{"id":11154,"date":"2018-10-10T20:31:09","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T00:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=11154"},"modified":"2022-10-30T19:38:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-30T23:38:07","slug":"lord-of-scoundrels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11154","title":{"rendered":"Lord of Scoundrels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lord of Scoundrels<\/a><\/em> (1994) Loretta Chase<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Set in France and England in 1828.<\/p>\n

The book opens in 1793 with the marriage of the Marquess of Dain to Lucia Usignuolo, a wealthy Florentine aristocrat. The marriage is a disaster, and the result of that union is disdained by his father, and left basically alone after his mother leaves. It is this background that allows you to tolerate Sebastian’s behavior over the course of the book.<\/p>\n

Lord Dain did not look up when the shop bell tinkled. He did not care who the new customer might be, and Champtois, purveyor of antiques and artistic curiosities, could not possibly care, because the most important customer in Paris had already entered his shop. Being the most important, Dain expected and received the shopkeeper\u2019s exclusive attention. Champtois not only did not glance toward the door, but gave no sign of seeing, hearing, or thinking anything unrelated to the Marquess of Dain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jessica Trent has received a frantic message from Paris that her brother has fallen in with Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dai, and is quickly falling to ruin. So she and her grandmother hurry to Paris to try and remove her brother from Dain’s clutches.<\/p>\n

He tugged at his cravat. \u201cAin\u2019t in difficulties.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOh, then I must be the one. According to your man of business, paying your present debts will leave me with precisely forty-seven pounds, six shillings, threepence for the remainder of the year. Which means I must either move in with aunts and uncles again or work. I spent ten years as unpaid nanny to their brats. I do not intend to spend another ten seconds. That leaves work.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dain is a complete scoundrel who cares about nothing except his pleasures. He believes himself to be a monster and so behaves so that society believes the same. That opening prologue, however, made me wonder whether he might, in fact, be salvageable.<\/p>\n

Jessica is an utter delight. She is completely unwilling to take Dain’s crap, and continually puts him in his place. She is also the grandchild of a woman who has been quite open with her about men, scoundrels, and what happens between men and women. She also encourages Jessica’s independence and desire to stand up for herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be far more profitable to pry Dain loose for yourself,\u201d said her grandmother. \u201cHe is very wealthy, his lineage is excellent, he is young, strong, and healthy, and you feel a powerful attraction.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHe isn\u2019t husband material.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I have described is perfect husband material,\u201d said her grandmother.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All of which makes for delightful dialog between Dain and Jessica.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, you are familiar with my reputation, are you, Miss Trent?\u201d Dain enquired. <\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yes. You are the wickedest man who ever lived. And you eat small children for breakfast, their nannies tell them, if they are naughty.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut you are not in the least alarmed.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not breakfast time, and I am hardly a small child. Though I can see how, given your lofty vantage point, you might mistake me for one.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cAnd she\u2019s almost smiling. Usually they look exceedingly unhappy.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cCross, Miss Trent. They look exceedingly ill tempered. I suppose it\u2019s on account of being virgins\u2014 of experiencing all the unpleasantness of breeding and birthing and none of the jolly parts.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaking on behalf of virgins everywhere, my lord,\u201d she said, leaning toward him a bit, \u201cI can tell you there are a host of jolly experiences. One of them is owning a rare work of religious art worth, at the very minimum, five hundred pounds.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She held up her fan in front of his face, to display the masculine scribbling upon the sticks. \u201cLook carefully,\u201d she said. \u201cDo you see \u2018Beelzebub\u2019 written there?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not shortsighted,\u201d he said, extracting the fan from her tense fingers. \u201cYou needn\u2019t hold it so close. Ah, yes, is this the one?\u201d He pointed to a stick. \u201cRouvier?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d she said, looking past him. \u201cHere he comes.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dain turned. A Frenchman was warily approaching, his countenance pale. Dain fanned himself. The man paused. Smiling, Dain pressed thumb and forefinger to the stick with \u201cRouvier\u201d written on it. It snapped. <\/p>\n

Rouvier went away.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dain may be a complete ass, but Jessica gives as good as she gets, and her revenge upon him halfway through the book is utterly marvelous. <\/p>\n

One single scene makes it clear she is a match for him.<\/p>\n

The story is very much a romp, but it’s a fun one, and I really loved the two main characters.<\/p>\n

Publisher: HarperCollins
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lord of Scoundrels (1994) Loretta Chase Set in France and England in 1828. The book opens in 1793 with the marriage of the Marquess of Dain to Lucia Usignuolo, a wealthy Florentine aristocrat. The marriage is a disaster, and the result of that union is disdained by his father, and left basically alone after his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,33,26,56],"tags":[556],"class_list":["post-11154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-historical","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-georgian-era"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2TU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23956,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23956","url_meta":{"origin":11154,"position":0},"title":"Murder on a Mystery Tour","author":"Michelle","date":"September 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Murder on a Mystery Tour (1987) Marian Babson I had a lot of trouble getting into this story, because I could not figure out when it was set. Part of the setting is an old English manor turned into a hotel that hosts weekend murder mysteries set in the 1930s.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Murder on a Mystery Tour","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Murder-on-a-Mystery-Tour.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Murder-on-a-Mystery-Tour.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Murder-on-a-Mystery-Tour.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26527,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26527","url_meta":{"origin":11154,"position":1},"title":"Proper Scoundrels","author":"Michelle","date":"April 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Proper Scoundrels (2021) Allie Therin (Roaring Twenties Magic #1) Set in 1925 in London & Paris \u201cYou\u2019re his spitting image, you know.\u201d Wesley\u2019s brother had been too, all three of them over six feet tall with the same brown hair and gray eyes. Now only Wesley was left, and he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Proper Scoundrels","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Proper_Scoundrels-191x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21120,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21120","url_meta":{"origin":11154,"position":2},"title":"Proper Scoundrels","author":"Michelle","date":"November 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Proper Scoundrels (2021) Allie Therin (Roaring Twenties Magic) Set in England in 1925. Me: I really liked this first series that this book is a spin-off of. Obviously I should not read it. (Repeat time and again for author after author) Sebastian de Leon spent the past three years enthralled,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Proper Scoundrels","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Proper_Scoundrels.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19761,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19761","url_meta":{"origin":11154,"position":3},"title":"The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels","author":"Michelle","date":"February 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels (2021) India Holton (Dangerous Damsels) Set in an alternate Victorian England. Cecilia Bassingwaite is a proper Victorian young lady, and she is also a member of the Wisteria Society crime sorority, and she flies around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Wisteria-Society-of-Lady-Scoundrels.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Wisteria-Society-of-Lady-Scoundrels.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Wisteria-Society-of-Lady-Scoundrels.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":336,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/336","url_meta":{"origin":11154,"position":4},"title":"The Lies of Locke Lamora","author":"Michelle","date":"January 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) Scott Lynch It's somewhat difficult to classify The Lies of Locke Lamora. It's definitely fantasy, but I haven't come across a lot of fantasy like it. The closet comparison I can think of is Thieves' World; the main characters are scoundrels and thieves, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/01\/Lies-of-Locke-Lamora.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9219,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9219","url_meta":{"origin":11154,"position":5},"title":"A Rogue by Any Other Name","author":"Michelle","date":"August 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A Rogue by Any Other Name (2012) Sarah MacLean Set in England in 1831. This is the first book of the Rules of Scoundrels and possibly my least favorite of the lot. 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