Thursday, January 5, 2012

[Review]: "A Dangerous Beauty"

A Dangerous Beauty by Sophia Nash
Publisher: Avon (May 29, 2007)
Series: The Widow's Club, 1
Genre: Historical Romance
Summary (Amazon.com):
Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by the removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder.

The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce


A Courageous Outcast . . .


Rosamunde Baird has lost everything and has no choice but to accept an invitation to spend a season with a dowager duchess and her clandestine ladies club. Determined to stay in the shadows and live quietly, she has sworn never again to come face to face with adventure and temptation, two things that brought her ruin years ago. But then the Duke of Helston dangles before her the very things she craves most . . .


Lord Fire and  Ice . . .


Mysterious Luc St. Aubyn has a much-deserved reputation for exuding blistering passion at night and frost the morning after. What demons drive this audacious war hero to hide secrets about the dowager's club and his devilish dictionary? When he's blindsided by his reactions to a virtuous siren, he has no choice but to reveal all during a scandal that will doom them . . . or save them, if only they dare to believe in love.



Other Books in the Series:
Click on the covers to buy from BN.com; the title links to the book's page on the author's site.






Book 2: The Kiss











Book 3: Love with the Perfect Scoundrel









Book 4: Secrets of a Scandalous Bride







Where to Buy*: Amazon | Kindle | BN.com | NOOK
More Info: Author's Site | Book Page | Excerpt



My Review:

Not many books can make me laugh and sigh at the same time. Very few books make me want to re-read them—right after finishing the last page! But A Dangerous Beauty is such a book!




Charming, witty, funny and passionate—this romance novel has it all! I found myself laughing, actually laughing, many times during my reading of it. And when I wasn't laughing at some witty sentence or remark, I was sighing over the romance. Luc and Rosamunde were perfect for one another—he is a sarcastic cynic, she a disgraced widow that society (and her family) shunned long ago. They both have their issues, and they both need to heal.



I applaud Rosamunde for surviving all the troubles her husband caused. And I was glad to see her finally realize she didn't need to hide from the world, that she had done nothing to be ashamed of. Watching her fall for Luc, something that scares her more than life with her husband ever did, was truly magical.



Luc had a sense of humor that I loved—perhaps because I can relate to it, being very sarcastic myself. I would have loved to see him in action, insulting many of the people of the ton without them even realizing it! The quotes from his book were simply divine—very witty as well!



I had this book in my TBR pile for years, and for the life of me I can't figure out why I never picked it up before now. It ended up being one of those rare books where as soon as I completed it, I wanted to turn to page one and start over, savoring it yet again. I don't re-read very many books, both due to lack of wanting to and lack of time, but I have no doubt this one will be a re-read for me in the near future!



4.5 STARS! Deliciously wicked, charming and funny, A Dangerous Beauty is a wonderful start to a series I look forward to returning to. I simply loved Ata, Luc's clever (and outspoken) grandmother, and I wish to see what troubles she brews up in future Widow's Club novels. Sophia Nash has done a terrific job of writing a romance novel that is not only passionate but oh so much more! I shall be adding more of Ms. Nash's books to my list as soon as possible—and I suggest you do the same as well!




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This book was one that I bought myself (some years ago) and choose to review on my own.
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Enjoy!




Until Next Time,
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*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

2 comments :

Blodeuedd said...

It sounds wonderful :) I must say though that the cover hides the book a bit. it makes it...not classy

The_Book_Queen said...

Blodeuedd-- I have to agree; we tend to judge books based on their covers (even though we try so hard not to!), and based on cover alone, I probably wouldn't pick this one up. However, the story inside the cover is great, and one I highly suggest, along with the others in this series (though I have yet to read them, I believe they too will be great!).

Thanks for stopping by!
Enjoy,
TBQ