A Loving Scoundrel
A Malory Novel
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4.2 • 13 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
This “delightfully engaging” (RT Book Reviews) entry in New York Times bestselling author Johanna Lindsey’s Malory-Anderson Family series follows the son of a gentleman pirate as he falls in love with the streetwise young woman he hires as his maid.
When Danny, a young woman from the streets of London with no memory of her real family, helps handsome rakehell Jeremy Malory steal back the jewels his friend lost in a card game, she is kicked out of her gang. She demands Jeremy give her a legitimate job so she can become respectable. Intrigued by her beauty and spunk, Jeremy hires Danny as his upstairs maid, although he really wants her to be his mistress.
Under the tutelage of Jeremy and his cousin Regina, Danny blossoms into a lady. Although she is drawn to Jeremy by a passion she has never experienced before, she refuses to be anything more than a servant to him. But when she undergoes a Cinderella-like transformation and poses as Jeremy’s new love interest in an attempt to help him avert a scandal, his aristocratic peers can’t help but notice how familiar Danny looks. Now tongues are wagging, raising the question of her true identity, which threatens not only Danny’s chances of capturing Jeremy’s heart but also her very life.
Filled with Johanna Lindsey’s “signature blend of witty writing [and] charmingly unique characters” (Booklist), A Loving Scoundrel is a sparkling romance classic that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lindsey's formula for bestselling historical romance features modern-thinking heroes and heroines in old-fashioned clothing, who meet in scenes reminiscent of favorite classics and who then jump into bed with an enthusiasm that would make the authors of said classics blush. Her latest Regency picks up the Malory series (Gentle Rogue, etc.) after a long hiatus, to focus on Jeremy Malory. Raised a pirate but now enjoying the Malory fortune, socially prominent but streetwise Jeremy meets his match in Danny, a beautiful orphan with no memory of her past, who lives dressed as a boy with a group of London pickpockets. After catching her trying to rob him in a sketchy tavern, he promises to release her only after she breaks into the country home of a dastardly nobleman who cheated Jeremy's friend out of precious family heirlooms. Jeremy goes along for the ride, and when they're caught in the act, it takes Danny's quick wit and Jeremy's steady nerve to escape. Oliver Twist becomes Pygmalion as Danny becomes a maid in Jeremy's household and later tries to pass as a highborn lady to help her master escape the clutches of a scheming heiress. Of course, Danny has more in common with highborn ladies than she realizes, and the reader knows that eventually Danny will learn who she is and uncover the evildoer who stole her birthright. The fun of this costume drama, after all, is not in guessing what happens next but in knowing what will and savoring the anticipation. Lindsey brings nothing new to the mix, but she stirs it up with so much energy and spirit that it's hard not to find it delicious.
