The Devil's Delilah

In a nutshell: The daughter of a notorious member of Society is determined to stop her father from publishing his scandalous memoirs. To help her in this goal is a bookworm who seems far too muddled to be a proper hero. My opinion: Not your typical run-of-the-mill romance hero, Jack Langdon is neither dashing nor scandalously improper. Not until he meets Delilah Desmond, that is. She seems to bring out his wild side in a delightfully amusing way. She is the daughter of a man known as Devil Desmond, a man who was scorned by Society for marrying an actress. Having been given the example of two very unconventional parents, she is predictably unconventional herself. And yet, I did not find her to be annoyingly belligerent, or "know-it-all" as so often happens with heroines of her nature. These were two characters I quite liked and found myself rooting for. Delilah's father is one of the best "dark" characters I've ever read. 4.4 stars overall. It is very well-written, with plenty of little historical details. This story is connected to Viscount Vagabond, the heroes being friends, and I found that, while I really enjoyed Jack's story, comparatively it lacked something that I can't quite put my finger on...

This one was better than most of her other Trads that I've read, and very good, but nowhere near as great as single titles like Lord of Scoundrels, Lord Perfect or Mr. Impossible, to mention just three. Still, I liked it enough for 4 stars. Jack Langdon and Delilah Desmond meet at an inn, when Jack finds Delilah holding his best friend's father at gunpoint. Jack jumps to exactly the wrong conclusion and tries to interfere, only to find out later, to his chagrin, that Delilah is no criminal, but the daughter of a well-known former rake, and that she's not trying to rob the Earl of Streetham, but defending herself against him (the lovely man had assumed she was a maid, and thus fair game). Delilah is worried, very worried. All her chances of making a good, respectable marriage (thus providing for security for herself and her parents), are hanging in the balance, because her father has written his memoirs, and it's obvious that if they were published, the scandal would be enormous. To make things worse, he's actually gone and offered them to a publisher, and now the man is chasing them, alternating between trying to convince her father to hand the manuscript over and trying to steal it. Realizing that Jack is a really nice guy, Delilah asks for his help with hiding the manuscript. At the same time, the Earl of Streetham, who has an interest both in making money from the manuscript and in getting some revenge on Devil Desmond, enlists his son, Jack's friend to help him. And so starts a huge farce, in which people cross and double-cross each other, steal, hide, bury, unbury and rewrite the manuscript and, last, but not least, fall in love. What I loved: - Jack: I loved this absent-minded bookworm of a hero, who finds himself captivated by this young woman who couldn't be more unlike him if she tried. And the way he falls for her, despite his best efforts not to, is vintage Loretta Chase. It reminded me a little bit of Benedict's reactions to Bathsheba in Lord Perfect. - Delilah's father, Devil: I just loved that the absent-minded bookworm was the love interest, while the dangerous, feared rogue was the heroine's father. Devil's reactions to some of Delilah and Jack's more clumsy attempts at romance were hilarious. - The writing: Chase is a genious at smart and witty writing, and her dialogue sparkles. What I didn't much care for: - The whole to-do about that cursed manuscript: So and so has it, so and so hides it, so and so is pressured by yet another so-and-so to steal it, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseam. After a while, I didn't know (or care) who had it and where, and wanted nothing more than for Chase to forget about it and concentrate on Jack and Delilah. Of course, the good parts were many more than the annoying one, and I quite enjoyed TDD.

I've read all of Loretta Chase's novels, and this (along with Lord of Scoundrels) has to be my favorite. The hero is not a rake or a rogue, which is a nice change, although he still manages to be quite heroic and sexy. I adore him almost as much as Delilah does. And Delilah is a delight, from beginning to end. And then there are her fascinating parents--why, oh why, doesn't Chase write a novel about THEM? This is one of those wonderful, rare stories where you turn the last page feeling completely satisfied, and yet wanting more. The kind of story where you are absolutely certain that these two different yet ideally suited people really will live happily ever after and have a great deal of fun doing it.

This is one of Loretta's best books. It was so much fun that when I started to read it, I could not put it down. Jack Langdon and Delilah are a perfect match. Sparks fly when ever they are together and it is so exciting. I also loved Lord Berne. He was naughty but I could not help loving him. I had hoped she would use him in another story.