Lord of Scoundrels

In the early 1800s, Lady Jessica Trent and Lord Dain meet in a shop in Paris. They are instantly attracted to each other, but Dain has spent a lifetime cultivating a reputation as a careless brute (a protective shell due to a loveless upbringing). What with one thing and another, though, they paint themselves into a corner and marry back in England, then move to Dain's ancestral home, where Jessica learns that Dain's out-of-wedlock child with a prostitute has been causing chaos. She decides immediately that they must take the boy in, seeing through the screen of bad behavior as a cry for help, and his feelings similar to those Dain must have experienced as a young boy abandoned by his mother and then to the cruelties of Eton, where he show more was mercilessly bullied for his Mediterranean appearance (his mother was Italian).

Jessica is marvelously clever and composed (and a knowledgeable virgin, thanks to her remarkable grandmother, Genevieve). Through Jessica's example, Dain learns to see himself in a different light, and uses his money and power to solve a number of inconvenient problems among society friends, including Jessica's witless brother Bertie.

Quotes

"Pardon one offense," Publilius had said, "and you encourage the commission of many." (73)

"I am tired of trying to deal with a consistently unreasonable man as tough he were a reasonable one." (276)

He would have to stop viewing the present....trough the warped spectacles of the past. (277)

But then, Jessica thought, Dain did not handle his emotional problems well. (300) (hilarious understatement) show less

A paragon of historical romance. In spite of the fact that this novel contains a lot of things I don't like--possessiveness, protectiveness, strongly defined gender roles, an unnecessary level of negativity towards sex workers, and various other romance novel conventions--it's also really, really good. The main characters have formidable personalities that are conducive to conflict and memorable, in spite of the fact that they've been done many times before. The development of their relationship stays fresh. The book deserves the acclaim its received.

Here's what this book says: caring for people and loving them is humiliating. It makes you vulnerable. It makes you irrational. It makes you small. And in spite of all that, it's still show more worth it. show less

This is my favorite book of all time. Great hero, heroine, story, humor, romance, angst. Perfect except I didn't want it to end. I fell in love with Dain from the moment of his birth. He was an ugly baby, loved only by his dearest mother, who was taken away from him. He was horribly treated by others growing up because of his half-Italian heritage and his large nose and ungainly features. Not knowing love, he felt he was unworthy of being loved. As an adult, he lived a life of selfish pleasure, spending his time with women who he could pay for his pleasure, thinking no woman would want him voluntarily. How could I not know love a hero who is so tortured. Enter Jessica, the best heroine ever written. She is ruthlessly intelligent, and show more knows just how to handle Dain. And she pretty much loves him the first time she sees him. Although others think he is ugly, he is perfect to her. There's a statement made my Jessica where she thinks or says she cannot resist him, and he is baffled that she would feel that way, used to being considered ugly as sin. I am like Jessica. To me, Dain is gorgeous. The chemistry between Dain and Jessica is better than any other book I've read, and I've read a lot. I've read books that were much more sexually explicit. The love scenes are not at all in this book. But they are incredibly affective, because of the passion between Jessica and Dain, and the deep caring and love they feel for each other. She knows of his flaws, but cares about him anyway, although she doesn't let him get away with anything. She even shoots him when he compromises her in the eyes of the ton but doesn't offer marriage. How cool is that? Dain cannot resist her, even knowing that she is much too good for him, and will change his life irrevocably. The scenes between Dain and Jessica are so delicious, it's like eating a banana split with a cheesecake chaser. And I have read few books that could manage poignancy and humor so well. There are scenes that make me cry every time I read them. Yet other scenes cause the biggest smile to spread over my face. One of my many favorite scenes is when Dain acknowledges his illegitmate son, knowing he loves him, even though he is just as ugly as Dain was as a child, and is filthy and covered in vomit. My heart wept, and tears flowed from my eyes. At the end of the day, it's really hard to describe why I love this book so much. But I do. Yet I have absolutely no reservations in saying, this is my favorite book of all time. If I ever meet Loretta Chase, I will thank her from the bottom of my heart for writing this book that has so enriched my life show less

This book is a classic for a reason. I absolutely adored Jessica and found myself laughing out loud at multiple points. There are definitely some scenes that probably wouldn't be published nowadays (and for good reason), but I was still charmed by it overall. People love the Marquess of Dain, but without Jessica, I think he would have been intolerable. She had so much patience, but was never a push over. She let him work through his emotional constipation and didn't sacrifice her own wellbeing to do so. A+ heroine.

Lord of Scoundrels is one of the best romances out there. Anything I say can’t do justice to this masterpiece, and there’s not much by way of a review to add to what’s already been said. It stands the conventions of the genre on its head and left me reeling, dizzy with delight, swept away by emotion, and overcome by sympathy for the characters. The story is so excellently constructed, the prose elegant and sparkling, the characters brilliantly portrayed. Simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking, it’s a book to savor – every scene is memorable. Without resorting to ponderous moralizing, unfettered by clichés, it carries a message of healing and love that is uplifting, that makes you think and feel. While remaining grounded show more in what is human and accessible, Lord of Scoundrel still derives epic proportions from the strengths and struggles of its characters, from the power of the beautiful story it tells. I love everything about this book. It’s a must read. show less

Every single character in this book is a caricature...the horribly mean hero who only acts that way because he's been so hurt and just needs the love of a good woman; the oh-so-perfect heroine--she's intelligent, educated, a crack shot, not at all shocked or scared over sex even though she's, of course!, a virgin; the obviously-dropped-on-the-head-too-many-times-as-a-baby brother; the fun, feisty grandmother who I would have loved if the rest of the book weren't so awful; and, finally, the savior child who "cures" the hero of his issues. I was so flabbergasted that THIS was the most popular book in the online romance world that I read it a second time, just to make sure it wasn't a case of a book not living up to the hype. But no, I show more hated it even more upon rereading.

A part of me is convinced that Loretta Chase wrote this as a parody of historical romance, and when readers actually loved it as a real romance she just played along. show less

This is a reread for me. I love Loretta Chase and this is a shining example of her best work - witty, romantic, funny, suprising. She turns romantic conventions on their head and still puts out a very romantic book. I loved Jess and Dain, and how they collided together and fell in love. Jess was a particularly smart, centered heroine, immediately aware of the lust she was in, and the consiquences of her actions. Dain is a marvellous rake longing for reform. This is a definite keeper