A Rogue by Any Other Name

Publisher's Summary

RITA Award Winner, Best Historical Romance, 2013

What a scoundrel wants, a scoundrel gets....

A decade ago, the Marquess of Bourne was cast from society with nothing but his title. Now a partner in London's most exclusive gaming hell, the cold, ruthless Bourne will do whatever it takes to regain his inheritance - including marrying perfect, proper Lady Penelope Marbury. 

A broken engagement and years of disappointing courtships have left Penelope with little interest in a quiet, comfortable marriage, and a longing for something more. How lucky that her new husband has access to an unexplored world of pleasures. 

Bourne may be a prince of London's illicit underworld, but he vows to keep Penelope untouched by its wickedness - a challenge indeed as the lady discovers her own desires, and her willingness to wager anything for them...even her heart.

©2012 Sarah Trabucci (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

Very good start to the series :)

4 stars

This was a very good story. I liked Penelope very much and Bourne wasn't too bad either. I thought they made a good couple and I couldn't help rooting for them to get together. This is the first story I've read by this author and I liked it well enough that I may try more of her work in the future.

Penelope is the oldest daughter of 5 and becoming a spinster at the ripe old age of 28. She had been engaged to a Duke but he loved someone else and their engagement was broken in a scandal that caused Penelope to have trouble finding another suitable husband. She has had a few other offers but has been wanting more than the normal arranged marriage. Unfortunately she hasn't found more and now finds herself with none.

Bourne is a Marquess who lost his parents at a young age. His guardian then convinced Bourne (as soon as he came of age and inherited everything) to wager everything he could that wasn't tied to his title on a game of cards...the winner of course was the guardian and Bourne was left with next to nothing. Bourne swore revenge and to get back everything that was stolen from him. Bourne has remade all the money many times over through his partnership in a gaming hell but he still looks for any way to get the rest back.

Part of what Bourne lost was a large amount of land that's adjacent to his titled lands. These are worth a lot of money but Bourne's ex-guardian wont sell them. Eventually, Bourne finds out that the lands were lost in a card game to Penelope's father who attached them to her dowry. Bourne and Penelope used to be neighbors and very close friends as children. When Bourne lost his parents, he and Penelope were separated and then after he lost everything Penelope didn't hear from him again. Penelope isn't thrilled to find that her father is pushing her to marry and that he's attached Bourne's old property to her dowry. She doesn't want to have a stale, boring marriage but instead wants adventure and possibly love. Penelope's father doesn't care, he just insists that she get married to help her 2 unmarried sisters find husbands and not be affected by her old scandal and possible spinsterhood. Penelope isn't happy about this and escapes out of the house in the middle of the night for air and to think. She happens upon Bourne and he makes it quite clear that he's going to compromise her in order to make sure there's no choice but for them to get married immediately.

Penelope isn't thrilled with the new, hard man that Bourne has become. She's also pissed that he wants to push her in to marriage because he wants the land and not her (but does have to concede that all her suitors come for her dowry and not her). Penelope and Bourne come to an agreement so she'll cooperate and are quickly married. Part of their deal is to make their marriage look real so there wont be any scandal and her sisters will be able to find good husbands so Bourne and Penelope do spend some time together pulling the wool over everyone's eyes. Things between them are rough at first and this isn't helped by the fact that Bourne has a lead on a method of revenge but it would take someone else down as well. Bourne is willing to use it but Penelope finds out and makes her displeasure with this known. This presents an problem because as Bourne and Penelope become closer they're held apart by his need for revenge. Things don't go easy for the pair but I liked the way things turned out and Bourne and Penelope do end the story starting their well deserved HEA.

This was a very enjoyable story. I liked both Bourne and Penelope very much. Bourne was a bit of a jerk at first but it was understandable for a man that's been consumed by revenge for almost a decade. The story was engaging and I couldn't help rooting for Penelope and Bourne to work things out between them. I'll probably read more of the series in the future. I'd recommend this story. Thumbs up. :)

13 of 13 people found this review helpful

light and entertaining

I bought this book primarily because of the narrator...Rosalyn Landor.What surprised me was the author,i found this a light read. Easy to follow. It was funny at times and the characters were great. I can't wait for the next book on Cross. I hope Landor will pick up from where she left of!

22 of 24 people found this review helpful

Disappointing Historical Romance

The story in this book was just average and a bit boring at times. Boune lost his family estate in a poker game, and he blamed everyone but himsel for acting a fool. Years later, Penelope's father won the estate from the man who took it from Bourne, and he made the estate part of Penelope's dowery to encourage a man to marry her (she was older and turning into a "spinster"). Bourne marries Penelope to get the estate back through marriage. Bourne and Penelope were childhood friends, but you would never know it, because Bourne was such a jerk to Penelope. While the story had passion, both Bourne and Penelope had unrealistic expectations and acted a bit immature. Unless you love this author, I'd pass. On the positive side, the narrator was great.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

My first by this author

And I loved it. I love Audible sales because I can listen to authors I have not experienced before. This was a delightful book by one of my favorite narrators!

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

Good but could've been better

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I enjoyed the book but at the same time I think the development of the romance could’ve been better. This book was a lot of the female lead being prim and argumentative and the male lead trying to put distance between the female lead and himself and not enough romance where you really see them falling for each other. The book had them feeling a lot of physical attraction to each other and then at the end of book the epiphany of love comes and the story is over. And the reason the male lead things he’s such a bad guy, once revealed at the end, is super anticlimactic and really seems like a dumb reason for a man to be so down on himself and brooding.

Would you be willing to try another book from Sarah MacLean? Why or why not?

Even thought the story development could've been better it was still entertaining enough that I'd listen to the next book in the series.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Predictable with a Twist

If you could sum up A Rogue by Any Other Name in three words, what would they be?

This is a really good book. I love this author and this narrator. The Rogue is redeemed and the lady gets her dream husband. It's predictable but the twist is worth the read/listen.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Rogue by Any Other Name?

The most memorable moment is when Penelope and Michael meet in the dark the first time after nine years but there were several other moments that are just as enjoyable. Though I can't recall each moment. I know this was a sweet and romantic story that made me laugh.

What does Rosalyn Landor bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Landor is an excellent narrator. You always feel like you are there.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

First in The First Rule of Scoundrels series

Not a story to tax your brain too much, but it was enjoyable despite moments when I wanted to give the hero a good kick for being idiotic. I'll be keen to see the next story in this series, but it looks like we have quite a wait as 'One Good Earl Deserves a Lover' isn't due to be published until early in 2013. As always, Rosalyn Landor is awesome narrating.

11 of 13 people found this review helpful

An Expected Outcome....

Any additional comments?

I love this author and wish that her "Love by Numbers" trilogy was available on audio. A Rogue by Any Other Name was a solid, well done historical romance, which delivered exactly what is expected: sighs and a lovely HEA. A good listen. Having said that, I think the epilogue was better than the rest of the book. I've pre-ordered the next book in the series and think (based on the epilogue alone) that it will be even better than Rogue. It's an automatic purchase if it comes out as an audiobook.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Enjoyable Romance

I always love Rosalyn Landor's narrations. This book was a fun romance with plucky heroine and hero who thinks he's not worthy. The hero and heroine were childhood friends. He loses his fortune gambling, she's a spinster, he's bent on revenge, they marry so he can regain part of his inheritance, they have misunderstandings, get to know each other again, and they have a happily ever after. Enjoyable listen for commute.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Awesome..

Would you listen to A Rogue by Any Other Name again? Why?

Yes!! Because it was such a touching and heart-warming love story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved Michael. He was such a wonderful character.

What about Rosalyn Landor’s performance did you like?

She did a wonderful job.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes..

Any additional comments?

This was my first book by Sarah MacLean but it will not be my last. I've already read the first chapter of her next book and it was just hysterical. I loved Michael and Penelope. Loved Cross, Chase and Temple. Loved conceited, self-centered Olivia and science-nerd Pippa. Loved Tommy and hated his father. Loved the romance, and the sex was perfect. Yeah, I guess I really loved this book.

12 of 15 people found this review helpful