A Notorious Love was enjoyable enough - a road romance in which our intrepid hero and heroine are hot on the trail of the heroine's abducted younger sister. Much hanky panky high jinks and adventures with smugglers ensue. Helena and Daniel are cute together. Daniel especially is such a charming fellow - I really liked him when he made his first appearance in A Dangerous Love. The plot in A Notorious Love, however, was just a bit much for me. Daniel used to be a smuggler back in the day, and along the road with Helena his past catches up with him. So he gets all moany and repentant, goes a bit crazy with "shackle" metaphors (he is "shackled" by his evil past, and he doesn't want to "shackle" Helena to him and his evil past, all while he is literally shackled to a bed ...don't ask.) It takes a while for these two to hash things out (Helena doesn't help any either. She's a bit of a cold fish - except when drunk apparently) and just get on with their happily ever after already. But when I'm not distracted by the angst or the plot, the book was pretty fun and sweet. And I really liked the excerpts from old Irish and Scottish ballads that preface each chapter. ( )

This book is one of the "Swanlea Spinsters" series, and an enjoyable one. Daniel is the son of the Irish highwayman "Wild" Danny Brennan, and Helena is a well-bred daughter of an Earl. It's an amusing sort of Cinderella story - with a gender reversal. The plot in this book - recovering her sister who has eloped - doesn't get in the way of the story, but supports it. Enjoyed this book! ( )