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Title: The Rogue (Liar's Club, Book 5)
ISBN: 0312931158
Author:
Celeste Bradley
Publicate Date: 2005-06-13
Publish: 2005-06-13
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Mass Market Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $3.26
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $2.55
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Fun
I personally love all of the Liar's Club books and although this was not my favorite I still enjoyed it. Ethan was a fun character and he made me laugh. As a couple Ethan and Jane were missing something. Maybe a "heavier" romance, not sure, but I wasn't feeling that tug in my heart that I like to feel when I read these books. If you've read all the other Liar's books then you may be able to tolerate this book, but as a first read for this author it is not recommended because it will probably disappoint.
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2: Silly plot, non-existent romance
The last of the Liar series plays as a disjointed farce of logic. Intrique, double intrique, and unjustified leaps in logic for the main characters abound.
The heroine, Lady Jane, becomes two entirely different characters midway through the story. She is neither a believable virgin innocent nor competent spy vixen.
Ethan is a charming fellow and I enjoyed his characterization but his incredibly stupid decision-making ability confound me. Why bother to cart his precious lady anywhere her uncle wishes when the man had contemplated killing her moments before? No intelligent person could trust him then.
I think alot of the problems could have been resolved if the heroine and hero had actually talked to each other instead of trying to jump each other's bones.
The Lairs are a fun group of likeable characters but I think their believability as agents of the Crown are killed in this story. If they planted Liar staff in Ethan's household then why didn't they know who she was? More to the point, why didn't they seek out their new operative to find out what the heck was happening? For that matter, why let him in at all?
As for the romance, it was building to an interesting place up to the carriage escort. Then we step right into a world of perverse love scenes, acts of character stupidity and no further development of love. Instead it becomes a spectacle of interesting locations and comedies of error. (How could Jeeves just leave Hyde Park with his employer shouting for help for the heroine?!)
All in all, I feel like the ending entices me to read the next Royal Four series but find I'm going off the author. The Charmer was the best of the whole series while the rest is just plain weird.
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3: B+/A- what pulls this up to an A- is the clever plot and action scenes, Ethan's character development, and continuing the saga
In this romance, the hero really is the main character and focus of the story. And we watch him try to court the heroine. (I'd say the book is 80% his and 20% the heroine's.) He likes to gamble esp. w/ cards - and that's how he's earned his living - he cheats too - he'll take money from the rich and spoiled and ungrateful without feeling guilty at all. And he's damn good at it. Ethan truly is a commoner, the son of a fabric merchant and a seamstress - he was sent to a rich school (where he met his only friend, Collis from book 4) where he didn't fit in and didn't excel and only disappointed his father. And learned to cheat really well. This is the best "commoner" hero I've read about so far - and in my opinion even better than Lisa Kleypas' "commoner heroes" - b/c he's not dangerous or violent - he's not bitter - he's not raging or out to prove anything - he just wants to live a happy cozy life gambling through card games taking money from the rich and drinking fine brandy and if there's a woman involved - great. that's fine too. He'd rather not take sides in anything. But he would like to "belong". Ethan Damont is only invited into the high-society b/c others want to play cards w/ him - he knows he doesn't belong and the ton would never DREAM of actually inviting him for dinner or a special formal occasion and they especially wouldn't introduce him to their daughters. At night he goes home (his posh yet cozy bachelor house in London) to ONE butler and ONE cook. He wants nothing to do with spies or England or the crown or danger - he just wants to be the desperado - and enjoy finer things in life like fashionable clothes and his favorite label of brandy and smoking cher-roots and of course - playing cards. Imagine a REALLY HOT Johnny Depp - but alas - the Liar's club needs him. He was much too involved in investigation against Lord Maywell (book 5 picks up right where he helps out in book 4). He doesn't WANT to help the Liars but they're not exactly "blackmailing" him - but he's not exactly a "tax-paying" man and he's sort of "obliged" to help them esp. now that he "knows" too much already....so he ends up frequenting Lord Maywell's house for cards and meeting the lovely Lady Jane of course . . .
Lady Jane really is a mystery and I remember thinking around the first quarter of the book, "What is UP with this heroine?!" We know so little about her except she flirts w/ Ethan and they kind of have a thing developing - she's a little sheltered but she's REALLY gutsy and you can tell she's smart . . . but we haven't really been told her past yet...
Fabulous Celeste Bradley plot. layers and turns. This book especially blends well with the previous book The Charmer. I've never been irritated w/ Bradley introducing and involving previous characters from the other books - (Whereas with other series authors, I find this gets VERY annoying after a while.) WARNING - SPOILER: I read a review that criticized the plot saying that Ethan should've known better that the infamous "Bedlam" institution was dangerous and he never would've sent Jane there if he was smarter. What that reviewer probably missed (which is why I NEVER skim through Bradley's books) is that Ethan made a gamble with the villain (Jane's uncle) and chose for Jane to be sent to "Bethlehem Hospital" b/c he believed she would be safer there out of her uncle's harm. However her evil uncle sent her to Bedlam institution instead against Ethan's knowledge b/c he didn't have the authorization papers - and when the carriage stopped outside of Bedlam - THEN Ethan realized he had been duped by the villain and he had to save Jane.
The rescue escape scene had me rolling on the floor and grinning like an idiot with laughter!!!! It is by far the CLEVEREST rescue scene I have EVER read in a romance. I don't care if Bradley had to go to extremes in the plot just to fit it in - I'm SOOOOO glad that she did!!!
Finally, three cheers for Bradley for showing us a romance where the hero is the one who reinvents himself and deals with the struggles and human error and he isn't the perfect one where we read about it and end up thinking, "oh of course every hero is like that". His mantra and personality and whit is unlike anything I've ever read yet. I'd give it a B+/A- (what pulls this up to an A- is the clever plot and action scenes, Ethan's character development, and continuing with the drama of the Liars and the Royal Four!) Celeste Bradley fans would appreciate this - but if this is the very first book of hers you read you'll probably think "WTH is going on?!?"
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4: Love it
Read this one first and love it sending for all the books to read them.
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5: Wonderful Series
Although I have read historical novels for years, I never felt moved to rate any book. But I felt I had to this time. The Rogue was the fifth book in a series by Celeste Bradley. I didn't start the Liar's Club series until I had all five. Once I started, I'm glad I waited. I couldn't stop reading. I read all five books in ten days. They were absolutely the best read I have ever had. The way Ms. Bradley worked all the Liars in the book allowed you to follow them throughout the series. But if you only read one, you would still be able to enjoy it. BUT, I can guarantee if you read one, you will go searching for the rest. I gave this book as well as the rest of the series five stars because that is the highest rating possible. I can't wait to start the Royal Four series.
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