Customer Reviews

Dangerous to Know

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4 star:		(3)
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Yes, you guessed it. These two stories are reissues. The Diabolical Baron is from 1987 and Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know was written in 1993. In fairness to the publisher, it does say on the cover that they are "together for the first time - two beloved romances" so we can't actually say that they did not tell us this book was a combination of two reissues. They could, however, have made the print bigger and more prominent. All carping aside, these are two good offerings from Mary Jo Putney. The Diabolical Baron is a full length book at 260 pages and Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know is a fair length short story at 60 pages. They do not have any connection to each other at all except for the fact that both heroes were born in England.

The Diabolical Baron was the nineteenth Baron Radford, Jason Kincaid, who had just turned 35 and who was told in no uncertain terms by his Aunt Honoria that it was time to find a wife and produce an heir. Radford had actually come to the same conclusion on his own and so began his search for a suitable, docile female who would not disgrace him and who would produce a son to inherit his title and then fade into the background to allow him to continue his life as he wanted to lead it. His friend, George Fitzwilliam, came up with a list of eligible females, wrote their names on slips of paper, placed them in a bowl which had previously contained nuts and told Radford to choose his intended. Caroline Hanscombe was the name on the paper. He had no idea who she was.

Caroline Hanscombe and her half-sister Gina had come to London for the season because her father and stepmother needed for one or both of the girls to make good marriages to help them out of their financial difficulties. Gina, although younger than Caroline, was eager for marriage and had quickly found the man she wanted to marry. He seemed to want the marriage also but circumstances would mean he would not come into any portion of a large inheritance for a long time. All the family fortunes were resting on Caroline. I just loved the methods she used to make herself disappear into the background. She did not want to marry so she purposely sabotaged her chances of attracting a suitor. She was totally surprised when Radford began to single her out. No matter how insignificant she tried to make herself he still came calling. Her father gave her no choice but to accept the proposal. If Caroline didn't marry Radford, Gina would not be allowed to marry her true love but would be given to an old man with a lot of money.

Several complications were written into the book to make it very interesting. When Jason arrived to pick Caroline up, to take her and her chaperone/aunt to stay at his country home to make plans for the wedding, he discovered that Mrs. Sterling, her aunt, was the girl he had fallen in love with when he was 21 and had never forgotten. Caroline had never called Radford by the name of Jason Kincaid so Jessica did not know until that moment that Caroline's suitor was the man she had fallen in love with all those years ago. After running away from a young but forceful Radford who never told her that he loved her Jessica had eventually married an Army officer and was now a widow with a daughter. Jessica and Radford instantly realized they were still attracted to each other but kept that knowlege to themselves. It took a while before Caroline began to notice the tension between the two. More complications began to weave their way into the story when we met Captain Richard Dalton, injured in the war and trying to make up his mind whether to accept the inheritance of the property next door to the home of Baron Radford. It was not known that he was next in line to inherit and he wanted to keep it that way until he decided if he wanted to be an earl. The lawyer searching for long lost heirs was willing to give him time to make up his own mind because the heir presumptive, Reginald Davenport, was a thorough wastrel and would have bled the estate dry in order to continue his decadent lifestyle. Circles within circles. Although, I must admit, it bogged down for me for a long time in the middle. Still, even without a diabolical plot from the man who assumed he was going to inherit and become an earl, there was a well described sword fight and the best man won. He also got his girl. But do you know which girl? It was quite a nice read.

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know surprised me by taking place in the American West. I had been reading about Regency England and was slightly thrown off kilter by suddenly encountering dry Texas dust and a man on his way to be hanged. This was a sweet story, not terribly deep. A man, Andrew Kane, had left behind his life as the younger son of an English peer and had gone to America to be as wild and free as he wanted. After ten years of that his luck had run out and he was about to be put to death, not because he was guilty, but because the man he killed had wealthy friends and relatives who could buy a guilty verdict. The woman who tries to force his armed escort to treat him more humanely turns out to have a huge stake in his life and the story hangs on their very brief meeting. I enjoyed this. The author did not try to make the hero speak "English", she allowed him to be an Englishman who had lived in America for ten years. There is a HUGE difference. (In one book I read the author had her hero live in the American West for twelve years but he still called everyone "my dear chap". It drove me crazy!) An enjoyable read. A little short, so everything was tied up too quickly and much too tidily, but nice just the same.

In the reissue of The Diabolical Baron Jason Kincaid, the nineteenth Baron Radford, decides it is time to acquire a wife. He fell in love once in his youth, only to have his young love run away with a military man. In a heartless bet with his friend he chooses the shy, young and innocent Caroline Hanscombe's name out of a hat and decides to meet her at Almacks. He courts and then asks for Caroline's hand in marriage. Although Caroline is not in love with Jason, she is forced to accept the handsome, yet seemingly cold man for the money he can bring her aunt and uncle who have been caring for her for so many years. Caroline has lived with only the love of her beloved widowed Aunt Jessica, where she takes refuge in her home whenever she can in order to use her piano and compose the beautiful music she loves to write and play. It is only when Caroline writes and plays her music that she truly feels alive, and when she is whisked off to Jason's country estate, she feels even more alone, realizing he does not truly love her, and that she will have to live in a cold, loveless marriage. There she meets his new neighbor, Richard Davenport. Richard is the heir to the neighboring estate, but does not want to accept the title, as his mother and father were cut and estranged from the family when they married and ran away years ago. He arrives at the estate disguised as a custodian, and while spending time there comes across Caroline in the well-equipped music room. The handsome Richard also loves music and he and Caroline form a bond that soon grows to love. When Caroline's Aunt Jessica shows up at the Radford estate for a visit in preparation for the upcoming wedding, it is discovered that she is the young beauty that Jason loved and lost so many years ago. They both discover the love they once lost, but concern over Caroline's feelings keep them apart once more. The story develops and twists as the couples struggle with their relationships and true loves. It all comes to a shocking conclusion at the engagement ball when the couples realize they are all in love with the wrong, but then the right people. The shock of this discovery, together with the true identity of Richard culminates in an unsolved mystery and treacherous plot by one of Richard's relatives. A true love story, excellently written, of love once lost and won again.

In the western novella, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous the young, beautiful, pregnant widow Elizabeth Holden discovers the handsome prisoner she helps save from abuse in the streets of a small Texas town is the man convicted of shooting and killing her abusive husband. When she brings Andrew Kane dinner and is locked in the room with him where he is held prisoner, a fight breaks out and she cannot leave. They talk and discover a connection to each other, as they both have been used and abused by the Holden family. Liza hears his story and learns about his family in England and his land and ranch, The Lazy K. Soon the attraction they had to each other from first sight grows to desire and they experience a moment of passion before Kane is taken to hang and she is go live with the Holden family in a prison of her own, as they only want Liza for the baby. The story itself has a strange twist and surprise ending, and is an excellent short story, but would seem to be even better if extended to a longer story and book of its own. Also, this western romance novella doesn't seem to fit with the regency The Diabolical Baron. Both stories, excellent in their own right, seem to suffer a bit under the different title of Dangerous to Know.

I was disappointed when I realized this book is a reissue of two previously published works, "The Diabolical Baron" and "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know". Personally I think reissues should be clearly labeled as such. Nevertheless, this books contains a decent romance novel & short story - IF you haven't read them already. My 4 star rating is for the first time reader.

There are very few of Mary Jo Putney's books that I do not have and reread regularly. The Diabolical Baron, (and the two related books-- The Bargain and The Rake), is one of those rereads. I also have the book which contains "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to know." I agree with J. Lesley that it is much too short, but otherwise worthy of at least one read.

A powerful novel on the corrupt nature of the human character, the many twists and turns in the plot will keep you guessing.