Reviews

Confessions of a Dangerous Lord by Elisa Braden

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jess_justmaybeperfect's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

Confessions of a Dangerous Lord by Elisa Braden is a (have always been in love with each other) friends to lovers, can’t love you yet because international espionage conspiracy (yes) is a problem, sexy, laugh out loud, see past faves, never underestimate women, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ romance. Maureen and Henry forever.

megreads99's review

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4.0

Confessions of a Dangerous Lord: ★ ★ ★ ★

Elisa Braden (Rescued from Ruin, #6)

…you are as splendid as the first spark of sunlight awakening the sky.

I literally cannot follow or get into the side plots to save my life, but the way the men in this series obsess >>>>

loverofromance's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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? No

5.0

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨✨

First Impressions
Confessions of a Dangerous Lord is the sixth installment in the "Rescued from Ruin" series and this was a fantastic read. I honestly couldn't put this one down and there is something about Elisa Braden and how she writes a regency romance that just strikes deep. And I do think this is one of my favorite books from her. I honestly adored every single thing about this book and never wanted to put it down. That doesn't happen very often anymore with historicals and I am completely hooked by this author and the talent that she has to write such beautiful historical romances that just engage you right away and this one with Maureen and and Henry just strikes deep in so many ways and it captivated me so dearly and the humor was just the right amount here. If you need a refreshing historical, then I highly recommend this one. You can read as a standalone if you need to.

First Line
Most men saw poorly in the dark. Sabre was not most men.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Henry, Early of Dunston
Puts off a persona of being into fashion and a bit flashy with a witty dialogue upon everyone he meets. But deep down he is a undercover spy to hunt down the one responsible for his father's murder.

The Heroine: Lady Maureen Huxley
Maureen has been in love with Henry for years, but he turned down her advances for marriage, and every suitor she has ends up running away from her. But is determined to find a man to love and marry.

Summary
Maureen and Henry have been best friends for years and as their families are connected to each other, they have always been in the same circles. For at least two years Maureen has been in love with Henry but when he turned her down she is determined now to finally move on with her life and find closure in the best way that she knows how to. However, Henry doesn't seem to want to let her go despite his insistence that they never can get together. Henry knows a life with Maureen can never happen as long as his enemy is alive. And that if they ever find out how important she is, then her life would be in danger. But after some wake up calls, Henry realizes that this is his last chance to fight for the woman he loves. But will marriage to him put her in more danger than ever before?

What I Loved
This book swept my heart and mind away to another time and setting in such a brilliantly masterful way. This book was my catnip and I couldn't seem to get enough of what was delivered within this story. I am not sure exactly what it was about this one here, but it had so much deep moments that strikes to your soul in such a way that I will remember forever. The connection that Henry and Maureen have together was so poignant and the mutual longing that they have melted my heart. Henry you completely understand why he has denied Maureen in the beginning. He lives a very dangerous life and she is so loving and innocent and doesn't want to ruin who she is or break her spirit by knowing the type of life he leads. But you see how much he yearns for her but can't have her and knows her parents know about what he does and would never approve of him. Then we have Maurren, who has such a gentle but strong soul. And what she wants....find love, be married and have a family. And I resonated so much with her. She is the TYPE of heroine I need more in my historical's. But when she starts courting another man (who does get a book later on in the series because I adored Phineas) Henry starts fighting for the woman he loves and proving to her he is genuine. Henry and Maureen have such an intense connection and their bedroom scenes are much higher in steam but the intimacy and connection is just as strong and really builds within these scenes when they are able to connect on a deeper level. And when Maureen finds out the truth and her reaction was brilliant and Braden really wrote that scene so well. I just loved everything about her spirit and fire and her deep love for her man.

What I Struggled With
Nothing to be honest. I loved everything about this one here.

Overall View
I fell so hard for this one here, and the way in which this author captured this beautiful intimate romance that brilliantly tugged at my heartstrings and provoked deep resonating moments to hold close to the heart.

Favorite Quote(s)
It is all right, you know. To love a man and also see his faults, ask him to do better. If marriage teaches you anything, it teaches you that we are all constructed of faults—cracks and fissures in rather interesting shapes.” She leaned closer. “With the occasional spot of grace to make things bearable.”

“Strength is not instilled at infancy. It is built over time as we face hardships and either flail about or find a way through.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Historical Romance, England-Regency Era
Character Types: Earls, Aristocrat, Undercover Spy
Themes: London Underground, Family Bonds, Espionage, Danger, Pining Hero & Heroine
Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Unrequited Love

Book Perspective
3rd POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
A mix of both

Song This Book Inspires
Endless Love by Lionel Richie, Diana Ross

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes I do recommend reading this series in order

Steam/Spice Explanations

Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.

rjordan19's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-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

5.0

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine (And I think some side characters? Like Reaver?)
When mains are first on page together: I think almost immediately (going to double check later!)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes – last chapter is a bit in the future (few months maybe?)
Format: borrowed audio from library (Hoopla)

Should I read in order?
Ideally, yes. Especially Colin’s story, which comes into play here – that is book 3. But to enjoy book 3 you should read books 1 and 2 because they set up Colin’s character. And REALLY you should read the prequel novel because I love it. So yeah.

Basic plot:
Henry secretly longs for Maureen, but must keep her at a distance to keep her safe. At least until he can solve the danger posed to anyone he gets close to...

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1819)
- heroine wants a family – a husband and children
- heroine loves to cook
- hero with a dark, mysterious past
- unrequited love – soooo strong!
- friends to lovers
- VERY protective hero (and possessive and a touch jealous)
- angsty!
- hero wears flamboyant colored waistcoats
- medium to higher steam – 4 full scenes

First line:
Most men saw poorly in the dark.

My thoughts:
Ohhh my goodness, I just LOVED this book!!!! I think it surpassed Ever Yours, Annabelle for me (book 0.5) and I swooned for that one.

This novel has so much unrequited love, the longing, the angsty pining – so perfect. I loved the tension building, the moment when the hero’s self control breaks and he finally shows her how he feels…

I adored how much Henry loved Maureen. Her safety is his priority even at the cost of his own desires. The fact that we start this story with one of the most adorable friendships ever made me love it even more. I adored how he couldn’t stay away from her. And I also loved that he refused to let anyone else near her.

Maureen is so sweet and I actually loved that she just really wanted a family. I know most of our heroines end up with families and children but rarely do I see it as one of the driving focuses of a heroine. I loved that she enjoyed cooking too!

I loved the dark side of Henry too. The kind of hero that will rip people apart to protect his woman. I loved it. I loved it!

Endearments

Hero calls the heroine pet

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own

“I thought you were sotted,” she murmured, “but it is worse. You are mad, through and through.”
He laughed, his chest expanding until he thought his ribs might crack. Good, she was beautiful, even when she was a mess.
“Mad for you, perhaps.”
---
Satisfaction surged as she responded with a little flicker of her tongue. He smiled against her and returned the favor. “I will spend every day on my knees begging your forgiveness pet.”
---
Obviously, she needed to be higher. He gladly obliged, grasping her thighs and lifting, setting her backside on the table as she yelped against his mouth.
---
He shoved her skirts higher, forced her thighs wider to accept his hips, and ground himself against the heart of her.

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- death and murder on page
- attack with weapons on page of hero
- murder of parent in front of a child (remembered)
- poisoning
- hostage situation/gun violence and death by gun

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex:

19% - kiss
40% - 🔥 kisses, breast play, fingering/oral for her
53% - 🔥 kisses, bath fingering for her, missionary (V loss for her)
68% - 🔥 breast play, oral for her, doggy
86% - kiss
96% - 🔥 her on top

karlainromancelandia's review

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4.0

A violent fancy hero and a heroine with the backbone to call him out on his BS = super fun and possibly first friends to lovers trope book I really liked

turnerjoylynch's review

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4.0

I very much enjoyed Maureen & Henry’s easy connection in this book. I snagged on some of the plot devices and felt irritated by the division of Henry’s personas; at times it was not believable. Maureen does not seem angry enough at Henry lying to her about, well, literally everything. Henry is an ass with the lying and it does not reconcile to the nature of his preceding character history. I love the public-dandy-secret-spy characters immensely, and Henry’s turn as one fell a bit short of my anticipations.

I certainly liked Maureen and Henry together, but I honestly was rooting for Phineas Brand (Lord Holstoke, the rival suitor). He was dull to Maureen, but exactly the kind of person I’d like to corner at a party and discuss any interest at length with.

This story unwraps the overarching plot of the ghostly hand that has been moving in London’s underbelly for the past decade. The conclusion is fairly satisfying and well-supported by the build-up from the previous books.