Literary critics and romance readers have since described it as one of the best historical romances ever written, praising the novel for its wit and well-developed characters. Also during that year, Lord of Scoundrels won the Romantic Times ' 'Regency Historical Romance' award. Lord of Scoundrels was positively received upon its release, and in 1996 it earned the RITA Award for 'Best Short Historical', a prize given annually by the Romance Writers of America. Lord of Scoundrels is a retelling of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast, with the author stating that like the Beast, Dain is an outcast and misfit among his society. As with many of her stories, Chase made her heroine a strong female, deciding to model Jessica after the type of women who lived a few generations previously and who had 'a more practical, frank attitude toward sex'. The son of an English father and Italian mother, Dain is hardened due to a difficult childhood and meets his match in Jessica Trent, a 27-year-old bluestocking more than capable of trading wits with him.Ĭhase had a love for Italian culture, and decided that this background would provide ample motivation for Dain, being the product of his parents' inability to understand each other's cultures. Set in 1828, the story follows the Marquess of Dain, an aristocrat known as 'Lord Beelzebub' and the 'Lord of Scoundrels' for his unscrupulous, immoral behavior. Published in 1995 by Avon Books, it is the third installment of her Débauchés series. If saving him-and with him, her family and future-means taking on the devil himself, she won't back down.Lord of Scoundrels is a Regency romance novel by American author Loretta Chase. Jessica Trent is a determined young woman, and she's going to drag her imbecile brother off the road to ruin, no matter what it takes.

The trouble is, the devil in question is so shockingly irresistible, and the person who needs the most saving is-herself! If saving him-and with him, her family and future-means taking on the devil himself, she won't back down. She's too intelligent to fall for the worst man in the world. until the day a shop door opens and she walks in. He's determined to continue doing what he does best-sin and sin again-and all that's going swimmingly, thank you. No respectable woman would have anything to do with the 'Bane and Blight of the Ballisters'-and he wants nothing to do with respectable women. Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain, is big, bad, and dangerous to know. They call him many names, but Angelic isn't one of them. Loretta Chase is one of romance’s most beloved authors, and now that she’s returned to the Avon Family, we’re repackaging one of her most popular books with an updated and fresh cover that will attract old and new readers alike.

Scoundrels series loretta chase