I can honestly say that this book tried. How could it not, when there was everything but the kitchen sink thrown in? We’ve got psychics, ghosts, cheats, liars, evil preachers, evil rich men, orphans, otters. . .otters? There was humor at times, the love scenes were well done, but not even those redeeming qualities could rescue Scoundrel for Hire.

Raphael Jones had a rough childhood as the result of his mother’s adultery; Preacher Jedidiah Jones, his stepfather, allowed his wife to keep Raphael and raise the boy in his home for the sole purpose or tormenting both wife and child with the daily proof of her sin. When his mother dies, Raphael understands that only misery awaits him if he stays, so he leaves his little brother and sister behind and runs into a troupe of actors/con artists, who take him in – as long as he suits their purposes, that is.

Years later, mining heiress Silver Nichols (yes, Silver Nichols) has a problem. Her widowed father, better known as Midas Max, has a new ladylove and Silver wants the scheming hussy (what else could she be, right?) gone from their lives. From her investigations, she finds out that Celestia Cooper, better known as Madam Celestia, was apparently involved in the burning of a church. When this “proof” of Celestia’s obviously evil nature fails to convince Max to stop seeing her, Silver hires the con artist she just uncovered at the mining convention, and offers him money to pose as an English Earl and seduce Celestia away from Max.

The scheme to have Rafe pose as an Earl teeters on the brink of disaster from the start. He fails to impress Silver’s British butler, gets the title wrong and becomes a Duke instead, and spends more time hitting on Silver than charming Celestia. He does, however, impress Max enough to have the older man invite Rafe to live with them while he is in town. Rafe accepts, and brings along Octavia, his baby otter, better known as Tavy.

While Silver does her best to pretend she hates Raphael, he – along with the reader – knows better. Their relationship, however, suffers from having too much stuff thrown in. The first time they make love, it’s only because Silver thinks she’s going to be sent to jail, and just minutes after she’s told Rafe about a close encounter with a would-be rapist – her former fiancé, Aaron. In the end, we even have an unneeded Misunderstanding that must be resolved before they can live happily ever after.

More problems. How dare her father look at another woman?, reasons Silver as she hires Rafe. It never enters her mind that Max might really love Celestia and that he knows her character well, or that his heart might be broken because of her (Silver’s) schemes. To Silver, her father is merely a child, and it’s up to her to “fix” his life and get rid of Celestia, no matter how much grief this might bring him. As far as Rafe goes, she falls for him immediately and subsequently gets hot and flustered whenever he’s near – I want you/I hate you doesn’t begin to describe Silver’s actions and it all became tiresome very quickly.

Rafe was a little better, but considering he was a Shakespearean actor, those acting skills sure left a lot to be desired. He became the most insufferable, ill-mannered nobleman ever, and it seemed like he derived no end of amusement from nearly unmasking Silver’s plan every chance he could. Even though he likes Silver, he readily admits to himself that he wants her money, and considers his own scheme fair payback for what she’s doing to her father.

The main problem with Scoundrel for Hire was the lack of a single sympathetic character in the lot. It felt like an 1870s episode of Melrose Place, with all the cheating and scheming and melodrama going on. Although we’re told that there are noble reasons for the characters’ actions, I couldn’t help feeling that both Rafe and Silver were unscrupulous, greedy people who would stop at nothing in order to get what they wanted, no matter who they hurt. Actually, I stand corrected; there was a sympathetic character in this book – Tavy, the baby otter.