# Is "Lord of Scoundrels" by Loretta Chase a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase (Avon Books, 1995) is identified by: Avon mass-market paperback original, published January 1995. The paperback original is the true first; there was no preceding hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Avon mass-market paperback original, published January 1995
- The first printing is identified by the original printed cover price and a clean copyright page with no later-printing statement, in the period Avon binding and spine logo of the mid-1990s
- Publisher imprint reads Avon Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Loretta Chase |
| Publisher | Avon Books |
| Year | 1995 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Avon mass-market paperback original, published January 1995 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Avon mass-market paperback original, published January 1995. The first printing is identified by the original printed cover price and a clean copyright page with no later-printing statement, in the period Avon binding and spine logo of the mid-1990s.

## Is this the true first?
The paperback original is the true first; there was no preceding hardcover. Collected as the canonical 1990s historical-romance high spot and a RITA winner repeatedly voted to the top of All About Romance reader polls.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club hardcover exists. Later Avon printings raise the cover price and add printing numbers; the true first is the original-priced first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Lord of Scoundrels* by Loretta Chase a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/lord-of-scoundrels
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.