The Rogue Not Taken

The Rogue Not Taken (2015) Sarah MacLean

Set in England in 1833.

Sophie Talbot is tired of being the youngest Soiled S, never truly accepted.

The Talbot family was the scandal of the aristocracy. Sophie’s father was a newly minted earl, having received his title a decade earlier from the then King. Though her father had never confirmed the gossip, it was generally accepted that Jack Talbot’s fortune— made in coal— had purchased his title. Some said it was won in a round of faro; some said it was payment for the earl assuming a particularly embarrassing debt belonging to the King.

However, her eldest sister trapped a Duke, and since then the sisters have been invited everywhere. But Sophie hates it.

The Marquess of Eversley is a notorious rake, and has a history of ruining the engagements of beautiful young ladies. When he finds the youngest Talbot sister trying to flee a party, he assumes that she is out to snare a Duke herself, and wants nothing to do with her.

One of the things I liked about Sophie was seeing how her father loved her.

Her father wasn’t a reader— he’d never learned how, despite having an uncanny head for numbers— so the crate of books he brought home with him was always eclectic: texts on animal husbandry, economic dissertations, travelogues, hunting manuals, four separate versions of the Book of Common Prayer. Once, he’d come home with an obscure collection of etchings from India that her governess had promptly snatched away and never returned.

I love the idea of his randomly picking out books for his daughter to try and please her.

As far as the characters, I liked the secondary characters–the doctor and Bess and the children from the mail coach–better than King. Yes, he had grounds for behaving and believing as he did, but he was mostly a jerk throughout the entire thing.

But, it was a cute romp and a distraction.
Rating: 6.5/10

Published by Avon

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