A Rogue of My Own

I liked this book. I am always amazed at how authors (like Lindsey) can come up with a fresh scenario every time. I found it a little tedious in the beginning, with all the description of the English monarchy, but beyond that, I thought it was entertaining. True, it was not one of my favorites of hers, but worth the time nonetheless. If you're looking for a real bodice-ripper, it won't be your cup of tea.

A crudely stitched patchwork of mismatched pieces.

The arrival of Rebecca Marshall at Buckingham Palace as a new maid of honor and the details of personal and political intrigues at the court of Queen Victoria were refreshingly different, but as the narrative rushed nowhere and finally disintegrated, I was left wondering about the authenticity of the historical detail.

First impressions of Rebecca are of a beautiful, intelligent, and self-assured lady, sparking anticipation of her part in the story. The first of many wrong notes is struck by her adolescent infatuation with the handsome 'rogue' Rupert, and the startling speed with which she gives up her virginity and achieves instant orgasm. Rupert St John is supposed to be some kind of show more government intelligence agent, but the background to this is not developed, and we're left with an almost psychotic lothario who apparently hangs around society venues collecting information for his sexually ambiguous handler.

Rebecca becomes pregnant and her attempt to confront Rupert with her predicament only gets her caught up in a chase across France to visit a Englishman who is suspected of smuggling arms.

Rupert doesn't believe Rebecca is pregnant, squabbles and spats ensue, families get involved, undying love is declared, but nothing can compensate for the fundamental weakness in characterisation and lack of control over the structure of the narrative. show less

I usually love Johanna Lindsey novels, but I couldn't even finish this one. The two leads snap at each other constantly to where I wanted to smack them both. The writing isn't even up to Lindsey's usual standards. I think if she did a search for the word "blush" it would come up about a hundred times.

I won't be giving up on Lindsey (since I really enjoyed her Mallory novels), but this one was a dud for me.

Cheesy and trite. The heroine, Rebecca, is nicely intelligent and witty, and the hero sexy, but the ridiculousness of the misunderstandings - and how long those misunderstandings are drug out - kills the story.

Blech.

A well-rounded romance. The characters were approachable and realistic, and the story was great. Johanna has a way of making her characters come to life. It is easy to get into the book and be transported to the past.

Exclamation marks are WAY overused, but the story is a fun one.

I have to admit that this book was really disappointing. I love Johanna Lindsey but this effort of hers was very weak. I had to force myself to finish this book. I was not convinced of Rupert's and Rebecca's relationship. There really was no chemistry between then and the story line was really thin. There was little romance in this book and I hope the author's next book will be better.