An American Scandal by Theresa Howles

 

Publisher: HQ

On Sale Date: January 29 2026

Pages: 367

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

The story starts in New York in 1895, where Madeline Crosby and her half-brother Hugh are going to the opera. Madeline is in the middle of being introduced to the old money social circles of New York, where she hopes to make a good impression. But the evening turns out sour as someone who knows her troubled past in calls her out on it. Madeline spent half of her childhood in the brother where her mother worked and died. A brothel run in a posh New York hotel.

Madeline and Hugh start to live at the summer house they inherited in Newport. From there on, they expand their connections in the 'new money'' social circles. Madeline and Hugh become acquinted to Edward Booth and his family, who don't shy back showing off their wealth, and whose father runs the New York hotels Madeline's mother had to work in, in their undercover brothel, and which continues to exploit women. Things take a turn when Edward falls in love with Madeline and asks for her hand, and makes that Madeline has to choose between following her head and her heart..

This is a book perfect for Jane Austen fans. It also reminded me a bit of the social classes in the movie Titanic, as it was set in the same era. The storyline of this book is nice, full of drama and gossip and love. It felt a bit thin and repeating at some points, and some parts didn't add much to the story. The characters where good, the main characters of Madeline, Hugh and Edward and his family where very believable. It all felt very Upstairs, Downstairs, too, with the old and the new money and all the conflicts caused by the social classes of that time period. 

Overall, I found this a nice book if you are in for some historical romantic fiction, it has the overal feeling of a British costume drama, while it is set in New York and Newport. A nice book to escape with, nothing more.