Reviewed by Andrea Williamson
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: April 28, 2009
5 stars

Last month, we spotlighted Bad Boys of Romance here at RNTV.  Picking Saint from Suzanne Enoch’s London’s Perfect Scoundrel was an easy choice.  I didn’t even have to think twice.  However, if I had to make that choice now after having read Ms. Enoch’s Always a Scoundrel, I would be hard pressed to choose.  Lord Bramwell Lowry Johns now shares that top spot with Saint.  There is truly something special about Ms. Enoch’s scoundrels . . .

Despite watching his two closest friends succumb to the happy domesticity of marriage, Lord Bramwell Lowry Johns wants nothing to do with it.  He doesn’t want or need a “well-ordered life” and believes he would die from boredom within two weeks.  His friends, Sullivan Waring (After the Kiss) and Phineas Bromley (Before the Scandal), tell him not to condemn marriage just because Bram hasn’t wanted to marry any of the many women he has slept with.  When asked if his objection to matrimony is due to his own squeamishness, Bram replies, “I would put it to equal parts horror and compassion, myself.  I may be heartless, but I have no desire to inflict myself on a permanent basis upon some chit, innocent or otherwise.  It’s not my duty to continue the family bloodline, and I can’t think of another reason to drag myself into a church before I’m put into a box.”  Phineas then asks Bram if he plans to spend the rest of his life whoring, drinking, wagering, and being as outrageous as he can manage.  The always droll Bram responds with: “Please, Phin,  I would never think so small.  You know my ultimate goal is to lower the standards of morality enough that everything I do becomes acceptable.”  I just adore Bram’s dry wit!

As the younger son of the Duke of Levonzy, Bram has never been as revered as his older brother August is to their father.  And once August married and had produced his own heir, the old duke declared Bram useless, or rather more useless that he already was.  Due to the animosity, Bram likes to do things to annoy his sire just for the fun of it.  And thus begins his stint as The Black Cat, a thief who burgles various members of the ton.  Various members who also happen to be friends or acquaintances of the duke.  While attempting to rob the Earl of Abernathy, Bram overhears the earl telling his daughter, Lady Rosamund, that due to her younger brother’s recent hazardous gambling, he owes the Marquis of Cosgrove ten thousand pounds and that luckily the marquis will accept Lady Rosamund’s hand as payment in full.  However, the young lady in question is not happy about it.  Knowing the marquis and his sadistic ways, Bram wonders just what his friend has in mind for Lady Rosamund.  Whatever it is, it can’t be good.  When Bram questions the marquis, Cosgrove tells him that besides the obvious reasons (being from a good family, producing an heir, etc.), Rosamund Davies wouldn’t dare protest his habitual activities.  Bram knows what that means; his friend had chosen a wife he could dominate and would show a respectable façade while the marquis continued his life of complete debauchery.  Cosgrove has spent his life plucking people at random to toy with and destroy, but his usual victims knew what they were in for and at least had a choice.  Lady Rosamund has no choice and because of that, Bram wants to warn her.

Lady Rosamund Davies is underrated by her family in spite of all that she does for them.  She’s been a loyal and dutiful daughter, but because she hasn’t married yet, her father considers her a burden (among other things).  Despite not wanting to, Rose does her duty and agrees to accept Lord Cosgrove’s offer when he will officially propose at the end of the month.  At a ball, Lord Bramwell Johns warns Rose of the marquis’s disreputable reputation and offers to help her.  She laughs and tells him that that is like the pot calling the kettle black.  Then she experiences first-hand how despicable Lord Cosgrove is and admits that she needs Bram’s help if she is going to have any chance to endure the relationship with her future husband.  Rose begins to amend her opinion of Bram Johns the more time she spends in his company.  And Bram starts to want what he never thought he’d ever have a chance of possessing—the love and respect of a good woman.

What a fantastic book!  Bram Johns certainly lived up to both his reputation and my expectations.  In the previous two books of the series and at the beginning of this one, Bram is an arrogant, self-serving scoundrel who doesn’t do anything unless it benefits him in some way.  He doesn’t take things seriously and always has a smart-aleck comeback, even to his best friends, both of which he is completely loyal to.  As a lover of the “bad boy hero”, this is what makes him so appealing to me.  Rose is a strong, principled heroine and exactly what Bram needed.  While reading, I thought they were ideal for each other and I honestly couldn’t see him falling for any other type of heroine.  As he gets to know Rose and learns that her parents see her more of a bargaining chip than a daughter, he becomes very protective and finds himself growing fond of her.  This, of course, completely confuses him as he’s never actually liked a woman as a friend.  His change in behavior also throws Rose off balance and makes her wonder which is the real Bram—the black-hearted cynic or the jaded but good-hearted man.  Bram admits to himself that he feels restless in his own skin and the moment he comes to grip with his feelings for Rose was thoroughly satisfying, to say the least.  Sullivan asks him outright about his feelings and Bram’s reaction and answer had me sighing, smiling and immediately reading the passage again.  The length he goes to win Rosamund’s heart shows just how much of a changed man he has become.

Suzanne Enoch is a master at crafting notorious, bad boy heroes and Always a Scoundrel is a perfect example of that.  The way she skillfully combines a cynical rake, a respectable lady, loyal secondary characters and a sadistic villain is nothing short of magical.  Always a Scoundrel has joined the first two books of Ms. Enoch’s Notorious Gentleman series on my keeper shelf and I suggest you make room on yours, because you do not want to miss this one!