This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Introduction
Scandalous is the final book in the "Outcasts" trilogy and I honestly went into this one very blind. I found this one to be a quite interesting one but not my favorite of the trilogy if I am being honest. I think book 2 is my favorite of the trilogy but I will say that "Scandalous" was still highly entertaining. But there are many aspects to this story that will deliver to the readers for sure. And if you are looking for plenty of drama, adventure and unique settings and tackling some serious issues then you should definitely pick this one up.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Captain Martin Bouchard
Martin is a runaway slave, who has made his yearnings on the sea. He is a rogue, wild in his passions and tormented by his past. Highly masculine with some alpha tendancies.

The Heroine: Sarah Fisher
Sarah is a missionary, a virgin and innocent of sexual pursuits. She is also a healer of sorts and can handle a pistol when needed. She is strong in her convictions.

Summary
Scandalous is a story of Sarah, who finds herself on a slaver ship and finds herself taken by the captain of a privateer ship who rescues the people kidnapped and forced into slavery. But when some misunderstanding occur between Sarah and Martin, and her ancestry comes to the surface, Martin returns her to her family in England only she finds herself being pursued by fortune hunters and Martin has never stopped wanting Sarah. But Sarah is her own woman and doesn't believe that Martin cares for her but when the truth comes out, a scandal may come to the surface where they might have to be forced apart...

My Outlook
Scandalous I will say was a wildly entertaining story and I had so much fun with it. I absolutely couldn't seem to get enough of these two even when they were aggravating me to no end. haha I will mention that if you are looking for more "adventure" themes in your romance then you definitely need to pick up this series. I am not sure how her newer books compare but this series just satisfied me on that front. What impressed me also with this one is that the author really researched her history especially for slavery for both white and black people and how they were forced into this slave trade. I really appreciated that she knew her history but also was able to capture on it in a way that didn't seem too heavy for the story but offered dimensions especially to Martin's character.

There is some wonderful character growth within this one here and I really enjoyed seeing the background being put front and center with Martin and Sarah. They both have such explosive personalities and they really butt heads so frequently and in fact I think its their headstrong natures that cause so many misunderstandings and from the beginning there is a ton of them. My goodness, these two just couldn't get a break. They both didn't seem to really understand each other and were able to really have healthy communication. I think in the third act conflict especially is where I started to really struggle with the heroine. As what she does, is what bothers me a ton about women especially. Because *spoiler* but when the hero comes clean with her in a open honest discussion, she basically gets offended and starts yelling at him and acting like he cheated o her. Keep in mind they are not in a committed relationship and she is courting other men including one whose father used to own Martin as a slave. She just comes off as a hypocrite but she wants him to be honest, but apparently not really honest. But I did enjoy "plot wise" how it builds in the third act and the reveals that come out especially concerning Martin's past. So in the end I enjoyed the way that it all worked out, I just would have liked some more couple page time than what we get in this one here.

Overall View
I found Scandalous to be a thrilling adventure which takes the reader from the high seas to the ballrooms of the London ton'. Its a story of scandal, secrets and hidden passions with a satisfying ending.

Rating Evaluation:
Plot: 4
World Building:5
Cover: 5
Hero: 5
Heroine: 3.5
Steam: 4.25
Heart & Feels: 3.5
Ending:4
Overall View: 4/5 ( )

3.5 stars rounded up. All throughout this book I couldn't determine how much I really liked it, which is weird for me. It had many things I didn't like, but it was kind of hard to put down as well, and I thought about it in between readings! Martin is not really what I consider a catch. Besides his being anti-slavery, all his pursuits are pretty surface level, he has a horrible temper, and his emotional understanding is that of a gnat, lol. (At one point the heroine thinks that he's "too emotionally stunted" and I think that's exactly the right description for him!) BUT... he has pretty good reasons for being that way, and it was written so that I felt empathy for him and sort of cared about him despite that, and I was really curious to see how things played out. Even at like chapter 24 or something he's still clinging to this idea that his problems might be solved by sleeping with someone else... which is *pretty* late in the story for there to still be other women issues. But... that emotional stunting again I suppose. The heroine was just all right for me. I wanted to like her more than I did. Generally pretty poor communication between the two. -And a lot of their interactions are either sort of 'fast forwarded' through, we hear stuff like that 'they met again daily for another three weeks' or something... and those interactions are usually where we would watch them getting to know each other better and falling in love and stuff. So I didn't particularly care for so much of it being edited out. Or, they're retold in past tense, the character musing about something after the fact, rather than letting it play out in front of us. But, I did really like how the couples from the previous books played a part in this story. It's nice to see how they're working out. =) So, despite the many drawbacks, I think I did end up enjoying it more than the average book that's just 'fine' or 'good' but also sort of 'ho-hum' and forgettable. *shrug* ( )

Scandalous by Minerva Spencer
The Outcasts #3

I have enjoyed this series and looked forward to reading this book. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed. Why? I felt disappointed in the portrayal of beautiful, vain, unfeeling Captain Martin Etienne Bouchard. He could have used his past to be more than his job and money and reputation as a rake. And Sarah Fisher, missionary, was a good-hearted woman secluded from much by living twenty-four years in a small village with only her parents and the tribe around her. She was taken in by a pretty face and mean talking man and fell head over heels for him...that I had trouble understanding. Also, I had trouble believing that Sarah could have or would have done some of the things she did. It is fiction and thus can happen in a book but...she was strong and weak in weird ways.

What I liked:
* Martin’s love for the man that saved him and his ability to become the man he did
* Sarah’s love of all human beings and her willingness to stand up for their rights while forgiving evil doers.
* Seeing some of the characters from previous books
* Beauville finding Mary
* Some of the interactions between Sarah and Martin
* Hearing the backstories of Martin and Sarah
* Sarah knowing where her heart really lay

What I did not like:
* Martin’s immature acting out and what just seemed mean at times
* The Slavers...all of them
* Armand and his father

I enjoy a swashbuckling tale and this provided that. I had parts I loved and parts I didn’t like as much in this book. I felt that the time in England could have been shortened a bit and more time spent on Martin and Sarah actually getting along rather than fighting and at cross purposes. I understood that with the history Martin had it would be hard to trust and love and believe in a future though in some ways he was a bit tooo much of a caricature...or something.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes and No
Would I read another book in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington – Zebra for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars ( )

This is the third book in this series and after I had read Barbarous which I loved I had to read this one, it was about the sexy Martin, come on I know you all wanted to know about him since we kept hearing how gorgeous he was.. Any who I liked Martin and I wanted to know more about him, yes at times he was a jerk and you wanted to reach out and smack him but then you also read about his background and everything he went thru and how he survived so I gave him a break, then there was Sara whom I wasn't crazy about at first she just was judgemental and wanted things her way however she grew on me and these two did not have it easy but they learned to build on the attraction and change their ways..I was happy to read about the previous characters.

rcvd an ARc at no cost to author..(netgalley) Voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions ( )

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Scandalous by Minerva Spencer is the 3rd book in her exciting Outcasts series. It could be read as a standalone but it’s an excellent series so I recommend reading them all. When Captain Martin Bouchard captures a slave ship that last thing he expects to find onboard is the daughter of missionaries who was taken into slavery when the village she taught school in was targeted by Slavers. The story is full of action and adventure and Sarah Fisher makes a most excellent heroine. Martin and Sarah are a case of opposites attracting with lots of sparks flying and some excellent banter. It is only when his past comes back to haunt him that Martin is ready to admit that Sarah holds his heart. I enjoyed reading this story and look forward to the next book in the series. Medium Steam. Publishing Date September 24, 2019 #NetGalley #Scandalous #MinervaSpencer #TheOutcastsSeries #KensingtonBooks #ZebraRomanceNovels #Bookstagram #HistoricalRomance ( )