“And so I beat him and beat him until he kissed me. “Not merely ‘fond,’ but ‘immensely fond.’ Oh Dain, I do believe I shall swoon.” “Not now,” he said crossly.

“Jessica, you are a pain in the arse, do you know that? If I were not so immensely fond of you, I should throw you out the window.” She wrapped her arms about his waist and laid her head against his chest. Just imagining this tiny wisp of a girl giving this giant a set down was delicious.

Chase created some of the funniest scenes between them I laughed, cried and stopped to listen to scenes again. Their conversations and bickering wrapped in wit and Italian were among some of the best I have ever read. Words spring to mind when I think of them, “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Haters to Lovers.” The world sees Dain as ugly, with a huge nose and massive hands, but to Jessica he is gorgeous. They are the perfect storm of heat, passion, and anger (frustration). When her brother begins cleaning out the family coffers, she learns he has befriended Dain and too many nights of gambling and woman will soon leave them in the poor house.ĭain and Jessica- When these two meet you can feel the air sizzle. I adored Jessica from her tenacious determination to her canny ability to see behind Dain’s cold exterior. She is strong, confident, knowledgeable, a sound businessperson and forced to deal with her daft brother. Despite his behavior and looks, Chase made me fall in love with this tortured soul from the very first pages, and allowed that love to grow and bloom. We immediately feel sorry for this awkward unloved little boy and watch him grow into quite the scoundrel. We first meet Sebastian Ballister as a child and watch him develop into the devil the Marquees of Dain. It has earned a place in my top ten reads. I laughed, swooned and cannot wait to listen to it repeatedly. I loved these characters and their wickedly delicious banter. I made a request to review the new audio release after some gentle persuasion by audio junkie pal, Loupe Hot Listens. It is the third book in the Scoundrels series and can be read as a standalone. Readers have hailed Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase a favorite.