THE OFFICER IS A GENTLEMANRoyal Navy Captain Hugh McAlden will do anything to stop the treasonous flow of information out of the Admiralty, even if it means taking in a slyly attractive street thief to steal those secrets back.BUT THE LADY IS A TRAMPCircumstances might have forced Meggs Evans into a life of crime, but she’s bound and determined to lift herself out of the gutters even if it means … determined to lift herself out of the gutters even if it means stealing for the wickedly handsome captain. On the trail of a traitor, the undeniable attraction between Meggs and her captain explodes. But when danger ignites their desire, the only thing in danger of being stolen is her heart.
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The Danger of Desire was originally published in 2011 and was nominated for a RITA Award. This new edition has been revised and reedited.
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Please Note: This review is for the 2017 revised/reissued version.
I read the original version of this book years ago and I loved it – the changes in this new version are slight, but for all those who were upset that the hero was not a virgin in the original – you will be very happy with the revisions!
Captain Hugh McAlden has been recuperating from an injury that almost cost him his leg and is at loose ends. He has been asked by the admiralty to look into a delicate matter. His reward for a successful mission will be a knighthood and reinstatement of his command. Eager to get back on his ship, he accepts the mission and finds the perfect person to help him as he is leaving the admiralty building.
Meggs is a thief, she has been working the streets as a pickpocket for years to support herself and her younger brother. She is “working” outside the admiralty when she catches Hugh’s eye – shocked that she has been caught, she runs without hearing Hugh’s proposition. Hugh chases her through the streets and alleys of London and finally corners her. He tells Meggs what he needs from her and gives her his card. Meggs takes his watch and manages to escape – but in the process, badly injuries her hand.
Intrigued by Hugh and worried for her brother, Meggs seeks Hugh out by taking his watch to the watchmaker and pretends to be trying to return it the owner. The watchmaker sends a note to Hugh
and when he comes to claim the watch, he meets with Meggs again. This time he gives her more information about what he wants to hire her for and gives her his direction.
Meggs decides that if Hugh is really willing to pay her, it would mean security for her and her brother, so she seeks out Hugh to make a deal and then collapses from complications of her injury.
Hugh nurses Meggs back to health and brings her brother to his house as well. When Meggs wakes, he tells her what he needs her to do and puts her to work in his house. As the days pass, the attraction between them grows and they dance around each other. Meggs is confused by her feelings for Hugh and can’t imagine a future with him, so when she is finally healed enough to go on the mission, she sets out determined to succeed and then set out on her new life.
When Meggs is nearly caught, Hugh realizes that Meggs means more to him than the mission and doesn’t want things to end between them. He enlists his mother to help him acclimate Meggs to society and makes provisions for her brother to train for the navy with his friend James Marlowe. At this point it appears that it will be smooth sailing to a HEA, but a surprising twist that leads to the truth about Meggs identity threatens to tear our lovers apart.
This book is well written, has funny moments, some very steamy love scenes, some intrigue, a lot of twists and turns and finally a very hard earned HEA. The book is the third in the trilogy, but it is loosely connected and could easily be read as a stand alone title.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for a Revised copy of this book that was provided to me by the author*