Review and Giveaway - - The Virgin and the Rogue

The Virgin and the Rogue
by Sophie Jordan
The Rogue Files - Book 6
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: April 28, 2020
Reviewed by PJ
 

A love potion…

Charlotte Langley has always been the prudent middle sister, so her family is not surprised when she makes the safe choice and agrees to wed her childhood sweetheart. But when she finds herself under the weather and drinks a “healing” tonic, the potion provokes the most maddening desire…for someone other than her betrothed.

With the power…

Kingston’s rakehell ways are going to destroy him and he’s vowed to change. His stepbrother’s remote estate is just the place for a reformed rogue to hide. The last thing he wants is to be surrounded by society, but when he gets stuck alone with a wallflower who is already betrothed... and she astonishes him with a fiery kiss, he forgets all about hiding.

To alter two destinies.

Although Charlotte appears meek, Kingston soon discovers there’s a vixen inside, yearning to break free. Unable to forget their illicit moment of passion, Kingston vows to relive the encounter, but Charlotte has sworn it will never happen again—no matter how earth-shattering it was. But will a devilish rogue tempt her to risk everything for a chance at true love?

PJ's Thoughts:

The Virgin and the Rogue is the book I needed in these uncertain times. It's fast-paced, burn-the-sheets sexy, heart-tugging, and, yep, more than a little bananas crazy. The perfect escape from reality. And, you know what? I LOVED EVERY SINGLE BIT OF IT! Read the entire thing in one sitting. Couldn't put it down. Grinned from beginning to end. (Okay, there may have been a few tears near the end but they were HAPPY tears!) And, as soon as I turned the final page? All I wanted to do was go back to the beginning and jump on the crazy train all over again. Kudos to the author for immersing me in her fictional world and, for a few hours, making me forget every single fear and worry lurking in ours.

This is the sixth book in a series but stands well on its own. Secondary characters do include Charlotte's older sister, Marian and her hero, Nathaniel from The Duke's Stolen Bride but you don't have to have read that book to completely enjoy Charlotte and Kingston's story (though I do recommend both books). Another major secondary character is Charlotte's and Marian's younger sister, Nora, the creator of the accidental aphrodisiac that sets everything into motion. I'm excited to read Nora's story this October in The Duke Effect. I already have it on pre-order.  

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So, tell me what books are taking you away from reality these days. Two randomly chosen people who comment before 11:00 PM, May 5, will receive a print copy of The Virgin and the Rogue. 

*Must be 18 or older
*U.S. addresses only

Review - - The Duke's Stolen Bride

The Duke's Stolen Bride
by Sophie Jordan
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: October 22, 2019
Reviewed by Santa
 

An urgent dilemma…

To save her impoverished family, Marian Langley will become a mistress. But she will not be just any mistress. Marian intends to become so skilled, so coveted, that she can set her own terms, retaining control over her body and her fate. Only one problem remains: finding a tutor…

A scandalous solution…

Other men deprive themselves of pleasure for propriety’s sake. Nathaniel, Duke of Warrington, would much rather be depraved. He slakes his desires with professionals who ask nothing of him but his coin. Marian’s proposal—that he train her without taking her virtue—is an intriguing diversion, until their lessons in seduction spin out of control.

And a most unlikely duchess…

When Marian is blackmailed into engagement by a man she despises, Nate impulsively steals her away. Though he never intended to take a wife, he can’t tolerate the idea of Marian forfeiting her freedom to another. But can he bear to give her what she demands—a real marriage?

Santa says...

The Duke’s Stolen Bride by Sophie Jordan is the newest addition to her The Rogue Files and it is another 5 Star for me. I have really enjoyed this series. We are introduced to our heroine, Marian Langley, in the previous books as governess and friend in the Duke of Autenberry’s household. She sent money home to her father and siblings but then her father fell ill and she returned home to care for him, staying after his death. Their circumstances quickly spiraled downward and she finds it more and more difficult to pay the bills and put food on the table.

And that is how she finds herself under a table, in a tavern, running from the coal peddler, one of many merchants she owes money to. As luck would have it the table she ends up under is the table of none other than a duke. A duke whose reputation precedes him. He is no other than the Duke of Warrington aka the Duke of Depravity. Marian intrigues him for no other reason than she lands at his feet, as any number of women do, but not for the usual reasons. He agrees not to give her away when the coal peddler storms in looking for her.

Marian’s problems don’t end there. She has a distasteful suiter who comes bearing gifts and keeps pressing his interest in her and if she does not agree to marriage to him he would be more than happy to press himself to her two younger sisters. Marian must come up with something more to do for her family. Tutoring and the sewing her sisters do are not enough to keep food on the table and their brother at Eton. 

Marion sees her only recourse is to become a mistress like the newly retired ‘widow’ who moved to their village a couple of years ago. Her friend, the widow Mrs. Ramsey, cautions her that it is not a lifestyle for everyone. But Marion is inexperienced and an innocent and would require some direction. She tells her of her encounter with the duke and decides to approach him to ask for his hand in her tutelage.

To say that Nathanial, the duke of Depravity, is shocked is an understatement. Once again, he is intrigued. An innocent wanting to be a sought after mistress. He reluctantly agrees and they set rules and requirements of their arrangement. Like never letting things go beyond kisses and caresses. What could go wrong? Love would never come into play - this a business arrangement. Its bounds are soon tested as her ‘suiter’ more aggressively plays his hand. The duke is left with little choice but to steal his bride.

Marian and Nate are a delight. I was rooting for them from the very beginning. I loved being introduced to the other Langley sisters. And I ask you, what English village wouldn’t be complete without a mysterious widow of unknown repute? I think you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

Review - - The Duke Buys a Bride

The Duke Buys a Bride

By Sophie Jordan
Publisher: Avon

Release Date: July 24, 2018
Reviewed by Santa

The Duke Buys A Bride by Sophie Jordan is a 5 out of 5 winner for me. I have to admit, as horrid as it sounds, I love me a bride sale. It is as awful as it sounds. A husband could ‘get rid of a spouse’ by auctioning her off. It was seen as the sensible thing to do as divorce was not an option within any class unless you were titled and could afford both the cost and stigma of it.

In The Duke Buys A Bride we find Marcus, Duke of Autenberry, a runaway duke of sorts. Marcus woke from a coma only to find himself comatose on the floor of a barn, taken prisoner for disorderly conduct. After paying his debt to society he tries to make his way to his estate in the Northern most part of Scotland, to the Black Isle.

Alyse Bell was married to Mr. Beard for seven years, keeping his house and raising his children when she was no more than a child herself. It was a chaste marriage which ran its course when a neighboring widow caught his eye. The way to dissolve the marriage was to auction her off on market day at an old, unused custom of a bride sale.

That’s what Marcus comes upon as he tries to leave the village and it enrages him to see a young lady leered and jeered at by the very people of her own village. He outbids everyone and gets a bill of sale and, unbeknownst to him, a wife. He is even more outraged and remains incredulous that it is even a true marriage but this is Scotland.

Alyse has no one to go to and no place to call home and so agrees to follow Marcus to his estate and become his housekeeper. Their journey is not an easy one. They have much to learn about one another and themselves. I enjoyed their journey and their love story! This is a great addition to Sophie Jordan’s The Rogue Files but equally brilliant on its own.

Review - - The Scandal of it All

The Scandal Of It All
by Sophie Jordan
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: July 25, 2017

Reviewed by Santa

  

The Scandal Of It All, a four out of five star book, is the second in Ms. Jordan’s The Rogue Files. It is not your usual romance about a rogue and a young lady. That was part of its appeal for me. There is no young lady. Our heroine, is the beautiful, widowed Lady Graciela or Ela, Duchess of Autenberry. She is step-mother to the present duke, Marcus and his sister Enid. Her own daughter from that marriage is about to make her debut in polite society following the end of her mourning period. In truth, she is only a few years older than her step children.

Her’s was a loveless marriage as she utterly failed to provide her husband with a spare. He as much as told her she was a disappointment. She had no friends save for other outcasts like herself of the Ton. Her beauty, youth and Spanish heritage make others around her more than a little petty and jealous.

Following the death of a friend, she decides it is time to seek out her own pleasures. All her life she’s given herself over to the care of others. Her friend’s sudden death convinces her that it is time to take care of herself. She decides to go incognito to a notorious den of inequity.

Our hero, Lord Colin Strickland, has been commanded by his grandmother to settle down and continue the family line. She never gave him a second thought before. By this time he was used to not meaning anything to anyone. Save for his best friend Marcus, the present Duke of Autenberry, and the duke’s family, he has been alone.

Lord Colin and Ela’s chance meeting at the pleasure club catapults them into an intimate relationship from the very start. Inhibitions and hidden desires are thrown wide open. The ramifications touch everyone in Ela’s family. Here is the lad who came to dinner and now they are lovers. Lovers forced to marry after she is compromised. Believe when I say there are many not happy at all and go to great lengths to display their ire.

Throughout it all, Colin and Ela come to realize they do have real feelings for one another. And their coming together brings them more than they ever thought they would have or felt they deserved.  This is what kept me reading because I was drawn into seeing just how their story unfolded and what would make up their happily ever after. I am also looking forward to about two or three other books or novellas to round up the rest of the rogues in this series.