Let Sleeping Rogues Lie (The School for Heiresses) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Sabrina Jeffries (Author)
Key Phrases: rake lessons, concerned cousin, bloody devil, Miss Prescott, Sir Humphry, Lord Norcourt (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
After her father’s career as a physician is destroyed, Madeline Prescott takes a position teaching math and science at Mrs. Harris’ School for Young Ladies. Madeline’s small salary is some help, but what she really needs is a way to contact noted chemist Sir Humphrey Davy, whose pioneering work with nitrous oxide might help restore her father’s reputation. When Anthony Dalton, Viscount Norcourt, turns up at the academy seeking a favor, Madeline sees the solution to her problem. In exchange for overseeing Anthony’s “rakehell lessons” at the academy, Madeline coerces him into taking her to a nitrous-oxide party. Madeline is convinced that working with Anthony will simply be a matter of science until she discovers there is nothing scientific about desire. Sizzling sexual chemistry and an intriguing, science-tinged plot make Jeffries’ latest School for Heiresses title especially intriguing. --John Charles

Product Description

From New York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries
comes the fourth book in her dazzling and sensual School
for Heiresses series -- the story of a charmingly handsome rake who challenges
everything a young teacher thinks she
knows about passion and desire.

"Don't let yourself be fooled, Madeline:
once a rake, always a rake."
-- Mrs. Charlotte Harris, headmistress

When Madeline Prescott took a teaching position at Mrs. Harris's School for Young Ladies, it was to help restore her father's reputation. Instead, she's in danger of ruining her own. The devilishly handsome Anthony Dalton, Viscount Norcourt, has agreed to provide "rake lessons" to Mrs. Harris's pupils so they can learn how to avoid unscrupulous gentlemen, and Madeline is to oversee his classes. She has always believed that attraction is a scientific matter, easily classified and controlled -- until she's swept into the passionate desire that fiercely burns between her and Anthony. Nothing could be more illogical than risking everything for a dalliance with a rake -- even one who's trying to behave himself. Yet nothing could be more tempting....

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (February 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416551514
• ISBN-13: 978-1416551515
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #173,765 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 4 in The School for Heiresses Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars an averagely pleasant read , February 21, 2008

By	tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I have to admit, I haven't read any of the previous installments in this series -- the premise of this particular series isn't really my cup of tea. But I thought I'd give "Let Sleeping Rogues Lie" a chance. After all, I have enjoyed other novels that Sabrina Jeffries has written, and really given how popular the feisty heroine type currently is, I rather thought the notion of having the hero, who happens to be a rake, give the pupils of the Mrs. Harris School For Young Ladies lessons on how to detect a rake, as a plot device, was a rather good one. Unfortunately, "Let Sleeping Rogues Lie" didn't really live up to expectations.

In order to gain custody of his niece, confirmed bachelor and rake, Anthony Dalton, Viscount Norcourt, needs to convince the courts that he is a changed man. And the first step in his campaign is to get his niece enrolled in Mrs. Harris School For Young Ladies. Unfortunately, Mrs. Harris, the school principal, is leery about helping the unrepentant rake, that is until one of the teachers, the school's practical science teacher, Madeline Prescott, comes up with a scheme: have Norcourt give the senior girls lessons on how to detect a rake and avoid him, while Madeline and Mrs. Harris observe him to see if the man is sincere about trying to change his ways and become more circumspect. The Viscount is annoyed but desperate for the ladies' help, and so he agrees to the scheme, but soon finds himself fascinated by Madeline. The lady claims to be immune to his charms -- can Norcourt tempt the lady into a dalliance?

When I say that the book didn't live up to expectations, I don't mean that the book was badly written. To the contrary; it was just that there was a lot of interesting material available in "Let Sleeping Rogues Lie," unfortunately this material wasn't used enough. For example, both Norcourt and Madeline are provided with some rather rich, angst ridden back grounds, but all this gets lost in favour of the "will-they-won't-they" sexual tension that takes over much of the book. And then there was the whole motif about Norcourt's "beast"-like sexual appetite, which inspired a whole lot of eye-rolling rather than titillation. Another thing that irked was that while both Madeline and Norcourt seemed like nice, likable characters, the novel seemed to emphasize the negative parts of their characters rather than their positive. For example Madeline's reluctance to tell Norcourt the truth about why she needed his help in spite of the fact that they shared a common enemy made little sense; likewise Norcourt's tendency to jump to conclusions about Madeline. These, however, are just some of the negatives; where the book really shone was when Mrs. Harris' girls came into the picture, and the last few chapters where Sabrina Jeffries tied everything up satisfactorily. All in all this was an averagely pleasantly read -- if you're a fan, or someone looking for a relaxing pleasant read, "let Sleeping Rogues Lie" will definitely do. But if you're looking for something more substantial, than you might want to pick up something else.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An thoroughly enjoyable steamy romp!, February 25, 2008

By	M. LeVan "M. LeVan" (Southeastern PA) - See all my reviews

I thought this was an excellent addition to the School for Heiresses series. I will agree with a few of the other reviewers that have mentioned that a lot of negative traits about the hero and heroine were brought to the forefront. However, from my perspective this only added to their humanity in making them more real. All of us have some weaknesses or certain "logical to us" thoughts that we tend to let rule us a bit more than they should at times. I felt like that is what we saw a great deal of with both Madeline and Anthony. Being a somewhat scientific (bordering on nerdy/geek) person myself, I found the perspective and approach of both Madeline and Anthony completely realistic and enjoyable and honestly a bit refreshing considering we don't often come across characters such as these in your "typical" romance novel.

I thought the intimate scenes were incredibly hot and the tension that was built right from the opening scenes was done nicely. It kept the story moving along at an enjoyable pace and each encounter between the characters seemed to raise that sexual tension a notch or two every time.

There were some comments regarding how Anthony and Madeline at times were each deceiving the other to the point of selfishness and yet were willing to accept the other's reasoning for some of their less than admiral behavior. For me...that is life. Both Anthony and Madeline were facing some very difficult (to put it mildly) events in their lives that required they focus selfishly on their own goals. When you first meet someone...no matter how attracted you are to them, you are not going to put their needs ahead of yours if you are facing a very dire situation. These characters both started out desperately needing a solution to their problems and in each other they saw a means to end (again, they know nothing of each other at the onset, just that the other can potentially help with their respective situations...in essence they both are viewing that the other is getting just as much out of this "selfish" situation as they are). Now, as they begin to know each other better you begin to see both Anthony and Madeline struggle with some of their "selfish" choices and rethink what they are doing. That was part of the beauty of this book, IMO.

In any event, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and zipped right through it, finding it very difficult to put down.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars frustrating couple makes for uneven read...three stars, February 15, 2008

By	avines - See all my reviews

sabrina jeffries has been on my auto-buy list for years now and although i still anticipate her future releases, i feel as though this book is one of her weakest offerings.

ms. madeline prescott is a physician's daughter with a love for nature and mathmatics. after one of her father's patients dies under mysterious circumstances, she and her father are forced to flee from the scandal. she ultimately becomes a teacher at a girls school, all the while hiding her past from her boss while also determined to meet the man who can obsolve her father of guilt.

anthony dalton is a second-son suddenly thrust into the role of viscount after his brother and sister-in-law are killed. he is engaged in a bitter battle for custody of his young niece with the abusive aunt and uncle who raised him. he's desperate to get his niece enrolled into the school as he feels it will help his case against his relatives. unfortunately, he's known as a rake bent on debauchery, and therefore, needs all the help he can get.

madeline, realizing anthony can help her in her quest to prove her father's innocence, bargains with him. after they come to terms, she makes a desperate plea to the headmistress to allow his niece entry. despite (or perhaps because of) his reputation, he is ultimately hired to teach the girls how to recognize a rogue. if he proves successful, his niece will be admitted to the school.

and here is where the story first goes wrong. a known rake getting a job in a girls school is unbelievable. this guy wasn't a play rogue, he was known for screwing around and getting high and drunk. no way he should get a job at a girls school during this time period, even if it is only temporary.

also, madeline is so single-minded in her desire to help her father, she doesn't care that she's jeopardizing anthony's chances of getting his niece enrolled. this wouldn't be all bad except for the fact that she knows the niece is probably being abused on some level by the aunt and uncle. there are numerous times throughout the story when the heroine behaves selfishly, even as she discovers more horrible things about anthony's past which one would think would lead her to behave less rashly. she makes all kinds of desperate decisions that put plans in jeopardy.

another weak point is how anthony time and again looks for ways to justify madeline's selfishness. even though he barely knows her, even though she's basically blackmailing him into helping her, knowing that helping her might hurt his chances to gain custody of his niece, he's extremely forgiving of her behavior. she doesn't necessarily lie to him so much as allow him to formulate his own horribly inaccurate assumptions without correcting him. as a result of her subtle manipulations, all kinds of misunderstandings ensue. even when he ultimately confronts her, he ends up putting most of the blame upon himself. although it makes sense considering his childhood abuse, it felt like the hero was being taken advantage of in a bad way. the heroine doesn't really do anything to empower him other than to offer her body for the slaking of his 'beastly desires'.

in other words, this relationship never feels healthy or healing. i don't feel as though the hero has become all that much stronger by the end. sure, there are some token instances where the hero gets a chance to step from behind the "scared and abused little boy" he was, but those moments proved to be emotionally unsatisfying.

on the plus side, jeffries still knows how to render an intimate moment. the love-making scenes walked a fine line between hot and explicit but never felt pornographic. the couple did have great sexual chemistry and their mutual love for mathmatics gave the relationship more depth.

however, the story suffers mightily due to main characters i found difficult to emotionally invest in and a plotline lacking romance.

i'd recommend this one for those readers who like really hot love scenes and sexual tension and don't mind if the characters aren't all that likable or memorable.