A Rogue to Remember
A Rogue to Remember by Chastity Bowlin 2019 Regency
This is a more traditional Regency romance with Douglas Ashton, Lord Devil returning home from exile in India after his father dies. He finds his sister dying in a shack with her daughter, Marina, and promises to take care of the three-year-old, who is terrified of men.
Devil hires Wilhelmina Marks, the illegitimate daughter of a lord, to be governess to Marina. Effie, also the illegitimate daughter of a duke, started a school and the Hellion Club for castoffs. Willa’s half sister Lillian is mentioned and is in the next book in the series. Effie suggests Willa poses as his betrothed to avoid scandal for Willa, and he pays his Aunt Jeanette to play chaperone.
They are attracted to one another, but he is a rake, and she knows her reputation must remain spotless to work and provide for herself in the future. But she wants to help Marina and sees a side to Devil as he cares for his niece that others do not and fears her growing desire for him.
Bowlin balances logic and common sense with their growing attraction throughout the story, increasing the tension to the end. She also offers a villain worthy of hating in Alaric Munroe, who is Marina’s father. He had hoped to poison both her mother and Marina, but Marina survived. He now plots to gain a ransom from Devil after kidnapping his child. He expands his plan to include Willa.
The tension and danger ramp up quickly, and Devil is unable to save Willa from the kidnapping because someone else is involved in the plan that he does not suspect until too late. Having a second villain or a secret partner involved is a good way of increasing the danger and outwitting the hero, who is no fool and takes precautions but not enough.
Society would not approve of an illegitimate daughter marrying a lord just like a poor girl marrying a rich man is seen as a fortune hunter even today, but Willa and Devil have survived lonely childhoods and being outsiders of society. You root for them to defy the rules. The Hellion Club promises to have interesting women as the heroines.
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