How to Get Away with Scandal by Caroline Linden

Tracy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Scandalous #5

Release Date: January 12, 2026

After two disastrous, unwanted marriages, Evangeline, Countess of Courtenay, is now widowed and has decided that marriage is not for her. Unfortunately, after the death of her last husband, she was left with a tarnished reputation and hasn’t helped matters by skirting scandal more than once. Despite that, she is content with her life and at 42, she thinks her life is pretty much settled, but that was before she met handsome and much younger Swiss explorer Sir Richard Campion and spent a wonderful night with him, before sneaking out in the morning. She thinks that is the end of it and that her night with him will just be a lovely memory, yet four years later they meet again when he moves in next door to her.

When Sir Richard Campion met Evangeline, he was captivated by her and wanted her more than any woman he ever met. They spend one amazing night together, and he is ready to stay in London rather than leave on a planned expedition. However, the choice to stay is taken away when he wakes up the next morning and she is gone and no one will tell him where to find her. He leaves on what should be a year-long journey and, thanks to the war, doesn’t return for four years. But as luck would have it, he meets her again and they pick up where they left off. But some things haven’t changed like he wants forever and she is determined to spend forever as a widow.

I was really excited for a new book in this series, especially with characters we met years ago in the first book. Sadly, I just didn’t enjoy this story as much as I have the other books in the series. Evangeline and Richard are wonderful, complex characters and I was delighted to read about an older couple. I just found myself bored, Evangeline’s refusal to consider marriage got old, especially after they had been together for so many years and the story just dragged until the “third act” breakup scene and then Richard’s change of heart. Overall, this was a sweet, second-chance at love romance with a mature couple and a happy ending, and while it wasn’t the story I was hoping for, it was a nice read, nonetheless.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *