To Love a Rogue

by Valerie Sherwood

Lovely Lorraine London had a sensuous charm that seemed to ignite the passions of every scoundrel in New England. Born in revolutionary America, she was sold into indentured servitude until she caught the roving eye of Raile Cameron, a renegade gunrunner, who lovingly rescued her. As they sailed the stormy Caribbean seas, Lorraine fought against Raile's wild embraces and thousand teasing kisses until she could no longer deny the power of their desire for each -- and together they surrendered to a fiery passion that blazed on and on and on....

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Pirates

426 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 6, 1987

About the author

A pseudonym of Jeanne Hines.

Reviews

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Total guilty pleasure chick lit romance bodice rippers, but this woman could WRITE them. MAN she could write them, and she was an historian, so that helped..the details were exquisite. When you rip a bodice, damnit, do it with historical detail done right!

[Sandy Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first romance novel I ever read, it will always have a special place in my heart.
My mother adored Ms. Sherwood's writing, and after reading this, I tried to read any romance I could get my hands on. It opened up a whole new world for me.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sherwood's penultimate book is, regrettably, a stumble, an oddly uncompelling book that contains pale echoes of her previous, better works: a high-spirited young woman from a good family forced into being a bondservant (see "This Loving Torment" and "Born to Love") becomes involved with a dashing seafarer (see "Love" and "Song" series), while being pursued by an obsessed, vengeful sadist (again, the "Love" series). The novel moves from Rhode Island to various points in the Caribbean to Virginia, and even to the Yucatan, bizarrely and briefly, intersecting with Bacon's Rebellion. Meanwhile, the love affair between Lorraine London and Raile Cameron seems to have lost a crucial step in its development in an earlier draft of the novel. One moment they're nosing around each other; the next, they're in love. Lorraine herself undergoes a sea change as a heroine, from naive and prone to misunderstanding, to shrewd and savvy empire builder. In her prime, Sherwood was an enjoyable romance writer, with intricate plots, memorable characters, and vivid detail wedded to fashion. "To Love a Rogue" has none of that. Instead, it gives the impression of a writer running out of steam after a steady decade of success. Sherwood would go on to write one more historical romance, making the jump to hardback. "To Love a Rogue" is strictly for fans wanting to complete their reading of the author's works, but not a great example of why she was a bestselling storyteller from the late 1970s through the 1980s.

[SmittenKitten · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just kind of "meh" for me. The best part of the book was the prologue about the heroine's mother - I was more interested in learning about the mother's romance than the actual heroine. The end of the book finally tied in the prologue with the story nicely. Also, I felt sorry for the villain, he was really just a self-serving, dumb kid who needed someone to knock some sense into him. He sucked as the bad guy, other than tricking the heroine to sleep with him (of course, she wasn't the brightest crayon in the box either, so that feat was easily accomplished). The hero was a major let down, too much of a good guy and didn't really do anything heroic other than getting the crap beat out of him by the villain's posse. When the heroine's life was in peril, either random side characters helped her or she saved herself.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really quite an adventurous read as well as very dramatic. Also you do have very romantic and very subdued eroticism, as a man to get his woman to marry. I really loved it, but yet again was overdrawn a bit. But a really well historical.romance that was entertaining. A read once book.

[Ijay Ibram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[lavender · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really need to get into the world of romance some more, I absolutely adored this novel and the fast paced narration. The adventure was super fun and I was invested the entire way. Lorraine definitely went on an adventure and I love to see the revenge and karma come to those deserving in a story.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the story in this book, and the writing as well. I only give it three stars because the end is rather abrupt and leaves you wanting (but not in a good IWANTMORE kind of way). On the whole the book was great. I will probably reread it someday.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rate this story at 4/12 stars. This is the first book I've read by author, Valerie Sherwood. It was written in 1987 and it is very good. I also love this time period of Pre-Revolution. It's one of my favorite genres to read. This story follows Lorraine London whose mother has died. Her father ran out on her to follow his wild schemes only to indenture Lorraine with some neighbors. They die of a fever, their farm sold off which meant her indenture was sold to a local tavern owner. He was nice but his wife hated Lorraine. Lorraine is also tricked into having sex with Phillip Dedwinton, whom she loved and thought he loved her but he used her.
The tavern is visited by a stranger, Raile Cameron, Captain of the Likely Lass. He's there to find the contact to sell his weapons too. While visiting the Tavern, Phillip Dedwinton, becomes jealous of Raile speaking with Lorraine and they take Raile out and leave him for dead. However, he is not dead and when he finds out what happened to Lorraine, He gives her the choice to leave with him. Her choice will bring her to foreign shores! This is their adventure! Enjoy!

[Anna Bowling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Right now, I am on a Valerie Sherwood tear, and this is one of the reasons why. Sherwood has been a favorite since the days she was currently publishing and remains that way on subsequent rereads.
This story has sweep. It has swash and buckle, and takes us, along with heroine, Lorraine, from Colonial Rhode Island to far-flung points including but not limited to the high seas, lush island locales, and even an empty city in Mexico, all with equal doses of history and adventure. Then there's our hero, Raile, a man of his time, who knows what side his bread is buttered on, as well as what he wants. These two things are not always the same, but once he meets Lorraine, that part, he knows.

This isn't a quick read, but a rewarding one, rich with romance and history, exactly what I've been craving as of late. The Sherwood reread continues.

[Mar Qués · Rating 4 out of 5]

No fue de mis lecturas favoritas, pero la disfrute! No estaba acostumbrada a las escenas subidas de tono en su momento, lo cual me incomodo un poco, ademas que la historia que se relata en el inicio podria estar mejor desarrollada

[Kamila Mullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first old historical fiction I picked up and enjoyed it a lot. It had a couple flaws, but I was happy to read a book where most of the setting was on a ship.

[Claire]

This has been on my shelf far too long. I am giving in and DNF.

[Varian Mizu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es pesado, mucha descripción, pero aún así me gustó mucho. Amé a Riley, aunque la protagonista es medio ???

[Valerie Cornide · Rating 4 out of 5]

La encantadora Lorraine London poseía un encanto sensual que parecía encender las pasiones de todos los aventureros de Nueva Inglaterra. Nacida en la Norteamérica Revolucionaria, fue vendida como sierva hasta que llamó la atención de Raile Cameron,

[Nicole Erickson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing...a book I read Freshman yr in HS. Just reading it now to pass the time until I get the rest of my Outlander series in the mail. It's your typical romance novel. Not a bad book though. It's not agonizing to get through or anything.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave it 100 pages and just couldn't get into it. I have way too many books on TBR list to waste my time.