SURRENDER TO A SCOUNDREL

Author: Julianne MacLean ISBN: 0060819367 1/2007 HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
Time Period: Victorian 1881

No woman can resist him... Lord Martin Langdon takes pride in his scandalous reputation as a scoundrel, and he considers the art of seduction a most rewarding pastime. 5o when this dashing rakehell learns of a particularly beautiful woman who is "impossible to flirt with," Martin is determined to prove that not even the prim and proper Evelyn Wheaton can resist his charms. Except one. Evelyn knows all about the reckless rogue's shocking reputation and she wants nothing to do with him. She may be looking for a husband, but Martin is certainly not a candidate. The smoldering looks he sends her way, however, are a different matter entirely. She suspects there is great passion to be had if she'd throw caution to the wind and surrender to this scoundrel... but dare she risk her heart? And will Martin, who hides a most tormented past, find true love at last?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Evelyn Foster is perhaps the sweetest, most prim and proper heroine I have ever had the good fortune to read about. She is by far the most virtuous woman, and if she knows anything it is that Martin Langdon is a rake, a rogue and a womanizer. But above all this, and for some reason that she cannot understand, she has had a secret crush on him for years. Evelyn has never even begun to fathom what it would be like to be with a man like Martin, and she is absolutely sure that he would never be interested in a plain little miss like her. So, she does the only thing that she can think of—she hides behind a mask of propriety and coldness the likes of which Martin has never seen before in his life.

Martin cannot believe that the beautiful, charming widow that everyone is talking about, Evelyn Wheaton, is actually the same little girl who caused him such scandal ten years earlier when she broke into his dorm room at Eton with her friend Penny. This is the same little girl who he saved from certain death when she slipped through an icy pond even ten years before that. Because the Evelyn that he remembers is cold and distant, always treating him with disdain and mistrust, now, all these years later, he is determined that she will not overlook him again. He sets his cap for Eveyln and there is nothing else that she can do but come along for the ride, for Martin is determined to have his way.

What I loved the most about this book is the depth of these characters. Martin is no simpering fool and Evelyn no blushing little virgin. They both have lives and stories to tell and they aid one another beautifully. Evelyn is like the duckling who turns into a swan when she is with Martin, and he is the epitome of a hero, so strong and so very worthy of Evelyn.

Once again, Julianne MacLean has written a story of love and desire in SURRENDER TO A SCOUNDREL that will be added to my keeper shelves. She is a wonderful voice of romance and knows just what a reader is looking for when they wish to be whisked away in a fairy tale.

Kristal Gorman