A Dangerous Love
Brenda Joyce
ISBN-10: 0373772750
ISBN-13: 978-0373772759
HQN, April 2008, 384 pp
Series: The de Warenne Dynasty
Victorian Era
$ 7.99 (US) $ 8.50 (CDN)
Reviewed by Laurel
April 2008
In a life of confusion, denial and shame Viscount Emilian St. Xavier is out for one thing revenge – against the “gadjo’s”. Taken from his mother and way of life at the age of twelve, he lived with his father. When a gypsy camp arrives to impart the news that his mother was stoned to death, he is filled with regret, remorse and a deep need for revenge. Willing to throw his title away and travel with the caravan provides him the perfect plan and Ariella de Warenne, a young independent, smart and intelligent woman provides the opportunity. But when a night of reckless and wild lovemaking causes nothing but pain and devastation, Emilian is forced to examine his motives and true desires.
They say that when a de Warenne falls in love it’s for keeps and Ariella de Warenne is proving just that. When a gypsy camp settles on her land Rose Hill she has a natural curiosity about this lifestyle, customs and people. Sneaking out of the house she ventures to the camp and spies a very erotic dance and suddenly locks eyes with which she thinks is their leader Emilian. Taken aback with the intense and very passionate emotions she is experiencing; Ariella seeks him out to Woodland on a dare. She thinks this is the start of something beautiful, she believes he is wildly in love with her as she is with him. But the next morning she wakes up glorious and her heart and world is torn in two. The kind and passionate man she surrendered her virginity to, was telling the truth after all…he would seduce, ruin and forget about her all in one night. Humiliated she confides in her cousin Margery, and tries to forget about Emilian but he is not willing to let her. Casting these two into a very turbulent and fiery relationship as neither is ready to let the other go.
A Dangerous Love is an intense and wild read. It starts off with a bang and does not let up. While I was thrown for a chapter or two at the sudden and complete change in Ariella, I could understand it. She was a smart and sensible woman unprepared for fate to throw a deeply scarred and very angry man her way. Brenda Joyce has a unique way of exposing her character’s flaws and bad traits. But she also takes the care to show the regret and remorse as guilt takes a hold of Emilian as he works through his grief and life of bigotry and shame. She is also an author that follows her muse and allows bad things to happen to good people, which may upset sensitive readers who do not like any type of abuse or misfortune to befall the main characters.
I enjoyed A Dangerous Love as it's an exciting, passionate and a emotionally charged novel, I enjoyed the characters and chemistry between them. I look forward to reading more about this new generation as Brenda Joyce moves her de Warenne Dynasty in the Victorian Era. There were some questions left unanswered that I am curious to read about. It’s a great start to a new era and a novel I won’t easily forget.