Review: A Dangerous Love by Brenda Joyce

Series: The DeWarenne Dynasty (Book 6)
Pages: 384 pages
Publisher: HQN Books (March 18, 2008)
Genre: Historical/Regency Romance
Language: English
Kindle Link: http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Love-Warenne-Dynasty/dp/0373772750/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_8
Sexual Content: 4/5

Synopsis

A Dangerous OBSESSION

Torn from his Romany mother's arms as a small boy, Viscount Emilian St. Xavier has spent a lifetime ignoring the whispers of gypsy that follow him everywhere. A nobleman with wealth, power and privilege, he does not care what the gadjos think. But when the Romany come to Derbyshire with news of his mother's murder at the hands of a mob, his world implodes. And Ariella de Warenne is the perfect object for his lust and revenge.…

A Dangerous PASSION

Ariella de Warenne's heritage assures her a place in proper society, though as a radical and independent thinker she scorns her peers' frivolous pursuits in the Ton, fashion and marriage. Until a Roma camp arrives at Rose Hill, and she finds herself drawn to their charismatic leader, Emilian. Even when he warns her away, threatening that he intends to seduce and destroy her, she cannot refuse him. For Ariella is just as determined to fight for their dangerous love…

 Review

I've only ever read another Brenda Joyce novel, The Perfect Bride, and there are 10 DeWarenne Dynasty novels in total.

Of the two read thus far, The Perfect Bride was a better, more enjoyable read.

However, I far more enjoyed our caged lion with attitude -- Emilian St. Xavier -- than I did the down-n-out, given up on life in Rex de Warenne.

That being said, it was about the only thing that I liked about A Dangerous Love.

Well written, of course, being a 2008 publication by a well-known and very popular author for at least a decade prior, this was an easy read but not an enjoyable or even exciting one.

There was too much compromise on the part of the leading lady, Ariella, and way too much angst, anger, bitterness, and stubborn refusal on his part for me to want to root for either of them. Actually, I wasn't interested in them getting together about two-thirds of the way through their story.

It also started to read like an anti-bigotry campaign speech as well, and while I am not condoning racism of any kind, this novel helps prove my point that too much opinion or commentary tossed into a romance novel makes for poor or unmemorable romance material.

I've also read other romance novels set in an Historical context that deal with the Romany and understood their plight in a better, far less contrived way than I was forced to have to endure through this particular novel.

Emilian was sexy head to toe, and I liked that about him. I liked, too, that he struggled to live two, separate lives in two, separate worlds. It is both logical and understandable. What wasn't logical or understandable was his inability to concede on a single aspect of that dilemma; especially at his age and for the number of years that he had had the opportunities to examine both sides.

His having drawn a single conclusion makes sense as well, but not his stubborn fight against change. It just didn't work (for me), and based on the remarks made at the Amazon link, others who read this would agree.

As for Ariella, I tried really hard to like her, but it became impossible to do about half the way through this novel.

She was too independent (for the times) and too wishy-washy as well. You either worry about the thoughts/feelings/objections of your father, or you don't. It is that simple. She seemed selfish and one-sided in her pursuit of Emilian, which didn't compute with her supposed love of father/family; all of whom worried for her and warned her against her pursuit of Emilian based on his heartless treatment of her.

At some point, a logical 'modern' woman would say enough is enough -- if he wants me, he knows where to find me. This might just be me, but when someone forces their way into another person's life, I don't see or make the romance connection.

It has already become obvious, based on these two novels alone, that the de Warenne clan are of weak or changeable men and strong-willed, modern women -- two things that do not interest me when reading Historicals.

Hence, if I read another Brenda Joyce novel, it will be something other than from this series.

Sexual Content

This was loaded with steamy intimacy and oral/finger penetration while managing to stay just this side of raunchy.

Emilian is sensual, attractive, and angry: a trio of goodness from a female's perspective on exciting bedroom escapades.

However, he talks and thinks about all of the women he's bedded with a good amount of disdain and hatred, which is both understandable AND off-putting. You'll need to read the book to understand that, though.

Recommendation

If you adore series novels and want to find out all about the de Warenne dynasty, then you need to read this story. It was only slightly confusing to come in in the middle of the series, so again, if you intend to complete the 10-series of novels, read them in perfect order so as not to be the least bit confused about who is whom and who the heck are these people they keep referring to?

Also, if you don't mind learning in-depth details about the Romany plight back in the day and then having to suffer through a lot of bitterness on his part while being a bit confounded by her reactions to it all, then this should be another enjoyable Regency Romance for you.