Scan barcode
kathydavie's review against another edition
2.0
Third in the Scoundrels historical romance series.
The Story
An interesting tale that I slogged through. It was obvious and bore a slight resemblance to the dialog, mores, or culture of the time period.
Lord Dain lost his mother when he was 8-years-old when she ran off with another man and his father shipped him off to boarding school to get rid of him. Never knowing love, young Dain grew up believing that women were good for only one thing and it was best if he simply bought that. Then he finds himself challenged in this regard when he encounters Jessica Trent over a very naughty watch in Paris.
It's struggle from then on for each of them to stay away from the other. Jess is too smart to be taken in and Dain is in too much lust. I will give Lord of Scoundrels this much, Chase does not conform to the usual path an historical romance takes but has both Dain and Jess thumbing their noses at convention and rescuing each other along with a very young man.
The Cover
The cover is a typical bodice ripper in extremely vivid hues with a shirtless man embracing a wanton, dark-haired woman. I don't know why I bother commenting on the covers of the books I've actually read when it's never the cover that comes up on Goodreads...
The Story
An interesting tale that I slogged through. It was obvious and bore a slight resemblance to the dialog, mores, or culture of the time period.
Lord Dain lost his mother when he was 8-years-old when she ran off with another man and his father shipped him off to boarding school to get rid of him. Never knowing love, young Dain grew up believing that women were good for only one thing and it was best if he simply bought that. Then he finds himself challenged in this regard when he encounters Jessica Trent over a very naughty watch in Paris.
It's struggle from then on for each of them to stay away from the other. Jess is too smart to be taken in and Dain is in too much lust. I will give Lord of Scoundrels this much, Chase does not conform to the usual path an historical romance takes but has both Dain and Jess thumbing their noses at convention and rescuing each other along with a very young man.
The Cover
fareee_dah's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
bookcrna70's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
leonora's review against another edition
3.0
I have never read a romance novel about sillier people. I know this is a classic of the genre and historical romance has never been known for its subtlety, but this is the most bodice ripper to ever rip a bodice. He's big and Man and haaaaaaaates women, so he only sleeps with prostitutes, who are all mercenary and unfeeling whores. But then he meets our female lead who's a Small Delicate and Highborn virgin, but also Sassy, so what's he supposed to do? He's never met a woman with opinions before! It's very confusing!
This book took me on a roller coaster of opinions. I love mess and I love people arguing in ways that lead to sexual tension. Dain's rampant misogyny initially turned me off, but then he just went around acting like such a theatre kid's idea of a Bad Boy™ that I couldn't take it seriously. He's just such a major drama queen and it almost made me not want for him to end up with Jess, since she initially seemed like a generally sensible person. But then she quickly revealed that she was just as batshit insane as he was, if not more, and I started to root for them. How can you not want these two absolutely deranged people to end up with each other? It's kind of beautiful.
I'm knocking off a couple of stars because, while I fully support two grown adults behaving like delusional high schoolers with serious attachment issues for my own amusement, the male lead misogyny and the general way that the novel treated sex workers was not quite my cup of tea. I know this was written over twenty years ago and "man who hates all women but falls in love with me" is a lot of people's fantasy, but it's not quite my thing. Couldn't he be a dark and sinful diva who, at the very least, doesn't refer to basically all women he meets as sluts and whores (derogatory)?
There was also a subplot around the male lead's illegitimate child that was not quite my thing. He has an illegitimate child with a prostitute when he's young and, while he eventually comes around to realizing that maybe he has some responsibility towards the child, everyone still acts like it was mainly the mother's decision to have the child. Like, yeah, I get that she could have had an abortion, but you chose to sleep with her, my man. Sometimes there are consequences for that and maybe you should have thought that through. But, no, instead she's characterized as a crazy slut who just cares about money. So that's nice.
After writing all that, logically, I know I should probably knock this down to two stars, or maybe even one. But, even as I was reading and being like yeah, that's kind of problematic, everyone was acting so ridiculous that I couldn't take it seriously enough. Like, he's not a misogynist, he's just silly! She's not slut-shaming, she's just a goof! Neither of them has ever had a sane thought in their life, their marriage is so incredibly chaotic, and I'm very happy for them. Plus, I can't give a romance novel where the female lead shoots the male lead with a gun and he goes hot anything less than three stars. If a hot woman shot me, I would also marry her.
This book took me on a roller coaster of opinions. I love mess and I love people arguing in ways that lead to sexual tension. Dain's rampant misogyny initially turned me off, but then he just went around acting like such a theatre kid's idea of a Bad Boy™ that I couldn't take it seriously. He's just such a major drama queen and it almost made me not want for him to end up with Jess, since she initially seemed like a generally sensible person. But then she quickly revealed that she was just as batshit insane as he was, if not more, and I started to root for them. How can you not want these two absolutely deranged people to end up with each other? It's kind of beautiful.
I'm knocking off a couple of stars because, while I fully support two grown adults behaving like delusional high schoolers with serious attachment issues for my own amusement, the male lead misogyny and the general way that the novel treated sex workers was not quite my cup of tea. I know this was written over twenty years ago and "man who hates all women but falls in love with me" is a lot of people's fantasy, but it's not quite my thing. Couldn't he be a dark and sinful diva who, at the very least, doesn't refer to basically all women he meets as sluts and whores (derogatory)?
There was also a subplot around the male lead's illegitimate child that was not quite my thing. He has an illegitimate child with a prostitute when he's young and, while he eventually comes around to realizing that maybe he has some responsibility towards the child, everyone still acts like it was mainly the mother's decision to have the child. Like, yeah, I get that she could have had an abortion, but you chose to sleep with her, my man. Sometimes there are consequences for that and maybe you should have thought that through. But, no, instead she's characterized as a crazy slut who just cares about money. So that's nice.
After writing all that, logically, I know I should probably knock this down to two stars, or maybe even one. But, even as I was reading and being like yeah, that's kind of problematic, everyone was acting so ridiculous that I couldn't take it seriously enough. Like, he's not a misogynist, he's just silly! She's not slut-shaming, she's just a goof! Neither of them has ever had a sane thought in their life, their marriage is so incredibly chaotic, and I'm very happy for them. Plus, I can't give a romance novel where the female lead shoots the male lead with a gun and he goes hot anything less than three stars. If a hot woman shot me, I would also marry her.
seashelleyo's review against another edition
2.5
Pretty heavy handed. Not quite the historical romance for me.
angemelb's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
uselesscryptid's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ladyleofn's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely fabulous and fun. I haven't read a historical romance in a while and Lord of Scoundrels was recommended to me. I'm so glad that I read this book.
lisookarma's review against another edition
Only and only because of the MMC. Could not stand his misogynistic ass and this is coming from someone who reads dark romances.