To Rescue a Rogue

Jo Beverley is obviously a great writer (hence all those accolades for being a great writer) and I am thrilled to have found this book. I'll admit I read mostly historical romances of the Regency era where there is a duke as hero and a sweet, feisty, innocent young virgin as the heroine, both of whom learn about themselves on their journey to LOVE.

In To Rescue A Rogue, the hero wasn't a duke (he was the third son of a duke), but he was admirable. He fought an opium addiction. Of course, it wasn't *his* fault he was addicted; he was held captive and fed the stuff until he became addicted, don't you know. And the heroine, while a sweet young virgin, was wise beyond her years and had an inner strength that matched that of the hero's. I show more absolutely loved both characters. I loved the way the plot kept thickening. It started out mostly about the heroine trying to get the hero to fall in love with her, but conflict began to arise because of all the trials (mostly surrounding the hero's past) they had to face. There was another plot thread which put the heroine's life in danger, and that thread was tied very neatly by the author into the conflict surrounding the hero's past. I can't wait to read the other books in this series and I'll probably read this one again show less

Many years ago, in the time before Libby/Hoopla, I would frequently go to library bag sales on dollar bag day and grab up a heaping bagful of historical romances. I read many, and have jettisoned plenty of others over the years, but I still have a bookshelf full of bare chests and heaving bosoms I have barely touched in years. This is the first book I have grabbed off that shelf for 2026, a year in which I swore to apply myself to winnowing it down a bit, and it was good!

This book charmed me with its deep friendships and strong families who supported one another in every way they could, even when that support was difficult and potentially harmful to their own interests. At the center of the story are Mara and Dare. Dare is Mara's show more brother's best friend, and they knew each other when he was an adolescent and she a child. When they encounter one another a number of years later, it is clear that Mara's crush has grown into something more, but Dare has become addicted to opium after being injured in the war, and other things I won't discuss. He has retreated from society, barely even seeing his favorite friends. The other things, outside of the war injury, were sort of silly, but were a minor part of the story. Dare has also picked up a couple of children (not his issue) as a result of the other things, which adds dimension to the story. Also, it is worth noting that Dare's addiction was central, but did not overpower the many other storylines or the romance. I don't like romance where the romance takes a back seat to ISSUES, and I was worried this would do that, but it did not. The romance was lovely, truly, as were the aforementioned friends and family.

One warning -- Beverley refers to Chinese people as "the Orientals" twice, which is bad enough, but there was a whole lot of incrutable Chimaman stuff on top of that. All the Chinese people represented were honest and good, but still. show less

"To Rescue a Rogue", Jo Beverly's Rogue finale, has a promising beginning, with Lady Mara St. Bride showing her spunk in extricating herself from a potentially ruinious situation and enlisting Lord Darius "Dare" Debenham's help. He discretely cleans her up, and suddenly, she determines that she loves Dare and always has. Alas, he sees her in a sisterly way ... though her cleavage impresses him. But wait! he loves her, too! Melodramatic conflict arises in Dare's attempts to conquer his opium addiction and be worthy of her love, and how she pines for him. Rather than her own strength of character, Mara attributes her legendary Black Ademar St. Bride hair as the explanation for her grit. Meanwhile all the Rogues swirl around and Mara is show more suitably impressed. Can they rescue Dare from Society's censure? Will Mara and Dare ever marry? Will Mara ever stop whining? And what about her tonnish stalker who attempts to rescue Mara from Dare's overly public kiss?

Sadly, I found myself rooting for the stalker. Beverly is an otherwise excellent writer, but with this one she fell short. show less

3.5 stars out of 5

I've never listened to or read Jo Beverley's romances before,but I did enjoy listening to this audio book. I thought it started out promising, the two main characters, Mara St Bride and Lord Darius Debenham likeable, but I thought I could have got more out of this romance if I had read or listened to previous Rogue novels as the other characters we meet were obviously developed in other novels. I thought that the love story took a back seat to the hero's fight to overcome his opium addiction but that said, I did enjoy Jo Beverley's character developement and the underlying love story. I certainly came to care for both her main characters.
I would also like to listen to some of the other Rogue novels.
Jack Murphy

The story starts off with a bang with Lady Mara St. Bride trying to get into Darius (Dare) Debenham's house, only in her shift and shoeless. Dare rescues her and she decides she has to rescue him from his addiction to repay him and maybe to win him.

Dare and Mara are great characters in and of themselves, there were moments where my credulity was stretched a little but the story kept me reading and kept me interested.

Overall not a bad read and I look forward to reading more in the series.

Not a favorite Jo Beverley book. Mara, the heroine, seemed unreal. In no time, she decided that Dare should be her husband and most of the book was devoted to her wanting and eventually getting to marry Dare. The rest of the book lacked much of a plot. Primarily read the book to find out what happened to Dare and his story was interesting.

This was another of the ROGUE series by Jo Beverley and was entertaining showing how the characters from previous books come together for Mara and Dare. The love story did not seem to be up to par for J beverley but was enjoyable.