To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
How to Ruin a Reputation
To ask other readers questions about How to Ruin a Reputation , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about How to Ruin a Reputation. Lists with This Book. Sin embargo, me he llevado una agradable sorpresa, pues me he encontrado con una historia que ha conseguido engancharme. View all 4 comments. Oct 13, Susan rated it it was amazing Shelves: When Ashe returns home after his father's death he is dismayed to find out that to have control of the estate, he must marry Genevra. He doesn't want to marry, but he will do so to save his home. He and Neva are immediately attracted to each other but there are things keeping them apart.
There is also the mystery of why the estate's funds disappeared so rapidly, and who is behind the problems. I really liked both Ashe and Neva. Ashe had stayed away from the estate and his father Very good book. Ashe had stayed away from the estate and his father because of an argument they had had when he was twenty. When he came back to his home he was filled with guilt and swore to make things right. At first he didn't trust Neva, but soon came to learn that she had been a great support to his family.
He also quickly realized that his intense attraction to her could be a good thing, though he came on a little strong at first. I liked the way that he tried to protect her from his cousin. It took him awhile to realize that the happiness and contentment he felt with Neva was love, and almost left it too late. Neva was a good strong woman. She was a widow who had discovered too late in her marriage that her husband had been a fortune hunter and swore never to be in that position again. She had purchased the estate next to Ashe's and had plans to turn it into a home for women.
She had become friends with Ashe's father and was stunned to find that she had inherited part of the trusteeship of the estate. She was not happy about her attraction to Ashe because she compared him to her late husband. After some time she realized he was different, that there was a good man under the rake on the surface. When he proposed a business marriage she accepted, and soon discovered she was falling for him. I liked the way that she was able to help him with the estate, and also that she cared enough to get him to talk about his past.
I really enjoyed the final resolution to the mystery, though I felt bad for Ashe's brother. I'm looking forward to the final book in the series. A really good book. I wanted to study in Vienna, I wanted to go to Italy and study piano- A really good book. I wanted to study in Vienna, I wanted to go to Italy and study piano-making.
I wanted to make the grandest pianos of them all. Her stories are character-driven and all I've read have a real sense of place. I love that her characters often have knowledge of the world outside England and do travel quite bit. Eso es justo lo que me he encontrado en esta historia. Nov 21, Erica Olsen rated it liked it.
How to Ruin a Reputation by Bronwyn Scott
This book, as well as the first one, had all I needed to escape everyday life. I love the time in which the story is set, I love the language of the time and so on. The plot is very nice as well and of course we have a love story in the midst of all the action and so on. I would recommend this to anyone who would like to escape to another time and everyday life for a while.
Jul 27, Lisa rated it liked it. Fast paced interesting story but pretty cheesy ending. Oct 26, Sandy M rated it really liked it Shelves: On top of that, his older brother, the rightful earl, has had a break with reality and cannot take over. Then what Ashe learns once he arrives at Bedevere Hall only fuels his ire and his self-blame higher. This is a man who loves his family. You see it in everything he does. Thus he takes the blame for all that has gone wrong in his absence.
He'd waited too long and all this ruin could be laid at his feet. It seemed an ironic twist of fate that he was now poised to be the curator of a place he'd so willingly fled in years past. The place had been perfect then, so unlike his imperfect self.
There was no use in putting it off. Ashe kicked his horse into a canter for the last ride home. His trunks would have arrived yesterday, signalling that he was not far behind.
- Bronwyn Scott.
- Die Ministerialen der Zähringer in Burgund (German Edition).
- ¿Por qué los Hombres son Infieles? (Spanish Edition)?
- How to Ruin a Reputation?
- Rakes Beyond Redemption.
- Reward Yourself?
The aunts had probably been up since daybreak, anticipating his coming, and they would all be waiting. All four of them. He was their protector now, a role he felt ill suited to play.
He supposed that was part of the Bedevere legacy, too; the Bedevere women didn't marry men who had the foresight to provide beyond the grave and the Bedevere males hadn't much luck in living long enough to do it for them. The rough-kept lands preceding the park were a blessing of sorts in that they prepared him for the sight of the manor.
Ivy crawled rampant across the formerly pristine sandstone of the hall's facade. A shutter hung loose from a second-storey window. Flowerbeds were overrun with plants that had long outgrown their intended shapes. Nature was having its way with the onceorderly estate. Years ago, it had been a point of pride that Bedevere Hall, seat of the Audleys for four generations, was the gem of the county.
From what Ashe could see trotting down the drive, there wasn't much of that left now. Ashe dismounted and steeled himself for what lay inside. If the outside looked this bad, he could only imagine what had taken place inside to allow such decay to be permissible. A lone stable boy ran up to take his horse. Ashe was tempted to ask him about the state of things, but decided against it. He'd rather see it all with his own eyes. Ashe doubted he'd even finished knocking before the door swung open and time stalled.
Gardener stood there, as tall and sombre as Ashe remembered him, perhaps a bit greyer, a bit thinner, but very much the same. Growing up, Ashe had thought it was funny to have a butler named Gardener and a gardener named Smith, who looked to be long gone from the state of things. There was a shabbiness to the house. But most striking was the emptiness. There were no maids polishing the staircase, no footmen awaiting errands. The usual bustle of the hall was silent. There was Gardener and the stable boy. Presumably there were more, including a cook, hopefully, but Ashe didn't want to presume too much.
It didn't look promising. Ashe paused outside the drawing-room door and took a deep breath. Beyond those doors lay a responsibility he'd eschewed for years. He had his reasons. It was a mean act of fate that all his efforts to avoid it had come to naught.
The Bedevere legacy, the one thing he'd tried so hard to escape, had landed quite squarely in his lap anyway. Perhaps it was true that all roads lead home in the end. With years of impeccable service behind him, Gardener knew how to read his betters and had given him a few seconds to prepare himself. Ashe squared his shoulders. He could see Gardener's rendition of the tale below stairs already, full of admiration about how the young lord had ridden in, taking no time to fuss over his appearance after a long ride.
Instead, he'd gone straight to his aunts. Gardener had made a habit of seeing the best in him in his youth. Gardener would make him out to be an angel by evening. But if he was an angel, he was a very wicked one. Heaven forbid anyone at Bedevere ever learn what he'd been doing the moment the message of his father's demise had arrived. In hindsight, 'aggressively flirting' with Lady Hargrove seemed akin to fiddling while Rome burned. Gardener opened the door and cleared his throat. The curtains were faded, but the best of what was left in the house had been brought here.
There were vases filled with flowers on the side tables, pillows on the sofas, little knick-knacks set about the room for decoration. Ashe saw the room for what it was: His eyes roved the room, taking in the surprising amount of occupants. His aunts were not alone; Leti-cia, Lavinia, Melisande and Marguerite were settled near the fireplace with a man he didn't recognise, but it was the woman seated just beyond them, by the window overlooking the garden, who held his attention.
Even in a crowded London ballroom she would stand out. Ashe suspected she'd chosen her seat away from the others in an attempt to be discreet, a task her beauty no doubt made impossible under the best of circumstances. Today, in a room peopled by elderly ladies and a middle-aged man, there was no opportunity for obscurity. Ashe approached and gave his aunts his best bow. Her comeliness was not all due to her good looks. It was in the way she held her slender neck, the straightness of her shoulders, both of which said, 'Notice me, I dare you. He could see it in the jut of her chin and the frank stare of her gaze in spite of her efforts at anonymity.
Leticia swept forwards, white-haired, regal and perhaps more fragile than Ashe remembered. They were all more fragile than he remembered, except for the siren at the window. She'd been watching him since the moment he'd entered the room, no doubt wondering and assessing, just as he was now. Refine more Format Format. Items in search results. Other Books, Comics, Magazines 2. Other Collectable Items 1.
Rakes Beyond Redemption Historical mini series
Format see all Format. All listings filter applied. Condition see all Condition.