Synopsis

A lady must have money and an army of her own if she is to win a revolution – but first, she must pit her wits against the wiles of an irresistible rogue bent on wrecking her plans…and her heart.Lady Lucie is fuming. She and her band of Oxford suffragists have finally scraped together enough capital to control one of London’s major publishing houses, with one purpose: to use it in a coup against Parliament. But who could have predicted that the one person standing between her and success is her old nemesis, Lord Ballentine? Or that he would be willing to hand over the reins for an outrageous price—a night in her bed.

Lucie tempts Tristan like no other woman, burning him up with her fierceness and determination every time they clash. But as their battle of wills and words fans the flames of long-smouldering devotion, the silver-tongued seducer runs the risk of becoming caught in his own snare.

As Lucie tries to out-manoeuvre Tristan in the boardroom and the bedchamber, she soon discovers there’s truth in what the poets say: all is fair in love and war…

Review

Thanks for the free book, @PRHGlobal/@prhinternational  #partner

4,5 stars

What does it say about a book when you order the prequel the second you finished it? It says that you had an amazing time!

I had seen Bringing Down the Duke everywhere months ago but had not read it. When PRH International offered me the opportunity to read A Rogue of One’s Own, a standalone book in what seems a series of interconnected books, I leaped on the occasion.

And how pleased I am that I did!

That’s what I am looking for as a romance reader!

-Good banter;

-Fiery heroine;

-Roguish male character;

-Past flaws and pains;

-Enemies to lover to have sparkles flying;

-Beautiful words of old that sends thrills to my romantic heart like: rake, ripped bodice, unbridled attractiveness …;

-Historical facts making me ponder my current situation under another light;

-Great friends;

-A cause to fight for;

….

This is one of these reads where everything works together and is calling to me. I read it nearly in one sitting, delighted by Tristan Ballentine and Lady Lucie love/hate relationship played on a background of suffragette’s history.

Prepare thee for several quotes below!

This book follows lady Lucie, from noble birth but cast aside by her family once she decided to openly side for the suffragette’s cause.

Truly Lucie’s dedication and passion for that cause was admirable and awe inspiring.

I never realized how these women had to fight for what I consider my normality today: the right to vote, the right to retain my inheritance and income, the ….

In a ploy to advance the women’s cause and reach more women, Lady Lucie has created a consortium of wealthy women. With their funds, she is preparing a coup to acquire the majority ownership of a publishing company whose lectorate is feminine.

But of course, she never imagined being trifled by her childhood nemesis, the roguish, debauched and alluring Lord Tristan Ballentine!

Friend with her brother, he spent his summers playing pranks on her. Now he has returned as a war hero. Already a real Don Juan he has even more women falling at his feet.

And he happens to have silently bought the other half of the publishing house.

Now Lucie will have to deal with him on a regular basis.

Heated arguments and sizzling attraction ensue. The gauntlet was thrown down and war would begin

« If his lordship wanted war, he’d better batten down the hatches.”

I loved Lucie’s character.

She was loud and brash. Passionate and never afraid to speak her mind. More a fan of plowing through enemy’s lines than to try for subtlety, she’ll be forced to reconsider her strategy and aim for: “Pandemonium by stealth.”

She had lived alone for so long that she became …rigid in her mind and when one of the lady advised her to take a lover to unwind, well it will have a very passionate outcome.

“She had taken a rogue into her bed, into her life, so a mad last tumble in a ripped bodice was a befitting good-bye.”

What was also remarkable was that Lucie truly was dedicated in helping all women, from noble women to whores in need of saving.

She did many acts of kindness but what had me arrested was this quote:

“She could change a fate here and there immediately by going without, but what was truly needed were better circumstances for every woman, every child, independently of random acts of charity. And this was a matter of making just policies in Westminster.”

Because this whole book was about women’s condition at these times and how men held so much power over them. This was truly enlightening.

Tristan was also a vey interesting character and had a real growth in this story. Just focused on debauchery at the beginning of the book, he will show a true concern for women’s condition once he became aware of what they had to go through. His passionate nature and clever mind will fixate on furthering the cause.

And did I mention the sass????

“Avi,” she said. “Lord Ballentine and I have a business matter to discuss. Unless you think his lordship wants the entire street to partake in it, step aside. My voice carries, I have been told.” The brows swooped. “It does,” Avi said. “Carry. You are not armed with anything sharp, milady?” “Other than my tongue?”

I am currently listening to Bringing Down the Duke and having an equally great time so, go read that book!

Have you read any of her books? Do you like historical fiction?

Thanks for reading!

Sophie