Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

In Beyond Heaving Bosoms, the authors refer to Sebastian Ballister (hero from Lord of Scoundrels) as an alpha hero where we can understand his a-holishness, or doesn't cross into "utterly-unredeemable". (pg 78)

What do you think? Is Sebastian really a reformed rake that you can still love?

Read the book with us this February and come back to comment ;)

Average Rating on Goodreads: 4.18

Description on Goodreads:
Damn the minx for tempting him, kissing him... and then forcing him to salvage her reputation! Lord Dain can't wait to put the infuriating bluestocking in her place--and in some amorous position. And if that means marriage, so be it!--though Sebastian is less than certain he can continue to remain aloof... and steel his heart to the sensuous, headstrong lady's considerable charms

Try the book out for free:
The publisher has kindly provided the first 69 pages of the book for you to peruse on their website:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780380776160

I've wanted to read this particular book for a while because it has received such high praise. It's part of a series, but the first two books in the series are harder for me to find.

Does anyone know if it's important to read the first two books in this series before reading this one?

Here are the first two books. Book 1 is also mentioned in BHB.

I second Flib's question. I've always wanted to read this book, but I'm aware its not the first of the series, so I'm curious whether I need to read them in order.

I scanned through the reviews here and found nothing saying to read the other books first. But there are an awful lot of 5 star reviews! Looks like we're in for a good read. :O)

Found a link to a chapter by chapter review of the book over at the Smart Bitches Trashy Books blog: Review

I sent an inbasket message to Danielle the Book Huntress to see if she could comment on whether we should read the first two books in the series first.

Her review says it is one of her favorite books of all time :)

You all have been talking about this book for some time. So I've got it on order and will read it this month.

I read this book a few weeks ago. It is one of my favorites. I loved the banter between the h/h.

I didn't read the first two books in the series after reading some of my GR friends reviews. By not reading the first two I didn't feel lost or that I was missing something.

I have had this on my TBR list for a while so I am going to join in on this one too! I hear nothing but good things about it so I am excited for this one!

Hi, Ladies. I don't think you need to read the first books first to enjoy this one. It was the first book I read by LC. Go for it!

Thanks Danielle! :O)

You can go on the autors web site and they usually have there books in series order. You can tell by that. I want to read this too based on Danielles reviews.

Enjoying my reread of LoS so much that I wanted to share these lines with you - goes along with Nikki's comment about enjoying the banter between H/h.

"I love these pet names," she said, gazing soulfully up into his eyes. "Nitwit. Sapskull. Termagant. How they make my heart flutter!"

"Then you'll be in raptures with a few other names I have in mind," he said. "How can you be such an idiot?"

Finished this tonight and I was really disappointed. I have been wanting to read this for a while now because I know it is a favorite of many romance readers but it just didn't do it for me. I felt like the story was really very disjointed. There was really no main conflict to be resolved just several little ones that were overcome quickly. I just love Jessica, might be a favorite heroine for me but other that that I didn't think this was all that great. There were some good lines of dialog but I did not feel the chemistry between the characters enough to really enjoy the clever banter. So I have to say this earns two stars from me. :( Bummer!

So, I finished Lord of Scoundrels tonight. Like Jennefer, I was also disappointed...

I wrote a review if you'd like to see some of my madness when reading this book.

I should say, though... I did like some of the lines in this book a lot... :)

For example, I like this one from the hero:

"Dainty Lady Dain. She tastes like rain. She is a great pain. In the arse. Ma com' e bella. Molto bella. Very beautiful... pain... in the arse."

to which his heroine responds:
"That doesn't rhyme."

hehehe

I love your review Flib! Very cute :)

Hmm. Should I read this next...or push it to the bottom of the pile? ;o)

I really liked this so I would recommend reading it now. I made the mistake of starting it at 1am (wasn't tired yet) and stayed up all night reading. It's worth reading for the H/h interaction, and the ridiculous brother (I love him - reminds me of mine!). The story is fast moving so the cringe worthy parts are over quickly. I gave it 5 stars (something I don't usually do) because as soon as I finished it, I wanted to pick it up and read it again.

i just got done reading this the other day - i have to admit that I liked there wasn't a huge conflict...it seems like so often in lots of different books there is this huge conflict and the H/h fight all the time and then at the end of the book, all of the sudden its like, i love you, i love you, forget the conflict...this seems a bit more believable...and you sort of already knew who the bad person was, so it wasn't like it a surprise and a let down (like other series)...but like anything, to each his or her own ;)