Scandalized by Ivy Owens

Scandalized by Ivy Owens

Published by Pocket Books ISBN 9781982199852

Mass market paperback, $9.99, 320 pages

If the hot summer days haven't got you steamed up enough, Ivy Owens debut romance Scandalized will.

Gigi is an investigative journalist with the foreign desk for the Los Angeles Times. She's about to break a big story about powerful and wealthy men who are using a London nightclub to sexually abuse women.

When her flight back to LA gets cancelled, she runs into the brother of her childhood friend at the airport, someone she hasn't seen in fourteen years. Alec offers for her to stay in his hotel suite and promises to be a perfect gentleman.

Gigi is reluctant at first, but the thought of spending the night on the airport floor holds no appeal. Gigi and Alec talk over old times and they find themselves undeniably physically attracted to each other. What's a hot one-night stand between old friends?

The one night stand turns into more when they return to Los Angeles. Gigi figures out that Alec is famous which complicates and adds a thrill to their burgeoning relationship. As Gigi's big story is about to go live, Alex tells her that he has information that will break her story wide open. 

This is where things get complicated.  Gigi's integrity will be challenged if it comes to light that she is sleeping with a source (as it should be). Her dream of being a serious journalist doing the big stories will be gone, yet she finds herself falling in love with Alec.

Gigi's decision has consequences for not only her, but also for Alec and her own newspaper. Does she make the right decision? 

That storyline doesn't really come into play until the last third of the book. The first two thirds of the story is all about Gigi and Alec's relationship, and the many sex scenes are explicit. If that is not something you enjoy, you may not want to read this one. However, if you enjoy reading that, you will be pleased (and hot and bothered!). 

One thing that rang true for me was the scene at the airport when the flight was delayed. As someone who travels frequently, I related to this:

"Near the gate, the flight attendants have carefully avoided stepping behind the podium. If they so much as hover nearby, an irritated line forms."

I can't tell you how many times I have seen that happen.  

Thanks to Gallery Books for putting me on Ivy Owens' tour.

Friday 5ive- August 12th, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post about five things that caught my attention this week, a day late this week.

1)  Living in New York City, you can pretty much find anything in your neighborhood. The one thing we bemoan is that it's hard to find soft serve ice cream in our neighborhood. For more than ten years we have been complaining about this, and then I found a Ralph's Famous Italian Ices & Ice Cream tucked into a small space on 1st Ave. and 82nd street, a mere eleven blocks away. I ordered a Peanut Butter Crunch Sundae and it hit the spot on a scorching hot day. I'm going to try the Pistachio next time, that intrigues me. (I still miss Tom Thumb's Mexican Sundae from back home.)

 

2)  Speaking of cold treats, on my way from work on Tuesday,  I saw this street vendor park his helado cart in front of the driveway to our apartment building. He sold a few icy treats, and then continued his walk up the bus lane on York Avenue, traffic be damned. I wonder if he had Bette Midler's favorite flavor- pineapple? (Your Seinfeld reference for the week.)

3)  I caught the end of Janice Huff, our distinguished local WNBC meteorologist, on the news who was talking about the Strugeon Supermoon we would see on Friday night. Normally we don't get to see much of the exciting celestial events here in NYC, but I looked out our window and saw a huge moon hung over the East River. 

4)  My friend Trish recommended a new series on Apple TV+ called Loot. The brilliant Maya Rudolph stars as Molly Wells, the recently divorced wife of a tech multibillionaire who now finds herself without a husband but with $87 billion. She discovers that she owns a foundation and decides to step up and do good work there. Hijinks ensue as she comes to annoy and befriend the people who work for her foundation including Sofia, the serious minded CEO (MJ Rodriguez),  Arthur the accountant (played sweetly by Nat Faxon),  and her cousin Howard (Ron Gunches). Add in Molly's sycophantic assistant (Joel Kim Booster) and this show reminds me of Park & Recreation in the best way possible. It's funny and sweet, and I want a candy room like Maya has. I can't wait for season two.

5) I read three books this week, all romances and all for reviews to post in the coming weeks. 

Allison Ashley's Would You Rather is a terrific friends-to-lovers tale. Mia works as an administrative assistant to her best friend Noah, an architect at his father's firm. Mia's dream is to go back to school to become a pediatric nutritionist but she needs the health insurance from her job because she has a chronic illness that will require a kidney transplant soon. Noah doesn't want Mia to give up her dream and offers to marry her so she can keep her insurance as his wife. Noah loves Mia and Mia loves Noah, but they won't admit it to each other. It's a sweet slow-burn love story for people who loved the second season of Bridgerton (like me!). My full review posts August 23rd. 

Ivy Owens' Scandalized is a steamy hot romance that begins when Gigi, an L.A. Times journalist who is about to break a big scandalous story about wealthy men doing bad things to women in a London nightclub, runs into Alec, the brother of her childhood friend, in Seattle. Their flight to LA gets cancelled,  and Alec offers Gigi to stay in his hotel suite with him. While he promises to be a gentleman, their attraction to each other is too much to ignore and they have a hot one-night stand that turns into a longer adventure when they get to LA. How Alec plays into the story she is chasing comes to light, and could affect Gigi's big story. (This one has lots of explicit sexual content so if that isn't your thing, steer clear. If it is your thing, you'll enjoy.) My full review publishes August 25th.

The third book, Jennifer Snow's A Lot Like Forever, is the third installment of her Blue Moon Bay series. Set in the small California coastal tourist town of Blue Moon Bay, Whitney is the workaholic head of tourism marketing for the town. She's been dating Trent, who owns two popular bars in Blue Moon Bay, for seven years and they are engaged to be married. Whitney's mom has Alzheimer's and lives in an nearby adult facility. Whitney has a lot on her plate, and she is keeping something big from Trent and her best friends, something that can change their lives forever. I really liked the small town setting, and Whitney's dealing with her mom's Alzheimer's rings true for so many people in her shoes. This romance is more on the sweet side of the spectrum, but there is a little spice to it to keep readers happy. It made me want to read the first two books in the series- A Lot Like Love and A Lot Like Christmas to get the backgrounds on some of  the other characters. My full review publishes September 1st.

This post was shared with The Intrepid Reader's Weekend Cooking posts. You can read more posts featuring food here.

Have a safe, healthy, fun week.