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    Your Scandalous Ways
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    Your Scandalous Ways
    Unavailable
    Your Scandalous Ways
    Ebook373 pages5 hours

    Your Scandalous Ways

    By Loretta Chase

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    James Cordier is all blue blood and entirely dangerous. He's a master of disguise, a brilliant thief, a first-class lover—all for King and Country—and, by gad, he's so weary of it. His last mission is to "acquire" a packet of incriminating letters from one notorious woman. Then he can return to London and meet sweet-natured heiresses—not adventuresses and fallen women.

    Francesca Bonnard has weathered heartbreak, scorn, and scandal. She's independent, happy, and definitely fallen; and she's learned that "gentlemen" are more trouble than they're worth. She can also see that her wildly attractive new neighbor is bad news.

    But as bad as James is, there are others far worse also searching for Francesca's letters. And suddenly nothing is simple—especially the nearly incendiary chemistry between the two most jaded, sinful souls in Europe. And just as suddenly, risking everything may be worth the prize.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 17, 2009
    ISBN9780061801846
    Unavailable
    Your Scandalous Ways
    Author

    Loretta Chase

    Loretta Chase has worked in academe, retail, and the visual arts, as well as on the streets—as a meter maid—and in video, as a scriptwriter. She might have developed an excitingly checkered career had her spouse not nagged her into writing fiction. Her bestselling historical romances, set in the Regency and Romantic eras of the early nineteenth century, have won a number of awards, including the Romance Writers of America’s RITA®. For more about her past, her books, and what she does and doesn’t do on social media, please visit her website. LorettaChase.com

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    Reviews for Your Scandalous Ways

    3.5/5

    201 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Pairings in historical romances often seem to be a bit imbalanced between the characters. One has all the money or experience or status and the other is in the opposite boat. Those can be fun, but I particularly enjoyed how well suited these two were to each other. It was fun to watch two well matched individuals, with their own lives going on and looking for different things, find a partner. =)
    • 3/5
      Francesca Bonnard has worked hard to have a life with freedom and jewels and pleasure - even if that doesn't include love. James Cordier finds himself enamoured with his new target but he can't afford to forget his mission of vengeance - because Francesca holds the last piece of the puzzle to who betrayed him and his men. This was good. It wasn't great though. I think part of it was that I found it hard to understand. There was a lot of Italian and French words and phrases and while it definitely set the scene and atmosphere, it also tended to jolt me out of the book. The other part was it was somewhat vulgar. The constant references to whores just made me feel uncomfortable. It wasn't that she was having sex for jewels - that was fine. But the way it was spoken about seemed degrading and I didn't like it. The other issue was that I found the first half kind of bland and boring. It felt long and kind of endless. But the second half was a lot better than the first - it picked up speed and had more action and romance and kept my interest. I liked the characters though. Francesca and Cordier were great. And I loved Francesca's friendship with Giulietta. I also came to quite like Lurenze (the Prince) and I loved how him and Cordier find common ground. The plot was alright, pretty straightforward spy suspense. Francesca's hiding spot for the letters was pretty funny. She hides them in the decorative ceiling inside a boy's naked butt and then proceeds to plaster over it - all by herself. Plus she managed to prop up a ladder in the middle of the room so as not to make it even more obvious where it was. But it was also fairly impressive. I like it when characters have clever solutions to things. Francesca and Cordier were good together. I liked their flamboyant personalities and the over the top arguments played out. They were funny. An enjoyable historical romance with a mischievous and daring woman and a dramatic jaded spy. 3 stars.
    • 5/5
      What a wonderful book! The conversations and interaction between the protagonists are delightful, the way they slowly fall for each other...
      And so nice to have a regency set in Venice for once.
    • 4/5
      Hot romance between gorgeous man and beautiful courtesan? Check. Incredible sexual tension? Check. Engaging characters and a clever plot? Check. Set in 1820s Venice, Italy? Check.

      The Kindle version of this book was only $1.99, and Mrs. Giggles gave it a 95 (out of 100) rating. She raved about it, so i decided to give it a try.

      The Venetian setting sets this book apart from other Chase romances, but I think it only adds to the book's wonderfulness.
    • 3/5
      Surprisingly disappointing romance by one of my favorite authors. Unlikely story of courtesan, Francesca Bonnard, who is a divorcee of a prominent Lord in England. Ensconced in Venice, she has some incriminating letters that everyone wants and her life is at risk because of it. Enter Cordier, a Regency James Bond sort of type, who is out to get the letters for the Crown and doesn't hesitate to bed whoever he needs to to get them. Unfortunately, he didn't count on falling for Francesca, despite the fact she is a courtesan. I was bored through much of this, found no chemistry between the two, the plotline was tepid and I really found the HEA ending improbable. Too bad, for I've read much better by Loretta Chase, I guess they all can't be stellar romances.
    • 4/5
      Disappointing for a Loretta Chase book. The entire book takes place in Venice, with a lot of foreign language expressions included (Italian, French). The plot was pretty good. I like James Portier, the lead, very well and he had a good sense of humor. Francesca, the female lead, was a little hard to decipher. I wasn't sure about her motivations or desires. The whole thing dragged in places. Not bad, but not really good either.
    • 5/5
      Chase has demonstrated her genius yet again. Set in 1820's Venice, YSW is a wonderful book full of charm and wit. Francesa Bonnard is an unapologetic courtesan. In fact, she calls herself a "great whore". After she is publicly humiliated and divorced by her husband, she flees to the Continent and becomes a notorious and much sought after woman. James Cordier is a spy for the English government and is anxious to retire and return to England. But his last assignment is to steal a packet of letters from Francesca that are potentially damaging to her ex-husband's political career. Francesca and James are wonderfully intelligent characters, the dialog is witty and the setting was so unusual and realistically portrayed. The humor is wonderfully written as well. This is a very funny book. Here is the first paragraph: "Penises. Everywhere."Ha! That caught my interest immediately and the story never let me go. And the sex scenes are nice and steamy. But there is a lot of depth to this story too. (GRADE: A)
    • 4/5
      Another good Regency-era romance from Chase, this one set in Venice. Francesca is a courtesan, disgraced after being divorced by her traitorous husband. She doesn't trust men, any men. James is a British agent, charged with recovering some incriminating letters that Francesca stole from her ex. He just wants a quiet life. Hijinks ensue.
    • 4/5
      Loretta Chase really doesn't disappoint! Another fun historical romp - this time set in Venice and starring a courtesan and a spy. A delightful, quick read.
    • 4/5
      I read this because Dear Author had given it an A review as one of the best of the year. I did think the first half was pretty interesting, the female heroine WAS a scandalous and seductive "great whore", and you could believe she had made it up in the world on her own willpower. You could feel the feminine sensual power she exuded. However, Franchesca seemed to lose that power as the novel went on, and she dreamed of starting with a "clean slate", and I thought that was disingenuous. Basically she wanted to go back to her girlish, virginish state after she had fallen in love with the hero. She didn't seem to retain any of her earned power by the end, nor want to - which was a disappointment. The male hero was sexy, very alpha male, but still could follow the right *ahem* commands on how to please a lady. Francesca's fall from grace could have been expanded, as there was a lot of unanswered questions which seemed jarring because the author kept sprinkling snippets of info about it. Still, it was an unusual historical romance that didn't follow all the "typical" plots and it was well written.
    • 5/5
      I'm such a big Loretta Chase fan. I'm always eager to head to the bookstore when I know she has a new book coming out because I know I'll be entertained and amused. "Your Scandalous Ways" is no exception. I don't know how she made me enjoy a book about a courtesan I was sure I wouldn't like and a spy who was willing to use sex to get information from his suspects!! But I ended up liking them both, wanting them to be together, and knowing they were perfect for each other.Francesca calls herself a 'great whore'. In reality, she's the highest priced courtesan in Venice, maybe the entire continent, but she did it HER way. After her husband, cheated on her, broke her heart, publicly humiliated her, and divorced her, she fled to the continent. She learned her trade from a famous retired courtesan and uses the information she has on her evil ex to torment him with the possibility of exposure for his past. She doesn't realize that with his current political aims, she's become a danger he can no longer ignore.James just wanted to finish his duties, go home to England, find a quiet biddable wife, get married and raise children and dogs. But, once again, he's now in Venice trying to seduce letters from the continent's most famed courtesan. With all his experience and all his knowledge, he never expected to fall under her spell himself.Now danger is all around these two and they must learn to love and trust each other...or die.Loved it!! She's a strong woman who survived the worst life could throw at her and he's a man who was willing to sacrifice his all for his country. They deserved happiness and they deserved each other. You'll laugh and snicker at their 'courtship' and be rooting for their success.
    • 4/5
      Before I comment I have to say that Loretta Chase is in my Top Five Favorite Authors list and giving her such a low rating makes me want to weep. I enjoyed the book but somehow, even with the lovely Venetian setting, the fallen-woman heroine, the yummy hero, the trademark Chase humor, this book falls just a bit short of great. A co-worker, another Chase fanatic, was even more disappointed than I was. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of any Avon publications, they usually lack a lot of depth, more reading fluff than reading dept, so I hope Chase hasn't fallen too deeply into the Avon guidelines, it would be such a waste of her immense talent.