemistry between Alec and Gigi is outstanding! And although there is A LOT of stream coming from this book 🔥🔥🔥it was well executed in order to enhance the story.

There is also some drama surrounding Gigi and her job as a journalist that throws in an element of suspense that makes this a must read!

Scandalized is THE romance novel you need to read this summer. Yes, really. You can thank me later!

This romance takes place over the course of two weeks. While it seems like insta-love…keep reading because there is more to the story! Gigi and Alec are both likable, well developed characters, who end up as entwined with each other as they are in a scandal that rocks both their worlds.

Yeah, yeah, but what about the steam? Oh, my friends. The chemistry about sets the pages on 🔥! So good.

THIS BOOK IS IT.

Looking for something short, sweet and SPICY? This is IT. I started this on the plane and boy I shouldn’t have. Not only is it spicy, but it is spicy RIGHT AWAY. I had to turn my brightness down on my kindle to make sure no prying eyes were reading over my shoulder.

I had so much fun reading this and I found myself so sad when it was over— I didn’t want it to end. Gigi and Alec were incredible characters by themselves but together they were absolute magic.

I laughed so much. I didn’t even mind the third act breakup because it was just so well executed. There should be no surprise once you learn that Ivy Owens is Lauren of Christina Lauren. She could write a grocery list and it would give us everything we needed.

Very fun. The romance is steamy. The plot has bite. The drama doesn’t feel excessive or immature. Overall a good easy read that sucks you in.

LOOOOOOVED. So spicy & great - loved the chemistry. I will definitely be recommending to romance fans & will read whatever this author writes next.

Gosh, I just devoured this book! The characters and banter felt so authentic, and I was here for the open door romance. I am a new exhausted mom to a four month old and just started back to school season as a teacher, but I STILL stayed up extra late to finish this book. I will definitely be purchasing a hard copy of this book to keep on my shelves!

I loved this book!

Georgia was Alec's much younger sister when they were kids and then their family moved away. She's always had a crush on him, so when they meet up in an airport and have a long delay, they think it will be one night and they will never see each other again - so they are completely uninhibited.

She's an investigative journalist working on a story about a sex club and he has information...one thing leads to another and they agree to two weeks together...except this is so much more than a two week fling.

The connection felt real, the characters were well drawn, the writing is incredible. Read it.

Absolutely LOVED this book! I will gladly recommend to those that love Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood!

I enjoyed this book a lot. And then I found out the author is Lauren from CLo AND that the author isn't Korean, and I got a little frustrated. First because Lauren felt like she couldn't come out and say who she was, BUT was able to use all of her CLo connections to hype this book. AND I am not loving white authors writing POC leads. I will say that I am not Korean so I do not know if this is accurate but my statement stands.

Overall, this book is steamy, I loved the leads, and I thought it was very good.

4.5 STARS!!!
Insta love is a hit or miss for me and I don’t read much Celebrity Romance but mix this 2 tropes with childhood friends/ friend’s brother then pour that steam and drizzle it with a little mystery makes a recipe for a BOOK THAT IS GOING TO BE A HIT! 🔥

I was hooked from that “handshake sex” between Gigi and Alec 🤣 The connection between them sent fireworks thru my body!! Though, some 🔥 scenes were just cringey for me but didn’t bother me much!

It’s the curiosity of Gigi’s investigation that really kept me reading until the very end. VERY VERY fast paced so fast that when I turned the page I’M LEFT WITH 😮 and JUST WANTED MORE. MORE. IVY OWENS. MORE. Can we get another Epilogue? Lol.

Overall highly recommend this one! I’m telling you READ ALI HAZELWOOD’s review to get you pump up!

Wow, this was a hot one. I actually didn't expect it to be that steamy and it was a fun surprise. I liked Gigi and I really felt her personality jump off the page. Alec was just okay for me and he came off as somewhat bland despite his high profile status. I liked the childhood crush to lovers dynamic though and they had great chemistry during romantic scenes. The book is quick paced and read it over a weekend. Would definitely read more from the author.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and I'm happy to give my honest opinion.

I really like celebrity romances and requested this ARC mostly because of the cover. I didn't realize that Ivy Owens is one of the Christina Lauren authors but as I got into the book I could tell that the story telling was professional. It did feel like a debut novel and the timeline had some holes but overall I really enjoyed the book and would definitely read more from this author duo.

I love this book! First of all, this has some of the best steam I’ve ever read. The characters are also all fantastic, and the emotions are there too; I felt what they felt. On top of the great romance aspect, there was also an intriguing almost mystery-like subplot, highlighting a social justice issue. I will definitely be recommending this book and keeping an eye out for more Ivy Owens novels (like an HEA for Eden please!)!

I was scandalized alright….and in an extremely good way! There was just so many things that I loved about this book! The book started off with a bang and didn’t let me go until the very end! Also, the combination of best friend’s brother and celebrity trope was *chef’s kiss* and I didn’t even mind the little bit of insta-love because there was some history there! The fireworks on the cover are perfect because the chemistry is explosive and It is HOT, HOT, HOT (even pretty early on). I was 100% here for it. There was a little bit of a mystery which added to the steamy plot and it all just came together perfectly! This will definitely be one of my favorites of the year!

Perfect for fans of The Stopover by TL Swan and The Off-Limits Rule by Sarah Adams (but a steamier version).

“You’re asking to be scandalized.”

Thank you so much Gallery Books and Netgalley for the gifted copy! All opinions are my own.

I devoured this spicy childhood best friend’s brother, celebrity romance - a combo of two tropes that I am obsessed with lately.

This book was truly EVERYTHING. Gigi and Alex are two extremely likeable main characters, chemistry that is off the charts, the steamiest steam of all steam, an emotional and heavier storyline, a conflict that I didn’t see coming and thought it was so well played out. I want to read it again already.

Read it, love it too and then message me so we can chat about it!!

Steamy summer romance. Quick read., and gorgeous mc and love interest. Perfect for its intention. I absolutely loved the meet cute and the fact that it was her childhood crush.

This was ok…although I felt like it really didn’t fit the best friends brother trope other than that being a technicality…I wish we met Sunny sooner…i also kinda felt like it was two separate books that hardly fit together…on one hand we have GiGi & Alec navigating a relationship with him as a celebrity (this is the actually trope the book falls under) and then we have the taking down of Jupiter. I think I would have been ok without the focus on Jupiter and more on the dating a heartthrob plotline. Also I’m not afraid of smut but to have almost full chapters dedicated to sex scenes kinda felt unnecessary and borderline cringe worthy. That’s not to say it wasn’t well written it totally was & I loved so much about the book it just came off like the author was trying to check too many boxes. Overall it’s a quick read, it’s a fun read & if you’re looking to live out your “dating a mega celeb” fantasy this is a good choice.