A Dangerous Love by Sabrina Jeffries

So here I am, a few months later, and still stuck on Sabrina Jeffries.  I have one more review to do, and then I promise, I'll move on. Soon. At some point in the future. Eventually.

A Dangerous Love is the first novel in a series of three about the Swanlea Spinsters, three sisters  happily resigned to their lives as quirky spinsters, tucked away on Swan Park.  Their father, the Earl of Swanlea, has been on his deathbed for months.  As heir apparent to the Park (if he can prove he is the rightful heir), Griff Knighton has decided  to visit his future holding.  The visit  is prompted by the present Earl's promise to provide Griff's proof  of legitimacy which has been denied him all his life.  Not one to give up on his lifelong dream, Griff journeys to Swanlea with his man of affairs, Daniel Brennan, in tow.  The ultimate purpose? To get his hands on his parent's marriage certificate, and to avoid marrying one of the daughters as a condition of obtaining that certificate.

What ensues is a a delightful comedy of misunderstanding and error brought on by an identity switch, a very suspicious daughter-spinster, one Lady Rosalind Laverick, and the need for revenge and redemption on the part of Griff. Oh, and some very inventive scenes, one of which involves the very creative use of a tree swing.  Don't even bother using your imagination on this one. You have to read it to believe it.

I love Sabrina Jeffries' stories. So far, the ones I have read all seem to have a similar theme.  There's the rogue who needs a lesson in humility and love, and the heroine, who has no compunction about telling said rogue what to do with himself, while falling in love with him, foibles and all.  While some of the plot points may sound a bit contrived, and at times you want to yell at the women to stop being so stubborn (after all, their men are trying their hardest), Ms. Jeffries seems to wring the best out of her male protagonists. By the end of the novels, they have all had their pertinent revelations and find themselves free to love the women who love them.  It's a very neat trick. It makes you love those rogues even more.

So, if you are looking for  quick reads that are  filled with more than just a bit of frustration and soul-searching before the happily ever after, I can highly recommend this series.  You can have your angst and eat it, too.