Jeffries' A Dangerous Love (Swanlea Spinsters 1)
The Swanlea Spinsters, Book 1
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (strong women; illegitimacy; birthright; LOTS of Shakespeare; you’re going to love all the characters)
Heat rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (see the SEX-AND-SPOILERS section, but yeah, a swing)
Cover rating: So it’s just a side view of him (bonus nip shot, though), and it’s a little bland, but the model is hot and does give off a disdainful air that is classic Griff, so it gets a B.
Time for Sabrina Jeffries, who I started reading early on in my romance journey, and eagerly devoured every book of hers that I could get. Her books have the distinction of being in both my Kindle library, as well as my paperback collection. (I am ready for any eventuality!) So clearly I like her work!
This was one of the first I read, and got me hooked. Our hero, Marsden Griffith “Griff” Knighton, runs Knighton Trading. He is rich, smart, ruthless, possibly unscrupulous (the company started out selling smuggled goods) hot as fire and, apparently, illegitimate. He’s also got a conundrum. See, a distant cousin, the Earl of Swanlea, is dying, and Griff could be the heir to his title and estate, Swan Park. What? You know that’s not how it went back then—wrong side of the blanket meant you inherit nothing. Well, the Earl has an ace up his sleeve, it seems. He’s got something that will prove Griff is legitimate, but he will only provide that evidence if Griff marries one of his daughters, known as the Swanlea Spinsters (ooh, boy, that doesn’t engender a rousing expectation of their looks and/or charms). Not only would Griff get a fancy title and estate, but this distinction could help him gain a position on a trade delegation to China.
So you know Griff wants to get his hands on that evidence, but he doesn’t want to marry anyone, especially not distant cousins who he just knows are unattractive and boring (though he’s never met them or their father). So what to do? Oh, here’s something; he can pay his man of affairs, Daniel Brennan, to switch places with him. All the focus will be on Daniel-pretending-to-be-Mr. Knighton, so the real Griff can dig through the house, find whatever evidence, and roll out before he gets caught in the parson’s mousetrap. SIMPLE.
Ha, yeah, tell yourself that.
Daniel thinks he’s nuts—Daniel doesn’t look like one of the family, and he grew up rough, so he’s not used to pretending to be a gentleman. But after Griff promises him £150 (which would be approximately £9487 today), Daniel agrees (because he’s no idiot).
We move to our heroine, Lady Rosalind Laverick, the second oldest of the three daughters. She’s trying to find a way to keep Swan Park running when it is clear they have a money situation. Oh, it’s the footman, telling her that her cousin should be there within the hour. WTF, she says (I’m paraphrasing) and rushes to her father’s sickbed—we agreed we weren’t going to do this, remember? Well, her dad says, you agreed, but didn’t I say that if any of your sisters agreed to him coming, I’d invite him. All eyes turn to the youngest sister, Juliet. Her excuse: “I don’t mind marrying him . . . Papa thinks it best, and I know my duty as a daughter” (Location 205). Holy eye roll, Batman. How old is this kid?
Oh, btw, they’re all named after characters from Shakespeare, so keep an eye on that because it will give hints to their character, I bet. The fact that Rosalind is from As You Like It, and the character was in disguise is a hint to what’s going on in the book. Juliet is, of course, from Romeo and Juliet. Helena, the eldest sister, who has been lamed as a result of something that is just hinted at, is from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (Squirrel warning: be prepared for LOTS of Shakespeare quotations, since Griff also likes the Bard. It works, though, so don’t be concerned. In fact, they can use Shakespeare to flirt.)
Okay, so Rosalind is still sniping back and forth with her father—she has no fear. Helena has no intention of marrying anyone (she has a suspicion of men). Her father basically says these girls need to get whatever they can; Rosalind is 23 and Helena is 26 (Juliet is 17). Oh, and Rosalind is “not the sort of girl to attract a man” (Loc. 227). Ohhhh, she fires back at him: “You mean, I’m not beautiful.” Damn. This made me sad and made me love her. Apparently she’s got unruly auburn hair and freckles and she’s plump. No, her dad says, it’s not your looks:
“ ‘I was not speaking of your looks,’ Papa put in, ‘but of your manner. Perhaps if you tried to be a bit less–’
‘Forthright? Well-read? Clever?’ she snapped.
‘Overbearing and tempestuous was what I was thinking of,’ Papa retorted.” (Loc 230)
Lol, like knows like. She’s my people.
But wait, she’s also industrious, because she starts coming up with ideas of what they can do for money instead of marrying a strange relation. We hear that their late mother was an actress, and they’ve learned more about the cousin through an actress friend of their mother’s, Mrs. Inchbald. According to Mrs. I, their cousin is a scoundrel and a villain. Well, enough of that, because the carriage approacheth. Rosalind goes to head to the door so she can turn away her cousin or something, but her dad wasn’t born yesterday. He knows his kid. He sent sister Juliet on an errand and had her lock Rosalind in the room with him, where she’s to stay until the cousin goes to bed. LMAO. I didn’t want to like the Earl, but he’s a formidable opponent. Oh, while he’s got her full attention, he wants her to go to his study later and retrieve a strongbox and hide it. She asks what’s in it, but he won’t tell her. We know, though—it’s clearly that evidence that Griff requires so desperately.
So, it’s show time: Mr. Knighton (Daniel) and his man of affairs, Daniel (Griff) meet the sisters. And whoa, the guys are shocked at how good looking these two are; how the hell are they unmarried? The real Daniel is concerned—they’ll sniff them out as frauds. Nah, Griff says, they’re just country cousins, no matter that they’re attractive. Just play along. Well, Daniel screws up first thing, and calls “his man of affairs” by the name Griff, so now Griff has to think fast on his feet and say it’s because they liken him to a griffin. (Nice save, bro.)
Okay, so you’re going to love Sabrina Jeffries’ writing. Her descriptions had me howling. When they walk into the house, Griff thinks the decoration is “a nightmare of hell at its busiest hour” (Loc. 348). Yup. Rosalind has redecorated it in “the new Chinese style,” which Griff thinks is actual “the old brothel style.” Oh, and he said it out loud, lmao.
Anyway, after some refreshments with Helena and Juliet, finally, the guys head to bed, and Helena comes to spring her sis from the joint. Rosalind is spitting nails. It’s nearly midnight! She heads to bed, but damn, the strongbox! Well, she can slip downstairs in her nightgown and wrapper and snag it—it’s the middle of the night, so nobody should be around. Except, she sees that the light is on in the study—the very room she needs. Okay, so clearly she’s not a fan of Occam’s Razor, because she thinks it’s gypsies even though there are two visitors in the house (so it’s probably not gypsies). She needs a weapon! She grabs a sword and shield from the wall and freaking KICKS OPEN THE DOOR and is ready to run an intruder through. I am dead. In my head, I see Xena. (I’m sorry; I can’t help it.) But yeah, what she finds behind the door is a good looking man, with gorgeous blue eyes, wearing finely tailored clothing. But who is he?
Griff is shocked by Rosalind. He calls her an Amazon, so now, in my head, she’s Wonder Woman. He’s being charming, but she still wants to know who TF dude is in her father’s study. Oh yeah, he says, I’m Mr. Knighton’s man of affairs, and I was just looking for paper and ink. Sure, okay. Clearly, she’s like, miss me with that bullshit, since she’s still holding him at sword point. She’s clearly is not struggling to wield her weapon. She’s not frail, she’s a warrior queen. Oh, and—bonus—he can see through her nightwear. “An image of large, rounded breasts, generous hips, and a nicely curved waist seared itself into Griff’s suddenly distracted brain. Another not so distracted part of him responded instantly” (Loc. 478). She’s also 100% not his type at all (“he liked quiet, elegant ladies with good taste and prudent tongues”—yawn). And her face was also something intriguing, reminding him of a Titian painting. Oh, and he’s imagining kissing her. He’s in trouble.
Um, nobody is gonna fall for his excuse for why he’s rifling her father’s desk. She snaps at him, “May I suggest you wait until Papa actually dies before you inventory your employer’s inheritance?” (Loc. 501) Ouch. They start to bicker over whether she could have restrained him if she’d really wanted to; he says he allowed her to keep him at sword point. What? She grabs the sword up again and . . . he wants to teach her a lesson about true danger. So he quickly disarms her and holds her captive. But it soon seems like he’s going to be learning a lesson of his own, because it feels way too good to hold her against his body, and she smells good and . . . he shakes it off and quotes Shakespeare, which is clearly a big deal where they are (I mean, Swan Park is near Stratford-upon-Avon). And she knows exactly which play, because it’s the one she was named after and, catches him off guard with a jab to the ribs, gets away, and gets her sword back. Oh Griff, she is also a formidable opponent. And she knows her Shakespeare. The thing is, he does too, for a different reason—see, he’s not the mack daddy that Daniel is, so he uses Shakespearean quotes to compliment women. Face palm. (Also, I was today years old when I learned that the term “mack daddy” is actually in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. I have got to save that bit of info to wow some folks down the road.) 🕮
Even better, the quote he used was to warn her that if she’s confronting strange men in dishabille, she has more to worry about than her father’s desk. But, he says, I was trying to make a point, not attack you and steal your virtue. Yeah, right, she responds (I’m sure you figured out that I’m paraphrasing). He’s surprised she doesn’t believe him, and in reply, she looks him over, “she trailed her gaze down his body with the remote detachment generally used by men assessing a whore’s physical attributes” (Loc. 537). I told you SJ has a way with words! Now, his big head thinks that her looking him over like that is disconcerting, but the little head is like: hey now, this is exciting. But she concedes he doesn’t need to “pick a woman’s lock to take her treasure . . . I’ll wager you can convince any woman to give you the key” (Loc. 541). But not her. She knows he’s dangerous, deceptive, and damn, even though she’s kinda right, that’s harsh. She’s so wary of him, when Juliet and Helena didn’t appear to be. That makes her interesting, as “he’d never met a female who hates him on sight, at least not since he’d become wealthy.” And she still ain’t fooled by the writing materials defense. Well, he admits, he wasn’t looking for paper. Well, stop being coy, she says, and tell me.
“Coy, for the love of God? She taunted him with flashes of her body, and he was coy? He’d built an empire on his reputation for being formidable. A woman, calling him coy! How his competitors would laugh to hear that tale over their brandy and cigars—
Cigars. Hmm. ‘I was looking for a cigar.’ ” (Loc. 576)
Dude, that was pretty damned lame. But she finds cigars for him. And basically challenges him to smoke one to prove to her. He talks his way out of that by bringing up propriety, and hints that maybe he would say something to her father about being alone with him in her nightwear. That causes her to stand down. She does NOT want her father involved. So he’s off the hook—for now. But he still gets the last word. Because, you know he has to. He’s that guy.
Anyway, in the morning, she asks Juliet what she thinks of the cousin and lil sis is hella evasive. She seems to be trying to force herself to undertake this task. Hm, something has changed, hasn’t it? Anyway, they run into the man himself (well, it’s not really their cousin, but y’all get what I’m saying) and, when Juliet sees Daniel, she mutters, “Did the blessed creature grow in the night?” (Loc. 705). Yeah, so he’s a big dude. And he seems very uncomfortable to Rosalind, and holy hell, she actually feels kinda sorry for the guy. Juliet, however, seems legit terrified. Oh wait, he’s huge and Juliet is tiny. She’s worried about very practical matters, seems like, and since Rosalind and Helena have put the kibosh on THEM marrying him, Juliet is the only one left. And Juliet also hates being a Swanlea Spinster. Rosalind says she is overreacting, but Juliet is stubborn AF (that is clearly genetic, because her sister and father are as well, though don’t tell Rosalind that).
Remember, Daniel is so charming, so much that even Rosalind is caught off guard. And he’s giving me Chris Hemsworth vibes, so I love him. Anyway, Rosalind still has a plan, and she’s happy to have Daniel without Griff (or her dad) so she can grill TF outta the man. Ah, but he is clearly interested in . . . Helena? Well, he’s also interested in meeting their father, which couldn’t happen last night because she was locked up in the room with him. So now they’re discussing superficial subjects like shirred eggs (yeah, I had to Google that). But that gives Rosalind some time to observe Mr. Knighton/Daniel, and she sees that, though he’s charming and polite, he is also extremely nervous. So she goes for the jugular, and asks about the smuggling history of the company. Daniel is dumbfounded, but there’s no need for him to respond anyway, because Griff saunters in right at that moment. “Attacking your guests as usual, Lady Rosalind?” (Loc. 779). LMAO, perfect. However, he’s not as practiced in his deception as he should be—he’s very used to ordering servants around, and she notices. Oh, and she definitely notices the power play in the men’s relationship—Griff seems to take the upper hand.
Yeah, but he’s too busy antagonizing her with not so subtle hints about their interaction last night. But neither of them can shut TF up and soon they’re sniping back and forth about what happened in the study. I expect Daniel and Juliet are looking from one to the other like it’s a tennis match while those two are escalating and insulting each other. Juliet is so confused as to why this is happening over the breakfast table. Hell, finally, Rosalind tries to throw Griff under the bus to his ”employer.” Damn, girl. Daniel is amused, but Griff is pissed. He says she was dressed like a soiled dove (prostitute) last night and holy shit, she’s done. He’s gonna to learn today. Oh wait, Daniel steps in—about time, my dude, because you can’t just call a woman, a lady, his “cousin” a whore and get away with it. “I won’t tolerate rude behavior toward my fair cousins,” he says, and Griff is taken aback and totally breaks character—who the hell is Daniel to talk to him like that? He catches himself, and you can tell it’s killing him to step back. Daniel’s enjoying this power play, and makes him apologize. Griff wants to beat his ass and Daniel is trying to stay in character himself, but he’s trying not to laugh (which is confusing the hell out of Rosalind) and I swear, he’s gotta be looking like Jimmy Fallon during the “More Cowbell” Saturday Night Live skit. (It’s on the SNL YouTube channel, so if you don’t know it, stop RIGHT NOW, and take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVsQLlk-T0s. You’ll thank me.)
Hooo, buddy, Griff is mad as hell, but he gets back into character. And when he looks at Rosalind, it makes her feel weirdly connected to him. And she knows that’s dangerous.
Ahem, Squirrel would like to say something! Griff is giving off serious Robbie Amell vibes. It’s the vivid blue eyes. Yeah, definitely the eyes. Squirrel would also like to note that Robbie Amell was on the X-Files, which is MAR’s favorite show. Amazingly, MAR didn’t start watching X-Files until after it initially went off the air, because she likes to binge 9 seasons of a show in record time and then bother all her friends who watched it 20 years previously as if they can remember any of it.
Anyway, now that Squirrel is satiated, it’s time to visit the Earl. Griff, of course, doesn’t attend; he tells Daniel he’s going to walk around the estate. Rosalind (who wasn’t born yesterday) notes that when Griff talks, it seems like he’s issuing orders. Hm. So she decides she’s not going either—Daniel-as-Mr. Knighton and Juliet can do it. She’ll escort Griff around the grounds. Lord, they start bandying As You Like It back and forth (that’s foreplay, kiddos, though you’re both clueless), but he’s not going to be able to shake her; she’s tenacious.
Anyway, the next day comes and Griff is trying to figure out how to shake his shadow, and he starts thinking, heyyyy, my character (Daniel) is the son of a highwayman executed for his crimes, plus he used to be a smuggler. That should concern her enough to stay away from him, right? But, strangely, Daniel, who has traditionally been IDGAF about his past, doesn’t want Griff to expose it. Griff agrees. Anyway, day one with his shadow, who is wearing her usual garishly colored outfit, that also fits her like a glove, mind you, and Daniel is having a hard time focusing on his plan—to be so rude and unpleasant that she stops tailing him around the estate and he can look for the evidence of his legitimacy.
Speaking of that, the Earl is thinking about what he needs to do when he sees his “cousin.” He needs to get those girls married, even if one of them marries “his old enemy’s son” (Loc. 992), “the babe [he] had wronged” (Loc. 998). Now that is an interesting wrinkle. And the Earl is feeling hella guilty, too. Anyway, it’s showtime for Daniel, and it’s awkward as the Earl mentions that he looks nothing like his supposed father, Leonard. Daniel counters that he looks like “his” his mother, but the Earl says, nah, no you don’t. Hey, so he’s acquainted with Mrs. Georgina Knighton as well, huh. In fact, he says he used to know her very well.
Anyway, Helena is in the room with them for the meeting, and we’ve already gotten the feeling that Daniel is interested in the eldest sister, though he knows there’s no way he can act on it. Still, when her father starts commenting on her lameness, noting that she paints miniatures because “she cannot ride or dance or any of that” (Loc. 1049), which causes her to drop what she’s working on, Daniel can’t take it anymore. He hands her back the item she dropped, and her father is surprised to see that she’s blushing. After she leaves, Daniel is pissed off and chastises her father for reminding her of her disability. The Earl brushes this off, and tries to turn the conversation back to Juliet, but Daniel reminds him—the plan was that he had to marry one of the daughters, not specifically Juliet. So he needs time to get to know all three better. This is a way for them to prolong things so Griff can find the evidence. The Earl seems legit shocked that anyone would consider Rosalind or Helena, and that makes me so freaking mad.
Back to Rosalind and Griff, who are touring the estate. Griff is being pretty fractious, criticizing everything and generally being a dick, but he clearly doesn't understand how smart his opponent is—she has figured out his plan already and is giving him no quarter. Though her mind is filled with things like how his thighs would look when he’s astride a horse. She’s damned near salivating at the thought. 🤤
Griff is telling a lot more about his actual self, Knighton, including the fact that he started smuggling to keep his mother out of debtors’ prison, and how he went to Eton as a charity case. He reminds her that Knighton wasn’t born to privilege (like she clearly was), but my girl claps back. “He might not have been born to privilege, Mr. Brennan, but he was born a man. Try being a woman for five minutes, and you’ll rapidly discover that a man of the lowest station has more privilege than any woman” (Loc. 1184). And, oh snap, Griff has gone back on his promise to Daniel and is spilling the beans on his past, though he’s doing it in the guise of talking about himself. The workhouse, the smuggling, his parents’ execution, Griff is not holding back.
She goes a little too far, and basically reveals that she doesn’t believe there will be any marriage; that she and the sisters will be gone, leaving Knighton with the estate. Now he recognizes that the women don’t know about the blackmail portion of arrangement. He reminds her that she’ll lose Swan Park if one of the sisters doesn’t marry Knighton. Big whoop, she retorts, running the estate is a pain in the ass and the place is in debt. Good riddance. She wants to live in London. She is going to be an actress like her mother.
Okay, he says, marry Knighton (dude, what are you doing? I thought your point was to keep from getting married) and have him take her to London. But she definitely doesn’t want that; and her adamant denial kinda hurts my man’s feelings (she doesn’t know y’all are talking about you, dude). Now he’s ticked—she should be delighted that any man wants to marry a weird old spinster (my paraphrasing because I am also pissed; staring at him in “50-year old unmarried Squirrel-brain woman” now 😠). She doesn’t want to marry someone her father forced her to wed. Oh, I bet you’re too high and mighty to marry someone who built a fortune on smuggled goods, he snaps, peevishly. (Seriously, why do men think that women are the emotional ones? This dude is deep in his feelings right now. She’s about to get a “whatever” and possibly a “fine,” followed by an “I’m going to bed.”). And he wanted her to deny that, but she doesn’t, and holy crap, he’s flabbergasted. He’s used to people wanting him for his money, but “here was a woman who actually considered his money a liability” (Loc. 1329). So, the thing is, I understand where he's coming from; his illegitimacy made it so he was at the least, ignored, and at the worst, mistreated, UNTIL he got rich. What else does he know, honestly?
Wait, she says, it’s not just the way Knighton got rich; she’s a romantic and wants love. He cannot figure her out: “It was hard to believe this Amazon had romantic notions about marriage. Mercenary, yes, or even condescending. But romantic? Extraordinary” (Loc. 1336). Because he doesn’t believe in love. See, he thinks that most “love” is actually desire.
Rosalind is spilling a lot of tea to “Mr. Brennan,” having zero clue that he’s actually Knighton. He asks if the other sisters want to marry their cousin, and she admits that Juliet is intimidated at “Knighton’s” size. Helena, however, was jilted by a man who wanted her only for her money, Lord Farnsworth. So what about Rosalind? Seriously, he’s trying to convince her to marry “his employer.” Nope, she says, and he’s legit gobsmacked: “The woman was actually refusing a marriage offer he hadn’t even made” (Loc. 1407). See, Griff automatically thought that the sisters would be queuing up to marry this rich man. And that’s not all:
“All his expectations about his visit had proven wrong. The spinsters wished to remain spinsters. They weren’t shrews, but amiable and attractive. And they were all too eager to hand his inheritance over to him unencumbered.” (Loc. 1412)
Anyway, they’re still bickering, and she stumbles and nearly falls down a hill (I hate when that happens), but Griff saves her and . . . they end up embracing on the hill. He wants to kiss her. She knows he wants to kiss her. So . . . they break apart. She takes off. She’s running from her own desires, and she knows it. But oh, SJ has a surprise in store. They end up in the plum orchard. He doesn’t like plums, he says (go figure). Oh, but you haven’t had my plums, she counters (yaaaassss, girl). Taste, she challenges him, holding up a plum. And my man goes into full on seduction mode and I need a cold shower. Yeah, he grabs her hand with the plum and brings it to his mouth and then, hold me back, after taking a bite, y’all, he LICKS THE PLUM JUICE OFF HER HAND. 💧 Seriously, if SJ hadn’t followed this up with a kiss, I was going to throw my damned Kindle out the window (remember, I still own the books, so it wouldn’t have been that much of a sacrifice). And luckily, she does.
Griff kisses her and she kisses him back. Rosalind is enjoying herself, but . . . she seems to think her enjoyment is a symptom of some sort of deficiency in herself. She likes pleasurable things, apple tarts and pretty clothing, so she’s automatically inclined to kiss this hot guy? I’m not buying that, but whatevs, lady. It’s sad you think that.
Okay, I have got to share some of Sabrina Jeffries’ writing with you, because you’d think this would be corny, but it’s not. It works PERFECTLY:
“So much softness, so much temptation . . . how could he resist it? His hat tumbled off as he pressed closer, running his tongue along her virgin lips until they gave way and allowed him entrance to the silken depths of her mouth.” (Loc. 1541)
That description takes you right to that orchard, the smell of plums, the hot as fire man gorging himself on your lips. At that minute, we all want to be her. Oh, and this made me laugh (but in a good way): “She was summer ripening to excess, and he was damned well ripening to excess himself” (Loc. 1546). SJ wins for the most creative way to describe a rampant cockstand. Cue my infomercial voice: but wait, there’s more. Something is poking her. Is that a pistol in his pocket, or is he just happy to see her? To be fair, she’s getting kind of turned on thinking he might have a gun—remember, this is the same woman who pulled a sword on the man, but now she’s thinking he’s some sort of swashbuckling pirate with a gun kinda dude and it’s getting her hot. Okay, so she asks him (I’m dying) right in the middle of their hot tongue fencing (DRINK! Oh wait, it doesn’t count if I bring up fencing. Disregard), and my dude is like, are you “using a country euphemism for male arousal”? HAHAHAHA! Oh, she tries to play it off by saying how she’s seen . . . horse and cow penises. Smooth, Rosalind, nice save.
Anyway (for all the new Squirrel cult/Constant Readers, I say that a LOT), Griff breaks away because they really shouldn’t be doing this, they should stay away from each other. Uh oh. Damn. Rosalind now realizes “the truth”; this is just one more ploy to keep her from following him around. He doesn’t desire her. It’s all a lie. Okay, the thing is, we know that he does feel real desire for her (his pistol is proof), so we are hurting for them both at the moment. She flexes her acting muscles and pretends like she’s not fazed by this, though she’s mortified and her heart is breaking.
This means there’s one helluva awkward lunch. Griff is pretty shook at the feelings he has for Rosalind. But he knows he cannot keep kissing her. But these two, they love sniping at each other, and they are acting like bratty teenagers, referring to their earlier conversations, so Daniel knows Griff has spilled the tea about his background, which is precisely what he told him NOT to do. And worst of all, Rosalind still intends to stick to Griff like glue, so he comes up with the idea of working in his bedchamber instead of the library, which means she would have to be alone with him in his room. He knows she’s can’t do that. Hope he doesn’t think she’s going to be diverted—she will figure something out.
In the interim, Daniel is mad and hurt about Griff telling Rosalind, and thereby the other sisters, about his past. While he’s explaining himself, he lets slip some feelings about Helena:
“ ‘ . . . the eldest may be beautiful but . . . ’ he snorted. ‘She’s a real lady, so she despised me even before you told them all that rot. Bloody haughty wench, makes me want to take her over my knee. If you don’t get me out of here, I’m liable to do it one day, too.’ He held out his hands as if in the act of squeezing and added, ‘Her backside makes a man just want to—’ ” (Loc. 1821).
Yeah, Daniel is NOT unmoved by Helena. Anyway, Daniel bets Griff £5 (um, that’s £475 today) that Rosalind is standing outside the door . . . and there she is, with a footman, who is to be stationed outside his door and will follow him wherever he goes. Did he really think he would outsmart that woman? Now what is he going to do? Um, duh, use the servants’ staircase, Daniel says.
Btw, it’s clear to Daniel that Rosalind and Griff have something going on; why doesn’t he just court the girl and marry her? (Thank you, Daniel—it’s what we’re all wondering.) Because he wants the proof. Not just that he’s the Earl of Swanlea—that he’s the rightful one. See, Daniel was next in line for the earldom, but Rosalind’s father went to court and “proved” Griff’s parents weren’t married. There’s no evidence of a legal wedding, as the Gretna Green registration spot burned down, or is there? Clearly, Rosalind’s dad has something, which is what he’s using to hold this potential marriage over Griff. And Griff wants that evidence and he wants to ruin his cousin for what he’s done, strip him of his title and property, even though the man is damned close to death now. He could wait and have everything he wanted, but it’s personal. Also, he wants to be accepted in the House of Lords so he can put himself on this Chinese delegation. Griff has a plan (a diabolical one, but it’s a solid plan).
Okay, Daniel says, but what about the girls? You’ll ruin them as well, you realize? Daniel is pretty disgusted at his “friend” and employer right now. Even though Griff has upped his money to £250 (that’s nearly £24,000 today), now Daniel doesn’t like how the whole thing smells. It was different when it was just about proving his legitimacy. But Daniel doesn’t like the idea of ruining the girls. He’ll continue for the week, but then he’s gone. Really gone. Daniel quits. “ . . . there are some things even a highwayman’s bastard can’t stomach” (Loc. 2004). Damn.
Ah, so now it’s time for billiards. Juliet and Griff are playing, and it’s no surprise that he’s letting her win. Guilt slash he really is a nice guy (except when it comes to revenge about his birthright, I mean). Rosalind knows he let her sister win, but that doesn’t help with the fact that Juliet is still terrified around her “cousin” (actually Daniel). But now it’s time for Griff and Rosalind to play. They’re both good, so this game is gonna be lit! Oh, and they’re gonna make a little wager—if he wins, the footman leaves his door; if she wins, he’ll set her up with an audience with Richard Sheridan, owner of the Drury Lane Theatre. This is exciting and . . . hol’ up, hol’ up, how is he, a man of affairs, hooked up like that? Oh, um, yeah, Knighton is a patron of the arts. Really, she says, because he didn’t know jack about any of that when we were talking about it earlier. Lol.
Anyway, back to the game, which devolves into naughty billiards. She’s got her bosom showing and he’s whispering sexy things in her ear . . . until big sis Helena comes in like a blast of arctic air and says, um, why can I see down your top? That’s a buzzkill. Anyway, Griff wins, heads to his room, prepared to be free of his footman bodyguard in the very near future. Daniel is trying to get Helena to play. He’s trying to accommodate her however he can, getting a chair so she can prop herself up to play. Helena is convinced by Rosalind to try it, so they start playing and Juliet and Rosalind move a bit away, where Juliet admits something. She thinks it is her fault that they’re in this situation—her mother died having her, which meant the current Earl didn’t have any sons to carry on the name/inheritance. Okay, we have to remember that she’s young, because that makes no sense. There was no reason their father couldn’t marry again—it was done all the time. But Juliet feels she can save the day by marrying Knighton.
Rosalind is tired and heads to bed , but she remembered she owes Griff; footman has to go. So she dismisses the fellow and goes to tell Griff. But he doesn’t answer her knock. Well, Rosalind is the keeper of the keys (since they don’t seem to have a housekeeper with a chatelaine—note, this is a term that I didn’t know until I started reading historical romance and now I’m feeling all edumacated), and she busts in, and catches him red-handed. Well, catches him no handed, because he ain’t where he’s supposed to be. Looks like he found the sealed up servants’ entrance. She sits at his desk and sees it’s covered in papers from the trading company, so she decides to take a peek. Yeah, that’s boring AF and she falls asleep, and he catches her when he returns. He’s affronted that she broke into his rooms; she’s pissed that he has been sneaking out. And then all of a sudden, it occurs to them both that they’re in private rooms, alone. And just like that, they’re kissing. And they’re alone. And there’s the bed, and soon, they’re lying down. “ ‘Do you intend to ruin me?’ she asks. ‘No. Only satisfy some of my cravings. And yours’ ” (Loc. 2477). What? Why are you still here? You know the deal. S&S time.
Anyway, the gist is that he rocks her world, and asks her to touch him as well, through his clothing. That’s fun, and she’d like to feel some more, but he stops her and it dawns on her what they just did. She tries to put her clothing back together, and him helping her back into her gown just makes her madder—she feels like she’s just another one of his conquests. Her mind is going a million miles an hour. And he clearly doesn’t want to marry her. And she still wants him. But she’s got to fix it. And the only way she can is for her to marry Knighton.
Here’s one of the funniest parts. There is no way he’s going to let her marry another man, even if . . . it’s technically him! And this sets off a real fight, which I am not going to spoil for you, but his jealousy of himself is damned amusing. Though he could just come clean, marry her, get the evidence of his legitimacy, and slide right into that HEA. But he can’t. So she races off to the billiard room, where Helena and Daniel are still playing and actually enjoying themselves. She needs to talk to Knighton; scram, sis. And she lays her cards on the table—she will marry him. And before she can get any further, Griff bursts in the room, slamming the door against the wall, half-clothed, disheveled, and irate. 🔥 He needs to talk to Daniel right then. But Daniel uses his Mr. Knighton persona so she can continue. I am not going to tell you more about how this discussion went, because you’re going to want to read it yourself, but Daniel is acting so clueless to force Rosalind to admit some things in front of Griff, and it’s awkward and hilarious. But then Griff goes too far—he basically tells her she’s prostituting herself. Daniel puts a stop to that and . . . congratulations! He and Rosalind are getting married. Of course they aren’t, but man, it’s nice to see Griff sweat here. Rosalind has gone full Don Corleone here and has made “Knighton” an offer he can’t refuse.
Anyway, Griff is pissed and he and Daniel start brawling in the study. Because . . . men. Daniel is trying to beat some sense into him. So when Griff shows up at her door later, bruised and bleeding, he tells her he’s in no condition to ravish her. He just wants to talk. Actually, he wants to propose. And she says no. He thinks it’s because she thinks he’s just the man of affairs, but no, she’s got one hell of a point—would he have proposed if Daniel had not? Did he actually want her? “The trouble was, he didn’t. Another man had taken his discarded toy, and that had made him want it back” (Loc. 3217). Yup, that’s what it sounds like.
So Rosalind is going to marry “Knighton.” All is well, right? The estate is saved! But why is Juliet pissed? She basically wanted to be the virgin sacrifice, to come in and save the day. And Rosalind took that from her. Yeah, Juliet is gonna be a problem. Keep an eye on her.
Daniel is squiring Rosalind around like they’re really courting. But he lets her know he’s not stupid. He knows she’s pretending. She admits it, but she refuses to admit that she’s in love with Griff, even to herself. Plus, Griff doesn’t feel that way about her. So Daniel tries to tell her about men, how “a man’s got three parts: his brain, his . . . er . . . St. Peter, and his heart. Each part has got it’s own needs, you see?” (Loc. 3432). Holy God, this was the most awkward convo ever. Also, he keeps bringing up Helena. Hm. But wait, WTF, Daniel just randomly kissed her. She’s shocked, but he whispers that Griff is watching. So they make it look good.
It's time, Griff. You’ve got to tell her who you are. Yeah, he plans so do that . . . wait, after they get their freak on OUTSIDE. Damn girl, you go from zero to fifty in about 2 seconds, don’t you. “He hadn’t come here to seduce here; he’d come to present the truth logically and then convince her to marry him” (Loc. 3610). Um, y’all know what to do.
Anyway, they’re happy and things look like they’re going well, right? Haha, if you believe that, you’ve never read a romance novel. See, Griff is so comfy and happy and . . . still hasn’t told her the truth, which ain’t a good thing when you’re feeling that afterglow and aren’t paying attention. So he effs up. He calls “Knighton” by the name Daniel, and the jig is up. So he comes clean; he doesn’t think this is anything insurmountable and they can still be married, but she’s asking the same question we all asked—why didn’t he tell her before? Because he wants to ruin her family. And here we are, so close to our HEA and he’s dropped an anvil on her heart. Oh, she says she’ll marry him, but we know that ain’t gonna happen.
They both explain to the sisters, and Juliet doesn’t seem to hold anything against Daniel for the part he played in this, but Helena is livid. She was opening up to Daniel and she feels betrayed.
Griff goes to visit his cousin, the Earl, and learns about his parents’ past, and what motivated Lord Percival to steal his birthright. This is a twist that I will leave up to you to discover, but it’s worth it. Griff finds out Rosalind had the strongbox all along. 😳
She ends up pulling a sword on him again, which excites him and . . . they end up in bed. But they’re still fighting, because, you see, she knows she just can’t be with him, not now. He’ll never change. “That’s why she couldn’t marry him, why she must leave tonight. Because her opinion would never change anything for him as long as his past entangled him so inexorably” (Loc. 4666). She loves him, but he doesn’t know how to love. And she’s gone. Slipped through his fingers.
Okay folks, now it’s your responsibility to run (do not walk) and grab A Dangerous Love to see how it plays out. I mean, we know it’s a happily ever after, but there are huge obstacles in the way that seem immovable at this moment.
Unrelated books: I suggest you check out the Sinful Suitors series and the Duke’s Men series. Sabrina Jeffries adds some mystery to these series, and it’s a wild ride. Hell, I suggest you read all her books! SJ is definitely an author whose books would accompany me if I were stranded on a deserted island.
I would love to hear what you have to say about this book, or this review, or any of my reviews, or the MIGHTY SQUIRREL! You can leave a comment here on the blog or hit me up on Twitter or Facebook!
Now, it’s time for the SEX-AND-SPOILERS section.
Reminder, don’t continue if you don’t want to hear about sex and/or you don’t want to hear things that may spoil the ending. Second reminder: these are primarily HEAs, which means H (Hero) and h (heroine) are getting together before the last page. So you know it’s . . . say it with me, peeps . . . coming.
Sex
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So the first sexual act is about 45% of the way through. This scene doesn’t involve intercourse, but mutual masturbation. Griff isn’t planning to take her virginity (ever, he thinks, but he’s clueless). I do like the way SJ describes how Rosalind is progressing toward her first? orgasm: “The strokes of his fingers quickened, tugging her forward into a hidden forest where beasts roamed to ravage virgins as he ravaged her. Yet she wanted his ravaging . . . oh, yes . . . she felt as if she were running through the woods to meet it . . . faster and faster . . .” (Loc. 2528). After he gives her pleasure, he begs her to touch him through his clothing—Griff he ain’t to proud to beg (oh no, Squirrel is torn between the Temptations version of that song or the TLC version. So now we’re singing both. Btw, the video with TLC wearing condoms on their clothing, including Left Eye with the condom on her eye, was kinda risqué for the time, but totally necessary—be safe, peeps).
Anyway, I was totally off on that tangent, wasn’t I? So yeah, he asks her to touch him, which she does, but she’s really wanting to get under his clothing. And tries.
The first full on sex scene is about 65% of the way and holy crap, they’re outside. “He needed to be inside her, to make her his. That way she could never refuse him, could she? Yes, he thought as he sucked each of her pebbled nipples in turn, that was his new plan. Make her his, forever” (Loc. 3625). And soon, he’s got her legs on his shoulders, while he makes a meal of her ON A SWINGSET. I’m done; y’all win. But at least he’s honest with her about what he’s doing, “And if someone does stumble upon us, it’ll merely ensure that you marry me sooner rather than later. Because you are going to marry me, you know” (Loc. 3663). He’s still got some nerve. But damn, you gotta like the man, because he loves her body just the way it is, plump and tempestuous. And he wants to worship that body. There’s a funny bit when she tells him to stop, and he does, though he really doesn’t want to because it will kill him to stop—oh wait, it’s just that she wants to touch him. The last time she tried that, he stopped her. But now, she’s undoing his pants and “it sprang free . . . a wild beast escaping a cage” (Loc. 3711). That one made me laugh; I couldn’t help it. This scene is fun and sexy, and he’s so damned whipped. He wants her to be his forever, and you note that he didn’t withdraw, so clearly he’s planning to stay with her—he’s been called a bastard his whole life; he’s not going to have any.
The second sex scene is at the 80% and I guess it’s mad sex. She knows she’s going to leave him, but he thinks he’s won her over forever. It would be a really sad situation, but OMG, he calls her lady parts “her heated honeypot” and all of a sudden, I’m thinking about Winnie the Pooh. The scene is still stellar, but OMG, that term was just so extra. He actually mentions it to her and even she knows it’s extra AF. But the scene is detailed and exciting, she wants to taste him, too, and he teaches her that missionary isn’t the only way.
Spoilers?
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Helena is probably my favorite character in the series. When Griff confronts her when he realizes that Rosalind has left him, departing for London, Daniel snaps “At least the poor man’s got a heart, m’lady. That’s more I can say for you” (Loc. 4871). Daniel had it bad for Helena and they didn’t end on a good footing. Luckily, Daniel and Helena are the focus of the next book, A Notorious Love. Squirrel would have upped and died if we didn’t have more about these two!
The next books in the series
There are five books in this series. Juliet gets her own story in the third. I can’t say more without spoiling, so you’ll have to either read them yourself or wait for my next review!
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