The Thorn and the Rose

Wicked Sons #4

by Emma V. Leech

An angel of mercy…
When Lord Thomas Barrington, known universally as ‘Thorn’, falls victim to the man trying to destroy the gent’s gambling club, The Sons of Hades, he is beaten and left for dead. Enter a beautiful and mysterious woman who rescues Thorn and nurses him back to health, hidden away in the cellar of the house she inhabits. But the lady known to him only as ‘Marie,’ refuses to tell him more about herself, about why he must remain out of sight, and seems to live in fear of her domineering brother.

A lovely memory…
In terror of her brother discovering she has harboured a wounded man under his nose, Marie forces Thorn to leave, begging him to forget her and never to think of her again. This is something Thorn cannot do, his chivalrous instincts tell him the woman is in deep trouble, and the memory of his beautiful saviour will not leave his mind.

The lady vanishes…
Still badly concussed and ordered to remain in bed by the family doctor, Thorn sends his mother and brother to call on Marie and thank her for helping him, offering their aid if she should need to escape her brother. But Marie is gone, and the woman now living in the house denies her ever being there.

A dangerous game…
Perplexed and saddened, Thorn must admit to himself that Marie was in league with the man who beat him. She deliberately kept him drugged and insensible for weeks while his family worried themselves sick, believing he may be dead. Knowing it is for the best, Thorn does his best to put her out of his mind, and then comes the letter. Marie writes, begging for his help, and even knowing it is likely a trap, Thorn has no choice but to go to her aid.
Angel or something else?
Whichever she is, Thorn is determined to figure Marie out.

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, Romance, Historical

358 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 23, 2024

About the author

Bestselling author hiding mostly in 19th-century England, venturing out only for chocolate and tea.

Emma V. Leech is the award-winning author of multiple bestselling series across Regency romance, Regency mystery and paranormal romance. Fall in love with swoon-worthy rogues, bold heroines, witty banter and deeply romantic happily-ever-afters. Follow Emma on BookBub for new releases and exclusive deals.

EMMA’S BOOKS

Rogues And Gentlemen
Regency romance – 17-book series (ongoing)
Sexy, tumultuous and irresistibly romantic. From pirates and smugglers to earls and dukes, these unforgettable rogues will sweep you away!

Winter Rogue
A Regency Christmas romance within the Rogues & Gentlemen world
A scandal-weary earl, a runaway heiress and a crumbling country estate snowed in for Christmas. A sensual, heart-tugging holiday novella about redemption, desire and a love neither of them expects.

A Rogues and Gentlemen Christmas
A standalone Regency Christmas romance
A collection of three romantic holiday stories featuring beloved Rogues & Gentlemen characters. Expect snowstorms, sizzling tension, unexpected proposals, mistletoe moments and heart-melting happily-ever-afters – a cosy festive escape for Regency romance lovers.

The Girl Is Not For Christmas
A standalone Regency Christmas romance
Miss Olivia Penrose is the only thing standing between her family and ruin when a brooding aristocrat crashes into her carefully laid plans. Sparks fly amid family secrets, snowy scandals and irresistible festive longing in this passionate, witty and deeply romantic winter read.

Girls Who Dare
Regency romance – 12-book series
Inside every wallflower is the heart of a lioness. When these overlooked young women make a pact to change their lives, rules are broken, reputations are risked and love becomes the most daring adventure of all.

Daring Daughters
Victorian romance – 19-book series and two compilations
The next generation of the Girls Who Dare. Their mothers risked everything for love – now their daughters are ready to be even bolder. An ongoing series of fiercely romantic stories set in a rapidly changing world.

Wicked Sons
Victorian romance – 12-book series
Their mothers dared all for love. Their sisters did the same. Now it’s the sons’ turn… dangerous, tempting and determined not to fall – until the right woman brings them to their knees.

The Venturesome Ladies Of Little Valentine
Regency romance – my current series
A quiet seaside village, a wave of scandalous newcomers and local ladies who refuse to be swept aside. A warm, witty Regency series full of secrets, second chances and delicious enemies-to-lovers romance.

The Regency Romance Mysteries
Regency romantic suspense – 3-book series
Dashing heroes, wicked villains, murder, mystery – and heroines who refuse to sit prettily and wait to be rescued. Perfect if you like your Regency romance served with danger and intrigue.

The French Vampire Legend
Paranormal romance – 4-book series
A dark, dramatic and heart-wrenching tale of courage, sacrifice and a love that not even time, war or monsters can destroy. Gothic atmosphere, high stakes and a romance that refuses to die.

The French Fae Legend
Fantasy romance – 4-book series
An award-winning saga with close to sixteen million online reads. Moving between modern-day France and the Fae Lands, these books weave powerful magic, danger and an all-consuming love that proves stronger than any enchantment.

The Book Lover
A standalone paranormal romance novella
A book-obsessed young woman, an infuriatingly charming stranger and the unnerving sense that stories might be bleeding into real life. A short, intensely romantic tale for anyone who has ever fallen in love with books… and perhaps with something not entirely of this world.

Reviews

[Lacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It pains me to give this book less than four stars, but it just fell short of the mark for me. I’ve said multiple times that I adore all of these characters and will be plunged into a dark hole when the author finally exhausts this succession of series.
I have nothing against a miscommunication trope, but this one made me want to bang my head against a wall multiple times.
On the bright side, once again, Leech does an excellent job of weaving everyone together throughout and tying together various storylines from previous books and showing us familiar characters and their lives from another perspective.
Every time I read one of these, I want to go back to the beginning and read them all again, starting with the original series.

[Susan Saltos · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the book and it was so much better than the last three books in the series, I felt there was a huge chunk missing. What was missing was Thorn and “Marie” getting to know each other and falling in love. The time spent in the cellar was quickly glossed over. We didn’t see what happened, we were told in generalizations. So it seemed that Thorn merely was in lust of her, not love because how could he be in love without knowing anything about her at all? I would have liked to have been privy to all the engaging conversations they supposedly had.
Also, when Thorn took Rose to Gillmont, I think that should have had more to it. It would have been nice if Rosemarie had stayed there longer and gotten to know all the women and children there and therefore learning that Thorn and the other sons were truly good people.
One very confusing thing was George. I thought for quite some time that George was a man. Rosemarie even said “Mr…?” when she was being introduced. And George said “just George”. It wasn’t until after Rosemarie had left and Thorn was talking to George that George was referred to in any way as a she/her.
It would have been better if Ms Leech had described George when she opened the door to let Thorn and Rosemarie in. Maybe stating that Rosemarie was surprised that a woman was dressed like a man. I assume George was as when Thorn is later talking to her, it said George had a cap in hand. Perhaps George also has short hair? Who knows as we got no details!!!
It was great reading more about Pip and Tilly and actually seeing Pip tell his parents about her as in the previous books it had Montague already holding and playing with Tilly but we never got to see what had happened when Pip told his parents about her.
And I enjoyed the glimpses of the other side characters like Hartley, Ash, and Larkin, whom we will surely be getting future books about.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is different than many of the other stories in this series. It became a little confusing to me trying to figure out the timing of this story with the timelines of the other stories in this series. It spans multiple years and I felt like the majority of it was they are falling for each other, she does not trust him, then he does not trust her, then the fall for each other and then it repeats all over again.... At least 3 times maybe 4? While I understand they reasoning each time, I still did not feel the love between them develop. They really spent very little time together. Actually most of it was them apart.

What I did like was more insight into the Montague family and I loved seeing the original characters again. I did like the characters and how they did develop over time. They both matured, just not together. I would have liked a little more romance and time between the two of them. I actually found myself skimming which is very unusual for me with this author. Glad I read it because it is a part of the series. I am looking forward to the next story.

[Rosemary · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is good as always, but I did not enjoy this plot/storyline at all. They were apart more than they were together. There was literally no romance in this. Unless looking for someone is romance. They spent years apart, have a conversation and then spend another year apart. The FMC was not sympathetic at all. After her rescue at 80%, I skimmed until the end.

[Gia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ive been waiting for this book for a long time! I love the whole series apart from a few exceptions( cat and Kilbane book ugh). But this was such a disappointment! It was like a roller coaster up and down and then back up again. The heroine Rose, I'm afraid is a bit of a dingbat. She is very annoying and her appearance and disappearance thru the many years that this story goes thru is exhausting. I really couldn’t like her much. Thorn is a great guy and I felt for him, having to deal with this idiot. The appearance of the Montagu family made it so much better for me! The way the story was written it was so disjointed, it was hard to make a connection to the characters and in turn to see their connection! The evil brother angle also was a bit much and in the end, sorry he’s just put in an asylum and then even give money??! WTH. I really hope the next book with Pip is much better and looking forward to the rest of the daring sons series!

[Winnifred D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tropes: MFC nurses MMC back to health; "Big Secret"
Steam level:2
Part of a series, and best read in order rather than a standalone

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 based on the quality of the writing overall (Emma Leech is a pro) but this isn't really a book I would re-read. I'd characterize it as more of a historical drama with a touch of steam thrown in, grimmer in tone than you might expect, and while early on the harrowing scenes are effective and the plot moves right along, the storyline eventually staggers under one "jump scare" too many. Also, the storyline spans several years, with the MC's spending much of that time apart, and so much water has passed under the bridge by the end that a HEA feels a bit moot.

There's a subplot that's sweet and actually meshes well with the main plot by the end, but I couldn't get a handle on the pacing. Interesting character development and interplay arise as the MC's feel each other out, with distrust characterizing their relationship for a while. Unfortunately all of that leads only to a brief sequence when Marie finds out more about Thorn's involvement in a women's shelter, then she and Thorn kiss and she takes off (again and again), rather inexplicably. Other parts of the book involve more telling than showing, glossing over large chunks of time for reasons that aren't really clear.

I think I would have noticed the pacing issues less if I had felt a strong connection between the MC's, but they lack spark. Marie's stubborn attachment to her brother paints her as TSTL, since he's a truly despicable piece of work. This also weakens the housekeeper Mills as a character; at one point Mills very wisely urges Marie to get out from under his thumb, then weirdly when he's out of the picture for a while Mills is more concerned about the family's reputation. The brother needed to be a more well-rounded character or Marie and Mills should have tried to escape a lot sooner.

A saving grace of the book is Thorn; I can best describe him as a slightly warmed-over cinnamon roll by the end of the book. I think he needed a sharper, wiser MFC to play off of.

Overall: worth reading once but not as romantic or escapist as you might expect, while the plot covers a lengthy timeline.

[LainieLibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

An amazing premise, but the execution wasn't there. I LOVE the wounded MMC being nursed back to heath by the FMC/trying to find her situation. Even better - she may have some part of the scheme/attack? Amazing. I found myself questioning the FMC and what she really knew about Thorn's attack - great tension and drama.

But, after the first ~30% of that taking place the story started to flounder. The cat and mouse chase between Rosemarie and Thorn ends up taking place over YEARS and they go months without interacting. Coupled with the brother's influence writing a few of those letters, I found myself frustrated. There wasn't time to build up believable chemistry between the two because they barely interact. I have to assume Thorn stays "interested" in her purely because she's gorgeous. They only had a few conversations (that we don't see) while Thorn was being healed by her. It's unbelievable that after all the lies and back and forth that Thorn would give her the time of day. Especially when this takes place over 2 years - really? He doesn't find someone else during that timeframe?

We see glimpses of Leo, so I'll assume his book or possibly Hart's is next, but the scenes felt pointless. We don't see any meaningful interactions in those scenes - it's just Leo and his cat for a moment and then we would go back to Thorn pining over Rosemarie.

Overall, the story was slow and not much happened. Even after Thorn and Rosemarie were finally reunited I found myself not caring or excited by their relationship.

As expected - the spice level here is very low. Not quite closed door, but not much happens and it follows the same boring format. Honestly, just make this a closed door romance at this point and focus on tension and chemistry in their actual interactions? There's no longing for one another, etc. here?

I still flew through this, and thought it was entertaining, but it didn't quite work for me.

[Janet Denise Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 STARS, HISTORICAL ROMANCE DRAMA

5 STARS for the Award Winning Emma V Leech's Book 4 in her Series: Wicked Sons. Great BLURB is provided. These Sons are the children of the couples from The Peculiar Ladies Book Club & their "Dares".

This endearing read while touches base of several characters from those beautiful crazy ladies different series & children this is mainly about Thorn.

Thorn is the youngest of Montagu's children who were absolutely born out of love but are now grown adults. It is well written with an exciting & has Thorn deep in a mystery with a lady, Marie.

Follow Thorn as he tries to figure out who she is to get to the bottom of the mystery. While doing that receiving those inserts of information about the others.

Great characters with some new ones & with old ones from other Emma V's books. They are always worth one's time & this one is, also.

RECOMMEND

[Wendy Tavenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

His Rose

I absolutely loved Thorn & Roses story even through there was much sorrow. Thorn was beaten so badly Rose wasn’t sure he would make it. As he recovered in a basement somewhere, Rose had to keep her secrets hidden. When Thorn was finally able to make it home he did not realize it had been weeks and weeks. Leaving his family so worried and afraid that Pip even brought his daughter Tilly home to introduce to his parents.
When people were sent to find Marie, she was nowhere to be found and Thorn thought she was apart of it.
But when months later he hears from her he jumps at the chance to find out what happened. With Rose being coerced and threatened by her brother and Thorn doesn’t know her true identity he will do what he can to try and save her. Another wonderful story on the wicked sons.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a huge miss. There were inconsistencies with the timeline, characters referring to each other by name before actually finding out each others name. The book covered several years and yet Thorn and Marie spent barely any time together, we didn’t see them getting to know each other or falling in love. It was just dull and for the first time ever I found myself skimming an Emma V Leech book to get it over with quicker. Even Montagu and Matilda, two of my favourite characters ever, didn’t redeem it and didn’t seem particularly like themselves.

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

I really enjoyed this book and had trouble putting it down. Naturally I’ve finished it on the release date like I do with all of Emma’s books. Rose and Thorn are both interesting characters and I enjoyed the twists and turns of this story. And I loved the snippets of what is going on in the lives of the other sons.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best of series so far. Story was well paced and not rushed. Thorn and Rosemarie were well fleshed out characters and the story was full of twists and intrigue. As usual there were glimpses of future stories - absolutely loved the banter between Vi and Leo, can't wait to see where their story goes. Looks like Hartley's story is up next, just a shame have to wait until April for it to come out!

[Glenda Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorn and Rose

I was a good story but not the best. It seems the Wicked Son series is starting off a bit slow. And this story was too long. I fast tracked through the wedding night cause it took so long for them to have their happy ending. But Emma is still the best can’t wait for Leo’s story.

[Melba Hard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling tale full adventures.

I really enjoy reading this series. Poor Thomas waited so long to find his Marie and spent so long trying to find her. Luckily Rose Marie was strong and resourceful.
However I did find it a bit confusing when stories from the past over lapped!.

[AmazingJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Wonderful Story with Angst, betrayal & Romance.

I did enjoy the Story, although some of it was so Angst.

Thomas (Thorn & Rosemarie (Marie) were wonderful characters.

I am looking forward to reading Hartley (Hart) De Beauvoir & Fidelia Ponsonby's Story in the next book in this series.

[Nicole LaBoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series

It was so hard to put this story once I started. It was a page turner that kept you glued to the pages. You never know what was going to happen from one page to the next.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorn finds his hea while investigating what happened to him after he was was beat mercilessly while on his way home one night, in a slightly inebriated state. In the process they also find the person responsible for all the attacks on their club along with the owners of said club.

[Roxanna Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good

I think this the best one yet of this series! It is very well written and I would recommend it to everyone.

[Brenda Geddes]

Loved it it's five stars for me

[Holly Ortega · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book, but it was not my favorite leech book.

[Yo · Rating 3 out of 5]

📖

[Dick Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real page turner, with bad things happening left and right.

[Salustra Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit different

A bit different from the others covers a longer time and a very suspenseful plot. It also has all the great characters from previous books that she intertwines so seamlessly into this and ongoing plots. Enjoying this outing with the boys.

[Dessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a BIG fan of all of Emma's books, and have read and re-read them many times. I confess, though, I am not much of a fan of this Wicked Sons Series, and am deleting each book after I read it. This series just does not have the quality of writing or well-woven storytelling as all her other books; I find them lackluster and not very interesting.