One of Lorettan Chase's best! I loved this book. The charaters Amanda and Philip are great together. It may be only about 200 pages but it's still great and keeps you enthralled with the story and charaters! I recomend this book to anyone who enjoys a great romance!

In only 220 odd pages, Loretta Chase has managed to convey the complexities of plot and emotion and characterization that are typical of a 400 page historical. Quite a feat. When I put the book down, I had to read it again. Amanda Cavencourt, at 26, seems awfully naive and trusting, but she has reason to be. And she isn't *really* like that--how else does she manage to steal the Sandalwood Princess from an accomplished thief like the Falcon? And Brentick, who really is--well, I'll let you figure it out. In any case, he is a wonderful hero. Go out and find this book along with all of Chase's regencies. They are hard to find but definitely worth the hunt.

One of my all-time favorite romances, and if you could see my book room, you'd understand the strength of that recommendation. Tortured hero who's an unapologetic rake and never claimed to be a "gentleman" meets his match in the fiery Jessica Trent. He compromises her then refuses to marry her, and she takes matters into her own hands in a scene that had me laughing till my sides ached! So why is it that this robust, virile womanizer can't seem to consummate his marriage? You'll have to read it to find out, but you'll take great pleasure in this fabulous journey. A must-read for anyone looking for complex characters, thoroughly interesting plot, mouth-watering love scenes and, with the ending, a sense that all is right with the world. Excellent!

I have read hundreds of romance novels. I have my share of favorite authors and have seldom ventured on the untried ones. I have never done any review of any single book because I have yet to find one I can call as THE ONE, which is worth the time and the effort to give praise to an author for a romance book that's superbly done. It takes a real good book to write a review. The Lord of Scoundrels in THE ONE.

I bought this book, my first of Loretta Chase, on the strength of the reviews in the amazon.com site and I am very happy I did. It is lush, witty, entertaining and very sensual- the elements romance readers look for in a book worth to be in a keeper's shelf. No complicated plot but with very good, characterizations, witty dialogues and unforgettable scenes that make the book worth keeping.

Dialogue sparkles and sparks fly between the two main characters: Lord Dain, the dark, tortured reprobate, who had very little opinion of himself but who was hopelessly besotted with the "needle-tongued, conceited, provoking ape leader of a lady" and Jessica, the beautiful, strong-minded, sensuous spinster who in her words declared "I've been in lust with you from the moment I met you". The sizzling verbal fights are very captivating. The "animal lust" and the deep desire for conquest and possession just leap off the pages to keep the reader enthralled. Lord Dain's use of the endearments in Italian during their very intimate moments makes the story even more romantic and titillating. But wait, please let me include the notorious punchline, "I should like to see you try".

When I finished the book, I read it again and again and then again most especially some of the very poignant, even hilarious and totally comical scenes, i.e. the preconceived notions of Lord Belzeebub about the "carnage he thought his overwroght imagination had pictured" in bedding his virgin wife. You will find yourself smiling and later laughing out so loud. And of course their romantic and passionate encounters are original and unforgetable they are so totally hot, hot, hot!!!

Scenes like the unbutonning of the gloves, the lamppost incident, Lady Wallingdon's party, the Hyde Park with Jessica on Lord Dain's lap, the brawl with Ainswood, they are so vivid and well played out that you will in turn even fantasize some more scenes of your own of Lord Dain and Jessica!

There are two scorchingly sensual and highly erotic highlights in the book that romance reader will remember:
1. The showdown between Lord Dain and Jessica barely three days wed
2. The boxing bout they attended that culminated in Jessica's declaration of her love for Sebastian again and again while against the pillar in a burial ground attached to a tiny crumbling church.

But of course, who will ever forget the way Jessica sought satisfaction for the very scandalously compromising and public position he put her in: "her bodice undone and sagging to the waist, his tongue down her throat, his filthy hand up her skirt?"

I totally agree with Lord Dain's rumination while leisurely taking his bath after successfully "tumbling" his wife,"Since the Almighty had not done him a single act of kindness in at least twenty-five years, Dain thought it was about bloody time...."

Yes, the Lord of Scoundrels, the dark and tortured Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain deserves the beautiful, virginal and passionate Jessica Trent.

To Ms. Loretta Chase, your Lord of Scoundrels is absolutely WONDERFUL! It is an absolute MUST for romance readers.

This is probably one of the best Romances I have ever read. Usually, I am quite picky and critical. I rarely gush over a book. LOS certainly deserves its place among the most popular Romances ever written. Ms Chases writing style is awesome, although sometimes I had to reread certain parts to catch the "point". Don't get me wrong, my command of the English language is fairly good and I NEVER have to do that; I even needed *gasp* my dictionary once or twice. Jess and Dain are great. Their romance sizzles and sparkles right from the page. I was entranced. Both personalities are extremely well developed. I agree that Jess is the perfect heroine (almost too good to be true). I adored her from the moment she walked into her brother's apartment and put her feet on his table; I wish I could manage my brother the same way she does hers ;-). She was sooo cool (for lack of better words). All the way I was expecting that she would forget about everything (especially that she has a brain and common sense) and succumb to Dain because of his kisses, overwhelming emotions etc. ....well you get the point; It happens more often than not in romances. But what a surprise, she didn't, never. She always made her point clear and didn't waver. There are no words to describe the repartee accurately (my definition of the word "witty" had to be revised). Yet, even when they were bickering (which they do a lot), called each other names and exercised sarcasm to no end one could always feel the affection they had for each other. Well done Ms Chase.

One fair warning: LOS spoilt me severely for any Romances I have read and will read subsequently (Some of which I am sure I would have enjoyed thoroughly before). Nothing seems to measure up.

I will definitely reread LOS several times and am sure I will enjoy it just as much. Please forgive me for gushing after all but I couldn't help it, it's well deserved indeed.

Compte d'Esmond has desired Leila Beaumont forever, but has been unable to do anything about his feelings for the beautiful portrait painter because she's already married.

Leila's faithless, drug-addicted husband is murdered and Leila finds herself accused of doing the dirty deed. She turns to the powerful Compte d'Esmond for help and soon finds herself in a passionate affair with the enigmatic aristocrat.

This is book 2 in the 4 book series. Book one (out of print) is The Lion's Daughter. Book three is Lord of Scoundrels. Book four is The Last Hellion.

This novel is well written and very passionate, but having read books 3 and 4 first, I found it lacking in comparison. It doesn't have the humor and wit of three and four. Still, the plot is well developed and the relationship between the hero and heroine is intriguing. This is well worth the purchase.

I started this book one night right before my bedtime, figuring it at least would give me something to do, and wound up reading until four in morning! I found CAPTIVES to be completely engrossing--really one of the best romances I've ever read.

The Comte d'Esmond is one of those dark, dangerous, and romantic types (think Heathcliffe or Rochester from the Bronte novels), looking for redemption for past sins. The heroine is Leila Beaumont, another very fascinating character who is strong, tough, and intelligent--but also very passionate and kind--and Chase does an excellent job of showing us the different facets of her personality.

The plot is also excellent: Leila and Esmond are trying to discover who killed her husband, and since he was a reeeally nasty character, the list of suspects includes just about everyone they know. It's a mystery that is more well-written than those in most mystery novels I've read, and I kept guessing until the end who the killer was, just as Leila and Esmond were.

CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT is not like LORD OF SCOUNDRELS, with a lot of "cute" scenes--it's not a book that tells its story scene by scene; rather, it unravels, revealing the secrets of the characters line by line, pulling you into their world. By the end of this novel, I felt like I knew Leila and Esmond personally, and I was EXTREMELY happy that I had bought this book. I would even consider buying it in hardcover, it was that good. CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT is, well... captivating.

At times it felt like I was reading a longer, romantic version of an Agatha Christie mystery. I was riveted from the 1st letter to the astonishing ending. The twist & turns of the dilemma kept me on the edge of my seat & sent my head spinning. Could the culprit be him ? or her ? or both ? I thought I've met the most mesmerizing heroes & heroines of the decade in Lord of Scoundrels & The Last Hellion. But once again, I was dumbstruck by the brilliance of Ms Chase's writing style. Esmond is a cool, charismatic, gut-churning handsome former villain whose past unknowingly entwined with Leila's. He's put himself thru' hell & back in the span of 10 years, only to be rendered helpless the moment he set his eyes upon the fiery Leila. A match made in heaven !(or is it hell?) Treat yourself to a Wonder Web of murder, deceit, unrequited love, acted out by vibrantly alive characters. U'll never know where or with whom U'll end up in search of the real killer. The atmosphere whenever Esmond & Leila were in the same vicinity virtually crackled with sexual tension. Their pent-up passion really paid off in sensuous love-scenes that'll fog up your reading glasses. Fate & circumstances kept throwing 'em together to solve the puzzling riddles which of course, punctuated their longing for each other. A golden-hair hunk with a dark past & Hercule Poirot-size brain cells plus a mussed-hair beauty with a tragic past & Michelangelo-size artistic talent equals a tempestuous affair to remember !

I paid a ridiculous amount of money for this book because after reading the vastly superior Lord of Scoundrels I was totally hooked on this author. However, I was a bit disappointed because while The Last Hellion is still an enjoyable read it lacked the sizzle and originality of the former. This the story of independent Lydia and Vere Mallory who was first introduced in LOS. Basically Vere meets Lydia while she's trying to rescue an innocent from being abducted and pressed into prostitution. She catches his attention and he proceeds to follow her all over town while she is dressed in silly costumes in a series of scenes that have nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the story. This basically sums up the first half of the story, and I was left with the impression that the author was merely trying to fill up pages. The romance is slow and it never really heats up, even the appearance of Dain and Jessica from LOS fails to animate the story. The reason I gave it three stars instead of one is because Lord Of Scoundrels has become one of my all time favorites and because of that I will give this author another try.

This was my first book that I've read by Loretta Chase. That Last Hellion was the sequel to Lord of Scoundrels.

Twenty-eight year old Lydia Grenville was perfectly happy living her life as a journalist and trying to help the prositutes and women on the streets. Then one day she meets her match, the notorious Duke of Ainswood, the last hellion of the Mallory clan.

Although Lydia and Vere cannot control the attraction they have for eachother, both try to deny it. Vere shows up where Lydia is and ruins her plans for a story, he follows her around, tries to seduce her. When he finds he cannot seduce her he offers marriage. She refuses, but both their tempers get in the way when she agrees to a race, if she loses she must marry the duke. She doesn't lose, but the duke is hurt and Lydia realizes she cannot live without him and agrees to marry him. The two marry, still argue all the time, Lydia writes books and they realize they are in love.

This book was pretty good, but found it to be (although very funny at times) a little wordy and my attention span was lost a few times. If not for that, I may have rated it a little better.

What an incredible book! The sparring between Vere and Lady Grendel was the most enjoyable part of this book and had me laughing out loud on many occasions. The sexual tension was fantastic, and the characterization and dialog superb! Vere's grief over the many deaths in his family, especially little Robin, was handled very well without being melodramatic or maudlin. I understood his resentment at being a duke by default. And what a heroine! If you get a little tired of the naïve, meek virginal types, you'll enjoy Lydia. She more than holds her own against the rakish Duke of Ainswood. It was also nice to see the hero and heroine from LORD OF SCOUNDRELS in this book, and that Jessica is still civilizing Dain. And I also was happy to see that Bertie finally managed to find a woman who could appreciate his sweet oddness. The Charles II scenes were very funny. A classic!