Lord of Scoundrels
Book by Loretta Chase / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Lord of Scoundrels?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Lord of Scoundrels is a Regency romance novel by American author Loretta Chase. Published in 1995 by Avon Books, it is the third installment of her Débauchés series. 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. 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.
Author | Loretta Chase |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Regency romance |
Publisher | Avon Books |
Publication date | 1995 |
Pages | 384 |
ISBN | 978-0380776160 |
Preceded by | Captives of the Night |
Followed by | The Last Hellion |
Chase 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. 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".[1] 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.
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. Also during that year, Lord of Scoundrels won the Romantic Times' "Regency Historical Romance" award. 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.