Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage (Mackenzies & McBrides, #2)

by Jennifer Ashley

[stacey_is_sassy]

This one's going to be spoilery...BIG TIME!!

I had one of those epiphany moments while listening to Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage. I haven't used spoiler thingamajiggies, so, please proceed with caution.

Isabella and Mac have been separated for 3 years. In their time apart, and for the whole of their marriage, they have been faithful to each other. Now, here's the thing, when this was made known to me, my first thought was, *thank goodness*. I'm sure a lot of my fellow readers are probably nodding their heads in agreement and thinking, well that's a good thing...isn't it? Unfortunately, I've come to the conclusion that cheating isn't the worst thing. Heaven forbid!!! (screams the peanut gallery).

In this case, Mac's mistakes and behaviour, in my eyes, was worse. Not being with his wife when tragedy struck, and we're talking about a tragedy that nearly cost Isabella her life. Eventually, Mac's tracked down by his brother Ian, informed of the tragedy and dragged back. Dragged back, not because he doesn't want to be there but because Mac's rip-roaring drunk. He walks in, kneels at her feet and then proceeds to throw up.

Again, even all that wasn't his worse offence. Mac then moans and groans about his loss and his unhappiness from the tragedy. He was looking for Isabella to soothe and coddle him. Poor Isabella, she should not have had to deal with Mac's selfishness or his disgusting behaviour. Bloody douchewaffle, Mac was NOT in my good books at this stage.

Look, I'm not going to say that I would have been happier if he'd cheated instead, I just may not have felt the overwhelming sadness at his ignorance and selfishness. For them to both stay celibate for years proves how much Isabella and Mac loved each other. It wasn't an option to find solace in another's arms, they just needed the break. Mac needed to sober up and Isabella needed to forgive Mac and learn to live after the tragedy.

This was a great story from start to finish. I loved catching up with the family, enjoyed the touch of intrigue and was satisfied that Mac earned back his place as husband to Isabella. There were plenty of steamy scenes to keep my heart pumping, and I laughed and cried with Isabella and Mac. It was just plain old GOOD.

I absolutely LOVE this series and I'm thoroughly enjoying listening to the audios. I'll be back soon...ish.