Review: The Gentleman Rogue

The Gentleman Rogue by Margaret McPhee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my first book from this author, who has become a new favorite for me. The writing was immediately engaging and compelling from the first chapter.

The hero is eminently swoon worthy. In fact, I kind of pictured him as a bit like a younger Daniel Craig, including the tortured look behind his eyes. Great backstory and a strong, gritty, noble character.

The heroine is also incredibly likable, a gentlewoman whose family has lost everything, strong and practical enough to get a job as a barmaid in Whitechapel despite her exalted background.

The writing was incredibly emotional and elegant, making for complex characters and dynamic relationships. The setting was almost like another character.

Note: This isn't a "sweet" Regency, there is a bit of sex in it, although it didn't bother me. But this is just a note in case a reader wants to know. The sensuality level was about the same as perhaps a Harlequin Special Edition, or maybe a Harlequin American Romance.

Absolutely fantastic story and characters. This author is now an auto-buy for me.

Much thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for this e-ARC.

View all my reviews

Comments

I’m a Book of the Year winner!

Captain's Log, Stardate 09.22.2008 I won first place in the Debut Author category of the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year awards! Here are all the winners! Debut Author Sushi for One? (Camy Tang) Zondervan, editor Sue Brower Bayou Justice (Robin Miller writing as Robin Caroll) In Between (Jenny B. Jones) Contemporary Novella Finally Home in Missouri Memories anthology (Deborah Raney) Barbour Publishing, editor Susan Downs Moonlight & Mistletoe in A Big Apple Christmas anthology (Carrie Turansky) Remaking of Moe McKenna in Race to the Altar anthology (Gloria Clover) Historical Novella Love Notes in Love Letters Anthology (Mary Davis) Barbour Publishing, editor Rebecca Germany Beyond the Memories in Missouri Memories anthology (DiAnn Mills) The Spinster & The Tycoon in The Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner anthology (Vickie McDonough) Lits Splitting Harriet (Tamara Leigh) Multnomah Books, editor Julee Schwarzb...

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci...

Pink Sunshine Shawl

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.06.2010 While in Arizona, I visited three knitting stores (all I had time and money for, unfortunately!) and bought this gorgeous yarn by Colinette. The model had this silk colorway with a pink mohair, which made it more pink than I wanted because I already have a very pink shawl and while I love pink, I wanted something both dramatic and different from, well, pink. So I paired this mostly pink silk colorway yarn with a greenish yellow mohair to get this gorgeous shawl that looks like pink sunshine! If you’re on Ravelry, you can see my more detailed notes here . Here’s the shawl! Isn’t it pretty? The mohair makes it very light and airy, while the silk gives it beautiful drape. I edged it with gold glass beads.

Poll for the title of my book!

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson . My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie , both by Laura Jensen Walker . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above . On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for The Wedding Caper and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Pick my title! The Zondervan Marketing Department is torn about which title would be best for my debut novel. So you guys get to weigh in! Here are your choices: Solo Sushi Sushi for One Single Sushi Solo Sashimi Leave a comment about which you prefer and WHY. I’ll run this poll for a couple weeks to figure out which will be the title for my new book! TMI: Writing: I posted another "Health and the Writer" post at WriterQuotes , and an agent post at my Story Sensei blog . And in case you missed it, my review of The Guy I’m Not Dating by Trish Perry is ...

ICRS Tuesday

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.11.2007 I started the day with a great meeting with Al Hsu , an editor at InterVarsity Press. We discussed Asian Americans—fiction, non-fiction, the church, family. He’s been in publishing for many years and is very wise. We had a great discussion. I also met his wife Ellen, who’s totally nice and is also into card-making! I wandered the floor and happened to meet Robin Jones Gunn. She asked if I’d eaten yet, and since I hadn’t, said to join her for lunch. On the way to lunch, we met Mark Mynheir, and he gave me a copy of his book, got The Void . Isn’t that cool? Robin has so much wisdom. I loved having lunch with her. She gave me such good advice, both professionally and spiritually. I hope I’ll get a chance to have lunch or dinner with her at the ACFW conference in September. I met up with agent Steve Laube, and walked with him to his next meeting, but on the way we were hailed by Cec Murphy and agent Jeff Dunn. Jeff had been the first editor to request...

Search This Blog