Dangerous by Amanda Quick

Prudence Merryweather, a bluestocking of good breeding, was only trying to save her brother when she broke into the Earl of Angelstone's house at three in the morning, seeking to stop a duel between them. He had danced with her the previous night,and her brother, knowing the Earl's reputation with women, challenged him to a duel for the mere act of dancing with his sister.

But Prudence knows the Earl's reputation as well- particularly his reputation with all sorts of duelling weapons, and she knows that he could kill her brother with guns or cut him to ribbons with a sword if he so chooses. But she loves her brother, foolish as he is, and she begs Angelstone not to kill her brother. Instead, she asks him to send Trevor an apology, which will end the need for a duel- because Trevor, even though he is terrified of dying by the Earl's hand, is young enough that the principle is more important than dying.

Sebastian, the Earl of Angelstone, is at first unmoved to grant Prudence's request, but he realizes that this singular act of courage on her part makes her much, much more interesting to him than his previous knowledge of her as a investigator of Spectral Phenomena. He is also astonished at her ability to investigate his background so thoroughly in such a short amount of time. In the end, he agrees to call off the duel- in exchange for a favor from her at a future point. He tells her he trusts her to keep her word- and that he finds honor- in men or women, to be unusual. So, she agrees, and he shocks her by sealing their bargain with a kiss.

He sees her home and ponders his problems. He created a mask to present to the world, as the world he knew judged him most harshly for his parents- as his mother was an actress. His father could have merely made this woman his mistress, but instead he had married her, and so the stigma of her profession fell on their son. His parents are dead, but it scarcely matters to the members of the ton, who find scandal so eminently repeatable. But after wearing the mask for so many years now, he is coming to find it that behind it lies only emptiness- a vague gray nothingness that scares him. But when he is with Prudence, he feels something.

Sebastian continues to encounter Prudence and dance with her at parties. Her brother continues to challenge him, but Sebastian simply keeps on tendering apologies. But when Prudence follows him at a party and finds him in the bedroom of the host's wife, the host also follows. Sebastian hides Pru in the wardrobe, and when the host walks in, he assumes Sebastian is there to have an assignation with his wife. To save Sebastian, Pru reveals herself and implies that they came there to be together, and Sebastian claims her as his fiancé to save her reputation.

He soon realizes that he doesn't want a long enagagement, but Pru is determined to have Sebastian make peace with the rest of his family, while he just wants them to all go hang, as they are the ones who tried the hardest to have him declared illegitimate when he first came home to inherit his dead father's title. So as far as he is concerned, they can all go hang. But Pru is determined to keep the lines of communication between Sebastian and the rest of his family open- through her if necessary.

But when both Sebastian and Pru are asked separately to investigate the deaths of a number of members of the Ton who used to belong to a Hellfire Club called "The Princes of Virtue", they may be in danger as well. For someone is attempting to kill off the Princes of Virtue. And after the death of a serving girl they were brutalizing, at least one of the members thinks her ghost is responsible. But someone is trying to frame Sebastian's cousin for the crime, and while Sebastian may be perfectly happy to let him die, Pru doesn't think that he is responsible and won't let Sebastian accept the frame job.

But when the true villain responsible abducts Pru, now Sebastian's wife. can he reach her and rescue her in time before she suffers the same fate as Lillian, the woman raped and killed by "The Princes of Virtue"?

I loved this book, mainly because the characters are so awesome. Sebastien is cool and yet afraid of the cold he sees inside himself. Prudence is naive and the opposite of coy- she doesn't play games and has an innate, essential honesty that is refreshing. And yet, she's not a great beauty, although one could say that she hides her light under a basket, given that she is dressed in hideous colors that do her no justice for 95% of the book. Yet Sebastian sees her innate beauty, and she sees his innate decency and honesty- she even manages to engineer a cessation of hostilities between him and his relatives.

He shows protectiveness towards her, but he's no over the top alpha male, and the two of them together manage to solve the mystery- and he invites her to work with him. Even at the end, they are still working together. I loved the scenes of them working together and how he didn't treat her as brainless simply because she was female. She is naive, sometimes dangerously so, but the scenes of their lovemaking are hot with passion and warm with affection at the same time, which is refreshing to read. He needs her as much or more than she needs him.

But they connect in a very real and honest way, and I loved reading their interactions with each other. This is one of my favorite Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle/Jayne Ann Krentz books, and I still love it now. A heroine who isn't a shrinking violet waiting to be rescued, and intelligent hero and heroine, and a truly engaging plot, along with a wonderful love story. Highly recommended.