Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - The Art of Scandal

This book is an excellent mixture of a taboo relationship and age gap romance. Rachel is the Black wife of Matt, a white male politician, who on his 40th birthday finds out that he has been cheating on her because he accidentally sent her a d pic. Now, I’m not going to lie, I’m never down for cheating because you were cheated on, but I do understand what led Rachel to her actions. With that said, I was able to put it to the side and I really loved seeing Rachel grow into herself, and out of her soon to be ex-husband’s shadow. While I’ve never seen the show Scandal, I’ve a lot of comparison to this book and that show, but I think this book would make a great mini-series drama. Nathan is a great love interest, and I love that he had his own issues to overcome as well. Even though he was technically younger than Rachel, I felt he was mature in the ways she needed him to be. As the story progressed, the romance did slow down a bit, but the pace remained steady. This was a great debut, and I can’t see what else the author puts out next.

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d0505's review

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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this_momma_is_booked's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I freaking loved this book and I think about it often. A few notes I wrote on my phone while I was reading it:

The scene where Mia tells Rachel the story of her daughter's obsession with lions and she mentions how she learned that lionesses take their young for weeks at a time to a different place to keep them away from danger but then bring them back to that same place of danger. Mia asked her why a mother would do that to her baby and she responds with "because she's not a mother, she's a lioness." The deeper discussion throughout the entirety of the story that women have been conditioned to give themselves up for others, particularly their children.
We teach our kids t be self-sufficient, empowered, confident - but we lose that in ourselves in the process. Sometimes it takes them throwing it back in our faces to realize we are our own person (when Nathan shows up at the photography studio and Faith tells Rachel it's okay to love him and do this for herself).
Finding yourself is a lifelong journey and it's never too late to start again.

The audiobook was great and I cannot wait to see this on the screen!

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sdupont's review

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Fans of Kennedy Ryan will love this book- it packs drama, depth, and emotion in a similar style as she does. This books is like if Scandal had a crossover episode involving the art world. I enjoyed this book and am kicking myself for not having read it sooner. While the romance isn’t completely central to the plot you get to see how Rachel and Nathan’s relationship unfolds. You definitely find yourself rooting for them from the jump despite the circumstances standing in their way. Regina’s debut novel is excellent and I’m intrigued to see what she writes next. I for sure would recommend this book if you are looking for a romance that delivers complexity and drama.

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bbygirl21's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This was a good read. It was kinda slow for my tastes for the first half of the book and then picked up in the second half. I'm also realizing to don't much care for long chapters in books (which this book has)but that's just my preference. I still thought it was a great book with a great storyline. I'd definitely recommend it.

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warlocksarecool21's review

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I thought the characters (specifically Rachel and Nathan) were well-written, they had strong personalities and good character development across the story. I enjoyed their relationship, they had great chemistry and passion. I also thought Rachel's personal growth of taking back her life and living for herself was really powerful. The representation in the book was really important as well, it's great to see and read Black stories, especially in the romance genre. I definitely recommend this book if you like romance. The reason I didn't rate this higher was completely on me, it had nothing to do with the book. I was excited to start it but I had just been a streak of reading romance books and I think I was just tired of them, so I wasn't fully immersed in the story as I wanted to be and thus struggled to finish it, but I did enjoy the book. I just wish I had waited to start it until I was in the mood for it.

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peachani's review

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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