About A Rogue by Caroline Linden
Series : Desperately Seeking Duke #1
It’s no love match…
Bianca Tate is horrified when her sister Cathy is obliged to accept an offer of marriage from Maximilian St. James, notorious rake. Defiantly she helps Cathy elope with her true love, and takes her sister’s place at the altar.
It’s not even the match that was made…
Perched on the lowest branch of his family tree, Max has relied on charm and cunning to survive. But an unexpected stroke of luck gives him an outside chance at a dukedom—and which Tate sister he weds hardly seems to matter.
But could it be the perfect match?
Married or not, Bianca is determined to protect her family’s prosperous ceramics business, even when Max shows an affinity for it—not to mention a dangerous ability to intrigue and tempt Bianca herself. And when Max realizes how beautiful and intelligent and desirable Bianca is, he’ll have to prove he’s no rogue, but the passionately devoted husband she craves…
About a Rogue is the third book that I've read from Caroline Linden and she's quickly becoming a favorite of mine! I'd been wanting to read this one ever since I came across the blurb and marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes!
After the Duke of Carlyle's brother(and heir) dies, his mother decides to summon the three distant relatives who are next in line to inherit the dukedom soon. She wants to make sure that the dukedom is passed on to someone who fits her criteria and will take good care of it. If they turn their lives around in six months and get married by then, they'll receive an annuity and be settled for a life. One of the candidates is Maximillian St. James, a rogue with a reputation that precedes him.
Max is determined to not let this opportunity slip by. So, he decides to marry Samuel Tate's younger daughter Cathy, as she and her sister Bianca will inherit the shares in their father's ceramics business.
On the other hand, Bianca is determined to see her sister be happy, so she helps Cathy elope and ends up taking her place at the altar in order to save the business. What starts off as a marriage of convenience, soon turns into something more when Max discovers that he's now got everything that he's wanted. All he has to do is make sure Bianca realizes the same!
After reading so many historical romance books in the past few weeks with arrogant, alpha heroes, it was quite refreshing to read about an ex-scoundrel who is actually honest and charming. I loved the playful banter between him and Bianca. He had his work cut out for him because she totally hated him at first!
Bianca sees him as an opportunist who has come along to take away her family business. So, it takes a while for her to see the man who is willing to put in the hardwork to improve the business and learn about it. Max is more encouraging than her father and her co-workers. He gives her the respect she deserves and listens to her ideas. In return, she also learns to see behind his facade and takes a chance on his future plans for the company.
It takes some time for them to move beyond the initial animosity and Max has to work hard to earn her trust. I loved the slow development of the relationship between them and it was done in a realistic manner. But, on the other hand, though I loved these two as individual characters, I didn't feel much chemistry between them beyond a light spark. They were perfect for each other, but I just felt as if there was something missing.
Also, Bianca was a little annoying at first with her intense hatred of Max. She wasn't even willing to give him a chance, but I'm glad that changed and she also grew as a character. The touch of drama with Max's secret wasn't really that much of a big deal in my opinion as Bianca handled it well, but I guess there wouldn't be much of a plot in a HR book if there isn't some drama at the very least! Lol!
In the end, this was a light and refreshing read with well-developed characters that I came to love! Plus, it's a great start to a new series and I'm very interested in finding out who will actually end up inheriting the dukedom! The colonel or the mysterious Frenchman?
*I was provided with an ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
Caroline Linden was born a reader, not a writer. She earned a degree in mathematics from Harvard University and worked as a programmer in the financial services industry before realizing writing fiction is much more exciting than writing code. Her books have won the NEC-RWA Readers' Choice Award, the JNRW Golden Leaf, the Daphne du Maurier Award, and RWA's RITA Award, and have been translated into seventeen languages around the world. She lives in New England.
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