The Rogue Not Taken

Romance novels aren't supposed to make you get all weepy!!!

But this one did. Such a lovely little novel with a wonderful book-loving heroine.

I stayed up way too late because I didn't want to stop reading. Of course these two people would get together, I can't imaging a self-respecting capital-R Romance Novel without the happy ending. But I worried...Sarah MacLean tugged at my poor heartstrings until I cried. Definitely a couple of heart-wrenching moments with Sophie and King.

This book had everything I didn't know I needed in one book and I want to scream from the rooftops about how amazing it was. I'm slowly coming around to some historical romance thanks to Sarah MacLean and Julia Quinn. But Sarah is 100% my favorite.

Sophie is my now very favorite heroine from a historical romance novel and frankly, one of the best female MC's I've read lately period. She's intelligent, outspoken, funny and fiercely protective of her family. Frankly, she's everything you aren't "supposed" to be as a woman in her time. After standing up for her sister at a ball, Sophie ends up running away, yearning for the life she remembers before money became the end all be all of life.

Our hero, King, has quite the reputation for show more charming women and meets his match in Sophie. Full of witty banter, their relationship progresses, despite all odds and grows in to something neither one of them expected or wanted.

I had a smile on my face throughout much of the book and when I finished it, I was sad I would never read it again for the first time. If you've been on the fence about this one, I highly recommend you pick it up. I don't think you'll be sorry. show less

This historical romance paints a vivid picture of the aristocracy from the view of someone who was not born to the life. The story is full of London nobs that you will love to hate, an outrageous and flamboyant family who eschews propriety, and a heroine who will tug on your heart strings.

Sophie Talbot is the youngest of five Talbot daughters, deemed by the ton to be the Soiled S's or Dangerous Daughters. They say they are soiled because their father is a coal miner who won his title in a card game... and they are said to be dangerous for trapping men into marriage. The sisters are peacockish and ostentatious, each trying to outdo the other in the scandal rags. All except for Sophie, who never wanted to be a lady. She was perfectly show more happy in her hometown of Mossband as a coal miner's daughter. She is bookish and blunt, and is said to be the "plain" Talbot sister. I had a great emotional connection with Sophie, I was able to slide into her character and feel all the annoyance, frustration, and hurt right along with her.

Aloysius Archibald Barnaby Kingscote, Marquess of Eversley, Future Duke of Lyne is known by the ton as a rapscallionesque rake and ruiner of women. King wants absolutely nothing to do with the Dangerous Daughters, as he is not about to let any scheming female trap him into marriage. So when he finds that Sophie has stowed away on his carriage, he is cruel to her. His hurtful remarks seem to come without thought, likely a product of being an aristo as he is parroting what the people of the ton have always said about the Talbots and Sophie. He was really a hard hero to love because he was quite self-absorbed and continued to marginalize Sophie until almost the very end. While I understood his wanting to never marry and his anger at his father, I did not see that as a valid excuse for the way he treated our heroine.

This is somewhat of an enemies to lovers romance, and is quite steamy for a historical. There is one scene between King and Sophie in a carriage that particularly fogged up my kindle screen. MacLean did a great job at building up the tension in these encounters as well.

I like the premise that this series is following with the focus on the scandal sheets and outrageous behavior. I love a little good gossip here and there... but I love getting the REAL story behind the gossip more. The next book is going to follow a Scottish scoundrel, the Duke of Warnick. I can't wait for his story. He seems particularly jaded and in need of a good woman to help warm his heart.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars / 3 flames. show less

The Rogue Not Taken
4 Stars

Lady Sophie Talbot is supposedly the quietest of the "Dangerous Daughters" the ton loves to gossip about. But even she cannot live down the scandal when she deliberately pushes a duke into a fishpond, and finds herself stowing away in the Marquess of Eversley's carriage. Suffice it to say that the Marquess is not at all pleased, and so begins their journey on the bumpy road to happily ever after!

Sophie and King have a tumultuous romance to say the least, nevertheless, their love/hate banter is snarky and witty, and their chemistry is excellent (although it takes a while to manifest).

That said, King does have several alpha-hole moments, particularly in the beginning when he treats her even worse than dirt show more (readers of Kristen Ashley's heroes will be able to relate). Thankfully, he manages to redeem himself with small acts of kindness that seem to surprise him even more than they do the reader. Moreover, the fact that he is exceedingly honest with regard to his intentions goes a long way to making his earlier behavior forgivable.

Sophie is a lovely heroine unafraid of doing and saying the right thing in a society well-known for its hypocrisy and double standards. King doesn't realize until the end just how lucky he is to have found her.

In sum, regardless of the possibility that the mixed reviews for this book may have lowered my expectations, The Rogue Not Taken is a delightful read and I look forward to continuing with the next installment focusing on King's rakish Scottish friend. show less

I am a huge fan of Sarah MacLean and I couldn't resist reading this book. When I got an ARC I almost died from the happiness of having a copy. Due to my other book responsibilities, I began the book later than I imagined and that resulted in me trying to read this before the release date in order to have my review up and because I haven't read a book by the author that has disappointed me yet. I got excited by reading the blurb for Christ sake. I hadn't felt that in a long while and one late night I began reading this book. To be honest, I kept reading the book even after I realized that my brain had stopped functioning properly because I wanted to read more about King and Sophie. I am sure I missed some parts of this book and I am not show more happy with that, but even with my eyes, half closed I needed to read this book.

I don't know what happened to Sophie's sisters, but I am hoping that we will find out in the later books. I am not the biggest fan of them, but I started to like them in the end. I was happy to see that the stories of some of the secondary characters have ended in a positive way. Their chapters ended, I believe, but there is hope for a novella about Mary. I would like to see her again.

You might not know this, but Sarah MacLean has based this novel on modern things like US Weekly, People Magazine, Defamer.com, or that sidebar of "news" on your Facebook page and Beyonce, the Kardashians or the Middleton Sisters. I know that this seems weird, but it was fused into the book in a way that you wouldn't realize it if somebody hadn't told you. I hadn't raced it until I read the author's review of her book on GoodReads.

The rogue not taken has everything that I want in a romance novel. It has adventure, romance, angst, chemistry between the two main characters and an actual plot that leaves you wanting more. It also has one thing that I need in most books that I read. An epilogue. And what an epilogue it was! I finished the book with happy tears in my eyes. The epilogue was short, but it contained so much happiness and it gave me the satisfaction I expected. It was a great way to end the book and now I am expecting the second book in the series for more than one reason, but mostly because I am hoping that I will see Sophie and King living their happy ending. show less

Good book. Sophie is the youngest of the Talbot sisters and the only one who doesn't enjoy the family's scandalous reputation. Her father bought his title, having made his money in coal, but the aristocracy hasn't really accepted them. Her father is immersed in his business, her mother is determined that each of the girls marries a title. Several of the girls are involved in relationships with questionable men. The oldest married a duke, but her method of catching him was less than honorable. When Sophie stumbles across him with another woman, she is furious on behalf of her sister. She berates him loudly and shoves him into a fishpond. Unfortunately for her, it was witnessed by almost everyone attending the event and they make their show more disapproval of her very clear.

In order to escape the ball, Sophie tries to get a ride in Eversley's carriage, but he denies her the assistance. So instead, she dresses as a footman and stows away on the carriage, not realizing that he isn't headed to his town home but to his father's estate in Cumbria. By the time she discovers it, it is far too late to do anything about it.

I liked Sophie. She is smart, she is sassy and she is protective of her family, even though she doesn't approve of their actions. I enjoyed seeing her take on her brother-in-law, even though she didn't consider the consequences. However, she doesn't have a good picture of herself, feeling that she is the plain sister with none of the fun that others see in her sisters.

I had a harder time warming up to King. He is known for ruining women's reputations and seems quite proud of it. He wasn't at all helpful when Sophie asked for his assistance, and was actually quite unpleasant. King was estranged from his father over something that happened when he was younger and tends to look quite cynically at the people around him. He is aware of the Talbots' reputations and is determined that he not fall into what he sees as Sophie's attempt to trap him. I got quite frustrated with the way that he constantly insulted her, even though he claimed it wasn't intentional.

I loved their first meeting and how Sophie tried to get him to help her. Their conversation was pretty funny, as Sophie tried to get his help and King was determined to resist her attempts. It was fun to see her take matters into her own hands, and her dismay when she finally realized that it hadn't gone the way she planned. Their confrontation at the inn, when King discovered what she had done, was pretty intense. King's tunnel vision about her actions caused him to be pretty obnoxious. I thoroughly enjoyed the way that she managed her escape from him. But for all his insistence that she wasn't his problem, he couldn't leave her on her own. I loved seeing him go after her, and how he was there when she needed rescuing.

Though both insist that they don't even like each other, they are attracted. Their conversations are mostly opportunities to take verbal shots at each other, with each convinced that their opinion of the other is correct. King began to grow on me a little bit with his care of Sophie after the stage robbery. He gave in to her request for a ride to the village she grew up in, but he is still constantly suspicious. But he once again made me mad with his actions at the bakery. At first I thought he was actually trying to help her, but then his motives were revealed. He made his plan known to her with absolutely no thought to its effect on her, with his insulting opinion not even hidden behind a facade of pleasantness. I ached for Sophie, who by this time really wanted him to see her in a better light. I loved seeing her stand up to both King and his father at that first dinner, followed by her happiness when she had dinner with the servants. I felt like I was almost constantly irritated with King as he never thought before he spoke, which just kept beating down on Sophie. She was falling in love with him, and just wanted to be loved in return. I had some hope for him when he opened up with her and told her what had caused his rift with his father. But in spite of his growing feelings for her, he makes no secret of his intention never to marry.

The arrival of her family, with their stories of what had happened after Sophie left, leaves her feeling even more guilty about her actions. Her father has a plan for making it right, but it is a plan that she wants no part of. She and King are finally growing closer, and this plan would drive him away completely. What happens next just emphasizes King's blindness when it comes to Sophie. A surprising twist regarding the event that caused the rift between King and his father throws everything King had believed into turmoil and he starts to see what an idiot he has been. I liked his confession to Sophie at the end, but thought that she forgave him a little too easily. I hope to see them in later books and see if Sophie has managed to civilize him. show less

Well that was interesting. Sophie pushes the bratty husband of her sister in a pond when she finds him with another woman. She flees the scene, hoping that she will get away. However she ends up in Kingscotte 'King' the Marquess of Eversley's coach as his footman who is heading to his father's estate, many miles from London.

She wants to escape the world of London and the strictures but she has no real way to do this without a cascade.

King has a problem with his father and the death of an early love he doesn't want love in his life again but she is tempting and he finds himself caring a lot about her and what happens into her. There's shennigans and misunderstanding and a lot of fun and sparkling banter and I really enjoyed it.