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jackiehorne's review against another edition
4.0
Much stronger than the author's debut novel -- the plot makes sense, and her characters are far more well-rounded. Worthy of its RITA nomination
michael_jon's review against another edition
5.0
I really like Ms. Essex's storytelling. It is not just some relationship drama but has a mix of danger and self-reliant heroine in it. It is fun to read how that usually entices the hero of the story as well as drives him crazy!
jbarr5's review against another edition
4.0
The Danger of Desire by elizabeth essex
1799 timeframe in England:
Meggs and Timmy are pick pockets and they've made it so far with no
trouble, except one time where Meggs cut up her hand pretty bad.
The Captain is looking to hire a pick pocket to get some papers the
military requires.
He finds her when she takes his pocket watch. He takes her in and
gets the surgeon to do emergency surgery and then time for it to heal.
Timmy has come looking for her and he is also taken in. She is now
to learn how to keep a house so she can fit right in with her
assignment. He's also offered to teach them how to read and write.
Problem is he's falling for her and she's starting to fall for him.
Things turn around after her assignment. Some for the good and some
for the bad.
1799 timeframe in England:
Meggs and Timmy are pick pockets and they've made it so far with no
trouble, except one time where Meggs cut up her hand pretty bad.
The Captain is looking to hire a pick pocket to get some papers the
military requires.
He finds her when she takes his pocket watch. He takes her in and
gets the surgeon to do emergency surgery and then time for it to heal.
Timmy has come looking for her and he is also taken in. She is now
to learn how to keep a house so she can fit right in with her
assignment. He's also offered to teach them how to read and write.
Problem is he's falling for her and she's starting to fall for him.
Things turn around after her assignment. Some for the good and some
for the bad.
sassysmutlover's review against another edition
5.0
* I received a copy from the author in exchange for my honest review of this newly revised edition.
You will not see anything coming in this one! I was hooked from the start with the mission and how he decided to do it. I loved instant connection that they both fought in different ways and how they had to learn to understand and trust each other. Just when I thought everything was perfect something else was thrown at me that I didn't see coming. I loved her brother and how they both wanted to take care of him. The ending was perfect and different, especially with her grandmother and cousin.
Meggs is not your typical heroine and I love that! Her past really changed her and she struggles to trust, but she has amazing fighting skills and can steal anything without you knowing. I did not see the twist with her past coming at all, but it really explained things. I loved when she realized what her grandmother did in the end.
Hugh is definitely a man on a mission. Being in the Navy has made him a gentleman that is all about honor, but he still is a bit wicked. His mother understood him more than he thought and he didn't always say things the way he wanted. I loved what he admitted to Meggs and didn't see it coming at all.
You will not see anything coming in this one! I was hooked from the start with the mission and how he decided to do it. I loved instant connection that they both fought in different ways and how they had to learn to understand and trust each other. Just when I thought everything was perfect something else was thrown at me that I didn't see coming. I loved her brother and how they both wanted to take care of him. The ending was perfect and different, especially with her grandmother and cousin.
Meggs is not your typical heroine and I love that! Her past really changed her and she struggles to trust, but she has amazing fighting skills and can steal anything without you knowing. I did not see the twist with her past coming at all, but it really explained things. I loved when she realized what her grandmother did in the end.
Hugh is definitely a man on a mission. Being in the Navy has made him a gentleman that is all about honor, but he still is a bit wicked. His mother understood him more than he thought and he didn't always say things the way he wanted. I loved what he admitted to Meggs and didn't see it coming at all.
lisajo85's review
4.0
The Danger of Desire by Elizabeth Essex is an entertaining, stunning and sexy novel. Witty characters, plenty of intrigue and stunning passion make this a fabulous read!
Meggs has spent most of her life stealing from the wealthy on the harsh streets of London in order to support herself and her brother Timmy. She hopes to one day save enough money to start a quiet life for them in country. One night Captain Hugh McAlden spots Meggs in the middle of a job and decides this talented young lady would be the perfect to help him in his next assignment. Hugh has been assigned to find traitors against England and this slippery little thief is just the ticket he needs to succeed. Convincing her to help him is one problem, but trying not to fall in love with her may be a bigger issue.
This book really had two great lead characters. Meggs was bold, brassy and always on her guard. She was doing what she had to do in order to survive, by her terms, and not giving in to anyone. She had a tough exterior, but was a troubled young woman on the inside. This made the dynamic between her and Hugh that much more interesting because he wanted nothing more than to save her and she could do nothing less than push him away. Hugh was the intelligent, compassionate captain who worked hard to get what he wanted out of life. Which was interesting, because Meggs threw him completely off balance. Both characters are novices when it comes to relationships or love, so reading about their adventure as they stumble along this path of uncertainty was refreshing.
Essex establishes great secondary characters that really complete the story and add plenty of flare. While I enjoyed the main focus of the story concerning Meggs and Hugh, it was still a treat to get to know Megg’s brother and Hugh’s acquaintances. Not only are the characters fantastic, but the story has a compelling plot as well. Danger of Desire delivers an intriguing and entertaining story that is sure to please. When it’s not following the drama, you will find a very heartfelt romance. Elizabeth Essex writes smoldering love scenes that are passionate and emotional. It’s just another element that makes this novel stand out among the rest.
Here’s the one hiccup I found in the novel...and that’s the first love scene. To put it bluntly, I almost quit reading the novel altogether I was so upset. Why? Well, I can’t go into too much detail without giving the book away, but I felt Essex completely lost sight of her hero for a brief chapter. In the blink of literally a few paragraphs she took him from gentleman to beast. It was completely out of character and overwhelmingly disappointing. So disappointing, even I didn’t know if I could forgive our previously stunning hero. Yet I had become so invested in their story, I simply refused to give up on it that easily. While I was immensely glad I continued, there was still that lingering taint that I eventually pretended I did not read that chapter altogether.
I was glad I continued on to finish the book, and overall, I did enjoy it very much. It was a well written historical romance with great dialogue that easily captured the large social gaps between these two characters. It was intensely sexy and passionate for the most part, and really overall enjoyable. Had it not been for the one disappointing moment, this easily would have been a five star novel for me. Very easily. Danger of Desire is a great romance with plenty of delightful moments. Despite my slight issue with the novel, which was honestly a personal objection, I would still highly recommend this novel. The Danger of Desire is an intriguing and glorious novel with dazzling characters that solidifies Elizabeth Essex in a great talent.
Overall Rating: 4/5
Heat Level: 4/5
Lisa Jo @ Once Upon A Chapter
Meggs has spent most of her life stealing from the wealthy on the harsh streets of London in order to support herself and her brother Timmy. She hopes to one day save enough money to start a quiet life for them in country. One night Captain Hugh McAlden spots Meggs in the middle of a job and decides this talented young lady would be the perfect to help him in his next assignment. Hugh has been assigned to find traitors against England and this slippery little thief is just the ticket he needs to succeed. Convincing her to help him is one problem, but trying not to fall in love with her may be a bigger issue.
This book really had two great lead characters. Meggs was bold, brassy and always on her guard. She was doing what she had to do in order to survive, by her terms, and not giving in to anyone. She had a tough exterior, but was a troubled young woman on the inside. This made the dynamic between her and Hugh that much more interesting because he wanted nothing more than to save her and she could do nothing less than push him away. Hugh was the intelligent, compassionate captain who worked hard to get what he wanted out of life. Which was interesting, because Meggs threw him completely off balance. Both characters are novices when it comes to relationships or love, so reading about their adventure as they stumble along this path of uncertainty was refreshing.
Essex establishes great secondary characters that really complete the story and add plenty of flare. While I enjoyed the main focus of the story concerning Meggs and Hugh, it was still a treat to get to know Megg’s brother and Hugh’s acquaintances. Not only are the characters fantastic, but the story has a compelling plot as well. Danger of Desire delivers an intriguing and entertaining story that is sure to please. When it’s not following the drama, you will find a very heartfelt romance. Elizabeth Essex writes smoldering love scenes that are passionate and emotional. It’s just another element that makes this novel stand out among the rest.
Here’s the one hiccup I found in the novel...and that’s the first love scene. To put it bluntly, I almost quit reading the novel altogether I was so upset. Why? Well, I can’t go into too much detail without giving the book away, but I felt Essex completely lost sight of her hero for a brief chapter. In the blink of literally a few paragraphs she took him from gentleman to beast. It was completely out of character and overwhelmingly disappointing. So disappointing, even I didn’t know if I could forgive our previously stunning hero. Yet I had become so invested in their story, I simply refused to give up on it that easily. While I was immensely glad I continued, there was still that lingering taint that I eventually pretended I did not read that chapter altogether.
I was glad I continued on to finish the book, and overall, I did enjoy it very much. It was a well written historical romance with great dialogue that easily captured the large social gaps between these two characters. It was intensely sexy and passionate for the most part, and really overall enjoyable. Had it not been for the one disappointing moment, this easily would have been a five star novel for me. Very easily. Danger of Desire is a great romance with plenty of delightful moments. Despite my slight issue with the novel, which was honestly a personal objection, I would still highly recommend this novel. The Danger of Desire is an intriguing and glorious novel with dazzling characters that solidifies Elizabeth Essex in a great talent.
Overall Rating: 4/5
Heat Level: 4/5
Lisa Jo @ Once Upon A Chapter
melissadeemcdaniel's review
4.0
Third in the Dartmouth Brides series by Elizabeth Essex, this is a very fun read. Meggs and her Captain join forces to uncover a traitor, and their partnership turns into quite a bit more. Recently I seem to have read too many romances where the plot turns around a lack of communication between the hero and heroine. Although both Meggs and McAlden have secrets, their relationship begins and continues with frank and honest communication. They are refreshing and likable characters, as are the peripheral characters.
thepassionatereader's review
5.0
I can tell you what’s in a book, what I think works, and what doesn’t. It’s much harder to convey the experience of reading that same book. So let me say Elizabeth Essex’s The Danger of Desire has its strengths and flaws. It is also a transcendently pleasurable book to read. There is something distinctive and gorgeous about Ms. Essex’s writing — I really can’t think of any other writer whose prose is as languorously specific as hers. She’s become one of my very favorite writers; I’d looked forward to The Danger of Desire and it did not disappoint.
Ms. Essex has thus far published three loosely linked books. In the first, The Pursuit of Pleasure, she investigates the way secrets compromise love. In the second, A Sense of Sin, she illuminates how passion transforms its lovers. In The Danger of Desire, she plaits those two leitmotifs. This passionate love story between Meggs, a woman who trusts no one, and Hugh, the man who wants to know all of her - heart, body, and soul - is touching, riveting, and well-crafted.
Meggs is, as she says, “a prime filching mort.” She hates being a thief, hates “the insidious cold, the incessant rain, the petty larceny — but hunger had a way of sorting out priorities.” Meggs steals because it was the only option for her — other than whoring - when she and her younger brother Timmy found themselves abandoned on the streets of London years ago. Meggs and Timmy are very good at what they do, and early one morning, they strip a watch and purse from an unsuspecting toff. Although the oblivious mark has no idea the pretty housemaid who bowls him over on Cockspur Street has just relieved him of his “portable chattels,” Naval Captain Hugh McAlden watches Meggs’s “smartly done” theft with "appreciation.”
Hugh, currently recovering from a bad leg wound, wants nothing more than to regain his command of his ship, Dangerous. Hugh went to sea at age twelve; sixteen years later, it’s the life he craves. Vexingly, his injury has made him currently “not fit for command.” On the morning he sees Meggs, he’s just come from the Admiralty where his mentor, Admiral Middleton, offered him a job which, if successfully rendered, will lead to a knighthood for Hugh. The Admiralty Board has a traitor somewhere in its highest level, a treasonous spy sharing highly secret information with the French. The Admiral wants Hugh, within the space of two weeks, to “rout out this traitor and serve him up… trussed and ready for hanging.”
Hugh leaves the meeting, catches Meggs in her act of deft larceny, and decides she is exactly what he needs — he’ll use a thief to catch a thief. He chases her through the London streets, and when he finally has her trapped in a dead-end lane, makes her an offer he thinks she can’t refuse. He tells her he’ll pay her a hundred pounds to steal for him. If she declines, he’ll turn her in to the law. She, suspicious, wary, and afraid, tosses her laundry basket at Hugh, kicks him hard in his wounded thigh, and runs away from him — and, as she does, steals his gold watch. As she escapes, however, she badly injures her hand vaulting over a wall topped with shards of broken glass. When her wound turns septic, she, unable to thieve and thus feed herself and Timmy, seeks out Hugh and agrees to take him up on his offer...for 750 pounds. Hugh, persuaded she’s perfect for his professional needs, agrees to her price. Meggs and Timmy move into Hugh’s home and she and Hugh begin to work together to identify and entrap the traitor.....
This is a partial review. To read the entire review, please visit All About Romance (likesbooks.com):
http://likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookReview.pl?BookReviewId=8849
Ms. Essex has thus far published three loosely linked books. In the first, The Pursuit of Pleasure, she investigates the way secrets compromise love. In the second, A Sense of Sin, she illuminates how passion transforms its lovers. In The Danger of Desire, she plaits those two leitmotifs. This passionate love story between Meggs, a woman who trusts no one, and Hugh, the man who wants to know all of her - heart, body, and soul - is touching, riveting, and well-crafted.
Meggs is, as she says, “a prime filching mort.” She hates being a thief, hates “the insidious cold, the incessant rain, the petty larceny — but hunger had a way of sorting out priorities.” Meggs steals because it was the only option for her — other than whoring - when she and her younger brother Timmy found themselves abandoned on the streets of London years ago. Meggs and Timmy are very good at what they do, and early one morning, they strip a watch and purse from an unsuspecting toff. Although the oblivious mark has no idea the pretty housemaid who bowls him over on Cockspur Street has just relieved him of his “portable chattels,” Naval Captain Hugh McAlden watches Meggs’s “smartly done” theft with "appreciation.”
Hugh, currently recovering from a bad leg wound, wants nothing more than to regain his command of his ship, Dangerous. Hugh went to sea at age twelve; sixteen years later, it’s the life he craves. Vexingly, his injury has made him currently “not fit for command.” On the morning he sees Meggs, he’s just come from the Admiralty where his mentor, Admiral Middleton, offered him a job which, if successfully rendered, will lead to a knighthood for Hugh. The Admiralty Board has a traitor somewhere in its highest level, a treasonous spy sharing highly secret information with the French. The Admiral wants Hugh, within the space of two weeks, to “rout out this traitor and serve him up… trussed and ready for hanging.”
Hugh leaves the meeting, catches Meggs in her act of deft larceny, and decides she is exactly what he needs — he’ll use a thief to catch a thief. He chases her through the London streets, and when he finally has her trapped in a dead-end lane, makes her an offer he thinks she can’t refuse. He tells her he’ll pay her a hundred pounds to steal for him. If she declines, he’ll turn her in to the law. She, suspicious, wary, and afraid, tosses her laundry basket at Hugh, kicks him hard in his wounded thigh, and runs away from him — and, as she does, steals his gold watch. As she escapes, however, she badly injures her hand vaulting over a wall topped with shards of broken glass. When her wound turns septic, she, unable to thieve and thus feed herself and Timmy, seeks out Hugh and agrees to take him up on his offer...for 750 pounds. Hugh, persuaded she’s perfect for his professional needs, agrees to her price. Meggs and Timmy move into Hugh’s home and she and Hugh begin to work together to identify and entrap the traitor.....
This is a partial review. To read the entire review, please visit All About Romance (likesbooks.com):
http://likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookReview.pl?BookReviewId=8849
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