Review by Ronny

Series Name: Scandal & Scoundrel, # 1 

The Rogue Not Taken is a delicious and addictive love story that is sure to sweep you off your feet.

Favourite Quote: 

She thought too little of herself, and King had suddenly wished very much to change her mind. As insane as that sounded. 

He blamed her beautiful smile. 

Book Synopsis: 

LADY SOPHIE’S SOCIETY SPLASH
 The youngest of the infamous Talbot sisters scandalized society at the Liverpool Summer Soiree, striking her sister’s notoriously philandering husband and landing him backside-first in a goldfish pond. And we thought Sophie was the quiet one…
When she finds herself the target of very public aristocratic scorn, Sophie Talbot does what she must to escape the city and its judgment—she flees on the back of a carriage, vowing never to return to London…or to society. But the carriage isn’t saving her from ruin. It’s filled with it.
ROYAL ROGUE’S REIGN OF RAVISHMENT!
The Marquess of Eversley was espied descending a rose trellis—escaping an irate Earl and his once-future countess. No lady is safe from Eversley’s Engagement Ending Escapades!
Kingscote, the Marquess of Eversley, has never met a woman he couldn’t charm, a quality that results in a reputation far worse than the truth, a furious summons home, and a long, boring trip to the Scottish border. When King discovers stowaway Sophie, however, the trip becomes anything but boring.
WAR? OR MORE?
He thinks she’s trying to trick him into marriage. She wouldn’t have him if he were the last man on earth. But carriages bring close quarters, dark secrets, and unbearable temptation, and suddenly opposites are altogether too attractive…

Review:

God, I just love Sarah’s writing. Every time I start another one of her series, I find myself being bewitched by her characters and their story unfolding on the pages. This is the first book in the Scandal and Scoundrels series. If you are like me and are a bit of a chaotic reader and read nothing in order or jump from series to series without actually finishing a series, then you may recognize some of the characters in this book. Sarah has created this fabulous universe where a lot of her characters interact with each other, regardless of what series they come from. It’s like the Marvel universe, but with lots of hot romance and gorgeous men who are broken and think they aren’t deserving of love. So actually, better than the Marvel universe. 

In this book, we are introduced to Sophie, one of the sisters who are known by London society as being the Soiled S’s. Even though Sophie’s family has tons of money, they aren’t truly accepted by society because they were given a title instead of inheriting one. Sophie’s sisters also have a reputation for being, shall we say, pretty wild. Sophie is considered to be the boring and unfun one, that is, until she pushes her brother-in-law into a pond and berates him in front of London society for cheating on her sister. This creates a scandal to beat all scandals, and Sophie, who is tired of being scorned by London society, decides to flee. It is while she is planning her escape that she comes across King, fleeing his scandalous situation. Through a series of unlikely events that are pure Sarah MacLean gold, these two find themselves on a round trip that is going to change their lives in the most glorious way. 

There is nothing better than a historical romance that includes a road trip.  A road trip often means that the pacing of the story is going to be slightly or quite a bit faster; there is usually an element of danger, a one-bed situation, and, of course, forcing the two MCs together in a tiny little carriage, and this book has all of those elements. This book is just so well written and so tight. Sarah really is a master at her craft. She knows how to create a story that is going to hook you in right from the beginning, and then she is going to keep you engaged through delicious chemistry, dialogue that is fast and sharp, and that slow burn that is so lusty and perfect. 

As you can see, I liked everything about this book. There is plenty of wit and humour. Sophie is a fabulous heroine who keeps King on his toes at all times. She exasperates the poor man, and it’s just so great. There is also quite a bit of depth to her character. She doesn’t want the title that her family came into and wants nothing to do with London society. She wants to live a quiet life where she runs her own bookshop. She sees the shallowness and hypocrisy that exists within society and calls them out on their bad behaviour, including King. This is one of the reasons why she is in such hot water at the beginning of the book. She is undervalued as her own person by everyone. King is a typical broody, broken MacLean hero. He believes he doesn’t deserve to be loved by anyone because of a past tragedy. He has vowed never to marry and never to have children. I liked him. I like a man who thinks he is incapable of feeling big feelings, because it means when he falls for the heroine, he really falls hard for her. His world and his plans for his future are shattered in the most glorious way.    

The romance is just everything I want and so much more. The chemistry between these two is perfection. It’s that fun and witty dialogue between two characters who want nothing to do with each other. They are constantly trying to get each other riled up. It makes for some addictive and fabulous banter. There is also this resistance to giving in to those feelings for one another. They clearly do not like each other, but every time they touch or look into each other’s eyes, they cannot deny that there is a spark between them, despite all the noisy antics that went on in this story. There are still plenty of quiet moments between these two, and I think when I book a lot happening in it, those quiet moments become more powerful because it’s those moments when you see their relationship growing.   

The Rogue Not Taken is a deliciously addictive romance romp and a must for any bookworm who loves a historical romance.