The Rogue Report

by Barbara Dawson Smith

Dear Reader, I have a secret. Several, in fact... Most people know me only as the headmistress of a charity school. Having a son but no husband has made me a social outcast­, which is no great inconvenience since I despise Society­ especially those "gentlemen" who seduce naïve young women. My contempt for such knaves leads us to Secret the I am the anonymous author of The Rogue Report, a newsletter that exposes these scoundrels and their exploits. My busy life leaves no time for romance, or so one might think. This brings us to Secret the I have lately carried on a flirtation with the school's new mathematics professor. Mr. William Jackman is altogether too charming and mysterious for anyone's good ­particularly mine. Though I'm tempted to indulge my desires, I cannot help but wonder if my darling "Jack" hides secrets too. You see, not everyone appreciates The Rogue Report, and at least one of its subjects is out for revenge. Is Jack bent on protecting me, or is he really the villain who seeks my ruin? Is it possible that I've fallen in love with the most notorious rogue of them all? ­Lady Julia Corwyn

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

From http://www.barbaradawsonsmith.com/bio...
A member of Romance Writers of America since 1981, Barbara Dawson Smith sold her first historical romance two weeks after sending it to a publisher. Her books have won the Golden Heart Award from RWA, and Best Historical Romantic Suspense and Best Regency Historical from Romantic Times. She has been a finalist for the National Readers’ Choice Award, Romance of the Year by Affaire de Coeur magazine, the Golden Quill, and the Booksellers' Best Award. She has also been a five-time finalist for the prestigious RITA Award, and realized a lifetime dream in 2002 when she won the award for TEMPT ME TWICE. Barbara also writes romance as Olivia Drake.

Barbara lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, two daughters, two cats, and who knows how many neighbor children running up and down the stairs. When she's not finishing a chapter or teaching a seminar on writing, she enjoys browsing in her collection of over a thousand research books.

Reviews

[Kit★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I picked this one up on my last trip to Goodwill. I read this book at a nice leisurely pace, only reading it at night when I was home alone and my main book I was reading at the same time, It, was creeping me out too bad. I was drawn to the premise of this book, woman (Julia) falls from society after becoming pregnant out of wedlock, and rebuilds herself as the headmistress of a school. Sounded interesting, as well as the fact that she anonymously writes a newsletter (The Rogue Report) telling all the misdeeds and bad behavior of Society's leading men, and has it delivered to all of the eligible misses. Cue our hero, Jack. He's a rake, a gambler, and going destitute. He's engaged to be married to a wealthy heiress, but she reads about his wicked gambling ways in The Rogue Report, and calls off their engagement. Now he wants revenge. So he goes to Julia's school, and acts like a humble teacher, and acquires the position of math instructor. This sets him up with an easy way to snoop around and gain evidence that she's the writer of the R.R. Evidence with which he plans to ruin her all over again. But he's not the only one snooping around the school. Julia starts off nice, seemingly smart and sensible, but to me, she quickly turned into a silly goose. Right away she is daydreaming of Jack, thinking how handsome and desirable he is. Though she's sworn never to let another man ruin her, or touch her, or make her fall for him. It's all very mysterious as to who her son's father is, and the circumstances of his birth. Jack also is right away attracted to Julia, and quickly plans to seduce her to make his spying all the easier. Julia's son,
Theo also quickly falls into adoration for Jack, and Jack quickly warms to Theo as well. All seemed easy. There was a bit of excitement when a teacher is abducted, but it's all quickly solved and has not much to do with the plot except to show how good of a fighter Jack is, and how caring Julia is. Then J & J fall into the seduction bit. It's all very warm and steamy until they finish, when it turns out Julia's a virgin! I had to put the book down for a minute. I was sort of, I don't know, disappointed or something when I read that. Felt like a cop out, and I wasn't sure where the author (whom I've never read before) was going to go with it. I kept reading though, and warmed to the characters more and more as I continued. Jack grew to admire Julia, and got to know her as a person, and desired his revenge less and less. Finally it is revealed who Theo's real mother is, and it was sort of sad, but kind of good. Made Julia's actions more understandable. There's more lovin' but then Julia discovers his deception. The end sort of came up fast, and there was a bit more action and excitement, a kidnapping, a big reveal, and of course, reconciliation and the HEA. The villain turned out to be a surprise to me. He was a badder person than I had really suspected. So this book started out sort of interesting, slowed a bit, and then picked up pace pretty well. It was a good, fulfilling and entertaining read, and while it didn't blow me away or get me real emotional, I'm still glad I read it. I may even look for more books by this author in my travels.

[Antoinette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. The hero and heroine are likable and well drawn, the plot has big secrets and a suspenseful climax, but most of all the book is well written, with just the right amount of texture and details (the author is wonderful when it comes to conjuring a scene through smell), and the attraction between the protagonists is not just through the heart, but through the mind. There's a certain quality to this Regency romance that's shared by Betina Krahn in her Victorian romances - it has to do with historical detail, mental strength, and a realistic groundedness. Difficult to describe, but it adds to the pleasure of the read.

[ann_zack_cee_am_ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been on a Barbara Dawson Smith binge lately, and The Rogue Report is, without a doubt, her best work yet!

I'm honestly surprised by the low ratings for The Rogue Report! Perhaps some readers just don't appreciate a truly clever twist on the classic Regency romance! This book offers a refreshingly unique storyline: the male main character, Jack, a mathematician by nature, goes undercover as a mathematics schoolteacher in order to expose the female lead, who secretly writes for a scandalous gossip sheet chronicling his exploits and debaucheries in the bustling city of London. Why? Because he suspects one of the teachers, the strong-willed and fiercely intelligent Julia, is behind the pen name of the scandal sheet's anonymous author. Little does he know, what begins as a clever game of espionage, with the hero infiltrating a school to expose her, a scandal sheet writer, gradually unfolds into something far more profound: a tale of vulnerability, trust, and ultimately, unexpected love. The resulting tension is delicious: she’s writing about his scandalous behaviour, and he’s hiding in plain sight to expose her.

But what gives this story its emotional depth is Julia’s reason for writing the scandal sheet in the first place. She isn’t doing it for profit or idle gossip but rather as a reminder for other young women to protect their virtues and avoid from making the same mistake she once did. Having been seduced, impregnated, and abandoned by a man in her youth, she now uses The Rogue Report to expose the dangers of charming rakes, warning others not to be led astray as she once was. All the while she has been busy standing right in front of him at work, unaware that her new colleague is the very rake she’s been skewering in print!

If you enjoy slow burn romances where both MCs are intelligent, scheming in their own ways, and eventually brought together by truth and vulnerability, The Rogue Report is a gem worth reading and is definitely deserving a much higher rating!

[Bettye McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lady Julia Corwyn is headmistress of a charity school. She has her own reasons for despising men in general. In an effort to warn other young women, she writes The Rogue Report exposing the current scandals of the scoundrels.

Jack William Mansfield, the Earl of Rutledge, is getting tired of appearing in The Rogue Report. He sets out to discover the author of this fountain of misinformation which is ruining his chances with the young ladies. Homing in on his suspect, he applies for a suddenly vacant position as math instructor at the school, calling himself William Jackman.

I really loved this book. The plot was interesting and the characters were marvelous.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely written romance with a great heroine.

[Isabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a pity this book is not available in digital edition, but if you are lucky enough to find a used copy, do grab it. I liked the gradual process that saw the hero reform his ways for the sake of the woman he had set out to get his revenge on and fell in love with instead and the element of mistery in the story added spice to a very good romance.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over all I thought this was a very good book. The characters were startlingly alive as I read through the pages. Jack was once a rake of rakes - taking London by storm while London took his money. A lady once wrote in her scandal sheet of the losses he incurred at one of his outrageous parties and ruined his chances of marrying a cold heiress. Out for revenge he does his research and comes to the conclusion that the fallen lady Julia could be the best possibility of authoring the rag that had outted him. It was then he joined the school and learned the true meaning of life as a teacher - compassion, trust, and hard work prevails. As do love. Love prevails over rakish ways and was quite the delicious treat!

[Sumit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julia....A LADY WITH A MISSION and author of rouge report
JACK....THE PERFECT ROUGE

They fall in love and a great story unravels;LOVED THE MATHEMATICS CONNECTION(MY FAVORITE SUBJECT)AND THE TRANSFORMATION(OF COURSE).....

Loved it
a line from the book that hit a cord i would love to share:
"He wrapped her in his arms,.........with such tenderness that she felt the joy of coming home after a long journey"

[penelopewanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. I particularly appreciated the fact that the hero is a keen mathematician and finds himself drawn into appreciating a different lifestyle that that to which he is accustomed. The heroine holds her own as well. I'm tempted to look for other books by this author. I see I had reached the same conclusion after reading a first novel by her (Countess Confidential), so I should indeed try to mooch some more. I read this in Mallorca and it was a perfect holiday read.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lord goes to work at a school of the woman he suspects of publishing something called the Rogue Report, which calls out members of the nobility for their indiscretions to young heiresses. Bent on ruining her and leaving, he finds himself falling for the headmistress and learning about what drove her away from society. great book with some fun humorous bits:)

[Stasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new to me author who turned a good Victorian tale. I guessed at some of the twists early on but some of the others caught me by surprise. Definitely worth the quarter I paid at the library book sale.

[LorettaLynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a fun and exciting book to read. I little different then the normal
Historical Romance that I read. I am glad I checked this one out from the library.
Very different and I hope if you are a Historical Romance reader you will try this one!

Happy Reading!

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those stories where both Julia and Jack have big secrets. Who will reveal their secret first? How will Jack react when Julia reveals her secret? How will Julia react when Jack's secret is revealed?

Jack is a rogue but he is a delightful rogue.

[Cary · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book with a new author. I will read another one of hers. It was Warm but not overly so. Story was nice with several predictable parts and a few plot twists!