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Dangerous #2
Dangerous Games
When Nicholas Barrington first meets Melissa, he senses her desperation. Then he finds her being auctioned off by her father in a gambling club. For a mere 20,000 guineas, Nick buys himself a wife. But with a villain on their heels, and a fortune and their lives hanging in the balance, Nick and Melissa will soon gamble everything on the most dangerous game of all--love. Original.
443 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1996
127 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Scott
172 books382 followersAmanda Scott, USA Today Bestselling Author and winner of Romance Writers of America’s RITA/Golden Medallion (LORD ABBERLEY'S NEMESIS) and Romantic Times’ Awards for Best Regency Author and Best Sensual Regency (RAVENWOOD'S LADY), Lifetime Achievement (2007) and Best Scottish Historical (BORDER MOONLIGHT, 2008), began writing on a dare from her husband. She has sold every manuscript she has written.
Amanda is a fourth-generation Californian, who was born and raised in Salinas and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in history from Mills College in Oakland. She did graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in British History, before obtaining her Master’s in History from California State University at San Jose. She now lives with her husband and son in northern California.
As a child, Amanda Scott was a model for O’Connor Moffatt in San Francisco (now Macy’s). She was also a Sputnik child, one of those selected after the satellite went up for one of California’s first programs for gifted children. She remained in that program through high school. After graduate school, she taught for the Salinas City School District for three years before marrying her husband, who was then a captain in the Air Force. They lived in Honolulu for a year, then in Papillion, Nebraska, for seven. Their son was born in Nebraska. They have lived in northern California since 1980.
Scott grew up in a family of lawyers, and is descended from a long line of them. Her father was a three-term District Attorney of Monterey County before his death in 1955 at age 36. Her grandfather was City Attorney of Salinas for 36 years after serving two terms as District Attorney, and two of her ancestors were State Supreme Court Justices (one in Missouri, the other the first Supreme Court Justice for the State of Arkansas). One brother, having carried on the Scott tradition in the Monterey County DA’s office, is now a judge. The other is an electrician in Knoxville, TN, and her sister is a teacher in the Sacramento area.
The women of Amanda Scott’s family have been no less successful than the men. Her mother was a child actress known as Baby Lowell, who performed all over the west coast and in Hollywood movies, and then was a dancer with the San Francisco Opera Ballet until her marriage. Her mother’s sister, Loretta Lowell, was also a child actress. She performed in the Our Gang comedies and in several Loretta Young movies before becoming one of the first women in the US Air Force. Scott's paternal grandmother was active in local and State politics and served as president of the California State PTA, and her maternal grandmother was a teacher (and stage mother) before working for Monterey County. The place of women in Scott’s family has always been a strong one. Though they married strong men, the women have, for generations, been well educated and encouraged to succeed at whatever they chose to do.
Amanda Scott’s first book was OMAHA CITY ARCHITECTURE, a coffee-table photo essay on the historical architecture of Omaha, written for Landmarks, Inc. under her married name as a Junior League project. Others took the photos; she did the research and wrote the text on an old Smith-Corona portable electric. She sold her first novel, THE FUGITIVE HEIRESS - likewise written on the battered Smith-Corona in 1980. Since then, she has sold many more books, but since the second one she has used a word processor and computer. Twenty-five of her novels are set in the English Regency period (1810-1820). Others are set in 15th-century England and 14th- through 18th-century Scotland, and three are contemporary romances. Many of her titles are currently available at bookstores and online.
Amanda is a fourth-generation Californian, who was born and raised in Salinas and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in history from Mills College in Oakland. She did graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in British History, before obtaining her Master’s in History from California State University at San Jose. She now lives with her husband and son in northern California.
As a child, Amanda Scott was a model for O’Connor Moffatt in San Francisco (now Macy’s). She was also a Sputnik child, one of those selected after the satellite went up for one of California’s first programs for gifted children. She remained in that program through high school. After graduate school, she taught for the Salinas City School District for three years before marrying her husband, who was then a captain in the Air Force. They lived in Honolulu for a year, then in Papillion, Nebraska, for seven. Their son was born in Nebraska. They have lived in northern California since 1980.
Scott grew up in a family of lawyers, and is descended from a long line of them. Her father was a three-term District Attorney of Monterey County before his death in 1955 at age 36. Her grandfather was City Attorney of Salinas for 36 years after serving two terms as District Attorney, and two of her ancestors were State Supreme Court Justices (one in Missouri, the other the first Supreme Court Justice for the State of Arkansas). One brother, having carried on the Scott tradition in the Monterey County DA’s office, is now a judge. The other is an electrician in Knoxville, TN, and her sister is a teacher in the Sacramento area.
The women of Amanda Scott’s family have been no less successful than the men. Her mother was a child actress known as Baby Lowell, who performed all over the west coast and in Hollywood movies, and then was a dancer with the San Francisco Opera Ballet until her marriage. Her mother’s sister, Loretta Lowell, was also a child actress. She performed in the Our Gang comedies and in several Loretta Young movies before becoming one of the first women in the US Air Force. Scott's paternal grandmother was active in local and State politics and served as president of the California State PTA, and her maternal grandmother was a teacher (and stage mother) before working for Monterey County. The place of women in Scott’s family has always been a strong one. Though they married strong men, the women have, for generations, been well educated and encouraged to succeed at whatever they chose to do.
Amanda Scott’s first book was OMAHA CITY ARCHITECTURE, a coffee-table photo essay on the historical architecture of Omaha, written for Landmarks, Inc. under her married name as a Junior League project. Others took the photos; she did the research and wrote the text on an old Smith-Corona portable electric. She sold her first novel, THE FUGITIVE HEIRESS - likewise written on the battered Smith-Corona in 1980. Since then, she has sold many more books, but since the second one she has used a word processor and computer. Twenty-five of her novels are set in the English Regency period (1810-1820). Others are set in 15th-century England and 14th- through 18th-century Scotland, and three are contemporary romances. Many of her titles are currently available at bookstores and online.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 27, 2021
A singularly unrestful book that starts out immediately and then continues on with one unlikely event after another. Added to that, we have a heroine without an ounce of common sense, guaranteed to frustrate any reader. The hero is depicted as unfeeling and distant at first and then does a complete about-face with no underlying motivation to do so. I was extraordinarily disappointed after having read the Fugitive Heiress right before this. Are there two Amanda Scotts? If so, someone please tell me so that I can find more books by the first one I read.
August 7, 2014
Boring. Too much talking.
July 20, 2014
I loved this book!! I read a few reviews that didn't like it but this is the first book I have read in along time that actually talked about child abuse and molestation in the 19th century!!! Yes, Nicohlas was a prick a lot and Melissa very nieve and stupid but it still was a good story. I read book 2, 3 and 4 before actually reading book 1!! Loved the way Amanda Scott writes!!! Oh, BTW glad Melissa's dad ended up the way he did towards the end!!!
February 24, 2021
Dangerous games
I enjoyed the plot line and it was easier for me to follow because I read Dangerous Illusions first. It does deal with sexual abuse issues and was a trigger for me. It was handled pretty well but be forewarned. All in all the hero handled it well so I gave the book a good review
I enjoyed the plot line and it was easier for me to follow because I read Dangerous Illusions first. It does deal with sexual abuse issues and was a trigger for me. It was handled pretty well but be forewarned. All in all the hero handled it well so I gave the book a good review
November 11, 2019
Awesome!
Love, love, love this story! A look at child abuse, spousal abuse, greed, murder, love, it doesn't get better than this! I love the Author, she is an automatic buy, and I am thrilled to have found her years ago!
I highly recommend! Thank you!
carolintallahassee.com
Love, love, love this story! A look at child abuse, spousal abuse, greed, murder, love, it doesn't get better than this! I love the Author, she is an automatic buy, and I am thrilled to have found her years ago!
I highly recommend! Thank you!
carolintallahassee.com
February 12, 2025
If I wanted to read a book that details the gambling practices of 19th century England I would have, well, picked up a book on that topic. Instead, this book tried to say it was a historical romance but instead was a glossary of old fashioned gambling slang. At the end of the book the dislikable characters were married, pregnant and supposedly happy. I didn't know how we go there but I do now know what a tinhorn is. I guess I'm the sucker here.
August 19, 2025
An entertaining romp.
This was a clever extended metaphor with a faint feminist lens placed over the Regency romance genre. The heroes were suitably heroic and the heroines less insipid than some. The characters captured our hearts sufficiently to engage our interest throughout. I confess, I am looking forward to Charlie’s’ story.
This was a clever extended metaphor with a faint feminist lens placed over the Regency romance genre. The heroes were suitably heroic and the heroines less insipid than some. The characters captured our hearts sufficiently to engage our interest throughout. I confess, I am looking forward to Charlie’s’ story.
June 8, 2020
Really great story
I was not able to put this book down. Everything about this story was good. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
I was not able to put this book down. Everything about this story was good. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
November 2, 2013
good indsight into society of the day especially from a womans point of view
January 5, 2017
Really good, I am really liking this dangerous series!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews