The Bad Baron's Daughter

by Laura London (Pseudonym), Tom Curtis, Sharon Curtis

As the daughter of a blacklisted gambler, Katie Kendricks has few options in life but to work in a back-alley gin shop like the Merry Maidenhead. But when the most refined and dashing man she has ever seen-hellion Lord Linden-defends Katie's honor from a drunken brute, her life takes a surprising turn . . .

Concerned for her safety, the handsome Lord Linden vows to take Katie under his wing and teach her the ways of the world. He will educate her on the duties of a proper duchess-and train her in the skills of a celebrated courtesan. But in transforming this simple duckling into a glorious swan, Linden unwittingly ignites a change in his own hardened heart. By some miracle, this innocent waif soon turns into the most desirable woman he has ever known. And now it is he who must be saved . . . by the unexpected pleasures of love.

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Regency, Regency Romance, Traditional Regency, Adult

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 15, 1978

About the author

Laura London is the pen name for the husband and wife writing team Tom and Sharon Curtis. Married more than forty years, Tom and Sharon published ten historical and contemporary romance novels from 1976 to 1986, many of which have come to be regarded as classics in the genre. The daughter of a petroleum geologist father and historian and magazine editor mother, Sharon was raised overseas and lived in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the Canary Islands, Turkey and Iran, and attended high school in London. As an adult, she worked in bookstore management. Tom attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison and has worked for a public television station as a writer and on-air reporter. He is currently employed as a semi truck driver for a chemical company and plays guitar with a Celtic band that includes a son on bodhran and a daughter on fiddle. Together they have played eighteen years of annual performances at the largest Irish musical festival in the world.

Reviews

[Luana ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was darker than I was expecting. I almost stopped reading when I thought it would have violence against women. It does, in a way, showing which options women had in life back in the day, but thankfully not per se on paper.

I read a few reviews about the hero, saying that he was a true rake and that he cheated on her, drank to excess, and so on and so forth. But the thing is, he was most definitely not committed to the heroine, so I don't see much problem.

The heroine was a very sweet and passive kind of girl. She accepted horrible things without batting an eye, but she also had a strong personality with set morals, which I appreciated. I liked her. And weirdly, I liked the hero too. He was a bit too intense for my tastes, but as a fictional character, he was okay.

[Jane E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abusive, crude, drunken, gambling, violent, and reprehensible characters - I could be talking Dickens, but no it is the most wonderfully funny and entertaining regency romance. In fact, if you think of this as a light hearted, female Oliver Twist, you get a better idea of what the book is about. It is well written, with evocative descriptive passages, great characters and a fun, interesting plot

I discovered it about 2 years ago, and it has a cult following, as it is used to be quite hard to find a copy. It is one of the few books that actually has a real rake, rogue and libertine in it. Most regencies and european historicals shove rake or rogue in the title, and it turns out that the hero got drunk once, about 10 years ago. This older book has a proper wicked and dangerous hero, and the most innocent, naive heroine, but never TSTL. Katie is loveable, in the same way a kitten or puppy is loveable, even when it causes chaos in your house, but you can't stop laughing at the antics. Lord Linden - he has no real redeeming features - he drinks heavily, he gambles, watches cock fights, duels, wenches, is selfish and doesn't care what anyone says. And is he reformed at the end of the book? Probably not, except for the wenching part.

Are all the characters crude, drunken and reprehensible? Well most of the main characters, except Katie have dubious morals. But that is part of the fun. The regency period wasn't all balls and country houses. For most people it was slums and survival, and this book turns this into part of the story.

At times you are meant to be shocked and perhaps outraged - but it helps develop many of the characters as thoroughly amoral people. And weirdly, it doesn't stop you liking them.

I guess it is not everyone's cup of tea - but I like it

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somehow Tom and Sharon Curtis manage to make a naive teenage waif endearing instead of annoying and a cruel, condescending rake charming instead of insufferable.

Am enjoying slowly working my way through their backlist.

[Robin L · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Violence against women.

[Hopefulpuffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well. What can I say that hasn't been said previously.

Lord Linden was certainly more rakish than most which for me is a good thing. I'm someone who wants a rake to be a genuinely depraved character. Linden meets the bill. He's definitely more in the vein of Balogh's Notorious Rake, Edmund Waite and Thomas from Allison Lane's The Rake's Rainbow both of whom are polarizing characters - you either love them or hate them. I love them.

Linden is not a pleasant man. He frequently gets drunk, almost rapes Katie, sleeps with his on-again/off-again mistress while Katie's upstairs, hits the mistress (who hit him first), the list goes on and on.

Katie's father is also a piece of work who basically tells the guy who's supposed to look out for her to pimp her out as somebody's mistress.

I've mixed feelings about Katie. On the one hand, nothing seems to faze her - live with the mistress? Okay. Talk about sex?
Sure. No problem. Jump from roof top to roof top? All in a day's work. But she was also so damn naive and Pollyanna-ish she annoyed me too.

Of course there's a HEA and while there's some sex, it's not at all graphic. It's also a super quick read.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite romances. Read all of their books years ago when they released. This and Gypsy Heiress are terrific, and of course The Windflower--which is in a class by itself. I love the contemporary romances they wrote as well, The Golden Touch, Lightening that Lingers and the best tale of love and redemption and opposites attracting ever: .Sunshine and Shadow. Can't get more sheltered than an Amish schoolteacher and a Hollywood child-actor turned director. Fantastic!

[Jae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The style is definitely dated but if you like old skool romances that are not quite steamy but not fade-to-black, you'll probably like this one. There's an beautiful, klutzy ingenue, a super-rake, some ott shenanigans, and an unlikely setup.

[Reforming · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOBODY does it better. It breaks my heart that they only wrote 10 books, back in the 70s and 80s. Don't be fooled by the new Laura LAndon. You want the books written by Tom and Sharon Curtis as Laura London.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it but I found the first half better than the second as I feel the romance kind of got lost in the second half but still an enjoyable read, I liked the hero and heroine a lot, especially Lindon. I would have rated it 5 if there was more romance in the second half, there was nothing even wrong with the second half but I feel I got set up for more in after the first half so that's what led me to feeling dissapointed but that's just me, overall I enjoyed it, I read it in one sitting.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Regency romp, implausible, a bit crazy, fun while it lasts

Definitely a Cinderella story, wouldn't happen in real life. Too many coincidences, too many obstacles easily overcome.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

even though i read it without skipping parts, i didn't like the h, she a was weak mary sue. It was rather superficial characterization, especially since I read the Windflower just prior.

[Alda Delicado · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very funny story. The heroine's innocence was very entertaining and a change from more usual clever heroines.

[Jiyoung]

Note to self.

Dnf.
The heroine was acting and thinking like a child.

[Sylvia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've never experienced a more stupid heroine. Hated this book beginning to end.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

Everyone says the Windflower was Laura london's best book, but i liked this one just as well. It was a fun adventure with good characters and excellent writing.

[Olnega · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ Enjoyable but too many “adventures’ and not enough romance….

[airwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical Romance
Regency Romance
Cinderella Story
Rake Hero
Innocent Heroine
Class Difference
Transformation Trope
Forbidden Love
Seduction Lessons
Redemption Arc

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted on Ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.com

So… this was a tough one… I liked and disliked this book at the same time so I made peace with myself and compromised with three stars. First, I have to say that there are themes and topics covered in this book that have, thankfully, evolved over the course of time. I’m 100% sure that if this story were re-written these topics that I am alluding to would be either deleted or changed… So keeping in mind that this story was originally written in 1978, I ventured on and forgave the antiquity of these themes.

Moving on… I liked the heroine and the plot. I thought that the plot was very original. Katie Kendrick is in a tough situation. Her name is soiled by her father’s horrible reputation. All of English society stays away from her father like the plague, which is understandable since he is a reprehensible character. Unfortunately, very few characters in this story are pleasant, including our hero- Lord Linden. He is pretty much a jerk. Although he is a complete jerk, the woman cannot help but throw themselves at him. Why? I have no idea. I think that the writing of this story was a good indicator of how men were viewed and how women were viewed (my opinion).

Katie and Lord Linden meet in a gin house while Katie is disguised as a boy. There are two reason for her disguise. One, woman are not allowed to work in the gin house and two to protect her virtue. Katie is very beautiful and men are captivated by her beauty. Zack is Katie’s “brother”. He looks after her when her father –the bad baron-disappears. Katie’s father is a terrible example and not a very good guardian, he disappears quite frequently. His current disappearance has Zack in a panic and he basically “sells” her to Lord Linden.

Lord Linden, although a terrible character, feels bad for Katie and tries to help her. He just can’t figure out how given her situation-she basically has no one. As the story progresses Lord Linden’s character really evolves and he can’t help fall in love with Katie. Although completely out of character for him, he is honorable and respectful to her. Katie is sweet but it’s hard to imagine how she survived on her own. Most of the time she is terrified or running for help. As I mentioned before, keeping in mind the time that this story was written it is enjoyable and very sweet.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of me is secretly appalled that i read the entire romance. It is the least austenish regency i've ever tread upon. The main character goes from being a crossdressed waiter in a ginhouse, to being 'rescued' from hoods by a well dressed hood higher up the food chain, to becoming the focus of a murder plot (the girl not the hood), and then it goes on to read like those penny dreadfuls the austen characters would hide under their sewing and refuse to admit that they read (and liked). However, i didn't really like this. I'm not sure why i finished it. Heck i'm trying to figure out how the main character survived to 18, being a brainless, clumsy, and utterly innocent/unsexual/doesn't even get innuendos kind of girl YET was supposed to have raised herself most of her life. I'd have at least assumed she would have been eaten by wolves around at least age 8 if she really were as vapid as the story dictates.

however, i will say this for it: all the characters, minus the main heroine, are equally deplorable across the board. They are all abusive, crude, drunken, gambling, violent, and reprehensible. The 'hero' is described as the kind to hit a woman (even a woman who he considered a relative or a friend) if she is bothering him and has absolutely no problem with that. Not very noble behavior. My thought was, on finishing this romance from 1978 was - is this closer to the truth of what it was really like back then? Egads! I shudder to think, and will retreat back to happy happy austen carbon copy romances.

[Eva (TXBookjunkie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edition: Dell Publishing (April 1985)

Blurb: An odd quirk of fate had given her a blacklisted cheat of a gambler for a father and made her all but an orphan. Yet it was an even odder twist that made Lord Linden, London's wickedest womanizer, her self-appointed guardian.

From the gin room at The Merry Maidenhead to the mirrored bourdoir of a posh brothel, Katie Kendricks sought sanctuary from danger, debt, and scandal. It would take the skills of a celebrated courtesan and a proper duchess to turn the ragged waif into the likes of a lady. But it was only a matter of time before Katie herself had done the impossible and forever captured a libertine's heart.

[Mariachiara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non è vero che la lingua in cui si legge non importa. Importa eccome. Una brutta traduzione può rovinare un libro, ma una buona traduzione può addirittura migliorarlo, specie nel caso dell'italiano nei confronti dell'inglese, poiché la nostra lingua è molto più ricca di sfumature.

Ora io amo molto Laura London, non ho mai letto un suo libro che non mi sia piaciuto, tranne questo. Quindi mi sono convinta che se l'avessi letto in italiano invece che in inglese mi sarebbe piaciuto. Magari sbaglio. Magari non mi avrebbe colpito neppure in italiano, però il dubbio resta. Secondo me una buona traduzione l'avrebbe svecchiato, e magari reso la protagonista femminile meno....vacua.

[penelopewanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still home with the flu, I picked up this short little book for a break between two Dark Huntress (vampire/paranormal) books I'm reading in a bookcrossing spiral. This was quick and sweet although the innocence of the heroine is sometimes a bit over the top. Pretty much what the doctor ordered, though.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

“That milk is sour. Throw it out. Not out the window-!”
“Well, I didn’t know there were ladies walking down there! We always threw garbage out the windows in the Rookery.”
“My dear child, this is not the Rookery!”
Quite amusing Regency Romance. It could use quite a bit of editing though, because the hero would make a good tomcat.

[RIF · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 a quick read w very well developed cast of characters. A little dated mainly in that we have the very trite engenue heroine (17) and the rakish hero (28), but really great dialogue, adventure and charm make it a nice read. Surprisingly clean.

[Mrs S Coster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uncomfortable read

I found that the heroine came across as incredibly young more early teens and therefore found the whole thing quite uncomfortable to read. I assume the author was aiming for naive but it fell short by quite a bit in my opinion

[Patricia Burroughs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this to bits. If Sir Francis Lymond starred in a romantic comedy, this would be it.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Mmeguillotine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 I love Laura London books. Sort of in a league of their own.