A Scandal to Start it All: A Most Unfortunate Happenstance by Esther Hatch

What a pleasure to read this book! I was drawn in from the very first pages where the most unfortunate of situations have brought two unlikely individuals together. Most of the book is centered on the tensions between Captain Calder and Evelyn after the night they accidentally spent together unchaperoned.

Check out my full review below and see if this is a book you might like to read as well!

Title: A Most Unfortunate Happenstance

Author: Esther Hatch

Series: Supposed Scandal

Genre: Historical Fiction, Regency Romance

Rating: 5 out of 5 ⭐

Disclaimer

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I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

My Thoughts:

The Captain had been suffering from a severe fever and delirium while Evelyn cared for him. This was a traumatic, yet brave, situation where Evelyn did everything she could to care for him through his sickness. She was focused on keeping him alive and terrified that he would die. It was a brutal storm they both were stuck in and his sufferings were a lot for her to handle. But come the next morning, he can’t really remember anything, and just wants to leave without much ado about anything. She disagrees and wants her parents to see what happened, but his forceful refusal leaves her alone.

Little do either of them know, they are both on their way to the same house party.

Weeks of spending time together at this house party for Evelyn’s cousin, brings these two back together and now they must determine how to survive their emotions and feelings for one another. Especially because the Captain has arrived with the express intention of proposing to Evelyn’s cousin. This draws out through the entire book and left me with a tension surrounding how this would play out. It kept me turning every page quickly to see how this would unfold!

Captain Calder and Evelyn are perfect for one another with their strong personalities and intense feelings and interests. There are so many fun and laughable moments as Evelyn works hard to keep Captain Calder away from her cousin because she believes he is not good enough to court her cousin. After he spent the night with her and treated her like a plague by running away, Evelyn doesn’t think too highly of him.

But as time goes on, she starts to realize her preconceived notions of him were not accurate and he actually is a wonderful man. That’s when the heartbreak begins and she starts to realize she should let the two of them be together and get out of their way. Even if her own hearts has to be broken in the process.

I felt for Evelyn in this one as she was doing everything in her power to protect her cousin. The house party they’re all at was specifically for her cousin to meet some of the men and maybe find a suitor. But Evelyn is spending most of the time trying to keep Calder away from her cousin which leads to lots of funny and romantic moments between the two of them.

A wonderfully written story featuring lots of misunderstandings and even more romance than I could have imagined!

Publisher’s Blurb:

Will the storm that brought them together be the scandal that tears them apart?

Captain John Calder has finally secured the means and standing to propose to the woman he has dreamed of since the day they met—and a house party offers the perfect opportunity to become reacquainted with her.

But a violent storm on the road to Blackwell changes everything. The cold and damp strike John down with a sudden and violent return of the ague.

Evelyn Blackwell, traveling to her family’s estate to secure a suitor for her disgraced cousin, is caught in the same storm and forced to take refuge alone in an abandoned cottage. The door flies open to reveal a fevered stranger who promptly collapses at her feet. She keeps vigil through thunder, darkness, and delirium, certain he may not survive.

But he does survive and in the morning light, they promise to leave as strangers, hopefully never to see each other again, bound only by the secret of a shared night together.

However, days later, John arrives at Evelyn’s house party. Now they must spend weeks together while Evelyn balances arranging a match for her cousin with memories of that night—memories John does not share.

The longer they spend in each other’s company, the more Evelyn wonders if her cousin’s happiness can come only at the cost of her own—and whether the storm that brought her and John together has set her heart on a course to be broken apart.