Acquired Book By:
I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! HFVBTs is one of the very first touring companies I started working with as a 1st Year Book Blogger – uniting my love and passion with Historical Fiction and the lovely sub-genres inside which I love devouring.
It has been a wicked fantastical journey into the heart of the historic past, wherein I’ve been blessed truly by discovering new timescapes, new living realities of the persons who once lived (ie. Biographical Historical Fiction) inasmuch as itched my healthy appetite for Cosy Historical Mysteries! If there is a #HistRom out there it is generally a beloved favourite and I love soaking into a wicked wonderful work of Historical Fiction where you feel the beauty of the historic world, the depth of the characters and the joyfulness in which the historical novelists brought everything to light in such a lovingly diverse palette of portraiture of the eras we become time travellers through their stories.
I received a complimentary ARC copy of “Rogue Most Wanted” direct from the publisher St. Martin’s Press, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Ahead of reading “Rogue Most Wanted” I also borrowed copies of the rest of the novels in this series: “The Bad Luck Bride” and “The Good, the Bad and the Duke” which I happily shared ruminations about on this post for my personal edification and for continuing to share my bookish life with my readers. I was not obligated to do so in other words and felt it was benefical to sharing my joy of the series.
On why this story appealled to me:
I have loved reading the Regency for a long while now – as there is something special about soaking inside this particular era of interest. Of all the eras I love – from the Regency to the Victorian & the Edwardian – it is hard for me to pick amongst them more than the Regency. I seem to fall into step with the stories quite naturally and it is a delight of joy to read a new author’s spin on the era I feel as if I’ve lived through for a portion of my life.
Due to this particular curiosity I have with the Regency – it felt rather keen to try a new author who was about to settle me into her vision of where she wanted me to alight through a series I hadn’t heard about until I saw the blog tour announcement.
Only in a Historical Romance can I lay claim to appreciating the dramatic joltings of a rebellious rogue or a decidedly cheeky rake! More oft than not those are the characters which are of most interest in Historical Romances as they a) have the most to gain and b) have the most to learn. I do not readily find it as easy to appreciate these kinds of characters (for me) in romances when it reverts into Contemporaries.
I was quite excited about the prospect of reading another HistRom so close to when I read Project Duchess as I need to re-pick up this genre – it is true joy & happiness to reside inside as a reader!
Rogue Most Wanted
Subtitle: The Cavensham Heiresses
by Janna MacGregor
Source: Publisher via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
Wanted: an engagement of convenience. Found: A noble suitor.
Raised on a remote Scottish estate by her adoring grandfather, Lady Theodora Worth has inherited an earldom as well as the land itself. But when an upstart duke challenges her claim to the title and the Ladykyrk estate, Thea is suddenly in need of a husband—in name, at least. An elderly neighbor with a thoroughly modern sensibility and a dashing great-nephew just might be the answer to Thea’s prayers. Except she has no intention of marrying the first man she meets. That would be utterly ridiculous.
It just can’t be him. . .
Lord William Cavensham is entirely too devoted to his family’s estate—ever since he was jilted as a lad–to wed, but he agrees to meet the woman his aunt has taken under her wing—and introduce her to possible suitors. But after just one meeting with beautiful, spirited Thea, Will is determined to help her reclaim her title. And even moreso, he can’t stop thinking that perhaps marriage to this bold, passionate woman may be the one thing he’s been missing all along?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9781250295996
Setting: Regency, England
Published by St. Martin's Paperbacks
on 25th June, 2019
Format: Paperback ARC
Pages: 371
The Cavensham Heiresses series:
→ The Bad Luck Bride (book one)
The Bride Who Got Lucky (book two)
The Luck of the Bride (book three)
→ The Good, the Bad & the Duke (book four)
Rogue Most Wanted (book five)
Wild, Wild Rake (book six)
Published By: St. Martin’s Press (@StMartinsPress)
imprints of St. Martin’s Publishing Group,
which is now a part of MacMillian Publishers
Converse via: #HistoricalRomance OR #HistRom
Available Formats: Hardback, Ebook and Audiobook
About Janna MacGregor
Janna MacGregor was born and raised in the bootheel of Missouri. She credits her darling mom for introducing her to the happily-ever-after world of romance novels. Janna writes stories where compelling and powerful heroines meet and fall in love with their equally matched heroes. She is the mother of triplets and lives in Kansas City with her very own dashing rogue, and two smug, but not surprisingly, perfect pugs.
about how a book blogger attempted to read this series:
Rather fittingly, this Regency Romance series begins on a rather interesting footing – we enter into Alexander Hallworth’s day of reckoning – wherein, he is enraged against the bloke he felt was guilty of having destroyed his sister’s hope for happiness. He is emotionally shattered, unable to think straight and he dearly intends on having the duel move forward without delay nor interference. Except of course, life rarely moves in the direction we’re headed without a few wrinkles of angst to forestall our intentions! His sister Alice was withchild at the time of her death – a death which was both premature and tragically sad in how it happened. His conscience won’t release him from avenging her death – thus, he attempts to take down the suitor he felt was responsible – to destroy him and to prevent him from having a future himself – only then did Alex feel he could be released from his guilt.
Claire is a woman who is on a mission of not just seeking a husband but the ideal of having her own marriage and family to go with the appearances of being betrothed. She was caught in the after effects of the spiralling circumstances Alex had caused as he took action to ensure Claire’s fiance was not just be ruined socially but that he would discontinue his plans to marry Claire. Where it became a bit tricky was understanding why Alex wanted to convince her to accept social ruin and a path out from behind the criticisms she had long since become accustomed too. She was a serial bride, you see, but never had she walked the aisle!
Alex had such a domineering presence – he took Claire off-guard but it was his manner of ease in discussing unpleasant topics which truly spoke more towards his personality than anything else. Claire for her sake, had a strong sense of self and was able to think through these kinds of situations quite quickly. For her, she wanted to advert gossip and turn round the situation before it took like wildfire and circled through the ton. The only thing she hadn’t predicted was how her encounter with Alex might become a more scandalous circumstance than her failed engagement! Especially considering how when they were caught unawares together and keeping much too much company with each other – there, the gossip caught up with both of them whether they were prepared for it or not.
I hadn’t reached much further into the plotting of The Bad Luck Bride when I realised I simply felt disconnected from the rhythm of the characters’ lives. I am unsure if this was going to be similar to how I felt about reading the installments leading into Chai Another Day – wherein, I withdrew from the first novel, skipped the next two in sequence and settled into the fourth release. All I did know is that I was not enjoying the audiobook at this point and I decided to see if I could borrow a copy of the fourth novel The Good, the Bad and the Duke. Happily my local purchased a copy and the book I borrowed as a ‘new’ acquisition in July, 2019! I’m quite sure I was the first patron reading it – being that I borrowed it on the second day of July!
I also had it in the back of my mind that the narrator might have been at fault for my withdrawal – as though it is a bit more rare for me to have this happen, it does happen where a narrator can ruin my enjoyment of a novel. It was either that or I was best to begin this series on the fourth and fifth entry which is exactly what I found myself doing whilst working towards sharing my review for the blog tour itself.
You have to give Daphne the aplomb she readily deserves – she is steadfast in her convictions and she won’t let anyone sway her to think otherwise; nor should she if she has a passion about something like the young bird she was attempting to save from the estate’s cat! The cat belonged to her brother but the bird she believed deserved a fighting chance to survive and not simply be allowed to be sacrificed to a cat who had his meals provided for by the cook. It was here where we enter the story-line – finding the leading hero Paul a bit befuddled as to how to deal with a young girl as impassioned as Daphne as he was used to girls and women alike being far more dainty in personality than the girl possessed covered in minor injuries and caked on mud! Honestly – she reminded me of my tomboy youth and there is nothing wrong with that!
Young Daphne had all the makings of a verifiable woman of independence at the tender age of nine – the year in which she saw through Paul and understood his truer nature far more receptively than he would want her to believe were possible. He was a bloke who tried to keep a public facade between his private life and the life in which society believed he was living. It was a duality of perceptions about him that he did not quite seem to have the balance required to pull off without the hintings of truth lingering round the edges. It is here where you see how vulnerable he is when he’s round someone like Daphne who tucks closer to his inner truth and doesn’t let rumour dictate how she perceives the person she’s meant to have had a changed mind about associating with completely. For Daphne, even at age nine knew how to make her own impressions about people and when it came to Paul, he was an open book; decidedly this is what alarmed him the most and what affected him deeply.
The fact we would time shift forward by sixteen years made me smile – as I had a feeling this rescued of a bird might lay down the foundation of how Daphne would be the only woman who would ever understand Paul.
Ooh! He’s *that!* Paul – I hadn’t inferred the connection until now – this is the rake of a man who had questionable morals and reactions in the first novel of the series! He was that wreck of a man who was about to make Claire’s life rather difficult and the person who swooped in to alleviate that fate was Alex – which is interesting as of all the characters I had met then, Paul was the last one I would have suspected would be redeemable and worthy of his own story-line! I guess I was on the opposite side of the fence as compared to other readers who had hoped this novel would be written eventually! (per the Author’s Note)
And, that dear hearts is when I realised I couldn’t continue reading The Good, the Bad and the Duke! Mostly as I had such an adverse reaction to *Paul!* when I was listening to the audiobook, I had completely *erased!* him from my mind when it came to re-attaching into the flow of the series when I first started reading The Good, the Bad and the Duke! The hardest part for me as a reader is re-stepping into a character’s shoes and life after I’ve determined their not my cuppa tea! Paul was such a decidedly strong repulsion of character – even though Alex wasn’t exactly winning favours in my direction, that I had decided then and there, if he were to simply evaporate into the background of the series I wouldn’t miss having him round.
The way he is presented in the fourth novel though – it is almost like he did an about-face and he does such a growing maturity to where he’s not that rakish impulsive horrid fellow we had first meet in The Bad Luck Bride – however for me, after remembering who he was and trying to counter that against who he is now was a bit too difficult. I suppose in some ways I just didn’t want to attempt to alter my impression of him as MacGregor did such a smashing job at our first meeting with him, it was hard to reconcile the growth he’s gone through now all these years lateron in the series.
Apparently this series is tracking like Chai Another Day –
where the latest release holds the best hope for me to find my footing
and thus, I re-picked up my ARC and dug in!
my review of rogue most wanted:
MacGregor definitely knows how to pull at your heart-strings quite early-on in the revelations of her latest bachelor! By the time Avalon had had her way in severing every ounce of vulnerability reachable in the heart and soul of William Cavensham – the wreck of her subterfuge, I was quite sure would have reverberations down the line whenever he was in a new position of either a) following his heart or b) refusing to acknowledge that time ought to have healed all wounds. He was a sensitive bloke – putting himself on the line to do the honourable thing by asking for her father’s hand only to be given such an absurd reason behind why her affections on his behalf were suddenly and cruelly revoked!
Mind, this was only the beginning of the scandalous attachments to William – when an earldom is questioned and a woman has risen into ascension after her late grandfather – the papers have a field day! The gossip column are on full display in-line with the disclosures about how William is still an unsuitable match for any proper lady seeking a husband. Whilst Theodora has her own issues with the questionable rags of press wherein her medicament is now on full display of anyone who picks up the paper finding a bloke challenging her to seek land and a title he felt was rightly his despite the fact there is another whose claim for the same title is just as strong; if not stronger! This is where we enter Lady Theodora’s life – on the brink of losing everything she holds quite dear, including the one place which feels like home. Whilst her life is in a tailspin towards trying to fight for her right as a heiress, it is William’s Great-Aunt Stella who champions his cause towards accepting that perhaps his stance on marriage was ill-placed and ought to be reversed.
With an earnest seriousness, Theodora entrusts the only person she could think of who might be able to help bail her out of this horrid business of being ousted from her own estate – Lady Payne (better known as simply Stella), of whom has a decidedly cheeky way of looking at things! To her, its all good sport – to sort out this missing title of Thea’s and to pitch forward a name of a suitor the young woman never would have suspected as being given to her in such a situation as this one! What I liked the most about this set-up is how vulnerable it left Theodora and how unlikely it all felt that she could turn the wrong into a right. Women during her time didn’t have a lot of rights and just the fact she could have a chance to inherit the land and title was something unheard of as society would dictate that only men were viable options to do those things themselves. It was a bit upturnt from how we view things today but in the Regency, these kinds of things were quite common as they were the rule.
Whilst she is engaged in recruiting aide for this situation, it was a delight of joy to see how MacGregor placed a cat in the scene where Stella and Thea are discussing the options to rectify this circumstance before Theodora was removed from all options at all. She called the cat “Lord Fluff” and that just stirred a visual of a joy from a cat lover who likes the quirkiness of cats and the ways in which their names eludes to their personalities! He’s quite the cat and I hoped he might make a few more appearances as he was a joyful part of Theodora’s visit. Dogs are generally found in fiction moreso than cats but some authors, like MacGregor know how to insert a cat into an exchange of dialogue and narrative which not just befits the characters’ but gives you the illusion that these people are as attached to their pets as we are to ours!
Their first meeting with one another proved to find their both on equal ground – Thea doesn’t want to marry the first bloke she’s being petitioned to accept as a fiance and he, in return, is thrilled to bits she isn’t daft enough to simply go along with his Great-Aunt’s scheme to put them together. It is a meeting of minds – where two very independent thinkers are trying to think their way forward in circumstances that are not ideal but of which release them from having a lot of options to circumvent. It is in this drama that we start to see their truer personalities and hug closer to what William and Theodora are like outside the lens of society who wish to break their spirits.
As Thea lets William into her private world, she starts to disclose how her grandfather (who raised her as her parents died young) had descended into dementia – losing every trace of his life prior to when he had lost his memories. It was an acute descent, a mere seven years and Theodora had to intervene on his behalf to keep the estate running which is something that happens quite frequently whenever a person in charge has something like this happen in their lives. What was more compelling than her caregiving of her grandfather is how she stepped into a role of overseer on the estate in such a capacity as her tenants loved her and loved her for how she ran the estate. She was a woman of depth and of independent means – which is why it was a bit absurd she was being forced to consider marriage when she really only wanted to secure the esate that was rightfully hers by all accounts.
William was listening to her with an empathetic ear and a kind heart. I felt their romance was going to become a slow burning one as despite the fact their budding friendship was one of convenience (as would be their marriage if they chose to marry ahead of true affection taking root) it felt secured by the fact they each had something the other had to give. His own life was marred in equal gravity to her own – each of them were not just isolated from society but isolated from the cares of the world – where society could not reach them nor dictate their choices. For them, they lived a life true to themselves not on the expectations of others and I felt that that is what was drawing them together now.
Theodora had a strong heart and mind; she knew what was legally right and what was morally right – however, if the House of Lords disagreed with her, it was cutting reality and the unfairness of their inquisition rankled. William on the other hand was better seen through the eyes of his Great-Aunt Stella who truly understand his nature. She knew the kind of man he had become and the kind of man who would befit a winning match in marriage if she could convince him that not every woman he would meet would be a candle of angst like his Avalon had been previously. That was the rub for Stella – finding two people she knew belonged together but how to prove the point?
What captures your attention in Rogue Most Wanted is how MagGregor has set up her foils for the characters themselves – she has put a wench in the wheel of their plans – for Theodora she enabled her to have a circumstance outside her control disrupt the serenity of her life far removed from London and the gossipmongers wherein with William, he was simply called in haste for how well his Great-Aunt knew he had the resources to aide Thea. They were each at a junction in their lives – unwilling almost to accept they could trust someone else with their private affairs but also, not willing to let fate change their situations if they could find the strength to fight for what they each felt was right for them to champion against those who wished them harm.
I also felt MacGregor was aptly showing the emotional anguish of being jilted but from the perspective of the man – it is rare where a romance delves into the psychological effects of a man who was turnt down by a marriage request as per usual it is generally from the perspective of the woman. In this case, I felt MacGregor gave us ample reason to understand how this one key event in William’s life had an overreach of importance as we extend into the future wherein we find he hasn’t yet learnt to ‘let go’ of Avalon’s hurtful disclosure. It gives credence to the fact that not enough writers show the hurtful after effects from a male point of view but also how emotionally jarring all of this is for the men who have a sensitive heart to begin with and are not as willing to re-trust in the future as that would leave them immediately vulnerable to another possible heartache.
A lot of what is happening in Rogue Most Wanted is true of life – how much would you fight for your honour and your right of purpose? And, what would alter your impression of what you can handle in matters of the heart if you were previously slighted by a woman who was more concerned with society’s impressions and her status than for the concern of true love?
Note on reading in sequence of order OR as stand-alones:
I never regret trying to read a book in sequence of its series – however, in this particular case apparently I was meant to enter this at the point of the 5th novel! Therefore, remain adaptable to your particularities when it comes to reading; esp in regards to serial fiction – as you will be surprised at which series are insta-book hugs & which ones take a bit longer to settle inside.
on the historical romantic styling of janna macgregor:
Despite my start/stops in reading this series, I have to give credit where its due – Ms MacGregor has given me a heap of fodder to chew on whilst I’ve re-entered the installments and quite them all the same in succession in order to find the story where I could find a surefire footing into her vision of this series. All along she’s given me the details I love – her descriptive narrative is a joyful one – she entreats you to make the same kind of observations her secondary and minor characters make whilst she threads you through the lives of her rather large and expansive ensemble cast!
As soon as you start to move through this series, you’ll pick up on who is whom – even when I began reading Rogue Most Wanted I already had a hint of whom the key characters were based on my haphazard readings! The background of the series is the upper recesses of society – where titles and wealth command not just respect but power and where marriage is serious business! She tucks you close to her characters’ lives – giving you those other details about how they live you’d like to find out about – such as what are their favourite hobbies, what thoughts run through their minds and are they truly as confident as they project themselves?
I’m unsure what sparked the inspiration behind the gossip rag The Midnight Cryer to be inclusive to the flow of momentum in the story itself but seeing the quips and quotations from this publication as we shift forward throughout the story was quite a telling way of gauging the social reactions at the time of when all of this is going on for Theodora and William! I felt it was a cheeky way of inserting random trivia and information about the characters – half of which was invented and in no way anything other than absolute fiction – evenso, it added to the felicity of the story and how superficial the ton could be about their own peerage!
This blog tour is courtesy of:
Follow the Virtual Road Map
as you visit others participating:
As this particular one has a bookaway along the route:
Reading this story contributed to a few of my 2019 reading challenges:
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Rogue Most Wanted”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Janna MacGregor, the tour host badge and HFVBTs badge were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. 2019 New Release Challenge badge provided by unconventionalbookworms.com and is used with permission. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Book Review Banner using Unsplash.com (Creative Commons Zero) Photography by Frank McKenna, Historical Fiction Reading Challenge banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2019.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
.@HFVBT | #JorieReads #Regency #HistRom@JannaMacGregor aptly showed the emotional anguish of being jilted but from the perspective of the man – rare where a romance delves into the psychological effects of a man in this situation
👉https://t.co/sLIppqkKwi | #HFVBTBlogTours pic.twitter.com/H75vZcKIfW
— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) July 4, 2019
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Leave a Reply