Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress

When Elizabeth Boyle first introduced Lady Philippa and the American pirate captain, Thomas Dashwell in This Rake of Mine four years ago, I was instantly smitten by this couple. In the next three consecutive novels featuring Philippa (who went by the nickname Pippin) and her two cousins, the sisters Langleys, Elizabeth teased her readers with small scenes of Pippin and Thomas Dashwell interacting with one another. Pippin fell instantly in love with his older and dashing bad boy and it looked like Dashwell felt the same. Pippin became his Circe, which was the name of his beloved ship and Pippin called Dashwell her Dash. This secondary story was the main reason I would read these books and when I heard Elizabeth would soon write Pippin and Dash’s own romance, I was over the moon.<br /><br />Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress has a beautiful cover and is very fitting because the red dress part is due to the time Pippin broke Dash out of prison while she was wearing that color dress. Things between these two were left as a cliffhanger in Confessions of a Little Black Gown when Dash was to be executed and Pippin, who found herself pregnant by Dash, ended up marrying another man to save her reputation. Because Pippin sacrifices herself for the man she loved, her new husband was able to free Dash with the promise that Dash would never step on English soil or contact Pippin again. Dash kept his promise and left without ever knowing about Pippin’s pregnancy.<br /><br />I think my expectations were a bit too high because Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress was so lacking in so many ways. This is a story of reunited lovers, but not five, ten or even fifteen years later. It takes place twenty-three years later where Pippin is now a widow in her late forties with two grown children. Dash is a broken down drunk with a son from a woman he married in America as he was romancing the fair and innocent Pippin. I wish I could say it is so romantic for a man to turn to a bottle of booze because he lost his heart’s desire, but the Dash I have grown to like is certainly not this man in this book.<br /><br />Even though Pippin married another man, even as her heart belonged to another, her life has been a pretty good one. She became a Viscountess who had a lovely marriage. She did come to love her husband who was smitten with Pippin the moment he saw her. Her son John is a captain and will be the youngest commander in the Royal Navy in almost twenty years. Her daughter Ginger is settled and married. Pippin is a bit depressed because she is finished with her mourning and longs to be the young woman she once was when she was being romanced by that pirate captain she has never forgotten. Dash was larger than life when she first met him as a girl of barely sixteen and for the next few years until she was twenty-one, he was her whole life. She has no idea what happened to him and feels adrift in her life. She longs to be that woman she once was and wear that red dress she has packed away when she saved Dash from so many dangerous situations.<br /><br />A young man comes to Pippin asking for help. He is Dash’s son Nathaniel who says that she is his father’s last hope. Nathaniel tells Pippin a little fib about his father dying and Pippin can’t help it but rush to her former lover’s aid. What Pippin doesn’t know is that Nathaniel leaves a ransom note to make it look like Pippin has been kidnapped by Dash. What Dash doesn’t know is that Pippin has come aboard his ship. When Dash and Pippin reunite after all this time, it is not a loving reunion. Dash is a bitter drunken old man and Pippin can’t believe she has been lied to. Dash is not dying and he can’t stand to see Pippin. He feels betrayed because she married another man even though he was married to another woman at the time he seduced Pippin and left her with child. But keep in mind he never loved Nathaniel’s mother. It was to save him and because his now dead wife’s father had money. What he didn’t count on was Pippin coming into his life.<br /><br />Pippin has no choice to stay on the ship because Nathaniel wants her to talk some sense into his father. And he has already set sail to America. Until they reach Baltimore, Maryland, Pippin and Dash are stuck with one another. Dash is insulting and Pippin realizes she never knew that man she fell in love with. She is heartbroken and Dash only cares about drinking himself to death. But Dash does care and becomes lost in those memories he has kept with him of Pippin and the short time they had together. If only these two can get passed the hurt and lies, then Pippin and Dash can finally be together as they have always longed to be.<br /><br />I am a big fan of reunion stories but I felt Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress failed to live up to the hype. Again, it could have been because I was anxiously awaiting Pippin and Dash’s own story, but these two characters seem to have lost the desire and drive that made them such great characters. The chemistry and witty interactions between these two are missing. The flashbacks were the best part of the book, but the present day Pippin and Dash were just too dull for me to care. If I had read this without reading the past books leading up to this one, I would have not finished because I found myself bored. I also think part of the problem was the tone of the book. The past books in their series were lighthearted and cute reads. Having Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress fast forward to almost a quarter century later seems so out of place.<br /><br />I also had some questions about Pippin and her marriage to her Viscount. I find it odd that after being married to her husband for some twenty odd years, she didn’t have any children with him and only had the ones because of her union with Dash. She says she loved her husband, so wouldn’t you think there would be more offspring other than John and Ginger?<br /><br />This latest by Elizabeth had too many questions about certain situations and a lackluster love story. At least I will always have memories of Pippin and Dash before Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress. This is one read I will put to the side and will soon forget.

Life is pain. So not only was this book a giant disappointment as it destroyed a budding relationship in the first few books, but it also introduced multiple characters PRIME for a new series but Avon said “no bitch” so she never wrote it and I want to ☠️ <br /><br />Also I swear she was tied up and that could’ve been such a good sex scene ugh

As a big Pippin and Dash fan, I am extremely disappointed with the development of their storyline. To have the Pippin married to Gossett and not meet up with Dash until 23 years later just killed their story for me. <br /><br />I can't see the Dash and Pippin from the past 3 books letting go of their love just like that. The only explanation that this can happen is that Pippin had changed her mind about Dash (which there were some indications of in the Black Gown). I do not see the purpose of why Dash was written as a widower (he got married after meeting Pippin when she was 16 and was a widower for 2 months when he met up with Pippin again in Love Letters). Was it written in to even out the fact that Pippin was married? I don't see how Dash being married before can be considered as a betrayal to Pippin. To have Dash give up and turn to drinking to drown his sorrow do not fit with the Dash of the previous 3 books. <br /><br />I had hoped Elizabeth Boyle will pull some trick out of the hat that will satisfactorily dissolve Pippin and Gossett's marriage and Dash and Pippin will sail off to the sunset. Alas, that is not the case. Pippin lived happily married for 23+ years without a thought for Dash and Dash lived 23+ years of misery trapped by his Circe's magic. Absolutely disappointing for a great couple. <br /><br />Rating this book is tough. Had this been a book about a different couple and not the couple I had followed for the past 3 books, I would have enjoyed it. However, for this to be Pippin and Dash's story, I felt overwhelmly sad and disappointed.

<b>There are flashbacks and then there are flashbacks.</b><br /><br />When I first read <i>The Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress</i> in 2009 I had a big problem with the hero, and I was hoping that rereading the story in close proximity to the others in the series might change my belief that Dashwell was a irredeemable hero. Sorry to say I couldn't find it in myself to like this guy and the story is also the first book in the series which I didn't care for. The reread didn't change my mind, only cemented my feelings.<br /><br /><b>Flashbacks.</b> I'm normally a big fan of the flashback in books - if they are there to support the main story. However, in the case of this tale, they didn't support. They were just a continual interruption to the flow of the storytelling. The flashbacks were written with just tooooo much jumping back and forth between the time periods, which by the way was a period of over 20 years. Every time something good would happen in one period, there would be a startling jump to the other time. This created a feel that there were two different couples in this book, the young Dash and Pippen and the older Dash and Pippen. In both cases Dash was a bonehead hero. I had a hard time liking him and keep wondering just what Pippen saw in him, other than his big...thighs.<br /><br /><b>Dash</b>. A big time loser bonehead hero. As a young hero, Dash doesn't seem to have too many scruples. When he first steals a kiss from Pippen, she is just a girl of 15 and easily manipulated. Over the years, Dash continues an unscrupulous seduction game with starry-eyed Pippen and this game set my creep-o-meter off. When Pippen "sacrifices" herself for his freedom, the anger he exhibited was <b>waaay</b> over the top. On the other hand, the older Dash is just an unlikeable drunk, wallowing in self-pity. Why he turned to the dark side I never quite figured out. I guess it was because Pippen left him - but really, for twenty years you are going to live in the dark bottom of a bottle, moaning and groaning. While his efforts to reform his drunken state were realistic, Dash comes off as being a weak man with no redeeming features.<br /><br /><b>The nice guy husband.</b> Every time I read a book, I have a tendency to think "if I had written this book I would have done such and such." Well this story just screamed out to me to do a rewrite my way. <b>Spoilers</b>: The young Pippen is pregnant with Dash's child - which he doesn't know about. That child is one of the reason's she sacrifices herself. Well, there is this really nice guy, Lord Gossett, who is in love with Pippen. He also suspects she is pregnant. He helps Dash escape, he marries Pippen; gives her children his name (twins), gives her son a title, helps raise her children, is a wonderful, loving man - and pretty good in the sack. But when this story begins he is dead, leaving the path for Pippen to once again take up with Dash. I liked Lord Gossett a lot but like so many nice guys in romance novels he gets the short end of the stick in favor of the rakish so-called hero. Well, here's what I would have done. I wouldn't have killed Lord Gossett off. I would have had Dash come back and reenter Pippen and Lord Gossett's life. Sure there would be tension, lots of tension. I would have had Lord Gossett fighting for Pippen's love and Pippen realizing that her true love was Lord Gossett. I would have had Pippen realize that Dash was a bonehead; at which time he would have sailed off into the sunset, sans bottle, to find another girl - maybe in a novella. But that's my rewrite, and it wasn't to be. Why do nice guys mostly lose in romance novels?<br /><br />Bottom line - rereading <i>The Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress</i> didn't change my mind from the last time. The jumpy flashbacks were irritating and the hero was despicable. For me, despicable Dash was never able to redeem himself. So far, this is my least favorite book in the Bachelor Chronicles. It doesn't really seem to fit.

Bayıldım. Mükemmel bir ikinci şans örneğiydi bence, korsan ve uzun süredir kavuşamadığı sevgilisi gayet güzel anlatılmıştı. 20 küsür senelik bir aranın üstüne birleşen bir çift okuyoruz ama diğer versiyonlardan daha da güzel geldi. Pippin'in kuzenlerini de kitabın sonuna doğru hatırlar gibi oldum. Bir önceki kitabı 2014'te bastıklarını düşünürsek iyi bile hatırladım.

For a pirate story and all the previous books build up, it failed to deliver.

This book was a <i>perfect</i> book for me. It had all my favorite elements: a second-chance love-story (and it was executed quite excellently and devotedly!), pirates, ships, a changed-hero, and wonderful and very memorable characters!<br /><br />This is the tale of Lady Phillipa (Pippin) and Captain Thomas Dashwell. I only read the previous book in this series, and Dash and Pippin's story ended so tragically and hopelessly that I just had to hurry and read their happy ending before I went crazy in misery for them. Pippin and Dash were separated 27 years ago, when Pippin let Dash, who was set to hang, free in exchange for marrying a man. Dash saw this as the ultimate betrayal, but Pippin saw it as an ultimate sacrifice. <br /><br />She ended up marrying a good man, and eventually came to love him., Now, after 27 years, she has two children and has become a widow. Dash is now an ill-mannered drunk who's lost meaning in life. Dash's son comes to Pippin, believing she's the only one who can save him now. So, thus Pippin comes aboard his ship, and they are set for Baltimore. Dash and Pippin's reunion was sad and left them both seeing how much the other had changed since their rash affair all that long ago. <br /><br />This was just so heartbreaking to read. I mean, it's been <i>27</i> years. They aren't the young and impulsive people they were back then. They're grown and more resigned to life. What I found really tragic though, was that they couldn't have done anything about it back then to really be together. Even if they could, they would have been left unhappy and resigned for they were both dishonest and immature to be smart about their future back then. This was a new kind of story for me. I hadn't read a second-chance story with lovers reunited after such a long time. I was rooting for them badly and I ached for them to finally be together, because no matter what had happened, they really truly do love each other. <br /><br />Pippin's and Dash's children were also lovable. I am in love with Nate and John. While stuffy and overbearing they might be, they added to the story's humor and love with their roles. Fynn, a young boy aboard this ship, was also a lovable character. He was innocent and adorable, and <i>definitely</i> helped Pippin and Dash's romance ignite quicker. <br />The surprise at the end had me laughing because it was just so fun and awesome, and I cried for the years the hero and heroine lost with each other. The flashbacks to Pippin and Dash when they were young really showed how tumultuous and irrational their affair was. They were like two crazy, impetuous people bound to explode somehow. But, I'm glad they finally found each other; they deserved it.<br /><br />The ending was great. I just wish there had been some kind of epilogue to tie it nicely because I felt like some loose ends were left. Other than that, while this isn't the typical historical romance with the dashing hero (because this hero was utterly damaged throughout half the book), it was excellent and I loved it. Hope to see these two reappear in the other books.<br />

This story is about Pippin (daughter of an Earl) and Dash, her American pirate love. Bits and pieces of their story were introduced in previous books. Finally, we get to experience their happily ever after.<br /><br />In the last book, the secretly pregnant Pippin married Lord Gosset in a deal to save Dash's life.<br /><br />Twenty years later, the story begins. I thought the heroine was dying of a stroke and it was the end of her life.<br /><br />And then we jump back in the past to where Pipping met her pirate. And then we jump forward again. And then we jump back again. And this pattern repeated for most of the book. <br /><br />I found the changes jolting to the story. If I had to stop reading and then com back later, It took a while to remember what decade the couple was in. It got easier to keep track with familiar events from other books in the series as an anchor. And Of course, the story was about Pippin and Dash, so I had to find out what happened.<br /><br />I suggest reading the other four books in this series before reading this one. The constant time travel can leave a reader dizzy without those story anchors from previous books.<br /><br />

CAUTION: DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU WISH TO BE REDUCED TO A TEARY PILE OF MUSH. THIS HEAR-WRENCHING TALE IS ONLY FOR THE VERY BRAVEST READERS... OR THE ONES WHO WISH TO SPEND THE DURATION OF THE READ SOBBING THEIR HEARTS OUT. <br /><br />I'm utterly speechless. It was more a tragic romance than anything else... like Pirates of the Caribbean meets Titanic. <br /><br />I absolutely love the hero, Thomas Dashwell, because he was flawed in every sense of the word. He was not the perfect man and the kind of decisions he made showed him to be almost too real of a person. <br /><br />Pippin was charming as well. Very much the "Lady in red". A woman who would risk her life and reputation to save the one true man she loves is always a heroine in my books. I did not find her to be bothersome character at all - as most romance heroines tend to be. She was in fact quite inspiring and made me proud to call myself a woman as well. <br /><br />Elizabeth Boyle truly outdid herself with this book. I had initially debated on whether or not to buy this novel from the store because I had to choose between this and another. Having read Confessions of a Little Black Dress I had not been very impressed. But I ended up buying both the novels I wanted and I'm very glad that I did. What a splendid and tear jerking read this was! I'd love to see it made into a movie.<br /><br />

Dash and Pippin's story finally! I was appalled initially at discovering they had been torn apart for 20 something years and wondered if people could rediscover that young love again. I was heartbroken by the ending of the previous book and had not expected the characters to be separated for so long.<br /><br />The first half of the book was hard to read. Dash, who I idealized in the other books, is a wastrel hate-filled man. It was hard to read these scenes and I was very disappointed in the characters. The more I thought on it, I realized the author had to show the re-sparking of the characters passion for one another and their need to get past their own self-loathing for past decisions.<br /><br />Once Dash throws the alcohol overboard, I breezed through the book. Our old hero was back with his sparkling charm and wooed are heroine. There were several humorous moments involving the adult children's reaction to the parents lust. Also the sex scene in the cabin was hot!<br /><br />Overall I liked the book though I found it hard to read the beginning. I can't wait to read John's story next.