A Notorious Love (Swanlea Spinsters, Book 2)

by Sabrina Jeffries

Book Overview

Helena Laverick is at her wits' end! The only man who can help find her eloping young sister is that scoundrel Daniel Brennan--the man who played with her emotions last year and then left. And he used... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380818035
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Avon
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Notoriously Good

This is the 2nd book in the Swanlea sisters trilogy and is the story of Helena, the oldest daughter. Helena has a crippled leg from a childhood bout of Polio and guards her heart with her sharp tongue. She has been rejected because of her disability and distrusts men. When her youngest sister runs off with a fortune hunter, she attempts to track her and ends up in London. Her sister and brother in law are out of the country on their honeymoon and she turns to her brother in laws former man of affairs, Daniel Brennan. Daniel is the son of a notorious highwayman but has made a name and fortune for himself by being a whiz with investments. Helena is attracted to Daniel but hides it out of fear of rejection. Daniel is surprised to find Helena alone, unchaperoned on his doorstep and not expecting her opens the door in his drawers. Daniel is a huge but handsome man and Helena is fascinated to see his body so exposed, but shocked to find he has a prostitute in his room. When she insists that she needs his help, he comes to her rescue. Daniel is secretly attracted to Helena, but fears rejection because of his background and class. Daniel and Helena find out her sisters elopement is actually a kidnapping and team up to save her. On their quest they must pose as husband and wife and through circumstances can no longer hide their desire for one another. This is a wonderful story not just because of the intrigue and sexual attraction, but the struggle each character deals with on their "perceived imperfections". Daniel fears being rejected by Helena because of his social status and Helena fears being rejected by Daniel because of her physical ailments. When they confront these fears everything combusts and the passion is unstoppable. I enjoyed this one even better than the first book and am looking forward to the last sister, Juliets story, in After the Abduction.

Captivating all the way to the last word

I enjoyed this novel from beginning to end. This was just the kind of romance novel I love. Wonderful characters. Characters that seem real because they are not perfect-something most novels like this lack. There are interesting plot twists and we get to know several secondary characters well. The secondary characters are not boring. The chemistry between Daniel & Helena was very sensual and immediate. Wonderful love story, great characters with an emotionally scarred hero and strong but vulnerable heroine, unique setting, intriguing plot, edge-of-your-seat pacing, heart-tugging emotion, excellent writing, intense sensual love scenes, and a superb ending. It was written with an amazing level of intensity and feeling that my heart was pumping furiously with both the palatable passion and the keen sense of danger infused in the story. Daniel & Helena were both wounded, intriguing, complex, wonderful characters. The action/suspense was fast-paced and thrilling. The sex was HOT and perfect for the story. Sabrina Jeffries stories are humorous, romantic and interesting - and she is excellent and creating characters that are real, interesting people. You want to know them better! This was a really good novel. The plot was interesting and it kept you interested in what was going to happen next.It has intrigue, passion, revenge, and "wow" sensual tension. Most of all is the character development. Sabrina Jeffries knows how to make bad boys hot and steamy. I absolutely loved this book. The author has a great gift in her ability to develop characters. I must have laughed a hundred times and I absolutely couldn't put the book down until I was finished. Danny is handsome, sexy, intelligent, but embittered by life. I am always a sucker for stories with "heartless" heroes who find their souls through the love of a good woman. From page one the characters in this charming book reached out and grabbed me. Page after page I just got sucked in deeper until I closed the book with a happy sigh. All I can say in conclusion is if you like a good, emotional, heart-tugging historical, with characters that leap off the pages, buy A Notorious Love.

Daniel & Helena's story

This was a beautiful book. It had a lot to do with compassion, and I admired it for that. Helena is a woman with a bad leg, due to polio from childhood. She had just enough gritty determination to rehabilitate herself (along with her sister Rosalind's help), and regained use of her other leg. However, Helena suffers from insecurity, due to the bum leg. Once, a suitor rejected her, just because of this impediment. She took it to heart, and she spends most of the book trying to loosen up & overcome this obstical, more mental than anything else. Daniel is a man with a once shady past. When Helena comes to him for help, he is a bit unsure at first, but when her story of her sister Juliet's abduction unfolds, he can't help but want to help. Especially, since he has been attracted to Helena for some time now (see "A Dangerous Love", the first book in the series). The two set off on a journey to find Juliet, who suppossedly has eloped. It does not take long to uncover that she has not eloped, but actually been kidnapped, not for ransom, but for information about the arrival of a certain ship. During their journey, Daniel succeeds in breaking down Helena's barriers about her leg. He tells her what a fool the other suitor was. She gains self confidence, and the two fall in love. Over the summer, I will plan to read the next 2 books in the series, After the Abduction, and Dance of Seduction. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a romance book about overcoming obsticles & prejudices.

Notoriously HOT!

In this marvelous offering from Sabrina Jeffries's follow-up to A Dangerous Love, readers are re-introduced to Lady Helena Laverick. She is a bit of a stick in the mud, ever-so-proper, and distrusts most men on sight. Lady Helena, does have a history with Daniel Brennan from the previous novel and it is touched on and explained here briefly. When she finds that her sister Juliet has eloped with a man she feels is a fortune hunter; and subsequent digging lead her to believe the man might also be a smuggler; she enlists the aid of Daniel Brennan knowing that his past associations with smugglers might help her in saving her sister. When Daniel answers her knock on his door dressed only in his drawers she is embarrassed but secretly captivated and would like to have stared only it would not have been seemly for the disciple of Mrs. Nunley's Guide to Etiquette for Young Ladies. It was only her unfailing love and terror of her sister's plight that would have led Helena to renew her acquaintance with Daniel who had proven himself false to her before, but she needed his assistance and knew that he would be discreet. If not for her, she knew he would do whatever was necessary for the sake of her brother-in-law who Daniel had once worked for.Daniel would have liked to have set out alone to follow the pair but Helena was determined that she would accompany him. Daniel had to fight his attraction to her every step of the way. But Helena is determined to help find her sister, and maybe if she provoked Daniel enough she just might see that underneath her animosity, she was fighting her own fatal attraction.With her trademark hot sensuality and outrageously humorous dialog, the reader is once again in for a wonderful non-stop read. I loved that again, she has give us a heroine that is flawed, with a crippled leg, and love the way our hero teaches the heroine that the only flaw, was Helena's way of thinking. This was a beautiful, funny, feel-good, and sensual story that is a wonderful addition to this trilogy. I am looking forward to the next sequel with heartfelt anticipation

Two for Two in This "Love" Series

I gave this 5 stars because it's a good story and a delightful page-turning read. As with the first book in this series of three sisters (A Dangerous Love) it's about unconventional pairings in a sweet love story. Ms Jeffries writes about interesting, feisty women and loving, strong-minded men. She doesn't bore the reader with pages of descriptions that are not relevant to moving the tale along. Her love scenes are provocative but still romantic and believable. As Rosalind and Griff were good together in Number One, Helena and Daniel are perfect in Number Two. We are all guessing...SEQUEL and Number Three has got to be about Juliet and her mysterious captor/savior Morgan Pryce. Ms. Jeffries other books are good, too. She has a nice sense of humor and her books are a joy to read. You can't go wrong.