The son of an English father and Italian mother, Dain is hardened due to a difficult childhood and meets his match in Jessica Trent, a 27-year-old bluestocking more than capable of trading wits with him.

As with many of her stories, Chase made her heroine a strong female, deciding to model Jessica after the type of women who lived a few generations previously and who had "a more practical, frank attitude toward sex".

Lord of Scoundrels was positively received upon its release, and in 1996 it earned the RITA Award for "Best Short Historical", a prize given annually by the Romance Writers of America.

The Marquess is disgusted with the child, describing him as the "Devil's spawn" and a "wizened olive thing with large black eyes, ill-proportioned limbs, and a grossly oversize nose".

They reach an impasse, and while her reputation remains intact, Dain spends the week personally overseeing Bertie's disintegration from excessive drinking and gambling.

Dominick is invited to live at the Ballister estate, while the boy's mother, to her pleasure, is given a large stipend and told to find her fortune in Paris.

[8] Possessing a love for Italian culture, Chase decided to make her male protagonist, Dain, a "mongrel English aristocrat" and half-Italian.

[1] Chase adds that Dain's difficult childhood stemmed from his parents' inability to accept each other's cultures, which then "warps him and makes him a misfit.

[1] Wishing to depict Jessica as the "Extreme Female", Chase emphasizes her clothing and gives Dain "a chance to exercise his caustic wit", as he deems the latest fashions to be ridiculous.

[14] Romantic fiction scholars have identified Jessica Trent as a "feminist heroine" with whom the "alpha male hero" has met his match.

[16] In her entry for The Bloomsbury Introduction to Popular Fiction, Maryan Wherry posits that Lord of Scoundrels represents a modern retelling of the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast, suggesting Chase's story is a morality tale of "restoring humanity" that is directed at "all levels of society" (rather than at the lower classes as classic fairytales were intended).

[17] Chase makes direct reference to this fairytale in the novel, when Dain silently compares his relationship with Jessica to that of Beauty and the Beast.

At one point, Jessica brings a defamation lawsuit against Dain before they agree to convert it into a prenuptial agreement, leading English professor Jayashree Kamblé to liken their relationship to "a take-over bid".

In a review by that publication, M. Helfer praised Chase for being "an exquisite storyteller who creates sharply original characters and moves them in new and exciting ways.

[6] In 2014, romance novelist Madeline Hunter recalled Lord of Scoundrels being "the 'must read' of the season" when it was published in 1995, and described it as "witty, heartfelt, with a flawed hero and an indomitable heroine, [and with] pacing so perfect a reader could only hold on for the ride.

[31] Also writing for Publishers Weekly, author Beverly Jenkins called Lord of Scoundrels an example of "Chase at the top of her game" and opined that its "characters are full-bodied and evenly matched.

[32] Elissa Petruzzi of RT Book Reviews wrote in 2014, "Some consider Loretta Chase’s epic tale to be the best Regency ever written".

[11] Novelist Eloisa James recommended Lord of Scoundrels for readers interested in trying historical romance for the first time, saying the novel is "just brilliant, hysterically funny, sexy dialogue".

[5] On January 23, 2015, fans discussed their views and favorite parts of the novel on Twitter, using the hashtag #LOSlove, and Avon Books randomly gave away signed copies to those participating.