Rowena's review of A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels #1) by Sarah MacLean

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Rowena's review of A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels #1) by Sarah MacLean.

Hero: Michael, Marquess of Bourne
Heroine: Lady Penelope Marbury

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.

I had every confidence that I would like this book but I didn't think I'd love it as much as I did but I shouldn't have expected anything less since Holly (who is harder to please than I am) really enjoyed this book. This book had everything a romance novel should have. It had sexual tension, a courtship, a hero that was delicious and a heroine that flat out rocked my socks. It's surprising to me at how much I liked Penelope because usually, the heroine doesn't make it to my radar but Penelope wasn't that kind of heroine.

Forget, me wanting Penelope to be my best friend. I wanted to be her. She wasn't this boring, virginal heroine who needs rescuing at every turn. She had a brain that worked, a wit that had me cracking up and a heart that was pure.

If you read Eleven Scandals to Start to win a Duke's Heart, you should remember Penelope Marbury as she was engaged to Simon Pearson before he dumped her and married Julianna. If you ever wondered what happened to her, this is the book for you.

There is so much good in this book that it's hard for me to choose where to start. This isn't a girl meets boy and they fight and make up and then find their happy ending kind of book because these two characters have known each other for quite some time now. They were childhood friends, best friends even who let time and distance get the better of them. They were neighbors and played together. There were three of them back then. Michael, Penelope and Tommy. The three amigos and all of that goes up in flames when Michael loses everything (and I mean, everything) to Tommy's father in a card game. That night changes everyone's lives and things are never the same again.

Nine years later, the land, Michael's land, becomes Penelope's father's and he attaches it to Penelope's dowry in hopes to attract a suitor for her to marry. Tommy, who stuck around and kept up his friendship with Penelope, offers for her hand in marriage but Penelope turns him down. Tommy had his reasons for wanting to marry Penelope and I admired him for those reasons.

Michael finds out about the land, the dowry, Penelope and does what any scoundrel would do...he steals her and in turn, gets the land.

Michael is not the same boy that left all those many years ago. At first, Penelope is so hot dang happy to see him but soon realizes that the man before her is a stranger to her. He's someone she doesn't know at all and that starts their journey to true love.

I adored getting to know both Michael and Penelope. I think my favorite part of this book were the letters that these two exchanged while Michael was away at school. Seeing Penelope hold out hope that Michael would come back made me so freaking happy when he finally did go back. Seeing Michael slowly come around where Penelope was concerned, seeing the way that the ice around his heart thawed with his childhood friend- it all made for such a wonderful romance. They weren't perfect characters but I loved their imperfections. Getting to know them drove me crazy but made me happy at the same time. It was such an enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed getting to know the other characters as well. Cross, Chase and Temple? I'm itching at the bit for more of them and Penelope's sisters? Awww, I'm thrilled to see that we'll be getting Pippa's story and her hero? LOVE THE PAIRING! This is a fantastic start to a brand spankin' new series from Sarah MacLean and I'm super excited for more. You could even say that I'm greedy for more. I enjoyed it that much.

Read this book!

Grade: 5 out of 5

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

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