So each book in the series was better than the last. I fully expected each book to be roughly the same plot with different characters, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find this book a completely different plot from the ones before. In this final book of the runaway brides trilogy, Jack finds Melody's mother and, as it turns out, his true love from years ago that he never even knew he had. ( )

SCOUNDREL IN MY DREAMS by Celeste Bradley is a wonderful historical romance set in 19th century England. It is the third and final book in The Runaway Brides trilogy, but can be read as a stand alone.It is well written with depth,details,twists and turns. The first in the series was Devil in My Bed and the second is Rogue in My Arms. It has passion,joy, romance,suspense, a lot of laughing,some crying, adventure, secrets, non stop action,and will capture your heart, especially little three year old Melody. She is the topic of this series. She cute, sassy, precocious, adorable, and you can't help but fall in love with her. In the meantime, three men think they may be her father. She was left on the doorstep of their club with only a note proclaiming " her father is a member of Brown's". Two of the men now know, she is not theirs. Everyone who meets young Melody, falls in love with her. When Jack, our hero,sees her he knows she is his. He remembers her mother coming to his room one dark night three years ago...he only remembers the wrong girl.When he goes to who he thought her mother was she denied it, and laughs at him. Our heroine, Laurel, was only seventeen at the time of the seduction, has loved Jack from afar forever,thinks her child died at birth, lives a secluded life with her sister.When Jack arrives at her widowed sister's house, Laurel sees little Melody and know she is her child.She follows Jack to the gentleman's club, confronts him,but Jack will not give up his new found child. So he does the only thing he can and kidnaps Laurel, or rather holds her captive until she surrenders to him.Jack has loved Laurel for years, but thought she was forbidden to him.This is a wonderful story of love,surrender, sacrifice,the coming together of a family, putting the past aside in order to achieve a wonderful life.I would highly recommend this book especially if you enjoy laughter, sadness, overcoming past tragedy and a story that will truly steal your heart. This book was received for review from the publisher and details can be found at St. Martin's Paperbacks and My Book Addiction and More. 5 ( )