In this final installment of the Stud Club trilogy, THREE NIGHTS WITH A SCOUNDREL, we get better acquainted with Lily Chatwick and Julian Bellamy, characters first introduced in One Dance with a Duke. Once again, Dare has penned a fast-paced and engrossing romance that had me cheering for the heroine and hoping our hero became the man she hoped he could be. Their growth together feels natural and unforced in this concluding chapter.
Our hero, Julian, is the driven, bastard son of a nobleman. His match, Lily, is the fragile sister of Stud Club founder, Leo Chatwick. Their story is unique, and watching them come together after years of knowing, but not really knowing, each other is a treat. I found their courtship dance to be unconventional, beautiful, and touching.
THREE NIGHTS WITH A SCOUNDREL ties together the intrigue of solving Leo's murder, the power of unspoken desires, a deft and gentle handling of class warfare, secrets, and physical handicaps with a rich and satisfying happy ending.
In a lovely addition to my keeper shelf, Tessa Dare has shown herself to be an author to watch.
The third time is the charm.
The bastard son of a nobleman, Julian Bellamy is now
polished to perfection, enthralling the ton with wit and
charm while clandestinely plotting to ruin the lords, ravish
the ladies, and have the last laugh on a society that once
spurned him. But meeting Leo Chatwick, a decent man and
founder of the exclusive Stud Club, and Lily, Leo’s
enchanting sister, made Julian reconsider his wild ways.
When Leo’s tragic murder demands that Julian hunt for
justice, he vows to see the woman he secretly loves married
to a man of her own class.
Lily, however, has a very different husband in mind. She’s
adored Julian forever, loves the man beneath the rakish
facade, and wants to savor the delicious attraction they
share — as his wife. His insistence on marrying her off only
reinforces her intent to prove he is the only man for her.
Obsessed with catching a killer, Julian sinks back to the
gutters of his youth, forcing Lily to reach out with a
sweet, reckless passion Julian can’t resist. Can her desire
for a scoundrel save them both–or will dangerous secrets
threaten more than their tender love?