Suzi Love's Embracing Scandal is an entertaining Victorian romp set in the early days of railway expansion in England and the continent. 
 Becca Jamieson, our heroine, is a mathematical mastermind and financial whiz who not only has helped her family restore their fortunes but who also has set up a society to help other women in less fortunate circumstances invest and profit from this new technology. 
 Enter some nasties who want to know the secret to this family's sudden good fortune and are prepared to kill to do it. They put the pressure on Becca's younger brother, because heaven forbid no one would ever suspect a female of being the brains of the outfit. 
 To the rescue is Cayle St Martin, newly returned to England to take his title of Duke of Sherwyn. He is a childhood friend of Becca's who has more on his mind than just the rescue of his pretty past playmate. 
 Even though we are told that Becca is a great mathematical brain and that Cayle is an accomplished spy, the two characters' back stories are sketchily drawn. 
 And, at the end, when the master villain is revealed, it is out of left field with no previous foreshadowing that it jars, as does the melodramatic climax. 
 The story was enjoyable but one is left with the impression of having walked in during the middle of a larger tale. Perhaps it might have made sense if it were a second or third book in a larger Jamieson/St Martin drama. 
 Borrowing from the world of art, the best way to describe Embracing Scandal is as a bright, impressionist watercolour - undemanding yet pleasing to the eye. 
 It may not suit those looking for more richly drawn and detailed period fiction. 
 But these quibbles aside, Embracing Scandal is a fun holiday read with two characters whose romantic thrust and parry leads us on a merry dance until they... well, you get the drift. 
 On the basis of reading this title, seeking out Suzi's other work, The Viscount's Pleasure House, is definitely worthwhile.