The Rook

Gentlemen Rogues, Book 4

By: Nana Malone

Narrated by: Shane East, Jae Delane

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Westin St. James was the one and only person I trusted in this world. Then, he left me. And not just left. I’m talking vanished off of the face of the Earth kind of left. But four years later, he walks into the front door of my evil father’s house like nothing ever happened.

Even worse, my father informs me he’s my new bodyguard. But I’m no longer the naive girl he loved and dumped without a word of explanation. I’m resourceful and independent. Plus, I’ve got a mean right hook. Which I introduce him too as soon as he reintroduces himself with an infuriating smirk. And things get even crazier after that.

The Rook is a love and action packed stand-alone romance with roller coaster twists, jaw-dropping turns, and a heart-bursting HEA. Perfect for people who miss Alias, and listeners who love to boo and hiss at disappearing exes who show back up at your front door.

©2023 Nana Malone (P)2023 Nana Malone

Loved it!!

The one thing you can count on with Nana’s books are strong, determined female characters and protective alpha heroes that will take you on a thrilling ride. Westin has to go undercover in his old life and protect the love he left behind. Nissa is willing to do whatever it takes to find her sister. I loved the banter between these two and how much they were there for each other as they tried to fight the feelings for each other. The suspense in this story had me on the edge of my seat and I loved every moment Nissa and Westin’s journey.

Shane East and Jae Delane narrate this book and bring this story to life. Shane is great at portraying Westin’s protective nature and his turmoil of staying professional and fighting his feelings for Nissa. Jae is fairly new to me as I have only listened to her a few times and she does great at showcasing Nissa’s strength and determination.

Long lasting love

Really enjoyed Westin’s story. The Rook has it in him to become a man from the first time he sees Nissa. Although forces try, nothing keeps two apart.

Classic Nana Storytelling w/ A Borrowed Love Scene

POTENTIAL SPOILERS HERE:
I've been slow reading through this series Gentlemen Rogues and as usual Ms. Malone delivers strong, dashing yet roguish male lead characters with smart, strong willed and resourceful female lead characters. As usual, there plenty of intrigue and danger and the sex scenes between Nissa and Rook (Westin) are FIRE with palpable attraction between the characters
No complaints there! I am definitely a fan of Nana's storytelling and have read everything she's published except for maybe 3 books.
The one glitch came with either the 2nd or third love scene. As I was listening, I realized immediately the exact same love scene (with some tweaks) was in another one of Nana's books. An earlier story with different characters (Imani and Xander) called London Calling (rewritten as a 2 part story Royal Playboy and Playboys Heart).
Is it cool for an author to borrow from themselves?? For some reason, I felt disappointed by this. Unlike Xander, Westin did not have any revealed condition that would have made it difficult for him to achieve an orgasm so honestly it didn't make sense to me and didn't really fit the situation.
I've read enough of Nana's books to know she could've come up with something unique for Nissa & Westin same as she did for Imani & Xander and Saffron & Lachlan and all these other hot af characters in her stories. I think maybe its that Nana might have wanted to hear Shane East performing that scene! Hmmm... I understand if that is the case. He was not the narrator for London Calling, the original story where that love scene originated.
Anyway, as usual Shane East is a fantastic narrator and has done several of Nana's stories. Jae Delane was a little robotic at times but was good at distinguishing voices to fit the character. Overall both performances were excellent.

The Rook!

This book is classic Nana Malone. Lots of suspenseful and exciting moments with spiciness mixed in between. I loved this second chance romantic suspense story about Westin & Nissa. They meet as kids. Then as then years go by they fall for each other. Things get real for him in a situation beyond his control and he leaves. Breaking her heart. Flash-foward to present day, they are put into an impossible situation again with him going undercover, then being asked to be her bodyguard. Lots of steamy hot times occur with other events that will have you flipping those pages real quick to see what happens. 
Audiobook review:
Both Shane East and Jae Delane did a wonderful job with Westin and Nissa. Jae was new to me narrator. She's got a great tone, very pleasant voice and a good actor. I did think her cadence was a little slow, but I do look forward to hearing more from her. She was the perfect voice for Nissa. Shane's British charm comes out in full force in Nana's characters. Always a treat to listen to.

Loved every book in the series...until now

Nana Malone is one of our favorite authors and we've loved each book in this series until this one. The heroine isn't our favorite. She just doesn't seem to get what's happening or how dangerous the world is around her. She seems stubborn just to be stubborn and makes some of the most ridiculous choices. Even after almost being kidnapped and drugged on the street and other instances where her 'body guard' had to save her butt, she still made dumb choices.

Why would ANYONE walk blindly into their apartment when their body guard has already seen what's in there (it's pretty bad), told her not to enter and blocks her way? All of this while KNOWING she's a target. We know the heroine is supposed to be 20 years old, but good grief, this book makes us glad we don't know ANY 20-yr-olds this ridiculous.

As for narration, Shane East is always awesome! Wish he had more chapters. The female narrator (we don't recall listening to her before) is sllloooowwww and sounds the same all the time.

Actually, large swaths of the book are slow. Three and a half hours left. We're not going to make it.