Review: Flirting with Scandal by Chanel Cleeton

Flirting with Scandal
(Capital Confessions #1)
Author: Chanel Cleeton
Release Date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Intermix/Penguin
Source: Intermix and NetGalley
Review by: Jenn

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...

3 stars out of 5 stars

*I received an eARC of this title from publisher but it did not influence this review in any way.*

This book was recommended for people who enjoy the show Scandal and as a lover of the show, I immediately downloaded this ebook. The premise completely grabbed my attention and I couldn't read fast enough. However, after hitting a certain point in the story, it kind of went downhill for me.

After a while, I found myself not being able to relate to either of the main characters, Jackie and Will. Jackie is supposed to have this tough girl persona but when it came down to it, she wasn't tough, which I understand considering her childhood and everything that she had dealt with. She talks about having several sexual partners and knowing about sex but the minute she is with Will, she doesn't show up. I found that weird considering she mentions it several times through out the story. I really like Will but I didn't understand his feelings for her and how quickly it morphed. Their whole "I love you" didn't sings real. Especially considering they had just gone through a whole back and forth tirade of "I want you/I can't be with you" spiel. Which, is really just something that turns me off, so that is more of a reader's preference.

The sexy times in the book was certainly hot and the plot moved pretty quickly. Chanel Cleeton made everything sound very realistic and it shows that she certainly nows how DC works. The ending of the story felt a little too predictable for me but I am interested in reading the other books in the series.