Lady Beware - Jo Beverley

For generations, the Cave family has been marked by scandal, madness, and violence. But after earning a reputation for bravery in the army, Horatio Cave, the new Viscount Darien, has come home to charm London society and restore the family name. He means to start with the lovely Lady Thea Debenham. The magnetism between them is immediate, but can Thea trust the dark, sexy "Vile Viscount"?
And will Thea's brother Dare-the most dashing member of the Company of Rogues-believe that Horatio does not deserve the cursed Cave reputation?

At the end of To Rescue a Rogue we meet Horatio Cave, Viscount Darien, who has a little part in making society accept Dare. When Lady Beware opens, and what a wonderful opening chapter that one is, we discover exactly what Darien was up to that night.

Darien comes from a very troubled, to say the least, family. His only relative is his younger brother who has recently been refused by his beloved’s father because he belongs to a family of murderers and rapists. Knowing that Darien is quite determined to change the family’s reputation and be well accepted in society so his brother may be an eligible party. He comes up with a plan to help Darius Debenham if his sister Thea will agree to become his fiancée.

Although Thea agrees under duress she is quite determined to find a way out, but she doesn’t count on her mother being so grateful to Darien she decides to accompany him everywhere to show her support and thus throwing them together. I really liked their interaction, Darien is a bit of a tortured hero but it’s not overdone and he never gets too demanding with Thea. And she starts to appreciate their interaction as much as I did pretty soon, there comes a point in when it is he who doesn’t want to compromise her and attach her to his family. There’s almost no conflict between them and Beverley manages to show a rather sensible heroine, who feels she may be a bit boring, truly appreciate her daring hero who makes her want to be more adventurous.

There’s a subplot involving a mystery of who keeps leaving blood in his doorstep to remind people of the murder his brother committed and another about Thea’s (idiot) cousin and a fellow officer who his less than noble. The climax of these 2 mysteries will lead them to a shocking situation where Thea finds herself in great danger and Darien almost arrives too late but it’s definitely the turning point for Darien to change his reputation.

Characters of not only the Rogue series but also of the Wraybourne series show in these books and as I mentioned previously it’s better if you read them in order. Readers not familiar with the series might find odd that the Rogues keep being mentioned and how over protective they are of each other and people they care.

Grade: 4/5