“Spencer is my new auto-buy!” —New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Hoyt What sort of lady doesn’t make her debut until the age of thirty-two? A timeless beauty with a mysterious past—and a future she intends to take into her own hands . . . Lady Euphemia Marlington hasn’t been free in seventeen years—since she was captured by Corsairs and sold into a harem. Now the sultan is dead and Mia … sold into a harem. Now the sultan is dead and Mia is back in London facing relentless newspapermen, an insatiably curious public, and her first Season. Worst of all is her ashamed father’s ultimatum: marry a man of his choosing or live out her life in seclusion. No doubt her potential groom is a demented octogenarian. Fortunately, Mia is no longer a girl, but a clever woman with a secret—and a plan of her own . . .
Adam de Courtney’s first two wives died under mysterious circumstances. Now there isn’t a peer in England willing to let his daughter marry the dangerously handsome man the ton calls The Murderous Marquess. Nobody except Mia’s father, the desperate Duke of Carlisle. Clearly Mia must resemble an aging matron, or worse. However, in need of an heir, Adam will use the arrangement to his advantage . . .
But when the two outcasts finally meet, assumptions will be replaced by surprises, deceit by desire—and a meeting of minds between two schemers may lead to a meeting of hearts—if the secrets of their pasts don’t tear them apart . . .
“Minerva Spencer’s writing is sophisticated and wickedly witty. Dangerous is a delight from start to finish with swashbuckling action, scorching love scenes, and a coolly arrogant hero to die for.”
—New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Hoyt
“Readers will love this lusty and unusual marriage of convenience story.”
—New York Times bestselling author Madeline Hunter
“Smart, witty, graceful, sensual, elegant and gritty all at once. It has all of the meticulous attention to detail I love in Georgette Heyer, BUT WITH SEX!”
—RITA-award winning author Jeffe Kennedy
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Minerva Spencer’s writing is sophisticated and wickedly witty. Dangerous is a delight from start to finish with swashbuckling action, scorching love scenes, and a coolly arrogant hero to die for.
Take everything you know about marriages of convenience and set it aside. With DANGEROUS, Minerva Spencer takes that troupe and makes it fresh and exciting. The main characters, Mia and Adam are older than the norm and both have a past. Mia spent 17 years in a harem and Adam allegedly caused the death of his first two wives. So of course, there will be lies and misunderstandings between the two, right? Nope, they talk to each other. They act like real people. In fact, the characters are so well drawn by the author, they do feel real. They drive the plot forward with actions and decisions that seem inevitable, but never predictable. I couldn’t wait to see where they’d lead me next.
The romance is sigh-worthy, the sex hot and steamy, and the action is nothing short of swashbuckling—you’ll have to read the book to know what I’m talking about. And you should definitely read the book! Looking forward to the next Outcast!
WOW – This book was amazing and the blurb does not do it justice.
Lady Euphemia “Mia” Marlington spent 17 years as a concubine in Sultan Baba Hassan’s palace. She was captured as a young girl by barbary pirates while enroute to a convent school. But with the death of the sultan, she was able to escape and has returned to England. At the age of 32, she is no simpering debutante, but her father is determined to marry her off. Mia goes along with his plan, because she has secrets and plans of her own, which necessitate a husband.
Adam de Courtney, Marquess of Exley, is not in the market for another wife. After the mysterious death of his first two wives, he has been labeled the Murderous Marquess by the ton and is basically a pariah. He has 3 young daughters and does need an heir, but what family would marry their daughter off to a man who may have killed his first two wives? The Duke of Carlisle! Mia’s father invites Adam to a dinner to meet his daughter. Adam is at first not interested, but his curiosity is peaked. When he meets Mia, he is shocked, she is definitely not the ugly crone he was expecting and the brief conversation he shared with her has only increased his interest.
He calls on her two days later and proposes, she accepts. They marry and Adam totally botches their wedding night. Mia needs to get things going between them, she promised him an heir and she intends to keep that promise, but she also plans to leave him. When Adam asks her to attend the theater, she gladly accepts and is delighted by his friends. She also has a confrontation with his former mistress and I loved not only Mia’s reaction, but Adam’s as well. Too often, authors have the hero treat the heroine badly and defend the “other woman” even if he is no longer with her and that annoys the heck out of me but thankfully that is not the case in this book! As they ride home, he is expecting her to confront him about the mistress, but she doesn’t say a word. He is relieved and asks her to join him for a drink. They play cards and eventually make their way to the bedroom.
They spend the next few days getting to know one another and delight in each other’s company. It is clear that they are falling in love, but they are both keeping secrets and Mia still plans to leave. They finally retire to his estate and she meets his daughters. Adam is happy for the first time in years, Mia is everything he could ever want. When they discover that she is pregnant, he is over the moon. Mia realizes she cannot leave, she is in love with Adam, but she can’t desert her son. She decides that she will send him money and recruits a handsome footman to help her. But Adam walks in and misunderstands the scene. He is heartbroken and angry, he has been duped again. Mia tries to bluff her way out of the awkward scene, but only makes things worse. Adam shuts her out completely. She doesn’t know how to make things right and then learns distressing news about her son. She believes she has no choice and leaves Adam.
When Adam learns she left, he immediately follows and when he learns the truth is hurt all over again that she didn’t trust him. With so many secrets and so much distrust is there anyway these two can find their way back to each other?
This was an incredible story, with likable leads, steamy love scenes, secrets, lies, wonderful secondary characters, some action and adventure and finally an emotional and beautiful ending AND an epilogue set years later. There are a couple of little title/address errors, but I assume those will be corrected before publication and really didn’t distract me from the story. I loved this story and cannot wait for the next book featuring Hugh! Highly Recommended!
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*
Minerva Spencer’s Dangerous is one of those books that will go on my keeper shelf! It’s sensual, fast-paced, and has an action-packed ending that had me on the edge of my seat. Both Adam and Mia have events from their past that have molded them. Mia is a curiosity to the ton, and Adam is ostracized from the society he was born into. He needs a strong woman to draw him from the dark shadow he now lives under, and Mia is the perfect woman to show him that love is still possible.
This story also takes the reader from London to the country, then to Northern Africa. I don’t wish to give too much away, but the journey is fraught with danger, heroics, and the introduction of a new character that I’d enjoy seeing get his own story. I highly recommend this book.
Smart, witty, graceful, sensual, elegant, and gritty all at once. It has all of the meticulous attention to detail I love in Georgette Heyer, BUT WITH SEX!
Marriage of convenience fans, rejoice! Dangerous was a refreshingly different novel, but with all the things we love about a classic Regency romance imbedded in its DNA.
DANGEROUS is a superbly written Regency with a unique storyline I could not put down. It completely distracted me from everything else in my life. Laundry went unfolded, I only applied mascara to one eye, and I’m fairly certain I never changed out of my pajamas. But I did remember to feed my children, so I have that going for me.
Mia is a wickedly clever and fiercely loyal heroine. She’s the ride or die friend you’d want at your back, and it’s delightfully apparent the hero, Adam, has no defenses for her particular charms. And Mia is able to see through Adam’s arrogant facade and glimpses a gentleness that conflicts with his Murderous Marquess moniker. But they each have secrets that stand in the way of their HEA, and watching them learn to trust each other was immensely satisfying.
Bring on book two in the Outcasts series, BARBAROUS!
Minerva Spencer, has clear, concise prose and well-developed characters that only hover in stereotypes. She succeeds in entertaining readers by providing tried and true romance tropes in a new way as well as a setting that hovers in the background, one uncommon in romance at the present time: the seraglio. These ingredients are combined with swashbuckling pirates and cool aloof English lords, lots of hot love scenes.
Dangerous starts off with the heroine’s, Lady Euphemia (Mia) Marlington, return from being captured by Corsairs pirates, being imprisoned in a sultan’s seraglio, bearing the sultan a son, then escaping from the harem after seventeen years at the ripe old age of thirty-two. However, all this take place off camera, so to speak. Mia returns to England and her Count of Carlisle father, who describes her as “no longer a girl” and alludes her captivity by saying she has “been away for some time” in his efforts to either pawn her off on men who were “senile, hideous, brainless, diseased, or some combination thereof” or sentence her to a life of isolation. In turn, Mia, considers poisoning her father, after all, “in the harem poison was a perfectly reasonable solution to one’s problems.”
Adam de Courtney, the hero, is persona non grata among the ton. He muses that “few people, and none of them bearing the title ‘duke’ had been eager to associate with [him] for almost ten years, not since he’d been dubbed the ‘Murderous Marquess.’” He has children—all daughters— by two wives, so requires an heir.
Dangerous utilizes the two romance tropes. (1) The marriage of convenience. Mia and Adam and heroine marry to provide him an heir and her a safe home without the social isolation threatened by her father. They feel no love for each other, however, they have strong sexual attraction that each is convinced they can control. They, in true romance novel fashion, become happily married sex-addicts. (2) The tortured hero and/or heroine. In this case, Mia’s secret is her long stay in the seraglio. Adam de Courtney’s first two wives died under mysterious circumstances, so he is lives under a cloud of malicious gossip.
The heroine and hero are both a bit older than the average romance duos and, though they do have occasional misunderstandings, are able to act like adults and to communicate with each other.
This book was written for those readers who enjoy Regency romance. In essence, Dangerous, provides lots of rip-roaring fun. Readers can also look forward to Ms. Spencer’s second novel in The Outcasts Series, Barbarous, being released October 30, 2018.
Dangerous by Minerva Spencer is a very exciting book, full of emotion, adventure and hoards of memorable characters. Minerva is a new author to me and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style. I really, really liked this story! It was unique, captivating and full of humour. The storyline itself sets this book apart and makes it stand out. The plot is HUGE, unpredictable and extraordinarily well done. The characters are amazing! They all seemed so real and there was a lot of them. This book was incredibly difficult to put down! A page turner through and through.
What a wonderful swashbuckling romance! It’s a perfect summertime escape book that will keep you up all night. You won’t want it to end!!
So I enjoyed this one, and I also see why Elizabeth Hoyt enjoyed this one. The highlight of this book was the dialogue. Verbal sparring between Adam and Mia was off the charts amazing! Mia, recently sprung from a harem with her adult son, is having a hard time fitting into to London society. Marrying the Murdering Marquess, aka Adam, seems the perfect solution to her scheme to return to her son and her adoptive culture. Adam’s ostracism from society (which seems to stem from his inability to choose wives carefully) doesn’t bother the outrageous Mia. Watching their relationship grow especially as Adam begins to realize how little Mia has been cared for during her entire life is a joy. If you like your romance a little racy with plenty of fencing (both verbal and physical) this is the book for you!
What a wonderful first book! It starts out slowly as you get introduced to the hero, Adam, and heroine Euphemia (aka Mia). As you get to know them you won’t want to put it down. As a young teen, Mia was sent to a school near the Mediterranean Sea. Her ship was taken by pirates and she was sold into a mid-eastern harem. Seventeen years later, she escaped and was returned to England. She finds her homeland cold and confusing. Her father wants her married and off his hands. At her age (32), she doesn’t expect much.
Adam Exley is called the Murderous Marquess as he has been married twice and both women died. He is handsome, wealthy and would like to remarry as he has three daughters to raise. Mia accepts his proposal, but things do not go smoothly. Mia has secrets that she won’t share even though she is falling in love with him. In his anger, he pushes her away. When he discovers she is gone and in danger, he goes after her with help from some very interesting friends.
There is so much more going on I’ve left a lot out of this review so I don’t spoil the secrets. I couldn’t put it down and can’t wait for the next one in this series! Minerva Spencer may be a new author, but she’s an automatic buy for me now.
This is the first book in a series by Minerva Spencer, a new author to me and one I will keep in my list of favorites. The book is a great story with a HEA. Great characters and well written with very entertaining dialogue. Both lead characters were out of the ordinary people shaped by their past and you can’t help but love them. Mia lived in a harem since age 14 and Adam has been widowed twice. If you are looking for a new series that you can’t put down- this is it!
I feel like a have uncovered a treasure. I won this book in a contest on FB and I am so glad that I did. Dangerous is an exciting and thrilling read – very, very different from a typical Regency romance. Euphemia Marlington (Mia) is an amazing heroine. She is in her early 30’s which immediately sets her apart from other Regency heroines. But even more fascinating, she has spent most of her years living in a Harem. The hero in the story is Adam de Courtney, The Marquess of Exley has a horrifying reputation. He is murmured to be a murderer. Bringing the two together proves to be Dangerous.
“Adam listened to her soft, rhythmic breathing and stared at the riot of hair spread across his body. It was like a living thing, like the strong, seeking tendrils of red seaweed, and it wove and wrapped itself around him. Its hold was inexorable and he was slipping beneath the waves, without even so much as a struggle.”
Spencer spins an amazing tale that gets extremely steamy. There are quite a few sex scenes although the lovers are married.
I loved the book and found it to be wonderfully unique. I can’t wait to read the next in the series Barbarous.
Can not wait for the next one-great new author to follow!!
This first book in a new series by a new author grabbed me immediately, The story is different, the characters are compelling and their relationship is soooo sexy! If you like steamy, action-filled, emotional and interesting historicals, this is one for you….
Great fun.
What an amazing debut from Minerva Spencer. This book has it all – fabulous characters, a wonderful plot and such a wonderful setting. Her writing drew me in instantly and had me hooked from the first page. I loved the heroine Mia – she was so unconventional that I found myself eager to see what she’d get up to next. And the hero, Adam? Well he was just delicious! I love an angst driven hero and Adam was that in spades!! This was a keeper and I’m so looking forward to Minerva’s future books.
Readers will love this lusty and unusual marriage of convenience story.
Dangerous by Minerva Spencer
The Outcasts #1
What fun this book was! I love reading new-to-me authors that create wonderful stories and make me want to read more books of theirs when I finish. This was just such a book 🙂
Euphemia “Mia” Marlington is a woman with a past…a past not many of us would have survived. I admired her not only for her ability to survive but also because she is a splendid person who is warm and generous and knows more about life and what she wants than most. I loved her openness and wisdom and her ability to be forthright without being forward…well…perhaps a bit forward.
Adam de Courtney, Marquess of Exley was complex and intriguing and a brilliant match for Mia. He was closed off in many ways due to his past and yet that past was, when revealed, not one that should have wreaked the havoc on his life that it did. I liked him and I liked him with Mia even more than I liked either of them alone.
This story has wonderful supporting characters that I would love to see in stories of their own. I found the hero and heroine to be people I would love to meet and get to know. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the ballroom to the bedroom and whether on land or sea. What a delight this book was to read as it took me back in time to reading one of my father’s books, The Sea Hawk by Rafael Sabatini, even though that book had a male who became a slave instead of a female.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing – Zebra Press – This is my honest review.
4-5 Stars