As Rich as a Rogue

June 1, 2016
The daughter of a wealthy businessman always clashes with a young nobleman when they meet. Do they hate each other, or is it love?Six years ago, Peter Norwood, Lord Whitly, nicknamed Mari Powel the "Wayward Welsh," and the moniker stuck. Mari blames her unwed state on the nickname and has tamped down all her natural exuberance in an attempt to avoid being called wayward. For his part, Peter has never forgotten that Mari called him useless and has spent six years in India trying to prove her wrong. Now returned to London, Peter is determined to win Mari's hand, but Mari is determined to publicly humiliate him the way he humiliated her six years ago. In the third installment of her Rakes and Rogues series, Lee (One Rogue at a Time, 2015, etc.) constructs the story of two people who find each other's honesty unbearable but can't stand the insipidity of the rest of society. Mari's story is unusual because even though her wealthy parents want her to marry a nobleman, they refuse to sell her to a fortune hunter just to get a title. And Peter's story is unusual because he is both a fortune hunter and legitimately in love with Mari. There are minor inconsistencies in the plot, and the main characters are annoyingly childish at times, but for the most part the novel carries the reader along with sharp dialogue and well-rounded characters. The book follows the pattern of many Regency romance novels these days by including a rather tiresome mystery, complete with a gently bred maiden traipsing about the slums in disguise and brawny lords engaging in fisticuffs with common criminals. Fortunately, the love story is entertaining enough that a weak mystery can be overlooked. A diverting read.

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July 1, 2016
Handsome, wealthy, and eminently eligible, Peter Norwood, Lord Whitly, is every lady's dream come true. For Mari Powell, however, Peter is nothing but a nightmare wrapped up in a sexy package. Six years ago, Peter playfully labeled Mari the Wayward Welsh. Unfortunately for her, everyone else in her high-society circle took up the nickname, and Mari was forced to become a model of propriety in order to minimize the potential damage this epithet evoked. Now, after years of wearing drab dresses and spending all her free time at parties at the beck and call of dour dowagers, Mari finally thinks she may have a shot at landing a suitable husband, when who should reappear in her life but Peter, just back from a successful sojourn in India, and ready to once again wreak havoc with her life and her heart. The latest in Lee's sexy Rakes and Rogues series (50 Ways to Ruin a Rake, 2015) brilliantly showcases the author's flair for humor with a surfeit of sparkling dialogue and laughter-laced scenes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)