A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean (The Rules of Scoundrels #1)
Historical Romance
February 28, 2012
Avon
Reviewed by Mandi
Favorite Quote: “I am too imperfect for you,” he whispered at her temple.
“You are perfectly imperfect for me.”
At the age of 21, Michael Lawler, Marquess of Bourne and a gambling addict, lost everything he had in a game of cards with Langford. He lost all he had inherited from his parents’ untimely death to a man who sat there and laughed at him. Embarrassed and devastated, Bourne vanishes, not to be seen in polite society again. His only thought is for revenge, to bury Langford one day and reclaim his lands of Falconwell. For nine years Bourne worked his way up, becoming part-owner of The Fallen Angel, now London’s most-well-known gaming hell. Along with three other men, Bourne is now wealthier than he has ever been — except he still doesn’t have his land back. But now he knows how to get it.
Penelope is 28 and on the verge of becoming a spinster. Eight years ago she was engaged to the Duke of Leighton. Fans of Sarah MacLean will know him as the hero from Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart. But Leighton fell in love with someone else, and Penelope was dumped. It was quite the scandal, and her reputation has never recovered. But her father has recently won the Falconwell lands in a game of cards (from Langford) and has attached them to her dowry, knowing these vast lands will surely bring in some suitors. And it brings Bourne.
Bourne and Penelope were actually great friends growing up. They played as kids then exchanged frequent letters after Bourne left for school. But once his parents died and Bourne lost everything, they lost contact for 16 years. Bourne wants Falconwell. Period. If that means having to marry Penelope to get it, he could care less. So he kidnaps Penelope one night (as she is walking in the snow) and keeps her overnight so her family thinks she will be ruined, forcing her to marry him.
A Rogue by Any Other Name is the first book in Sarah MacLean’s Rules of Scoundrels series, and I really enjoyed it. I love a book with a marriage of convenience, and this one has such a dark and broken hero. Bourne is so set on revenge that he cares for nothing else. He forces Penelope into marriage, and I should have hated him. He is cruel and arrogant, but the author gives you enough glimpses into his mind that you know there is a chance he can be redeemed.
Although Penelope is somewhat duped into marriage, she isn’t terrified or totally devastated that it happened. Don’t get me wrong: She is tired of her entire life being steered by others. She feels a great guilt that she had a scandalous engagement all those years ago that ruined her sisters’ chances for a good marriage. If she marries Bourne, though, he promises to help her sisters find a good match. In return, he gets proof from her father of something vile about Langford. So she marries him more for her sisters’ sake. But, she also remembers the charming, warm boy and man he used to be. And I think deep down she expected to find that side of him much quicker than she actually did.
Bourne is hard to take at some points. He is truly uncaring for her feelings at first. As when he says to her how desperate men are to get Falconwell:
He was very close. Too close, leaning in, lowering his voice to a whisper, the breath of his words against the arch of her cheek heightening her nervousness. She did not breathe, too focused on the heat of him, on what he would say next. "They’ll even marry an aging spinster to get it."
She hated him then. Hated the words, the way he spoke them with such simple cruelty. Tears threatened.
No. No. She would not cry.
Not for this beast of a man who was nothing like the boy she’d known. The one she’d dreamed would one day return.
Not like this.
I can see how some might be turned off, but for me, he is redeemed so well at the end that it was worth the struggle to get there. We see him eventually learn to woo his wife and work his way out of his focus on revenge. And I really believed the devastation we see in the prologue when he loses everything. The romance is very wicked, as Bourne slowly learns that he truly does care for Penelope and wants what she has to offer.
I also adored what we see of the three other men who own the gaming hell with Bourne. Cross is the accountant of the bunch — a tall, ginger-haired man who definitely has his way with women, but is going to have a great heroine to deal with in the next book.
This book is dark with a broken hero and a heroine with just enough spunk to stand up to the hero, no matter how dark it gets. I can’t wait for the next one!
Rating: B
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Note: This review first appeared at USA Today’s Happy Ever After
Nice review Mandi. I like historicals with gaming hall owners for some reason. This one sounds interesting.
This book didn’t work for me, but I think the next one is going to be great. The other sister, Pippa? sounds like such an interesting character, and her hero!? Awesome!
Do you know how many books are in this series? Is it a trilogy? I think Tommy deserves a book… ;)
Oh yeah – The next hero sounds fab.
I assume each owner of the club gets a book? So four? I’ll have to stalk her website to see….
Great review!
I’m confused as to what makes his dark/brokenness legit. In curious since he was a dumbass who gambled away his own stuff- does he one that/take responsibility for that mistake?
You say he redeemed himself so I have to guess some more is revealed and I will need to read for myself!
I think it was to the extent he was humiliated – or at least, FELT humiliated.True – he is the one that gambled things away – there is also though a revelation at the end concerning that night that kind of makes thing more in his favor.
But I can understand how some see him as digging his own grave. But the night where he loses everything breaks him. His fault – yes. But I liked to watch him realize there is more to life than getting his land back.
I believed it because he was so young when he lost both his parents. And then his guardian, out of greed, used that naivety to manipulate his charge into gambling away his inheritance. He lost the love of his parents and was also betrayed by someone he trusted.
I honestly liked that he didn’t immediately decide change for Penelope. But I feel as if the author was starting to run out of reasons for him to be so stubborn and dragged it out a bit. I would have loved the epilogue to actually be about Penelope Michael. It took so long for them to finally get to their HEA. Though the preview into what’s to come was very interesting. I already love the interaction between those two.
Yes, I believed in his devastation in the beginning. But I love a broken hero :) I think he needed a lot of time to turn around for the HEA. When they got to the ice skating scene, I started to smile :)
Very interested in the next H/H!
oh, and Great Review!
I love the quotes- Michael had his moments but I like how the author didn’t make him into a hero in the beginning.
Great review Mandi! I’m not a HUGE historical fan, but like Tori, I love gaming hall books. :)
Great review, I need to start reading this author! I believe I have one or two of her books already.
Her “Eleven Scandals” book was an A read for me. Good stuff.
Oh it sounds fun :D I really should read it since I liked 11
Yes! I think you’ll enjoy!
Yes, but you’ll need to pay a boat load of cash to get a nice one.
You are my intake, I own few web logs and infrequently run out from post :). “He who controls the past commands the future. He who commands the future conquers the past.” by George Orwell.