Lady Rogue

The Royal Rewards #3

by Theresa Romain

Her Secret Scandal

As far as London's high society knows, Lady Isabel Morrow is above reproach. But the truth is rarely so simple. Though the young widow's passionate fling with dashing Bow Street Runner Callum Jenks ended amicably months ago, she now needs his expertise. It seems Isabel's late husband, a respected art dealer, was peddling forgeries. If those misdeeds are revealed, the marriage prospects of his younger cousin—now Isabel's ward—will be ruined.

For the second time, Isabel has upended Callum's well-ordered world. He's resolved to help her secretly replace the forgeries with the real masterpieces, as a...friend. A proper sort of friend doesn't burn with desire, of course, or steal kisses on twilight errands. Or draw a willing lady into one passionate encounter after another. Isabel's scheme is testing Callum's heart as well as his loyalties. But with pleasure so intoxicating, the real crime would be to resist.

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Regency, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Regency Romance

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 24, 2018

About the author

Theresa Romain is the bestselling author of more than 20 historical romances, including the Holiday Pleasures series, the Matchmaker trilogy, the Royal Rewards series, and the Romance of the Turf series. Praised as “one of the rising stars of Regency historical romance” (Booklist), her books have finaled for the RITA® award, received starred reviews from Booklist, and been named to the Best Books of the Year list by NPR. Theresa is hard at work on her next book from her home in the Midwestern USA.

To keep up with all her book-release news, please visit her online at theresaromain.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter, or find her on BookBub at https://www.bookbub.com/authors/there....

Reviews

[Andrea]

Perfect for fans of Tessa Dare! Which unfortunately means that it's just not for me.

I love Theresa Romain. Her books are always well-written and feature nice, normal characters you can relate to. But for me, this sadly hasn't been the case with her latest books.
This book is the third in a series, but it works as a stand-alone because it's set one year after the events of the first two books, which were more connected. This book's hero features in the first two as a minor character.

I really enjoyed the first half of it. I admired both main characters for the way they just wanted more from life than society would let them have. After her husband's death, Lady Isabel tries to rediscover who she really is when no one expects her to be nothing but a pretty ornament. After a night of passion with the Bow Street Runner who investigated her husband's death, Isabel again turns to him when she discovered the highly illegal mess her husband has left her, trusting him to help right the wrongs her husband did. They both grow a lot over the course of this book, and I really liked the emotional journey.

My main problem with this book is that I couldn't see why this had to be a historical romance, a problem I've been having a lot lately (think Tessa Dare). If you don't mind a Lady roping a respected Bow Street Runner into breaking into a Duke's house (and drugging the Duke's dogs), a Lady visiting an unmarried man in his apartment where his landlady serves her tea (with no repercussions of course), a young Lady publically admitting to being abused and shooting someone (again, with no repercussions), and lots of Drama, then go for it. It's really not a bad book, it just didn't work for me.

*I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

[Maureen Carden]

It's a bummer when you find that your late art dealer husband has more than art fraud against his soul. It's another bummer when you realize his death might not have been an accident, but a suicide or a murder. His death could put a crimp into launching your ward in her upcoming season.
So it comes as a relief to the widowed Lady Isabel Morrow that Callum Jenks, the Bow Street Runner who originally investigated her husband’s death, and for one night became her lover, is still interested in investigating both the death and the crimes committed by her husband. It’s even better when Isabel realized that Callum is still captivated by her.
This is very different from other Regency Romances. First off, the romance is secondary to the various crimes taking center stage. Who doesn't like a good caper? Always amusing until the true venality of the crimes and some of the characters is revealed ever so slowly and ever so cunningly. Class differences were not something easily glossed over in Regency times. Romain written has several books where the main characters were far from being Dukes and Ladies. So refreshing! It’s the same with this one where the two lovers have serious class obstacles to face; obstacles that may not be overcome. The class difference isn’t a one-sided problem. Callum’s family is not that thrilled with Isabel either. Upsets the natural order of things, as they have been taught.
These are characters to care about, to forget that is all they are-characters in a charming Regency book. Their charm, their intelligence, their bone-deep honesty draw the reader so deeply into their world.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Caz]

I've given this a B- at AAR, so that's 3.5 stars rounded up.

Theresa Romain is one of my favourite authors; I’ve enjoyed all of the books of hers I’ve read, and there are a number of her historical romances on my Keeper shelf, so I’m always eager to read any new book by her.  Lady Rogue is the first in her Roguish Runners Duo , and features as its hero one Callum Jenks, the Bow Street Runner – more correctly, Officer of Police – who helped Sir Hugo Starling and Georgette Frost to find the stolen gold in Passion Favors the Bold, book two in her recent Royal Rewards Duo .  The storyline in those books centred around the theft of a large number of newly manufactured gold sovereigns from the Royal Mint; at the beginning of Lady Rogue, the person behind the theft, Sir Frederic Chapple, is in Newgate awaiting trial – and to Callum’s disgust, is about to be released due to lack of evidence.  Callum’s brother, Harry, was one of the guards killed during the theft, and he has made it something of a personal crusade to see those responsible brought to justice.  So the fact that the principal mover in the operation is going to walk away a free man sticks in his throat.  This is no kind of justice, and is not what he has spent more than a decade of his life working for.

It’s this disillusionment that prompts him to reconsider the most unusual request for help he’s probably ever received.  The widowed Lady Isobel Morrow, whom he’d first met around eighteen months previously when he investigated the death of her husband Andrew, has just revealed to him that she had discovered that her late spouse, an art dealer, had been selling forgeries of valuable paintings and stashing the originals in a secret room in their house.  Learning that the Duke of Ardmore had been planning to sell the (fake) Botticelli painting he’d purchased from Andrew in order to pay off a debt to a dangerous London crime lord, she has conceived a plan that while not strictly legal, is the right thing to do.   She asked Callum to help her to break into the duke’s house, steal the forgery and replace it with the original – but he refused.  No matter the rightness of her intentions, breaking and entering is illegal and he is, after all, bound to uphold the law.

But after learning of Chapple’s upcoming release, Callum isn’t so sure any more about the difference between ‘just’ and ‘right’, and decides he’ll help Isabel after all.

Over the months of her widowhood, Lady Isabel has begun to realise the extent to which her life has been controlled by the men around her, and how much of herself she had subjugated to her husband’s will. Her marriage was clearly not a happy one, and she is determined to move on and make an independent life for herself as well as to make a good match for Andrew’s young ward, Lucy, who resides with her. It’s Lucy’s reputation that has prompted Isabel to scheme to restore the Botticelli to the duke – if he tries to pay off his debts with a forgery and the forgery is traced back to Andrew, then the Morrow name will be blackened and Lucy’s marriage prospects will be irrevocably damaged. The one person Isabel trusts to help her is the man who investigated her husband’s death… who happens to be the man with whom she had a passionate sexual encounter a year earlier – Officer Callum Jenks.

Isabel and Callum may move in very different spheres, but they have obviously not forgotten each other or what happened between them that night at Vauxhall Gardens. Their mutual attraction is as strong as it ever was, yet after a little bit of initial awkwardness, they settle very easily into a friendship of sorts, each of them feeling able to be more themselves with each other than with anyone else. I liked that they had a history together, that they aren’t bitter about it and haven’t spent the last year mooning over each other – but the downside to it is that I felt as though the relationship had been established off the page and that I’d landed in the middle of it. Theresa Romain always creates interesting, likeable characters, and Isabel and Callum are no exception, but while I really enjoyed their interactions and the way they just ‘click’ together, in terms of the way their minds work and their sense of humour, their romance is a little… underdone.

The plotline that concerns the need to swap the original Botticelli for the forgery is well executed, but after the exchange is made (around the halfway mark) that plotline fizzles out and attention turns to Isabel’s decision to set up her own household, and her concerns over Lucy who, at eighteen, should be making her come-out, but who instead is very shy and doesn’t like attending the sorts of events where she might be able to meet prospective husbands. The hints dropped that Isabel’s life with Andrew wasn’t happy are never really followed up, and the last-minute introduction of a darker storyline involving abuse and murder happens so quickly and comes so far out of the blue that I wondered if I’d jumped into reading another book by mistake!

As I said at the beginning, I’m a fan of Ms. Romain’s, so it pains me to say that Lady Rogue didn’t quite work for me in terms of the storyline, which doesn’t feel cohesive and seems to jump from plotline to plotline. The characterisation, however, is excellent and is the book’s real saving grace. Callum is charming, generous and honourable, and is suffering a bit of a crisis of confidence when it comes to his chosen profession. I liked seeing him with his family, who run a grocery business; it’s clear they all care for each other, but that, like most families, they have their ups and downs, and Callum’s characterisation is enhanced by the glimpses we’re given of his relationship with them. Isabel is at pains to look after Lucy and find her a husband, but she is also starting to relish her independence and to want to leave the remnants of her marriage behind her and I enjoyed watching her grow in confidence and find the courage to strike out on her own. Both are strongly drawn and engaging and they make a very well-matched couple. I’d just have liked a little more chemistry and heat between them.

Lady Rogue didn’t quite fire on all cylinders, but it’s an enjoyable read in spite of its flaws. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, and will continue to look out for more from Theresa Romain.

N.B - this series seems to have been re-named as of publication date; when I read and reviewed this book, it was described as book one of the Roguish Runners Duo

[Joanna Loves Reading]

I should probably stew on this before writing a review, but I doubt it would resolve any questions. The twists and turns in the last chapter boggled my mind. I think I read the whole book. Did my kindle just randomly skip chapters that contained important pieces of information? Even so, all that in one chapter threw the whole book out of wack for me.



There were moments I enjoyed in this book, cute moments between the MCs, and the writing was solid. The plot, though, was a mess. Too many suspend-belief moments for me to get onboard, too many balls being juggled to make a satisfying ending.



While I kinda sorta liked the MCs, I didn’t feel the heat and felt we readers were more told than shown the falling-in-love bit. It also had a decidedly contemporary feel to it. As a historical romance reader, I am generally looking for a good deal of focus on either the historical side or the romance side, preferably adequate attention to both. But maybe that’s just me. I am sure this story will appeal to some, but it just didn’t work for me.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Renae]

Lady Rogue is a mediocre Regency romance that fails to deliver on its two major selling points: an exploration of the middle class and a high-profile art heist.

The distinctive aspect of the Theresa Romain novels I’ve read thus far is her inclusion of the middle class. In a genre overfull of lords and ladies and disguised royalty, there’s something refreshing about a protagonist who doesn’t live in a palace, who worries about how they’re going to afford food, and who didn’t receive the best education money can buy. As I’ve come to expect from the author, Lady Rogue’s male protagonist, Callum Jenks, is a police officer and the son of a grocer. That’s about as middle-class as it could get at the time, and I was very excited by Calum’s presence in the novel. To my disappointment, his love interest is Lady Isobel, the daughter of a marquess, so that was less satisfying. Even so, whenever I think of Romain, I’m certain to think of her more down-to-earth, less exalted leading characters.

Of course, the reader might have to suspend their disbelief in order to buy the premise. A policeman and a noblewoman? Fat chance, you might say. And you're probably correct. Lady Rogue looks at history through modernized pink-colored glasses that make it far more likely that people could hurdle social barriers with impunity. I’m not quite sure I bought Callum and Isobel’s HEA, but it’s romance, so the rules are flexible. Right?

Lady Rogue begins some time after a) Lady Isobel’s husband shot himself and b) Isobel and Callum had secret sex in Vauxhall Gardens. Isobel asks Callum over to her house and explains that she needs help stealing a priceless Botticelli painting from a duke, because her deceased husband (an art dealer) sold the duke a forgery and kept the original for himself. This is a problem because Isobel is trying to marry off her ward, Lucy, and any tinge of scandal would ruin the marital scavenger hunt.

Makes sense, I guess?

Of course, what really seems like to ruin the marital scavenger hunt is a respectable widow out late at night, wearing pantaloons, climbing into a duke’s window, drugging his dogs, and then stealing his painting. Seems highly scandalous to me, but apparently Isobel says not. Okay then, m’lady.

This book is really strange because it boasts of a great deal of intrigue, but somehow manages to be a complete snorefest. Almost halfway into Lady Rogue, the only thing that happened was Callum and Isobel making a plan and visiting various locations in preparation for the heist. The theft itself occurs around the midpoint of the book, but then it’s back to plodding around until the ultimate Happily Ever After happens. Oh, also don’t mention the surprise murder mystery that randomly pops up about two chapters from the end! (Seriously, what the fuck?) And somewhere along the way, the protagonists also fell in love—I don’t know where or when, because this is not a very romantic romance novel.

I’m not opposed to a good slow burn romance. I’m not opposed to a romance wherein the only things that happen are the protagonists talking and getting to know each other. But for one thing, Lady Rogue is boring. For another thing, between an art heist and a murder, I don’t think this novel was meant to be either slow-paced or understated. I believe that Romain wanted the story to be exiting, the characters to have palpable chemistry, and for the audience to be hooked.

Reader, I was not hooked.

For a book that seemed to spend so much time in character-building and in allowing its protagonists to get to know each other, there was a confusing dearth of personality from both Callum and Isobel. I didn’t get a great feel for either one, except for the rare expository passage where the author tells her audience what kind of people her characters are. That wasn’t particularly mesmerizing.

Going along with this, there was no chemistry. At all. This is partially because Romain just didn’t write anything remotely sexy on the page. I fully believe that a closed-door romance can be just as sizzling as a more explicit novel—sex isn’t always required to sell the love story. However, sex (or some heavy petting) really would have helped here. In this book, we got a single sex scene (unutterably boring and forgettable) and nothing else. Isobel and Callum’s initial “spark” of attraction happened off-page, 18 months before Lady Rogue opens. That’s the other problem: if you’re writing a book about a couple who had a scandalous one-night-stand in a pleasure garden, maybe include that in the book? Give me something to work with.

The thing that really killed my enjoyment of Lady Rogue, however, was the conclusion.

First, Romain tosses readers a curveball with the surprise murder plot. It was weird and rushed and sloppy—and it really didn’t need to be! If some seeds for this plot twist had been sown throughout the first three-fourths of the book, I wouldn’t have found the “surprise! Isobel’s husband was actually murdered!” twist to be so jarring.

Second, the “grand declaration of love” scene? Completely missing. Or if it was there, it was so weak it might as well have been missing. There was no drama or tension or emotion in Callum and Isobel’s decision to be together. And based on the lack of chemistry I’ve discussed above, I didn’t even believe that they actually loved each other. Lady Rogue finishes on an anticlimactic note, which was fitting, since the entire book seemed to promise a lot more than it ever delivered.

I applaud Romain for continuing to feature the middle-classes and less-privileged members of Regency society in her novels. However, I’m not sure how much good it does if her books are so flavorless. (This is the second time I’ve been extremely bored while reading a Theresa Romain novel.)Lady Rogue attempted to be an exciting, sexy book about an unconventional couple lurking on the fringes of high society. In the end, it was a mostly uninteresting and dispassionate novel, with the occasional moment when something more shined through.

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[Barbara Rogers]

Series: The Royal Rewards #3
Publication Date: 4/24/18

I wanted, so much, to love this book, the characters, the story, etc. but I just couldn’t get there. The characters just weren’t believable nor were their actions, but I think that is mostly because of the time the author chose to set the story within. The setting is the Regency (1818) period but absolutely none of the societal norms of the times are present and that just makes it all totally unbelievable. If the story were set at a later time when Callum (son of a grocer) really could have been referred to as an ‘Officer of the Police’, or Isobel (daughter of a Marquess) really could have received him in the drawing room after he entered through the front door, or she really could have visited (happily chatting) with his family in their grocery store, or she could have freely visited him at his rooming house unaccompanied, etc., well, then maybe the story would have worked. This author writes well, but this story was so non-Regency that I just couldn’t get into it.

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"I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher."

[herdys]

I'm so glad this book brought back the Theresa Romain we know and love!

It was a splendid love story meets art heist, but I didn't care as much about the last part. What I loved was our heroine finding herself and living her life outside of her family's thumb. It was rewarding to watch her grow and not care about what people expected of her.

Callum was great too and I loved his inner thoughts about Isabel. He really was sensitive as he said!

For once I understood the otp separation, since the author made it believable. We still got our HEA!

Even with poor Lucy's past, she got some closure too. That came out of nowhere, but at least it all worked out in the end and the husband is thankfully dead, even if he was a real bastard.

Now I cant wait to see what new series she'll create or wether we'll get more books out of this one!

[Laura Florand]

So excited for this! Love this author!

[Jen Davis]

I wanted to love this book. I mean, a romance between a lady and Bow Street Runner, one that would be forbidden in the eyes of society… that is right in my lane. I adore pairings where the hero is below the heroine in social station. But for a number of reasons, this book did not deliver in the ways I had hoped.

The biggest fail, for me, was that the first hook up for these two happened before the book ever began. Yes, it tells you that in the blurb, but reading this book gave the distinct feel that I was jumping into a series already in progress. The was disappointing for the romance to be sure, but it was downright overwhelming with the giant infodumps in the bigger story. No standalone book has a history for its characters so detailed and complex, so I did some research and sure enough, this book was born out of the events of The Royal Rewards series. (*This is clearly stated now on Amazon & Goodreads, but was not made obvious when I accepted the ARC.) There is a whole thing about a gold heist and a dead brother for the hero… all it did was bog me down and take away from the story at hand. Even worse, I couldn’t tell what stuff had actually happened on page in other books and how much was backstory for the characters that no one had read anywhere.

Let me get back to the main couple, Isabel and Callum. Callum investigated Isabel’s husband’s death 18 months ago, but after the investigation was over, they hooked up at Vauxhall Gardens and then went their separate ways. No flashbacks. No talking about the feelings/desire/angst of that tryst. It’s just stated as fact. And such a missed opportunity. As the story here begins, Isabel reaches out to Callum to help her with a delicate problem. She has discovered that her late husband was selling art forgeries before his death and now one of his marks is about to sell one of the forgeries to someone else. Isabel wants to replace the fake with the real artwork before the dupe is discovered and her ward suffers from the scandal.

There is barely a blip in the interactions between these two that would so much as hint at hidden passion. The forgery/art plot is not exciting. And the twist at the end felt totally gratuitous. I honestly spent most of the book feeling like I was robbed of any opportunity to have grown to care about these characters or any developing feelings between them. Their interactions were stilted; they lacked passion and chemistry. Part of the time, I didn’t know what I was missing and by the end, I just didn’t care.

Maybe people who read Fortune Favors the Wicked and/or Passion Favors the Bold would enjoy this more for having some of the backstory, but I only know for sure that the gold heist and the dead brother are covered there. I don’t know if any of the initial events between Isabel and Callum happened anywhere on page. I can only wonder if I would have enjoyed this if the entire story were self-contained in one book… it would have been better for sure, but I am afraid I would still feel something was lacking. I needed more passion and really just more emotion and connection from these characters.

Overall, this was a miss for me.

Rating: C-

*ARC provided by publisher

[Sissy's Romance Book Review]

Lady Rogue by Theresa Romain is book three in The Royal Rewards series. This is the story of Isabel Morrow and Callum Jenks. I have read the other books in this series but feel this can be a standalone book.
Isabel husband died but now it is coming out that he may have been killed and that the art he was dealing in was forgeries. Isabel needs Callum help with getting everything straitening out before being found out. But their past relationship and now friendship is turning back into a current relationship that is hotter than before.
Loved reading their story.

[Amanda]

“What could become of a woman who wanted to learn everything and a man who wanted to help everyone? Anything. Maybe something quite wonderful. Maybe everything she’d never dared to dream of. Respect. Devotion. Trust. Love.”

Lady Rogue was a huge improvement from the previous book in the Royal Rewards series. Not that Passion Favors the Bold was BAD per say, just not as good of a book as I know Theresa Romain is very well capable of doing. She completely redeemed herself in my eyes first with Scandalous Ever After and now she’s done it once again with Lady Rogue. I LOVED THIS BOOK. Two for two Theresa, well done!

The story begins with bit of an...usual setup, mainly of how the hero and heroine first met. Lady Isabel Morrow, a proper society figure in every way, has a problem, a BIG problem, and there’s only one person she deems fit to contact for help: Bow Street Runner Callum Jenks. Isabel and Callum have shared history in that Callum had been the chief investigator in the mysterious death of Isabel’s late husband months earlier. Some time later, Isabel and Callum ended up having a brief, but passionate tryst, going their separate ways soon after. But now circumstances beyond their control have brought the very unlikely pair back together.

Though the author was clearly inspired by How to Steal a Million, the actual plot of the story bears little to no resemblance to the film in question. Apart from the art forgeries and switcharoo heist thing anyway. I was grateful for this because as much as I love How to Steal a Million, I didn’t want another carbon copy of that story in book form a la Mad for Love by Elizabeth Essex. Here, the heist was used primarily as a way of reigniting the mains’ already strong connection. Interestingly, the more central conflict ended up being what was truly in the way of Isabel and Callum being together: differences of class. I know it’s an often overused plot device, but an effective one nonetheless. And here it was especially realistic (a stark contrast from the rest of the book which was at times not realistic at all). I loved seeing how each of them struggled with wanting to be together, but finding it difficult to see how it could ever be done. I mean, a wealthy marquess’s daughter/gentleman’s widow and a police officer from very humble origins and means didn’t exactly go together in the eyes of society. And yet, Isabel and Callum DID go together. Like puzzle pieces, they fit together, filling the missing spaces each had inside of them

The ensuing tug-of-war between the leads wanting to change and move forward versus staying the same and going along with the status quo set by others, was a compelling one. Isabel’s arc, her rebellion, was my favorite part of the book overall to be honest. Watching her go from a sheltered young girl who did everything exactly as she was told to do, mostly by men who held power over her such as her older brother and late husband, as well as other peers whom she worked so hard to please, to a woman with a mind of her own, who made her own decisions and to hell with everyone else was, besides the romance, the very best part of this book. Callum meanwhile grappled mainly with his pride, as he viewed the financial gap between himself and Isabel quite impossible to bridge. He wanted to be on equal footing with her, not be the lesser than in the relationship. That’s male ego for you. Of course from that, we got this tour de force exchange between Isabel and Callum, talking about privilege and how each of them possess it in different ways: Isabel with her position and wealth, and Callum with his contented home life and of course the fact that he’s well, A MAN. It was a standout moment, one that stayed with me and really showcased not only what the book was truly about, but also how much Isabel had grown as a character.

Emotional conflict and dumb boys making dumb choices aside, let’s talk about happier things shall we? Like that romance, which was AMAZING. It was a slow burner, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! One where the romance was much more about a meeting of the minds and hearts and less about a purely physical attraction, though there was plenty of that as well so no worries there. In between playful banter and bending the rules of law, there was a wonderful ease to Isabel and Callum’s relationship, a shimmering kind of chemistry that builds and builds and builds over time. The tender intimacy they shared was classic for a Theresa Romain couple, but this one stood out. There was a scene where Isabel and Callum took turns cradling, and stroking each other’s faces and it was so moving, so achingly intimate that it reminded me of the sunrise scene in the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice, when Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s foreheads touch and the moment is pure love and utter contentment; that’s exactly what I felt with Isabel and Callum. I loved how two seemingly opposite people, both wanting more out of their lives, ultimately found that more in each other. And even better than all that was the way they became a team as a result. Partners in every way. Soulmates.

Quibbles? Well, I had a few. There were many instances where disbelief had to be suspended and while this didn’t bother me personally or detract from my enjoyment of the book, it might be grating to others. What did leave me cringing were the revelations of the abuse suffered by Isabel’s young ward, Lucy. It wasn’t a surprise when all was revealed, but it was still very icky and took away some of the good book euphoria I had been experiencing up until that point. Of course this all came at the very end, in the very last chapter and while that was annoying in of itself, it also ended up eclipsing Isabel and Callum’s reconciliation which was way more important to me. So yeah, that sucked.

I know it probably won’t happen but could Angelus get a book? I have a thing for mysterious HR underworld kingpins and he was a fascinating character even though he only had one major scene, but his presence was felt throughout the entire story as this looming figure and those types are always fun to explore. As I said, it probably won’t happen, but I can dream. The Benton siblings getting their own books would be great too. I mean, ginger twins, one a woman and the other a man, who work as private investigators? GIMME!

[Mel]

I was enjoying this enthusiastically until it took a bizarre left turn with the plot. The romance between Callum and Isabel was lovely, but the painting stuff didn't make much sense to me and the ultimate resolution was uninspired.

[Phoenix77]

Probably closer to 3.5 stars but it's hard to round up here. The story was good but very simple. The characters were nice but not memorable.

[eyes.2c]

Crime and punishment!

A young widow discovers a dreadful secret about her dead, art critic and art aficionado, and society scion husband. A certain Bow Street Runner Callum Jenks finds himself embroiled in an art heist that rather confounds all.
When widowed Lady Isabel Morrow and Callum meet again, after one brief moment of bliss at Vauxhall gardens some months prior, events take a strange turn, and a regency romance with an interesting twist is born.
Isabel is determined to protect her ward from being sullied by the truths about her husband's art dealings and will go to any lengths to ensure that will happen. And that's where Callum comes in. Mind you reignited passion also plays a part.
I really enjoyed the dance between Isabel and Callum, adding spice to an already captivating read.

A NetGalley ARC

[Cardyn Brooks]

Isabel and Callum's love story features T.R.'s signature talent for establishing a true sense of camaraderie between the featured male and female characters. The intrigue adds spice while the Bow Street Runner context is reminiscent of Stephanie Laurens at her peak.

[Lori D]

London 1818. Lady Isabel Morrow is in need of help. Not just any help but the kind if not carefully handled might ruin her name and thus her ward's chances of a good marriage. Widowed and left a home, money and a ward, she discovers her late husband, a respected art dealer was selling forged paintings and keeping the originals. What to do? Calling on Bow Street Runner, Callum Jenks, she hoped he might help replace the forged paintings with the originals before they were found. What, a reserve burglary? Well yes and after she and Jenks had a brief fling when he was helping her investigate the death of her husband, he was the logical person to trust! Would a respected officer help her with her scheme? Could he stay away from the emotions Isabel pulled out of him when he was around her? Filled with surprises and unexpected turns, I could not wait to find out what happened. A well written story about two people from different classes that are brought together. Although part of a series, but this can be read as a standalone!

[Carol Bisig]

TRULY GOOD READ!

This is a great story, both poignant, and uplifting. How a Marquess's daughter, Lady Isabel goes from a marriage to a very cold man, to finding love with an Officer of The Police. I love the Bow Street Runner, Callum Jenks, still trying to solve the death of Lady Isabel' s husband. He never truly believed everything was as it seemed. Lady Isabel finally realized that just confining her activities to the requisite house calls is not enough any longer, she wants to contribute in some small way to the world she was born into. I did not think that I would like Lady Isabel marrying outside the Aristocracy, with no money, however, as usual , Theresa Romaine makes it seem perfectly natural.
I Highly Recommend! Thank you! Enjoy!
Carolintallahassee 👒

[Isha Coleman]

Isabel was not looking for scandal. It just found her twice. Callum did not plan to end risking his reputation and heart. It just happened. Can this tantalizing duo, give love a chance as they race to right a wrong? Lady Rogue is an intricate tale of love, lust and intrigue. What began as an affair quickly spirals into something beyond their control. Love.

[Dawn Wells]

Interesting and very well written but not sure if it’s true to the era. The lady is a widow and not a lady by society standards. It is steamy. Maybe more risky behavior than traditional. However, a good read.

[Georgina Parkin]

2.5 stars.

I received a copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

I’m fairly sure I applied for a copy of this before I actually read book one, and if not I was probably hoping I just didn’t connect with the characters in book one, but I think it’s this series in general. I’ve never really been a fan of ‘mystery’ type books, and while this wasn’t super heavy in a mystery or anything, it was very like, oceans 11 or something. The aim for them was to steal a Duke’s painting and replace it with the real thing so when he sold it no one would find out her late husband was selling forgeries and keeping the real ones.

Now all that wasn’t awful. It felt a little slow to read, but overall it was an alright time. Everything after that is was had me like... huh? The Duke ends up being pissed because he wanted to sell the fake to the guy (STILL confused as to why, they said he felt better about jipping the guy money or something - DUMB) and the whole Lucy plot line sort of felt, not right to me? It felt like it was shoved in right at the end, and there was so much talk of justice and it never being served in this that I was shocked they turned away from the fact she’d killed her parents and nearly killed a random guy IN THE MIDDLE OF A BALL. Why was she carrying that gun at the ball anyway people? Is no one going to question if SHE shot andrew? What he and her parents did were horrible and disgusting, but she still took justice into her own hands. That was the whole point of the story, that everyone’s version of Justice is different, but at the end of the day the law is still the law and they have to do their jobs. Which in the end they didn’t do. It just reminded me of rich people hiding their skeletons and it didn’t really sit well with me.

I’ll try a different series from this author as I have two from different series that slightly interest me (one more than the other) so we will see if I just don’t like the style of writing or if it’s just his series in particular.

Please note I didn’t find this book horrible. I just found it average and it took me a weirdly long time to get through it.

[Rain]

Another historical romance that I couldn’t get into. The author has a nice writing style and the words flowed easily. Unfortunately, there were too many nuances that made the characters and story feel out of place. I understand that widows are afforded a certain freedom that other females from the era were not granted. However, there are just too many instances that felt out of place.

Despite that, the plot is detailed and the characters are realistic with depth as well as personalities. If you are looking for a regency romance that is entertaining despite not being totally historically accurate, this would be a good read for you.

[Lux Lindsay]

I've read quite a few of Theresa Romain's books and I would highly recommend most of them. This unfortunately, doesn't do it for me.

The pace is too slow for my liking and seemed rushed towards the end and I just couldn't get into it.
All in all it's not bad, it's just missing that usual touch of Ms Romain's storytelling.

This is my honest opinion of the eGalley copy from the publisher which I voluntarily read.

[Maureen Lubitz]

Originally posted on You Have Your Hands Full

Lady Rogue is the third book in Theresa Romain’s Regency-era Royal Rewards series. I was very excited about the opportunity to read this book because I enjoyed the second book in the series.

Callum Jenks, the hero of this book, played a minor role in the earlier books. He works as a Bow Street Runner, and he is summoned to the house of Isabel Morrow. He investigated her husband’s death a year ago, but now she needs help dealing with a different matter entirely.

Isabel’s husband was involved with art forgery, and she needs Callum’s help to keep this shameful secret from being revealed. Her proposition consists of a scheme of questionable legality- is it really a crime to replace forgeries with originals? If the truth about the late Mr. Morrow came out, it would ruin Isabella, as well as her young ward, who is poised to make her debut in Society.

This is an interesting book. To begin with, it deals with social disparity- Isabel’s husband was not titled, but her father is a peer. She lives relatively humbly, but moves in elevated social circles. Callum, on the other hand, has working class origins. He is not a gentleman, and his parents own a grocery store. Social disparity is a popular trope, but it seems like there are a lot more examples of the heroine being the one from the humble background. Even when the hero is the one who did not grow up among the aristocracy, he often ends up inheriting a title, and is a gentleman by default. That is not the case with this book; Callum has an interesting approach to his position. He struggles to reconcile his feelings for Isabel because they come from different worlds. But he also doesn’t feel entirely comfortable around his family because of his guilt over choosing something other than the family grocery business.

I’ve written quite a bit about Callum, but Isabel is equally fascinating. Her position in Society is already tenuous, thanks to her less than advantageous match. Now that she is a widow, she is tolerated again, but she knows that if anyone were to find out about the forgeries, she would be permanently ruined. She is quite pragmatic, and has already formulated a plan to keep the secret from being revealed. Another thing that I thought was very interesting was that Callum and Isabel had a brief tryst almost a year ago- not too long after he was investigating her husband’s death. This is mentioned in the first few pages, so it’s hardly a spoiler, but I had to read the passage twice to make sure I understood. That’s another rarity for the genre, and it had quite an impact on their dynamic.

The one thing that surprised me was that there were some huge revelations towards the end of the book. They came completely out of nowhere; there wasn’t any foreshadowing at all that would have indicated anything of that nature. These revelations were also quite dark, and contrasted with the tone of the rest of the book. The issues were resolved as quickly as they were revealed, allowing the book to end on a positive note.

I would recommend Lady Rogue. This book functions well as a standalone, because Callum only had a minor role, and most of the characters from the earlier books do not appear in this one. I liked the way that Romain took a fresh approach to classic tropes. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of Romain’s books in the future!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book.

[Sharon]

What I particularly love in Theresa Romain's books, are the non-traditional characters. The Regency was not simply dukes and young women of marriageable age, trying to find a husband during The Season. In the first book for the Royal Rewards series, we have a blind former naval officer and a woman with a more than slightly tarnished reputation. The second book is a younger son of a nobleman, who wants to be a physician, and the orphaned sister of book one's naval officer. Book Three is Lady Rogue. Lady Isabel Morrow may be a titled member of the ton, but she is a widow, with her own fortune, a young ward, a hidden room full of secrets and the longing to be more free, more independent, more herself and less controlled by society's rules and expectations, especially those limitations for women. Callum Jenks is an Officer of the Police - a Bow Street Runner - who is similarly trying to find his true place in the world. Can these two people from different worlds, find HEA? Well, it IS a romance. Romain's books are rich with detail, and we see the world the characters inhabit fully, both Isabel's world in the ton and Callum's world of crime and the courts. I loved the interactions between Isabel and Callum. Romain does a good job of exploring how each character sees the other characters, so that the reader isn't simply a fly on the wall but can experience each viewpoint without being first person to do it. There are some inferences to problems in Isabel's marriage, which are never really fully explained. On my first reading, I found that a little problematic. However, on a reread, I've decided that leaving specifics out, was the right choice. There is enough hurt and dark later in the story, that a full explanation of something in the past, might have just dragged the story into dark places it didn't need to go. It's not an easy road to the HEA, but that does not make it less realistic, in my opinion. Part of Isabel's issues throughout are her pushing back against Callum's assumptions of her privilege, yet it is because of that privilege that the ending could happen. As I wrote before, this is not simple duke meets someone at the ball-historical romance. And that's a great thing.

I really believe this story examines some themes far more deeply than a straight historical romance based on a trope of hero/heroine from different classes. Feminism, feelings of class and/or privilege, racism and more are also part of this historical romance. I'm looking forward to the next one from Theresa Romain.

[KriisGaia]

Lady Isabel Morrow, widowed 18 months previously, needs help. In Lady Rogue, she has discovered that her husband had been selling forged paintings to his list of exclusive clients. She has to do something to correct this immediately.

Isabel has no care for herself, but her ward may be ruined by the revelations. Lucy Wallace, originally Isabel’s husband’s ward but now Isabel’s is someone Isabel cares for very deeply.

It is bad enough Andrew Morrow committed suicide all those months ago, but now she finds out he’s a criminal? Should the forgeries become public knowledge, Lucy could be ruined. No one will want to marry a young girl who is associated with a criminal. The scandal of forgeries on top of the suicide would ruin her chances to make a successful marriage.

Callum Jenks is the officer who investigated Andrew Morrow’s death. Summoned by Lady Isabel, he arrives to find that there is no case to investigate, she wants him for something quite different.

It turns out Isabel wants Callum to help her steal the forgery sold to a Duke, and replace it with the original. Isabel feels that this is the moral thing to do. The Duke is using the forgery to pay off a debt, the forgery may be discovered.

While replacing a forgery with the original isn’t your typical theft, neither is it quite legal. Callum declines at first but Isabel must do something to change his mind.

Heat And Intrigue Galore

In her shock after the suicide of her husband 18 months ago, Isabel had a brief one-night affair with Callum. When they meet again the spark is very much still there.

In some ways, this was an impossible relationship. The attraction was undeniable but the difference in their stations was difficult, to say the least. I enjoyed the way the author managed the attraction and the difficulties of such a relationship, juggling both with success.

I will definitely be happy to read more books by Theresa Romain.

Reviewed for LnkToMi iRead in response to a complimentary copy of the book provided by the publisher in hopes of an honest review.

[Les Romantiques]

Posted on Les Romantiques - Le forum du site
Reviewed by Rinou
Review Copy from the Publisher

One year and a half before, Lady Isabel found her husband dead, a bullet in his head. After a quick investigation, the death was ruled and accident. Now Isabel has discovered her late husband was selling copies of masterpiece paintings to his rich clients and kept the originals, and she’s afraid the scandal if it was discovered would ruin her niece by marriage’s marriage prospects.

I must say I was curious to know how the author would succeed in creating a believable HEA for a lady and a policeman in the Regency period, and the solution found seems too modern. But it’s the general tone of the novel in fact. Because yes, here we have a lady who doesn’t hesitate to break into a Duke’s townhouse (reminder: Dukes were the highest in the English nobility after the Royal family), drugging his dogs, and rope climbing the façade. Sigh…

It’s too bad because Isabel is an interesting character and seeing her realize she can affirm herself and get out of the society constraint was well imagined. As well, Callum, the policeman who investigated her husband’s death, is quite well done too, we could see his job limitations towards nobility weighed upon him, just as the non-solved case of his brother’s death. He’s full of prejudices on her and the relationship they can have (that is none according to him because they’re not part of the same spheres) when she’s more open. Between them the attraction who pushed them in each other’s arms during a nigh several months ago is still there, but I had the feeling the author was telling us about it more than showing it to us.

There are some likeable moments but all in all I thought the story was floppy and boring. And why add the final drama, with the truth about Isabel’s husband’s death in a sordid story revealed at a reception where the whole elite are present?
To conclude for me it’s a book really forgettable and that I don’t recommend.

[Smut Report]

Review also published by The Smut Report.

Heat Factor: Warmish

Character Chemistry: Pretty good

Plot: Part 1: art theft caper, in the spirit of How to Steal a Million. Part 2: angsty introspection

Overall: Promising beginning, but it ultimately left me cold.

I really wanted to like this book. It has a lot of things going for it. Engaging leads with solid chemistry, an interesting premise, and feminist undertones. All good things! But it didn’t quite work for me – a case of the whole being less than the sum of its parts.

Here’s the story: Lady Isabel Morrow has recently discovered that her deceased husband, an art dealer, was in the habit of making copies of artwork and passing them off as the originals – while keeping the originals for himself. In order to protect the reputation of her ward, she decides that she needs to steal one of the forgeries and replace it with the original. Specifically, a study of the three dancers from Boticelli’s Primavera.

However, Lady Isabel doesn’t have much experience with breaking and entering. Enter Officer Callum Jenks, a Bow Street Runner (sorry, Officer of the Police), who investigated the late Mr. Morrow’s death 18 months previously. Because of attraction and also a dedication to justice, if not the letter of the law, Callum agrees to help Isabel perform a switcheroo.

From this set-up, I’m expecting some vaguely illegal and maybe comedic high-jinks, along with some serious sparks as Callum and Isabel prepare to sneak into a Duke’s study in the dead of night. There’s not a lot of comedy here, but the plot moves along as Isabel and Callum bring their respective skills to the table.

Sidenote: You may wonder what kind of skills Isabel is contributing to this caper. Romain doesn’t do that thing where she gives her upper-class heroine some secret background in picking locks. Instead, she reframes feminine communication as a tool in and of itself:

As Isabel had hinted to Jenks, a woman trained in the manners of high society possessed a formidable arsenal of weapons. There was the knife cut of a snub, the club of a set-down. The slow poison of a veiled insult. The scattershot volley of gossip.

Men underestimated these women, yet women used them daily to shape society. Let the gentlemen have their Parliament; the ladies held sway in the ballroom.

Romain and her protagonists are acutely aware of the space that they inhabit and the ways in which that space can be shaped by subtle means. I dig it. (Callum and Isabel also have more overt conversations about different axes of privilege, and while I appreciate this foray into intersectionality, it felt sort of shoehorned in, rather than a cohesive component of the plot. But I digress.)

Isabel and Callum also bring some simmering heat to the table.

Blinking his eyes open, he saw her before him flushed and starry, and he copied her own actions. Touching the beautiful lines of her face, learning them in soft candlelight. He took her shoulders in his hands, drawing her nearer, and found her lips again with his. Like that, each in their own chairs, they kissed, and they kissed, their hands sedate and their lips saying everything they had not been able to speak.

I don’t know what about this passage is so hot, but it just works for me.

And then… they successfully steal the painting at about the halfway mark.

So now what?

Well… there’s a bit of a problem with the Duke, who knew that he had a forgery. And there’s a bit of interaction with a crime lord to whom the Duke owes money. And there’s the ongoing mystery of what actually lead Mr. Morrow to commit suicide.

But the biggest answer to the question of “now what?” is: ANGST. If they no longer have a partnership to get this specific job done, what kind of relationship can there be between a wealthy widow of the ton and a Bow Street Runner? The angst is compounded by Isabel suddenly wondering what kind of life she would like to have, now that she’s finally moving out of mourning. What kind of person will she be, when she is not shaped by others?

Because of all the angst, the plot felt unbalanced. Like, yes, it makes sense from an interpersonal perspective that Callum and Isabel need to figure things out before they can be together, because they do come from dramatically different worlds, and it was much harder for a woman to marry down than for a man to do so. But from the perspective of crafting a narrative arc, it meant that much of the tension left the story about half way through – none of the smaller incidents matched the impending danger of the planned burglary. Even the big climax at the end, where All Is Revealed regarding Mr. Morrow’s secrets, was anticlimactic.

Finally, some thoughts on Romain’s prose. Her style is spare for a romance novelist. The language isn’t that flowery. Sometimes it really really works – see above passage where Callum and Isabel kiss. And sometimes, Romain can get a bit didactic – she above passage where she talks about the weapons of high society ladies (I like the sentiment, don’t love the prose). But what really bothered me about her writing is that she does this intertextual reference thing where she repeatedly loops back to previous passages. I think it’s supposed to add depth, but I found it grating. Prime example:

Streets away, in the Duke of Ardmore’s study, Botticelli’s three Graces danced. Wrapped in a sword stick, or maybe smiled upon by Angelica Butler, three much younger Graces made an endless circle.

Antique and new, none of them smiled as they danced.

Amazing, though, Callum did smile. Not his usual crimp of lips, of duty fighting for control over amusement. This was real. Sharp and sweet and happy.

I read this and… I can’t find the words to express how much this passage annoyed me. Like, why can’t we just jump to the last paragraph, without rehashing the idea, introduced previously, that the Graces are Sad (a metaphor for Isabel’s life, surely). Smart writing is good; excessively twee bits are unnecessary.

Look, here’s the takeaway: while there is a lot about this book to commend it, the combination of angst and prose didn’t work for me. If you care more about characters than plot, or if sometimes stilted prose doesn’t bother you, this might be the book for you.

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[Courtney]

Review originally posted here: https://courtneyreadsromancesite.word...

4.5 stars. Lady Rogue is definitely the best in the Royal Rewards series yet, containing both Theresa Romain’s signature relatable characters with a much more cohesive plot than the other two, likely helped by the fact that it did have the foundations of those books to build on.

The setup for Isabel and Callum’s relationship takes some suspension of disbelief, but in this case, I’ll take it, as I love stories where the heroine is the aristocrat and the hero is the commoner. And Callum’s background does touch on his humble origins without it tending toward the bleak, which has been used as justification for the lack of commoner heroes in historical romance. And I love how they have a dynamic that works, even if I did find myself initially forgetting a bit from prior books concerning them if I had met them before and whether their prior relationship had been hinted at in the other books.

The heist plot had some great twists and turns, and I liked that it involved classic art, one of the things I always love to read about in fiction, especially in a somewhat suspenseful vein (blame The Da Vinci Code and its readalikes). And I love how the sinister nature of what Isabel’s late husband may have been involved in was hinted at, culminating in a shocking revelation.

This was a delightful Regency romance, and one that hit many of the rights spots for me character and plot wise. I would recommend this for fans of romances with a touch of suspense, as well as those who love sympathetic and different historical romance characters.

[Connie]

London - 1818

Lady Isabel Morrow is the widow of Andrew Morrow, an art dealer and man about town. He had been shot to death in what was believed to be an accident.

Officer Callum Jenks had been the one to investigate the death. Today, Isabel has summoned Callum because she has received some letters from a man named Butler. It appears that Andrew had been dealing in art forgeries. Before his death, Andrew was responsible for a ward named Miss Lucy Wallace, age 18. Now, Isabel needs Callum’s help to ensure that Lucy is not tainted by any scandal or fallout from Andrew’s art forgery business. She also knows that a forged painting is to be sold and she needs Callum’s help to steal it before it can be sold.

Callum is part of a family in London that owns and runs a grocery store. Not wanting to join the family business, he chose to be a policeman. His brother, Harry, had been one of four guards assigned to protect a shipment of gold. However, the guards had been attacked, killed, and the gold stolen. Later, the gold was found and returned to the Royal Mint, but Callum is determined to find the killer and revenge Harry’s death.

Isabel and Callum join up to learn more about the art forgeries and in doing so, find an attraction to one another. While Isabel do not care that they are from different levels in society, Callum’s pride just won’t let him be with her. Is there any hope for a future for them?

This is certainly a different type of plot for this time period. I found it difficult to keep up with some of the characters as they must have been introduced in previous books in this series. I liked Isabel because she is a sweet and genuine person. Callum is filled with too much pride which has destroyed many a relationship. Not a favorite book by this author, but I know that she writes very well and I’m sure future books will be more to my liking.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Janet]

As far as London’s high society knows, Lady Isabel Morrow is above reproach. Though the young widow’s passionate fling with dashing Bow Street Runner Callum Jenks ended amicably months ago, she now needs his expertise. It seems Isabel’s late husband, a respected art dealer, was peddling forgeries. If those misdeeds are revealed, the marriage prospects of his younger cousin, Lucy now Isabel’s ward will be ruined. For the second time, Isabel has upended Callum’s well-ordered world. He’s resolved to help her secretly replace the forgeries with the real masterpieces, as a friend.
This book had everything to be a five star read, mystery, blackmail, suspicious death but for me it just fell a little flat. I found it hard to relate to Isabel, she was a widow who had always behaved impeccably & in many ways was almost downtrodden. She’d started to throw away the shackles that had bound her all her life but falling for a grocer’s son just didn’t sit right with me for a Regency novel. I liked Callum having met him briefly in the previous books in the series & glad that he had his HEA.

My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read