Posts tagged loretta chase

oliviawaite:

orchidandpeachcocktails:

Review: Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Reviewer: Sam
Grade: A
Swoon Factor: Someone pass the smelling salts 

I haven’t done a review for a little while, and part of the reason (aside from work being very busy the last couple of months) is that I haven’t read something that begged me to share it with other people. Until now. I hadn’t read any Loretta Chase until the other day, and now I am glad I started with Lord of Scoundrels. This book is officially up there with The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie as one of my top romance novels. I read this on my kindle over a couple of days, but if I’d had the time, I would have spent the whole day in bed reading it cover to cover. 

The main characters of a romance novel are really important when I look for a new book to read. I have to say, I love the depth of these two characters.

The heroine is Jessica Trent, a witty, tough, very sensible young woman. She knows how to haggle and she can spot an under-priced treasure a mile away. She’s a bluestocking and is very independent, but she’s also feminine. 

Our hero is the Marquess of Dain, Sebastian. He’s a tall, dark, brute of a man. I pictured a younger, stocky, olive-skinned Alan Rickman when I was reading the book. His mother was a Florentine noblewoman who ran away with her lover when he was eight, and abandoned him to a father who hated him. He was abused as a child and is very sensitive about his appearance - he actually has very low self-esteem. In spite of that, he knows how to make money and take care of his estates. 

What I love about his character is that he has Legitimate Issues. The author hasn’t had to force a problem or fault onto his character. His backstory - which was very interesting and not at all boring - is what makes him. Both he and Jessica have depth. They aren’t cardboard cut outs suffering from the Big Misunderstanding. What makes for a great story is that Jessica, ever the sensible one, sees the problems and tries to fix them in a logical way. Sometimes it doesn’t always work because of the issues that Sebastian hasn’t told her about, but from my point of view, she was just doing the sensible thing. I know I’m repeating that word, but it’s a breath of fresh air to have a truly sensible heroine. 

Aside from great characters, there is good tension and mystery weaved into the plot. I would have given it an A+, but I just wanted it to go on and on! The ending was almost rushed for me, but maybe that’s because I read it so quickly. 

Do you have any suggestions for the next Loretta Chase book I should read?

-Sam

Her new one, Silk is for Seduction, is quite excellent as well — though I’m partial as well to Your Scandalous Ways and Lord Perfect. But they’re all marvelous. Happy reading!

Definitely one of the best het romances I’ve ever read.

I keep trying to read Loretta Chase’s new book, Captives of the Night, but I’m a third of the way through and I still don’t care. About anything—plot, characters, setting, anything. Does it get better?

(Also, the ebook version doesn’t clearly show scene/POV changes, which is super irritating.)