Liza’s review of The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean
Historical romance released by Avon on December 29, 2015

Lady Sophie’s Society Splash

When Sophie, the least interesting of the Talbot sisters, lands her philandering brother-in-law backside-first in a goldfish pond in front of all society, she becomes the target of very public aristocratic scorn. Her only choice is to flee London, vowing to start a new life far from the aristocracy. Unfortunately, the carriage in which she stows away isn’t saving her from ruin . . . it’s filled with it.

Rogue’s Reign of Ravishment!

Kingscote, “King,” the Marquess of Eversley, has never met a woman he couldn’t charm, resulting in a reputation far worse than the truth, a general sense that he’s more pretty face than proper gentleman, and an irate summons home to the Scottish border. When King discovers stowaway Sophie, however, the journey 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, making opposites altogether too attractive . . .

I’ve enjoyed Sarah MacLean’s books in the past so I was excited to get a new book from her. I wanted to learn more about Sophie Talbot and see if she could find her happiness. I absolutely love reading about a rogue in historical romances, and Kingscote, the Marquess of Eversley fit the bill completely.

I absolutely adored Sophie Talbot from the moment she hit the page. She is such a strong and protective character. She will do whatever it takes to protect her sisters and her family. I also love that she had the strength of character to know she didn’t want to remain in London and found a way to leave.  Sophie is extremely intelligent and her love of books on every subject only endeared her more to me. I did think that for such an intelligent woman, Sophie didn’t plan ahead very well and really was very naive in how she saw the world. I really felt like she saw much of the world through rose-colored glasses.

I’ll say right from the start that I didn’t love King when we first met him. I loved the idea of the rogue who ends engagements, but he was pretty much all about himself at first and it put me off him for a bit. Even though I didn’t love him in the beginning, I still saw his potential to be charming. I also really liked how quickly his protective nature seemed to kick in when it came to Sophie. He still remained a tool towards Sophie through much of the book, but I started to see there was more to his character the longer they were together. King will never be my favorite hero in a Sarah MacLean story, but I did feel like he redeemed himself enough in the end for me to at least like him.

The Rogue Not Taken was a very slow read for me. While the attraction was there between Sophie and King from pretty much the minute they met, it took so long for their relationship to move from constant nitpicking to something more. I did find many of the situations both Sophie and King got themselves into quite funny. In fact as the romance built so slowly for me, the humor is what kept me reading. I did love the more attracted King and Sophie became to one another the more they found ways of spending more time together. I need to point out that since I read more contemporary romances than historical romances, I have to remind myself most of the romantic build up is slower with a historical romance. I really did love the romance between King and Sophie once it moved from more than companions who just picked at each other like kids on a playground.

Overall, I enjoyed The Rogue Not Taken. I would definitely read more books by Sarah MacLean. In fact, I really want to know more about Sophie’s sisters and I somehow missed Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover, where Sophie was first introduced. While I had some issues with The Rogue Not Taken, I still would recommend it to other readers. I really enjoyed Sarah MacLean’s voice and look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Grade: B-

You can buy a copy here.