I hated this book.I hated the hero.I hated his brat.I hated everybody but the heroine, and her I pitied for having these other morons around.Well. Now I feel like I kicked a puppy because everybody told me to read this book and that it would be wonderful.It was beautifully written, sure.And it had a lot of scenery change that consumed a big chunk of time,while other HR usually happen in a matter of days,or if they do not,we just get a FIVE WEEKS LATER insert and then the story unnaturally moves on.But the characters! Ugh! And the plot! And most of all-the resolution in the end.UGH!Jess was my favourite kind of heroine. Strong, older, witty, and beautiful. I loved her to no ends.So why in Gods name did she want, and eventually love a moron that liked whores and had so much self issues it was ghastly?!!He was not a tortured hero. He was a hones to God lunatic. I know all of his trust issues were 'explained ' by his mother. But they were so poorly portrayed I just saw a winy grown up man that didn’t like or trust anybody and used his childhood as an excuse.He had a few bright moments when he talked nice things in Italian or when he told Jess he would kill himself if she left him. But even thou that was cute, again I frowned while reading. I mean-what a drama queen! He would kill him self without her, but still he can not show her he loves her? What ever, mister!Eventually he comes to terms with his mothers departure and his son. It was all so unnatural I wanted to scream. First of all the ‘his mother-the hero’ was such a stretch I could hardly see one bit of logic. She had a lover. She left her kid. End of story. Don’t make it romantic by saying she knew he could have died. She was not a fortune teller. How was she supposed to know that she would die on that boat? But more ghastly than Dain’s sudden understanding of his mothers (totally unrealistic) motives was the fact that even thou the whole book he goes on an on about how eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil his kid is (and between you and me the kid is kind of eeeeeevil) he just poof! Comes to care. And all that animosity turns out to be anguish over his own dejected destiny. I hate hate hate when authors just wrap it all up in a nice tight little bow. I could have stomached his gradual approval of the kid IF the kid became better. But him, the person that likes nobody just falls (literally) over the kid and oooooh the love is in the air? And he loves him…why? I know people say ‘you can not help but love your own flesh and blood’. I think this is KIND OF true. But not always.Here you have an ill mannered child that does nothing nice (he is 8 not 3,he could be less hostile) that you did not want. To add to the pile is the fact that he is a son of the woman you hate, a woman that had him on purpose without your knowledge. So, why? Yes, he is a kid. And all kids are kind of nice. But how can you just do this big jump start all at once, even thou it changes all your former beliefs? People just do not have these kind of epiphanies.Ah now the kid. First of all I hate all brats in stories. So the whores take precautions when having sex for money? Dude, why not help her? Take your penis out. It’s a stupid and partially ineffective way to stop pregnancies, but why not be on the safe side?Sure, people can say that I am a girl an can not understand a man's need to take full pleasure. Well, all of our (girly) lives people say how men have needs. Sure, women have them also. Sometimes. Maybe. Not that men care. We do not talk about what women need. Well, why? Why do men have to have sex all the darn time? Hormonally speaking there is nothing that can really pinpoint a man's superior need for sexual release. I think this is just one of those thing that are set in stone. A long time ago women were nothing more then possession. And even today we have a dogma that tells us males have to have sex or they die. So if you are having a bath ,or out of time to visit your grandmother the man can have sex with other women because he has urges. Yes, some men are fateful. But even if they were not it’s not really their fault. And if they are fateful –God are you lucky! Huh? I’m lucky? Well I'm giving the finger to all your 'urges'.So in the Lord of Scoundrels we can not blame Lord Dein. He had urges. One of them was to ejaculate multiple times in to a woman from his village that he shared with a friend. You just have to like him, no? Well I don’t! But also, I don’t like his brat.Yes, you all gasped now. Here I have gone and done it. I said I do not like the boy.Well he was horrible!!Sure, the poor thing was unhappy and had an greedy mother.Boooho.Why didn't Mr. Dein, who does not know how to pull his penis out before ejaculating, put him in a safe little home? A school? And no, I do not think he should have taken him in.First of all he did not want him. I know you should want all parts of you...But kids are ultimately just dna splatters. And if you are tricked in to having a kid even thou it is not the kids fault-why should you be held responsible?Back to Lord Dein’s bastard. Why do authors think the only right thing is to take the kid in? WHY DO THEY ALWAYS TAKE THE KID IN TO THEIR HOMES? There are childless marriages out there between people that would want him! Sure, the kid is not the one whose fault this is. And at that my heart aches a bit. Because he was unwanted by his parents. But being a father is a feeling. A deed. Being a parent has nothing to do with dna. Nothing. People just kind of skip over this all the time.All in all this kid was 100% bratty. The author tries to make a Oprah moment out of this saying that he was neither pretty by face nor by nature. Well, some people (even children) are just not lovable. This kid was not lovable. And he needed a good spanking. If they took him in the should have semi-killed him first. Yes, give him love. After he learned his lesson! And that lesson is -do not be a monster! He had an ugly personality and the authors nice little comment about how he will be clay in his father hands is disgusting!Ugh!UGH!!!(I'm going to hug my nicely behaved little sister and have a little brake before i finish this rew. If I do not I'm just going to have a meltdown from all the frustration.)Next we have the kids mother and her lover. The mother was given money and a chance to live again because she was just a kid herself. And Jess kind of pitied her.Why? Why should anybody, even for one minute, like this girl? She was a moron, a whore (usually we have whores that did the whoring because they are hungry etc. She liked whoring and she was greedy. I have no nice feelings for her.) and a gold digger.Her lover…loved her. I have no idea why. And I have no idea why the author made this man so stupid as to not see that this girl was a sly fox that liked only herself. And money. Let us not forget the money. So Dein is making her lover marry her. Well. What ever. The whole thing was so stupid I kind of just gave up. Why not? Let her marry her. Wooopie! What a super ending!The actual ending I think is perfect btw. It so goes with the rest of this infernal book.A book about a heroine who could have done so much better for herself.We have the hero and heroine having sex. The hero tells his wife he loves her. All is well in a strange and sudden way (like all things in this book-we snap our fingers and years of emotional baggage are erased). But he has to leave his wife’s bed so they can see the source of an infernal noise. Oh, it is the God awful bastard of his running naked around the place while trying to climb draperies (he is 8!!!!Where is this child’s brain? Sure, he wants attention. Well get it nicely! What’s next? Him burning the house down while his father, the one that miraculously wants to make him very happy after hating him for 8 years, smiles idly?).He talks to his son man to man.Hear me ROOOOAR!Father and son are settled.The son takes a liking to the bed in which his father and lady have constant sex. Why does he like it? Because it’s the same bed his father used to fu.k his mother and his mother told him so. The lady of the house smiles while listening to the boy’s funny little antics about his whore of a mother having sex with her husband in their bed. His father tells him why yeeees, in this bed I fu.ked your mother until you were conceived, and yeeeeeeeeeeeees my wife has conceived here also.Arg, arg, roar. I am a manly man. The happy end!What? What? This is cute? I wanted to punch the kid and get the divorce started for the heroine. But I just…I give up. Still this book just was (definitely) not my cup of tea.Over and out.
On sale!!!! To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Lord of Scoundrels Kindle edition is on sale for just $1.99! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000... Edited to Add: Renee just pointed out that the Audible version is reduced to $2.99 if you own the Kindle Version!!!!!! (Thanks, Renee!!!)Edited Again to Add: If you don't already own the Kindle version, you can still get this for the sale price of $6.95 during Audible's Big Hits sale. (Thanks Lady Wesley!!!)My review.....This is one of the best historical romances ever written. Lord of Scoundrels is a story so well laid out and so beautifully told that it will forever hold a special place in my heart.What do you get when an emotionally detached, 42 year old widower marries the 17 year old daughter of a French nobleman? A poor match, an unhappy relationship, and a child who bears the brunt of it all.Lucia was truly only a spoiled young woman herself when she gave birth to a son, Sebastian. He wasn’t an attractive child and his proud, Florentine nose which came from his mother’s side of the family was referred to as a beak by those who looked upon him. His own father considered him a punishment because of Lucia’s enjoyment of “lewd unnatural conjugal acts,” and after the birth of his son, never again went to her bed.Eventually, Lucia went away with another man, leaving Sebastian in the care of his father. She thought she was doing the right thing by leaving him behind. It was left to his father to break the news gently to his son. He failed.(view spoiler)[ From the book:His father called him into his study. “You are to stop plaguing the servants about your mother,” his father told him. “You are not to speak of her again. She is an evil, godless creature. Her name is Jezebel, and ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’”Somebody was screaming very loud in Sebastian’s head. So loudly that he could hardly hear his father. But his father didn’t seem to hear the screaming. He was looking down at the Bible.“’For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honey-comb, and her mouth is smoother than oil,’” he read. “’But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down on earth; her steps take hold on hell.’” He looked up. “I renounce her, and rejoice in my heart that the corruption has fled the house of my fathers. We will speak of it no more.”I felt it important to include that snippet in this review, because it speaks volumes about what Sebastian's young life was like. While reading this, I cried. I can’t imagine how little Sebastian felt. He had spent most of his short life being ignored when all children should be loved and adored and worshipped as the gift they are. But Sebastian was given only the occasional attention by his mother, and none by his father. To hear these horrid things being said about his mother, the one person in his life who showed him any affection was devastating. This, along with a life filled with taunting and torment, created a bitter, ruthless man.Now, let’s take a child raised in a home full of love, praise and support, encouraged to be all she could be. You have Jessica Trent who has grown into a capable young woman who is determined to save her brother from the now grown Sebastian’s evil influence. Now known as Lord Dain, he held quite a bit of influence over Bertie Trent, Jessica’s brother, and was driving him to ruin. Bertie’s determination to be just like Lord Dain was bankrupting him. Spending his money on women every night, drinking and gambling was what Dain enjoyed…and could easily afford. He seemed to take pleasure in watching those around him fail, though. It didn’t matter than Bertie was losing everything in his attempt to live the same self serving, self indulgent lifestyle that Dain did. This is where Jessica steps in and tries to save her brother, and in the process finds that there is much more to Lord Dain than meets the eye.This novel takes ‘one-ups manship’ to a whole new level, and is so well written that nothing seemed absurd or unlikely. I loved these two, very well written characters who were both so strong and so set in their ways they could not, no matter how hard they tried, destroy each other. They were perfectly matched, each possessing a strength and a quality that the other did not. I loved how Dain would figure things out in his mind. Having been so emotionally scarred, he always expected the worse from Jess. Always felt that there was some underlying dark ulterior motive in the things she did. But her unfailing love and perseverance finally broke down the walls he had built around his heart and in the end, when it was all said and done and when it mattered the most, he accepted her love and gave her his own, freely. (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Lord Of Scoundrels (1995)?
Once again I've read a book that I've forgotten I've already read. Thankfully I barely remember much from it so I didn't know what was going to happen for the most part. Generally speaking the first 150 pages of this book was magic. The lady Jessica Trent comes from a noble, if eccentric, family. Her grandmother is a famous 'femme fatale' whom even now is still getting marriage offers. Jessica herself is not a young maiden but is constantly getting marriage offers due to her beauty and rich family. She has a knack for picking out antiques or disregarded objects that are undervalued and selling them for a profit. Not something a normal lady of the time usually does. But it's her brother that's the real trouble. He doesn't have a sensible bone in his body. He drinks himself senseless and tends to gamble himself into quite a large amount of debt. Most of this debt is due to his idolization of Sebastian Ballister, the Marquess of Dain. Sebastian father also came from a long and proud family however his mother came from a noble family from Florentine, Italy. His mother was never accepted by his father and in turn his mother wasn't very motherly towards Sebastian. He's had a difficult childhood which has hardened him into a beast of a man. But once he meets Jessica that begins to change. Sebastian has vowed never to never let any woman get close to him but suddenly it's him who want's to be close. The dialogue is witty and fun and the characters are interesting. I loved the scene with them in the rain especially. Sebastian has some of those romance 'misunderstandings' but otherwise those pages are great.As I said before, Sebastian has the typical romance 'misunderstandings' where he does unkind things toward the heroine because of his misguided assumptions. I assumed that that would end at a certain part of the book. However that assumption didn't hold true. Sebastian keeps acting like a brute towards Jessica. He gets himself into a brawl and drinks himself senseless on their wedding night, he decides he doesn't want to consummate the marriage all of a sudden due to some crazy fear he'll hurt her in the act, Jessica finally seduces him into taking her but afterward Sebastian deliberately acts callus towards her, only showing affection when making love. Then Jessica meets Sebastian's child out of wedlock. She doesn't hold it against Sebastian and wants them to keep the child since it looks like he isn't being cared for well. Not only does Sebastian disregard the child as some 'bastard son of a whore' he want's nothing to do with, he also disregards Jessica's feelings and continues to treat her terribly. It's Jessica who goes out and tries to contact the boy. It get's resolved by the end, and there are some really cute scenes with Sebastian and his boy but it's not until the very end of the book. Sebastian doesn't even admit to Jessica that he loves her until literally 3 pages before the end of the book. It just really bothered me having a supposed 'hero' ignore his own son as call him trash, especially when his own childhood was traumatic and in many ways similar. I know this is a very popular book, and I thought the first part of the book was really wonderful. I think I read a review on the 'Smart Bitches, Trashy Books' blog for 'Claiming the Courtesan' and the chief problem they had with the book was the lack of groveling. The hero does all these mean things to the heroine and all the hero says to apologize is a lame 'I'm sorry' and that's it. I think that's the same problem I had with this book too. I know in romance novels sometimes the hero doesn't always act so heroic. But the romance comes when he see's the error of his ways and begs for forgiveness. He becomes a changed man, so to speak. But in here he doesn't really change, he just says a lame 'I'm sorry' and not even until the last few pages of the book. I do want to try other books by this author since I hear such good things about her. I just wasn't as impressed by this book as I'd hoped.
—LiteraryLover
5/5; 5 stars; A+November 2014 update:Having just recently listened to this audiobook again I still want to give it 5+ stars. The characters and the story line really touch me and entertain me. This Audible book was my 'free to try' download before I became a member and somehow I feel like rubbing my hands together with glee over what a prize this is. I definitely got the better end of that deal.February 2014 review:This is a case of a very fine book being raised to 'perfect' by the efforts of a talented narrator. I loved Lord of Scoundrels when I read the book several years ago. It is an excellent example of what a historical romance should be. I read this book long before I was on Goodreads so didn't put a review up and always intended to re-read it to refresh my memory. I decided to listen to the recently released audio-book after reading the review of my GR friend Caz.The main characters in this story, Jessica and Dain, are multifaceted, intelligent, admirable, and in Dain's case, wounded. Kate Reading brings them to life with her reading of the story. I can't believe how practical and determined Jessica was in the face of Dain's outrageous boorish behaviour. Her insights into his underlying character were key to making their relationship something the reader could see the value in pursuing. A lesser woman would have washed her hands of him but not Jessica. (view spoiler)[ I LOVE the fact that she shot him and eventually Dain came to see that she had every right to and, in fact, he admired her for it! (hide spoiler)]
—Laura (Kyahgirl)
OH COME ON, this is a 5-star story, No my mistake, this is a ten-star story! I cannot believe the stingy, 'nothing's perfect' collective star-parsimony of GR readers. For shame, for shame! There is a comprehensive review by Dhestiny among these you must read but it tells all and I think part of the delight of this book is reading it for the first time and having a few Did she just do THAT? Did he just do That? moments. LOS is a completely hilarious, warm, brilliant book, populated with wonderful characters, enlivened by witty conversation, just a flat-out great read. The hero is a beast until his calmly intelligent, witty heoine saves his soul. I cannot do it justice. Certainly the stand-out best L. Chase has written and there are several more, excellent books of hers as also-rans. But nothing matches this genre-wide. I re-read this with pleasure yearly; it's one of the few romances that delights after many times. Ah well to each, her own. Best short descriptions: the late Marquis of Dain married 'a dormant volcano'; 'the cathedral village that was her suite of rooms.' I read one of the spittle-spewing 1-star diatribes here and realized I lucked out and found this without being aware of any hype. I read it as just another goodwill book find. No exaggerated expectations, which leads me to conclude I will never, ever read reviews on books. Lord Dain: T-est, D-est, H-est hero. (Though I did have thoughts about STDs during some of the discussion of his use of sex professionals.) Jessica, wish I had her self-possession.And before anyone gets all 'you give everything 5-stars' on me, I should note I only bother to review books that are worth my time to mention, these would rate a 4 stars minimum. Or the wretched ones, to warn others off the excrement I waded knee deep into.Furthermore, for those who sound as though they are foaming at the mouth, spit bedewing their computer screens as they get good and worked up, give me a break. There's lithium and/or Zoloft for your little issue. Or take a calming breath. It's just a story, not a canonical religious text, right?
—Miranda Davis
