Sunday, May 24, 2015

Flirting With Scandal (Capital Confessions #1) by Chanel Cleeton

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The author of I See London sets her sights on Washington, D. C., with a sexy new series about three sisters, the secrets they keep, and a powerful blog with a knack for exposing scandals...

Jackie Gardner knows all about dirty little secrets. The illegitimate daughter of one of the most influential senators in Washington, D.C., she grew up surrounded by the scandals and shadows of politics. Now that she's landed an internship with a powerful political consulting firm, she's determined to launch her career and take this city by storm.

William Andrew Clayton was born for politics. He knows the drill: work hard, play discreetly, and at all costs, avoid scandal. At twenty-six, his campaign for the Virginia State Senate is the first step to cementing his future. It's time for him to settle down, to find the perfect political spouse. He needs a Jackie Kennedy, not a Marilyn...

When Jackie meets Will in the bar of the Hay-Adams Hotel, sparks fly. But the last thing Will needs is to be caught in a compromising position, and an affair with a political candidate could cost Jackie her career. When what began as one steamy night, becomes a passion neither one of them can walk way from, they must decide if what they have is really love, or just another dirty little secret...


Calling all Scandal and Gossip Girl fans - this one’s for you! It has everything you need for a juicy read: lust, secrets, fame, manipulation. All set in the nation’s capital.

Jackie is a tough-as-steel hardworking college student currently interning at Price, a campaign consulting firm. One night she’s at the Hay-Adams grabbing a drink after a particularly rough day at work. Will happens to be there as well. He notices Jackie and makes a move on her which she happily accepts. Both are acting out of character as Will doesn’t do one-night stands and Jackie doesn’t get involved with politicians.

Even though nothing comes of that night, they do see each other again when he hires her firm to help manage his senate campaign. And guess who is assigned to help him? Awkward, right? These two cannot contain their lust at all. They are so reckless that you kind of want to shake them. The harder Jackie rails against the two of them being together, the more persistent Will gets. Seriously, these two have no self-control whatsoever.

There are two things that make an involvement with Jackie complicated.  The first is her lineage that if it ever comes out could ruin several people’s lives. The second is the Capital Confessions blog that keeps a close eye on all the seedy goings-on around town. If that blog ever catches wind of what Jackie and Will are up to, it would be the end of his campaign and a blight on both of their careers.

There’s a lot of “magic time” in this which as I’ve mentioned before they’re very reckless about. They lose their senses around each other and one of these days it’ll blow up in their faces. Then there’s also the fight over who controls the relationship and how deep their relationship should go. Jackie is not one to give in easily and Will is determined to convince her that they as a couple work. They just need to stop humping like bunny rabbits long enough to have a thoughtful conversation about their future.

All that being said, Flirting With Scandal was tremendous fun! It’s far removed from Cleeton’s previous International School series featuring college age characters which I loved. This is a grown up affair where hard choices need to be made and decisions have consequences, some being very public. There's no shortage of suspense as you're waiting for either someone to walk in on Jackie and Will or for her secrets to come out.  This is a fun and dirty start to the Capital Confessions series!

~ Bel

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