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A Dangerous Man

by Janmarie Anello

reviewed by Valarie Pelissero

May 2008, 350 pages, Publisher: Zebra, ISBN: 1420100017

Richard Wexton is a dangerous man. He is a man with a sordid past, a man that will do anything to protect himself and his family. He is a man filled with darkness; a man who believes that love exists only in the mind of the poets. Richard was deeply in love once, but his love betrayed him by marrying his older brother to become a duchess. Now that Richard is the duke he is forced into daily contact with his sister-in-law Rachel, now the Dowager Duchess of St. Austin. Rachel's advances are becoming more irksome, and but for his four-year-old niece Alison, Richard would move Rachel to another property. In truth though, Alison is actually his daughter, born of a drunken night he barely remembers. The only thing that stands clear in his memory of that night is the look on his brother's face when he caught Richard with his wife. Richard has lived with the guilt of that night for years and believes it is the reason for his brother's recent death.

Richard thought only the three of them knew the circumstances of Alison's parentage and he will do anything to protect Alison, including marry the daughter of the mill owner who discovers his secret. Leah Jamison is full of light, just eighteen and in love with a neighboring boy. Life is grand for Leah until the day her father informs her that she will marry the Duke of St. Austin in two days. Leah's first impression of Richard is that he is a devil, but it doesn't take her long to fall in love with him. Her marriage of convenience quickly turns into a love match, but all is not idyllic. Richard is passionate at night, but cold and distant during the day. Rachel and the rest of the ton are antagonistic towards Leah because of her birth, while Richard is completely clueless of what is happening under his nose. Leah will have to fight against Richard's past to find a future together.

I know others have said this before and I have to chime in: Janmarie Anello is an author to watch. Filled with great characters, A Dangerous Man is hard to put down. In Richard we have a very guilt-ridden hero who is floundering in a pit of despair over his betrayal of his older brother. He is trying to save his younger brother from his self-destructive habits of excessive drinking and gambling, but he doesn't know how to save himself. Leah enters his life and brings in the light and the laughter which just scares him to death because he believes he is undeserving.

Leah holds her own very well against Richard and she is exactly what he needs in a soul mate. The first time she tells Richard that she loves him, he spurns her which is traumatic for her, but she uses that trauma to make her strong enough to finally overcome his demons. Rachel was just plain psychotic and there is nothing more dangerous or creepy than a woman villain, especially this woman. She had herself convinced that Richard was still in love with her, despite his daily examples of how much he loathed her, but she truly believed that if she could just get rid of all of the obstacles in their path then they could be the family that they were destined to be.

I really liked that the villain was right there in plain sight, insidiously undermining Leah in everything she did, which made it that much more disturbing. The events in the book takes place over the course of a year rather than just a few weeks or months, as in many books, which made Richard and Leah's road to a happily ever after very believable to this reader.

A Dangerous Man is only Ms. Anello's second book and it contains everything I look for in a keeper read. Her first book (Forever Yours) is going right to the top of my TBR pile. Don't miss this riveting book. A word of warning though: if you start this book at work (as I did) you might find yourself stretching your lunch hour to read just one more page.