A Scandalous Matter is book number three in the Magic of Love series by Margaret Locke. It has a little taste of magic and time travel in it and a lot of love. It was an enjoyable read for the most part.
Amara Mattersley cannot believe that she is in present day America. She is overwhelmed because she was born in Regency England. Her sister-in-law revealed to her she was from the future and offered Amara the opportunity to leave her scandalous reputation behind by time travelling to the future. Matthew Goodson is very focused on his career goals of obtaining tenure. So when he randomly gets kissed by an oddly dressed girl who speaks with a strange accent, he barely processes the peculiarity. What does break through his focus is the strong attraction he has for Amara.
The various freedoms women have in the current day encompass Amara. She tries to start college, she wears some scandalous (for her) outfits, and she explores her sexuality... with Matthew. The two agree to a purely physical relationship, no strings attached. They however can't help the emotions taking over them.
The romance was sweet. I did enjoy the couple discovering each other. There were some hard issues the two have to go through, and that made me a little more saddened than I like to get from these books. I was a little frustrated with Amara's goal to go to college. When she arrives in today's time, she cannot immediately begin school because it's the middle of the semester. I felt this was a cop out by the author a little. I really wanted to see Amara attend school. Instead all she focused on was her social freedoms.
All in all, I still like the magical concept of the love manuscript. The romance was sweet, and it mostly gave me that good feeling I need from romance books like these. It was an interesting idea that left me not fully knowing what genre this book falls under. I really liked that confusion, because it was something different.
**ARC provided by Author**
