To me, the mark of a strong romance novel is when the book manages to make me feel ALL THE THINGS. A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean ran the gamut of emotions. It is a historical romance. Main character Penelope Marbury, a wealthy woman just shy of being a spinster. Penelope has a sizable dowry but after her broken engagement, where her fiancé left her for a love match, Penelope will not settle for anything less than love.
A Rogue By Any Other Name
Lord Michael Bourne, our rogue, has different plans for Penelope, however. You see, at age 21 Bourne lost EVERYTHING his parents left to him in a game of cards, except the manor house and his title. Penniless, he becomes a partner in a gambling den, The Fallen Angel and is bent on getting revenge. Bourne marries Penelope after he finds that his ancestral lands were added to her dowry.
If you like your heroes prickly and your heroines plucky, A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean is the book for you. Bourne is carrying a lot of extra baggage and won’t let anyone in. He especially won’t let himself fall in love with his wife, Penelope, who keeps hoping against hope with every little action that Bourne will take a gamble and choose love.
As a reader, I was totally invested in Borne and Penelope’s story. It was hard for me to see characters I cared about hurting each other so much emotionally. Every other page it would seem like Penelope was starting to fall in love with Bourne and he was being genuine, but then he does something to push her away. It’s very emotional. The happily ever after takes work in this case. It’s not instant love between the two. Let’s just say the journey in A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean is rough, but the destination is totally worth it.
Disclosure: Received for review from Amazon Vine.
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Nice review
Im excited to read this as I loved her other books more than any other historical romance 
I was kind of hoping this new series would be the kids of the previous couples. Oh well lol
Thanks Amy! I’ve only read her Nine Rules to Break besides A Rogue By Any Other Name, but I can’t wait to read the other Love By The Numbers books.
ALSO I love when romance books feature people related or the kids of previous couples.
OOoooooh I can’t wait to read this one — I’m such a Sarah MacLean fan!
Sarah MacLean rocks!
I LOVE it when the journey to happiness is a tough one. Makes the subsequent XXXs and happiness SO MUCH more rewarding. And I promise I’m reading my first Sarah MacLean this month. I will, I will!
Love the XXX lol that makes me laugh a lot that you and Anna say that.
I hope you love your first Sarah MacLean book!
I’m SO excited for this book!! I loved her Love By Numbers series and this one sounds amazing
I love feeling all the things too and hooray for no insta-love! 
Right? Insta-love is SO boring. But the way this plays out is full of emotion and all of the the things!
Oh…a love-hate-love relationship…interesting.
Yes! It is.
I’m so excited to hear this one is good…I love marriage of convenience stories, so I’ve been looking forward to this forever. Sarah MacLean rocks. PS: The word ‘plucky’ should definitely be used more in reviews. I’m gonna get on that.
Plucky is one of my favorite adjectives. I would like to hear more of plucky in reviews as well.
I like marriage of convenience, I don’t read that trope often enough though.
I only just caught up on my Sarah MacLean books at the end of last year and am already a fan. LOVE her books so much!! I can’t wait to read this one, especially because happiness and good times are hard-won. That’s the best kind!! YAY!
I like that they have to WORK for their happily ever after, it’s not magically granted by a genie or anything weird.
I think Sarah MacLean does prickly and plucky very well, which is one of the reasons I love her books. Great review, April! I am now DYING to read this book! DYING!
YOU WILL LOVE IT, JESS! I pinky swear.
I’ve been reading some crap ass romances lately and was beginning to lose faith in the genre. Thanks for your review – will have to add this to my TBR pile!
I hope this one doesn’t feel crap-ass. BUT I know how you feel, right now my current romance that I’m reading is ridic, but I can’t DNF it because I want to see how it plays out in the end.
I totally had to google “rogue.” I thought it might be a THING like a pirate or a cowboy or a sheriff or something. But nope, it’s just a dishonest person or scoundrel. So basically this book is about a woman wanting a scoundrel to love her? Sounds spicy and saucy. One day I’m gonna read a romance novel, I promise. And I want it to be a GOOD ONE. You need to tell me where to start.
Yo, this shiz is TOTES saucy!
Also, you crack me up googling rogue.
And romance novels are awesome. You should start with Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie, that one is fabulous.
I preordered on Barnes and Noble. I couldn’t help it. I’m so excited to read this one.
Yay! I hope you love it
I was so invested in their story as well! I practically read this in one sitting.
Oh man, I loved Bourne. Issues and all. I loved how his back story was solid enough that his attitude makes sense. You know? Sometimes characters have stupid/weak reasons for being the way they are and its really hard to buy. Sarah MacLean knew better.
Also, I loved the side characters and am super excited for the next one!