Juliana Gray - How to School Your Scoundrel

Princess Luisa has devoted her life to duty, quietly preparing to succeed her father as ruler. Nothing, however, primed her to live on the run, disguised as a personal secretary to a notorious English scoundrel. The earl is just the man to help her reclaim her throne, but Luisa is drawn to her powerful employer in ways she never imagined…
Philip, Earl of Somerton, has spent six years married to a woman in love with another man—he refuses to become a fool due to imprudent emotions ever again. Only, as his carefully laid plans for vengeance falter, fate hands him hope for redemption in the form of a beautiful and determined young princess who draws him into a risky game of secrets, seduction, and betrayal. And while his cunning may be enough to save her life, nothing can save him from losing his heart…

Comment: This is the third installment in the Princess in Hiding series by Juliana Gray. I have liked the previous two and would definitely read this one as well, but as a whole, I wasn't as marveled by it as I hoped for.

In this third story we switch focus to Luisa, the heir princess who is not only mourning her father, but also her late husband, even though they were better friends than a couple. Like her sisters, she is placed under disguise in the house of an aristocrat for her protection but, also like her sisters, she can't truly hide her personality and struggles to maintain a humble persona. 

The earl of Somerton has the reputation of being a scoundrel and not even marrying changed it, but Luisa's uncle knew this would be the man to protect Luisa. The longer she is there, though, the more she realizes how everyone misunderstands the earl and she even tries to help him save his marriage, which is quite altruist since she seems to be falling in love with him... what future could there be for them, especially when the enemies come closer and the princesses are in danger once more?

One of the elements I loved the most in the previous books was the balance between funny scenes - mostly related to the princesses' disguises - and the serious situations and the larger than life romances. Even when something wasn't as appealing to me personally, I still found a lot of be entertained with and cherished the books. This one starts off in a good enough way, then has developments I wasn't too happy with and the end again seems to be strong. I feel a bit conflicted because I can understand the author's intentions with presenting the hero as he is, but I didn't like him that much for a while.

It is true the title does indicate the earl as being a scoundrel but how often the premises are based on vague or unimportant things and the true beauty is to see the development anyway? I can accept the ear was a scoundrel and there are enough scenes in the book for the reader to see it and believe in that impression, but of course that paints him as not being such a great guy. Any romance reader would guess, of course, that the relationship between the protagonists would change this and, deep down, he isn't such a bad person, he was clearly a product of his experiences, but then I'll say this: why spend so much time establishing his scoundrel personality instead of developing a more balanced romance?

I do feel the amount of pages/plot moves weren't divided as best as they could. I think we spend too long with the setting up of the plot, with the reasons why this is this way, why this person has this personality and when things finally seem to advance, it's not as progressive. For me, it felt as if the jumps in time were too many and without proper development. Perhaps less "introduction" might have helped but then my opinion was already influenced by the elements I wasn't too fond of.

Closer to the end there are many things that happen quickly and the romance also moves along. I still think Luisa and the earl didn't have the same amazing love story as the other couples, even though the author does try to present it as wonderful and special, in a way that both of them could not have with their previous spouses. I did like that they got their HEA and that we are told their personalities and interests match and complement each other, which means their relationship will be successful. 

The resolution of the issues related to why the princesses were hiding isn't any kind of surprise, a few things are easy to guess from a certain point on, in pretty much all the books. Since part of the overall plot can be seen through different POVs in all books, there are things here which are easy to guess. I was only curious on how the situation would be presented and it is true some of it was a bit too fanciful, but the enemy was defeated and the princesses, mostly Luisa as heir, managed to take their places and find happiness.

I still think of this trilogy as a captivating one, there are many elements among the three books that I liked but this third one was definitely the weakest for me. I upgraded my rating one point because of the end of the book, where things seemed to follow better the pattern in the other books, but yes, it wasn't as magical to me.

Grade: 7/10