Her publishing house wants to squeeze one more book out of 90 year old author Ruby Devereaux. She has led a colorful life and her memoir might be just the thing. A Boy Friday is hired to assist her in recording her memories and also in providing her tea and refreshments. She has traveled the world and had adventures few women of her time have experienced and chooses to recount her history by focusing on her interaction with twelve men in her life. Thus we learn of her history from the days of World War II through the present.

I have read and enjoyed a number of Mandy Robotham’s historical fiction books, particularly those set during the World War II and Cold War eras. This book is quite different and yet it is a chronicle of the times spanning the days from the 1940s onward. While alternating chapters between a book within a book style and interactions with Ruby’s present publisher and staff, Robotham captures well the culture of the various time frames…including the post war peace, the machinations of the Cold War, the haze of the 60s, the hell of Vietnam…while also revealing the personal loves and pains of Ruby’s experiences, as well as a bit of the writing process

Ruby is an indomitable character, and I enjoyed this romp through life with her. I also loved the different international settings, from London to New York, Venice, Budapest, Vietnam.

I enjoyed this book! It dragged a little, maybe 6 men would have been better!

If you enjoyed the 7 husbands of Evelyn Hugo it's worth a read!

I absolutely loved this book! I could not put it down! I was absolutely mesmerized by this story and I loved every word of it. This may is my favorite book for the year so far!! 5 star read!!!
I just reviewed The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux by Mandy Robotham. #RUBYMDEVEREAUXALIFEINTWELVEMEN #NetGalley
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A lovely book and a wonderful read about 90yo Ruby who is writing a memoir and this is her story. We go back in time and learn all about Ruby's life and loves. So what is the scandal?

This is such a charming read and I loved hearing all about the journeys (life and otherwise) Ruby has endured. The interesting part was the men in her life and this is how the chapters are written. A bit different from other books I have read and I really enjoyed it.

The cover, the title it all drew me in and the story-telling is what kept me reading. I highly recommend this book as it is different, interesting and very well written.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria & Aries for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

How can I make Ruby Devereaux a real person and then an adoptive Aunt?

A 90-year old woman, who everyone knows, is nearing the end of her life. Her publishers push for one last book from her, so Ruby hires an assistant, someone to type out her stories....and oh, man...those stories. Ruby was in the middle of parties, scandals and so many adventures. This is the story of Ruby's life and her many loves.

This is an excellent adventure book through the life of a zany woman. I love every minute of it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

This was a great book. Very interesting and was hard to put down once I started reading.The Scandalous Life of Ruby Deveraux is a book I would read over and over again because of Ruby alone. A true heroine that captivated me with her life and the adventures she had. The author Mandy Robotham has great word play that allows the story to leap off the pages, everything was easy to follow with a mix of comedy and romance.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% my own.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This book is perfect for fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Ruby is a brilliantly written main character who draws you straight in. I really enjoyed the trip through so many historical moments through Ruby’s eyes.

I wish some of the 12 men were written a bit more in depth. Some of them were a lot easier to connect with than others. Rubys relationships with these men seemed to be under explored as well, which was odd considering this is the whole premise of the book.

I enjoyed reading The Scandalous Life of Ruby Deveraux. The book was written as if one is reading a memoir, about the men, in formidable Ruby's well-lived life and how time with each person strengthened or made her discover a part of herself. The author described the feel of each decade beautifully.


Thank you to Netgalley and Aria & Aries for the e-arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

I do love a good scandal, and with a name like Ruby Devereaux, and a lovely cover to match; this was read at the earliest opportune after downloading.

Ruby Devereaux is a famous author, in her later years, who so far has refused to write a memoir.

Eventually her publisher persuades her and the book are her recollections, as narrated to her assistant.

The main thread are the men in her life. Those she has loved and left behind, or who have left her behind, and it was a good way of doing it. Ruby just finishes her relationship and literally moves onto another chapter, or lover.

I cried with Ruby, I shook her head at some of her choices. At one point literally saying to her walk away this one is trouble.

This is one to look out for as something tells me this is going to be one of the biggest titles in 2024.

Ruby is an author who has lived quite a life but she's older now, and cannot type as well as she could so she hires a young man to write her final story.

LOVED this book. So good!!! It was so interesting to read and Ruby is just the best character. I laughed throughout and had tears.

First, the cover of the ARC I received drew me in hard! So good. A story told in vignettes about men and the relationships she was in with them. Highly original and FUN. Highly recommend.

Ruby Devereaux is ninety, her publisher Grantham & Harris wants her to write one last book and Ruby isn't the type of person to walk slowly away from a challenge. Ruby employees an assistant, the person needs to be able to type, make a decent cup tea, cook and most of all have an open mind and not be easily shocked. Ruby last literary endeavour will be a biography, about herself and she's going to go out with a big bang.

Ruby had a dull childhood, her father was always working and her mum didn’t really like being a mother and burnt everything she cooked. Ruby was sent to the country during the Second World War, here Ruby feels free, and she dreams about her future and has her first crush.

Ruby grows up and starts working at a literary agency in Bloomsbury, her boss mistakenly reads her scribbled manuscript, publishes it and she's officially an author. Ruby travels to New York, Venice, Vietnam, Berlin during the Cold War, back to London and twelve people play an important part in Ruby's life and are a major influence.

Ruby uses what happens in her existence and conversations with people as inspiration for her books, like all authors she suffers from writers block, she’s always searching for something and has no idea what it is. Ruby D. likes to have a good time, attend parties, drink too much, fall in love and sometimes it works out and others times it ends in disaster and it wasn’t always Ruby’s fault.

I received a digital copy of The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux by Mandy Robotham from Aria & Aries and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is brilliant, so different to other novels I have read by Ms. Robotham, it made me laugh and Ruby is a unique character, cry, I rode all of Ruby’s highs pardon the pun, her lows and everything in between.

A narrative about friendship, love, messy break ups, heart break, scandal, adventure, war and loss. Five stars from me, I'm sure Ruby rocked her Mary Quant miniskirt, she had great taste in music as well, and when I think of Ruby, one quote comes to mind "it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all".

The Scandalous Life of Ruby D, was definitely more sensational than scandalous if we compare it to the antics women get upto in today's times.

Ruby D the lead , sure lead a full life , in a way experiencing most of what life has to offer. I sure did enjoy her scandalous life cycle.

This is just a delight! The lovable characters and Ruby's charming and thrilling stories make this a book truly enjoyable and heartwarming read

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ruby Devereaux is a writer who lives for the moment and for love. Her last book details her trysts, loves, and sorrows.

The Scandalous Life of Ruby Deveraux is a exciting story of one woman's scandelous life. From a teenager in wartime England to a veteran of modern-day London – via 1950's New York, the Swinging Sixties, Cold War Berlin, Venice and Vietnam – Ruby Devereaux has lived one exciting of a life. This includes meeting men and going on adventurse along the way. With a writing career spanning seven decades and more than twenty books, she's distilled everything into her work. Now beyond her 90th year, Ruby gets call from her publisher which presents her with an ultimatum, Ruby has the power to surprise, because whatever this author does, she does on her own terms.

Robotham does a good job creating an inspirational story of living a full life. The Scandalous Life of Ruby Deveraux did jump timelines quite a bit with the stories of dffernt mwn. I would rate this book is 3 stars. I would recommend this book for anyone who likes historical fiction.

I received a free advanced copy and all opinions are my own. I would like to offer my sincerest gratitude to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I judged a book by its cover and was glad that I did. This was a great read, told through a frame narrative, about a woman looking back on her life and the men who changed her in one way or another. Like with Daisy Jones and the Six, I found myself wanting to google, 'is Ruby Devereaux a real person.' Mandy Robotham has done a brilliant job of creating a rounded character who you really root for.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

A lovely read Ruby is a character I wont forget following her life her experiences and now she is ninety and she owes her publisher one last novel.I was completely drawn in and hated to say goodbye to Ruby.#netgalley #aria&aries

The story started off great. Publisher wants to know when a writer will produce the next book. Problem? Writer is 90 and says no more. Agent has a problem! Agent has to talk writer into writing a memoir to satisfy her contract so the writer decides to write one hell of a memoir of her life filled with scandals .

Told in chapters based on which man was in her life at the time, Ruby lives quite the life. Eventually, like around man in Vietnam, I started to skim the pages as it was not exactly boring, but it was too long and I was getting tired of the story. The content had been good, but maybe there was just too much of it. You'd really get into the chapter and then it was done, move on, next!

It would have been better if it had been shorter. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy. Honest opinions expressed here are my own and freely given.