Sleeping Rogues will keep you awake…
This was my first foray into the writing style of Sabrina Jeffries. Let Sleeping Rogues Lie also happens to be the fourth book in the School for Heiresses series, which, if this book is any indication of the quality, I need to RUN to go read the first three, then the fifth, because I erroneously selected what turns out to be the last in the series during my last trip to the library!
I refuse to do this series the injustice of revealing the identity of the mysterious “Cousin Michael” before I even got to read more of the intrigue surrounding that character & the headmistress Mrs. Harris in the other books….but I’m getting ahead of myself.
In this lovely, delicious novel, our heroine Madeline Prescott is a bluestocking (my favorite variety), and she is a teacher at Mrs. Harris’s School for Young Ladies, a prestigious academy for girls with a fortune to inherit.
Our intrepid and scholastic Madeline has a secret, and her double life will lead her to proposition Anthony Dalton, Viscount Norcourt, into giving “rake lessons” at the school. To better prepare the heiresses to fend off the advances of “beasts masquerading as gentlemen” who would say and do anything to get their paws on these ladies’ fortunes. A concept that to this day holds very true… hold on to your pocketbooks, girls.
Anthony is cornered into the deal by the very fact that his life is one of licentious excess and debauchery, while in his current bachelor state is now a point of contention against him since he recently inherited the title, and in turn, the almost-guardianship of his cousin Tessa.
But–the plot thickens–his Aunt and Uncle are mean and calculating and seek to make Tessa’s life a living nightmare, much as they did to Anthony when he was but a lad, and his father shipped him off to their house after the death of his mother.
I will not give away the details of his abuse, as it is crucial to much of the plot, but needless to say, he is motivated enough to want to change his ways for the sake of his cousin. Madeline, however, has been busy trying to hide the secret of the scandal regarding her father and the very same Aunt & Uncle that Anthony is doing battle against.
The heat between Anthony and Madeline begins to simmer before the first chapter is even over! Their first encounter was so well written and original (to me) that I had to reread it immediately. Lovely… and it just kept getting better. His experience, her curiosity, and her well-read background are a recipe for some HOT encounters.
It carries on in this way–while expertly progressing the plot along–until about the third to last chapter. Then it seems that it got wrapped up too quickly, but that is probably due to the fact that, as a couple, Anthony and Madeline were well matched, and I hated to see it end, but the book could realistically only go on for so long. I am, however, motivated to read more by this author if this book is at all a true sample of her style.
This is one book that I recommend you do not let lie, but instead pick it up and prepare to be kept awake reading!
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