LORD OF SCOUNDRELS by Loretta Chase

PUBLISHER: Avon, 1/1995
GENRE: Historical Romance
MY GRADE: D

SYNOPSIS: Tough-minded Jessica Trent's sole intention is to free her nitwit brother from the destructive influence of Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain. She never expects to desire the arrogant, amoral cad. And when Dain's reciprocal passion places them in a scandalously compromising, and public, position, Jessica is left with no choice but to seek satisfaction...

 Damn the minx for tempting him, kissing him... and then forcing him to salvage her reputation! Lord Dain can't wait to put the infuriating bluestocking in her place—and in some amorous position. And if that means marriage, so be it!—though Sebastian is less than certain he can continue to remain aloof... and steel his heart to the sensuous, headstrong lady's considerable charms.

MY THOUGHTS (from 2010): I didn’t care for this one bit and couldn’t stand the heroine. The hero was ordinary and didn't stand out in any way. I found it unbelievable that she openly discussed sex with her grandmother like she did and told Dain she was a virgin out-of-the-blue. They weren’t even having an intimate discussion at all or anything. Also, she’s too mouthy and aggressive. The more I read, the less I like her. About the part where she got angry when Dain called his mother a ‘whore’, that she would defend a woman who ran off and left her very young son says something about her. I’m not even sure Jessica knew about that at the time she defended her though. She’s supposedly so intelligent yet we haven’t seen any evidence of it.

The book was alright up until Jessica shot Dain for really no reason. And it got more absurd when Dain married her. He didn’t seem to give a crap that she shot him. Totally unbelievable to me. Makes absolutely no sense at all why the author put that in the book in the first place. Jessica isn’t even that likable. I like Dain but he seems like all the other heroes we read about.

If I'm remembering right, in anticipation of liking this I sent my copy to the author to autograph sometime between May 2008 when I got it, used, and before reading it in early 2010. Since I really disliked the book, I got rid of it. If I'm remembering right, the author kept mentioning Dain's 'big' nose.