I have read hundreds of romance novels. I have my share of favorite authors and have seldom ventured on the untried ones. I have never done any review of any single book because I have yet to find one I can call as THE ONE, which is worth the time and the effort to give praise to an author for a romance book that's superbly done. It takes a real good book to write a review. The Lord of Scoundrels in THE ONE.
I bought this book, my first of Loretta Chase, on the strength of the reviews in the amazon.com site and I am very happy I did. It is lush, witty, entertaining and very sensual- the elements romance readers look for in a book worth to be in a keeper's shelf. No complicated plot but with very good, characterizations, witty dialogues and unforgettable scenes that make the book worth keeping.
Dialogue sparkles and sparks fly between the two main characters: Lord Dain, the dark, tortured reprobate, who had very little opinion of himself but who was hopelessly besotted with the "needle-tongued, conceited, provoking ape leader of a lady" and Jessica, the beautiful, strong-minded, sensuous spinster who in her words declared "I've been in lust with you from the moment I met you". The sizzling verbal fights are very captivating. The "animal lust" and the deep desire for conquest and possession just leap off the pages to keep the reader enthralled. Lord Dain's use of the endearments in Italian during their very intimate moments makes the story even more romantic and titillating. But wait, please let me include the notorious punchline, "I should like to see you try".
When I finished the book, I read it again and again and then again most especially some of the very poignant, even hilarious and totally comical scenes, i.e. the preconceived notions of Lord Belzeebub about the "carnage he thought his overwroght imagination had pictured" in bedding his virgin wife. You will find yourself smiling and later laughing out so loud. And of course their romantic and passionate encounters are original and unforgetable they are so totally hot, hot, hot!!!
Scenes like the unbutonning of the gloves, the lamppost incident, Lady Wallingdon's party, the Hyde Park with Jessica on Lord Dain's lap, the brawl with Ainswood, they are so vivid and well played out that you will in turn even fantasize some more scenes of your own of Lord Dain and Jessica!
There are two scorchingly sensual and highly erotic highlights in the book that romance reader will remember:
1. The showdown between Lord Dain and Jessica barely three days wed
2. The boxing bout they attended that culminated in Jessica's declaration of her love for Sebastian again and again while against the pillar in a burial ground attached to a tiny crumbling church.
But of course, who will ever forget the way Jessica sought satisfaction for the very scandalously compromising and public position he put her in: "her bodice undone and sagging to the waist, his tongue down her throat, his filthy hand up her skirt?"
I totally agree with Lord Dain's rumination while leisurely taking his bath after successfully "tumbling" his wife,"Since the Almighty had not done him a single act of kindness in at least twenty-five years, Dain thought it was about bloody time...."
Yes, the Lord of Scoundrels, the dark and tortured Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain deserves the beautiful, virginal and passionate Jessica Trent.
To Ms. Loretta Chase, your Lord of Scoundrels is absolutely WONDERFUL! It is an absolute MUST for romance readers.
