The Lords of Worth #2
Kelly Bowen
Historical Romance
368 pages
Forever
Available Now
Source: Bought
THE STORY (from Goodreads)
HE THOUGHT HE'D SEEN IT ALL . . .
The rogue's life has been good to William Somerhall: He has his fortune, his racehorses, and his freedom. Then he moves in with his mother. It seems the eccentric Dowager Duchess of Worth has been barely skirting social disaster-assisted by one Miss Jenna Hughes, who is far too bright and beautiful to be wasting her youth as a paid companion. Now home to keep his mother from ruin, William intends to learn what's afoot by keeping his friends close-and the tempting Miss Hughes closer still.
. . . UNTIL HE MEETS HER
He's tall, dark, and damnably intelligent-unfortunately for Jenna. She and the duchess are in the "redistribution business," taking from the rich and giving to the poor, and it's going great - until he shows up. But even as William plots to make an honest woman out of her, Jenna will use all her wiles to reveal just how bad a rogue he can be . . .
MY THOUGHTS
A Good Rogue is Hard to Find is an outstanding second installment in the Lords of Worth series, focusing on the inner workings of a family who existed on the periphery of the first book and absolutely stole the show every time they appeared.
Despite the serious nature of the job the hero and heroine of book one undertake as their romance unfolds, there were select laugh out loud moments when a duchess backing their cause played up her eccentric reputation and created a spectacle of herself in public to distract from more covert operations. That duchess is front and center of this second book, with her son William and her "paid companion" Jenna our new romantic leads, and her antics give this installment a much lighter feel than we found in the start of this series. Her love for allowing live poultry to run amok during dinner parties and balls just to watch the feathers fly and the chaos ensue brings a smile to our faces throughout, knowing she's playing her part so that she and Jenna can continue to help those less fortunate.
William, for his part, takes just a little time to warm to simply because he threatens to be a wrench in the well-oiled machine that is Jenna and the Dowager Duchess of Worth (and it's impossible not to be rooting for the two of them to stick it to those members of the Ton who believe social status trumps the need to be a decent person). It doesn't take long for William to find his way into our good graces though, and his pursuit of Jenna is nothing if not swoon-worthy. Though he at times forgets that his title keeps a true relationship between them from ever becoming a reality, Jenna is quick to remind both him and herself, ensuring she doesn't get too swept up in something that can never be. Her honesty (about everything save the exact specifics of her role in taking from the rich to give to the poor that is) is one of her finest attributes, calling things as she sees them without dwelling on any words or actions that might initially leave a mark, and always moving forward toward achieving her goal of helping others.
Overall, A Good Rogue is Hard to Find is a quick and enormously fun read, the Dowager Duchess's relationship with Jenna ensuring we can't turn the pages fast enough to see what scheme the two of them will cook up next, while the romance with William adds a delightful flush to our cheeks and an immediate desire to pick up the next book as soon as we close the back cover.
Rating: 4/5
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