As the third and final book in the Notorious O'Neill's series by Molly O'Keefe, I was expecting a lot from THE SCANDAL AND CARTER O'NEILL. Specifically, I was looking for resolution to the missing gem storyline that has tied these books together. Were the missing gems going to turn out to be the scandal that Carter was facing? If not the gems, what else had the potential to derail his up-and-coming political career?

THE SCANDAL AND CARTER O'NEILL was my favorite book of the series. I really liked that Carter had the drive to improve him community and to protect his family while setting aside his own personal wants and needs. However, as we all know, ignoring our emotions and needs doesn't always work the way we want, and quite possibly leads us down a road we don't really want to travel.

Zoe Madison is a pregnant woman who is also passionate about her community and wants what is best for it. When she stands up at a community center meeting to attract Carter's attention, the attention she attracts isn't what she expected. Will the attraction wear her down? Will she maintain her own integrity, or turn to the dark side and help others to expose Carter?

I really enjoyed the chemistry between Zoe and Carter. Even when they were at odds with one another, they were respectful of each other. They really wanted what might be best for one another, even if it wasn't the path they had originally envisioned for themselves.

The only real disappointment in THE SCANDAL AND CARTER O'NEILL was the missing gem story. Why Ms. O'Keefe thought this thread was necessary in this trilogy I'm not quite sure. For me this particular thread started out in the first book with some great potential, but by the end of Tyler O'Neill's Redemption I had personally lost interest, and felt that perhaps so had Ms. O'Keefe.

Setting aside my dislike of the missing gem thread, I did enjoy THE SCANDAL AND CARTER O'NEILL and would rate it my favorite in the trilogy.