Rumors that Ruined a Lady by Marguerite Kaye

Title: Rumors that Ruined a Lady
Author: Marguerite Kaye
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: October 22, 2013
Received From: Netgalley

Synopsis: SPOTTED: LONDON'S FAVORITE FALLEN HEIRESS, TAKING UP WITH THE ROGUE MARQUIS!
Amongst the gossip-hungry ton, no name has become more synonymous with sin than that of Lady Caroline Rider, cast out by her husband and disowned by her family. Rumour has it that the infamous Caro is now seeking oblivion in the opium dens of London!
There's only one man who can save her: notorious rake Sebastian Conway, Marquis of Ardhallow. Soon Caro is installed in his country home, warming his bed, but their passion may not be enough to protect them once news of their scandalous arrangement breaks out.

Review:
I love historical romance novels. They are so different from my typical YA reads so they add some variety to my reading schedule. I have read a couple lately that are composed of flashbacks to when the man and woman first met and I really like that style. It shows that these fictional characters go through rough patches even after they get together. Rumors that Ruined a Lady is one such novel.

 Caroline and Sebastian knew each other before the start of the novel and so the book is littered with flashbacks of when they met previous times. Each flashback brings more clarity to their situation and there are just enough to explain everything but not too many that reading it become laborious.

Caroline has been married for about five years when her loser of a husband kicks her out and her dick of a father disowns her (I hate them both). The whole book is basically her getting up the guts to stand up to them and find a way out of her horrible arrangement. And it doesn't hurt that she has a handsome friend in Sebastian. Unlike many other romances I have read there are a lot more painful consequences and at the end of the book we get a resolved ending but there is still some trepidation on what will happen. I kind of liked that semi-open ending though I would not like if all the books I read had them.

I think Rumors that Ruined A Lady is a different look at a historical romance which brings up some thoughts about the marital laws of that time period and how unfair they were.