The Beloved Scoundrel by Iris Johansen

She was a hostage torn between passion and loyalty. Marianna Sanders realized she could not trust this dark and savagely seductive stranger who had come to spirit her away across the sea. She possessed a secret that could topple an empire, a secret that Jordan Drake, the duke of Cambaron, was determined to wrest from her. In the eyes of the world the arrogant duke was her guardian, but they both knew she was to be his prisoner in his sinister plot--and a slave to his exquisite pleasure.

For years, brilliant, deadly Jordan Drake had schemed to destroy the emperor who threatened everything he valued most in the world. Now that he held this defiant woman who was the key to his final triumph, he felt a fierce sense of satisfaction...and the first stirring of desire. She was only supposed to be a pawn in his plans, but once alone with his captive, Jordan realized she was a prize he could never surrender.


There's something missing in the book and even after a few rereads, I still can't put a finger on it. Maybe it had something to do about the fact that the hero lusted after the heroine even when she was fifteen. So he left her alone for three years to grow up, but at the same time time kept her as his prisoner. But so what?! I still was not feeling it.

The plot just didn't have enough appeal to me. Some parts dragged on and no matter how I try to read their every word, I just fail miserably. I always find myself skimming through the pages.

But there was a part that I like though. When Marianna ran away to destroy the secret every one seemed to be after, Jordan followed her in anger. But it ended up with him and his troops trailing her in as much as to know where she was headed as to let her do the journey in Russian winter completely "her own." He wanted to help her, even attempted to bring her food one night only to find her trying to catch fish--and successfully getting one, too. When his tracker reported the fish gone and suggested going ahead of her and leaving her food in her trail for her to find, Jordan refused.

"I'll be damned if I steal away the victory itself. Not one woman in a thousand could make this journey without help. She deserves to know she did it all herself."

That and the book being one of the three I got from my sisters for my 18th birthday are the only reasons why I haven't given, burned or thrown it away.

Final verdict: 5/10. For the 437-page effort.