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Rakes and Rogues
WHEN THEY'RE BAD... THEY'RE BETTER
Open the pages of this superb book and enter the world of the bad boys of romance. Make a date with a bevy of colorful rakes and devilish rogues in five exquisitely sexy stories by some of the most beloved, highly acclaimed authors of romantic fiction. Here are men who are "mad, bad, and dangerous to know"--sly Romeos, devious dandies, sexy scoundrels, and darkly forbidding heroes--all outlaws of the heart who are used to getting their way ... until true love steps in. Let these five extraordinary talents introduce you to some of the most exciting and infuriating, passionate and unpredictable men ever to take your breath away. Includes:
"The Wrong Door" by Mary Balogh
"Hide-and-Seek" by Melinda McRae
"Highway Robbery" by Anita Mills
"Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know" by Mary Jo Putney
"Cats-Paw" by Maura Seger
Open the pages of this superb book and enter the world of the bad boys of romance. Make a date with a bevy of colorful rakes and devilish rogues in five exquisitely sexy stories by some of the most beloved, highly acclaimed authors of romantic fiction. Here are men who are "mad, bad, and dangerous to know"--sly Romeos, devious dandies, sexy scoundrels, and darkly forbidding heroes--all outlaws of the heart who are used to getting their way ... until true love steps in. Let these five extraordinary talents introduce you to some of the most exciting and infuriating, passionate and unpredictable men ever to take your breath away. Includes:
"The Wrong Door" by Mary Balogh
"Hide-and-Seek" by Melinda McRae
"Highway Robbery" by Anita Mills
"Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know" by Mary Jo Putney
"Cats-Paw" by Maura Seger
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1993
2 people are currently reading
342 people want to read
About the author
Mary Balogh
197 books6,305 followersMary Jenkins was born in 1944 in Swansea, Wales, UK. After graduating from university, moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, to teach high school English, on a two-year teaching contract in 1967. She married her Canadian husband, Robert Balogh, and had three children, Jacqueline, Christopher and Sian. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, music and knitting. She also enjoys watching tennis and curling.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling 'Slightly' sextet and 'Simply' quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling 'Slightly' sextet and 'Simply' quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
April 17, 2018
The Wrong Door...A short story in more ways than one as it all happens within 24-36 hours.
But utterly sweet and endearing! The H compromises the h when he mistakenly enters her room and gets in bed with her thinking her to be the flirtatious ow. He proposes, she disposes and somehow they end up wagering on making the other fall in love within a day.
A bit anachronistic too like the scene on the beach - building castles, fooling around in the sea and kissing underwater etc. - If I didn't know better I'd think I was reading a modern story.
But utterly sweet and endearing! The H compromises the h when he mistakenly enters her room and gets in bed with her thinking her to be the flirtatious ow. He proposes, she disposes and somehow they end up wagering on making the other fall in love within a day.
A bit anachronistic too like the scene on the beach - building castles, fooling around in the sea and kissing underwater etc. - If I didn't know better I'd think I was reading a modern story.
October 23, 2020
2.5 stars
Balogh’s and Putney’s stories were the best of the bunch, but nothing I would actually recommend. If someone gives you the book, then read them. The rest of the romances were easily forgettable.
Balogh’s and Putney’s stories were the best of the bunch, but nothing I would actually recommend. If someone gives you the book, then read them. The rest of the romances were easily forgettable.
August 23, 2014
Typical historical romance anthology. Mary Balogh's story was my favorite by far. My rating: 3 Stars.
December 31, 2021
I spent AGES looking for this book and finally found it on one of my Book Trails with a friend of mine.
My fav story in this one is The Wrong Door by Mary Balogh. I need to do a more in-depth review of each story later after another re-read, but for now, 5 stars for finding it again and for that story.
My fav story in this one is The Wrong Door by Mary Balogh. I need to do a more in-depth review of each story later after another re-read, but for now, 5 stars for finding it again and for that story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2023
I bought this anthology because someone recommended Mary Balogh's THE WRONG DOOR, which is one of the five novellas here. I liked that story a lot, but I found myself wishing it had been a full length novel rather than a novella. The brevity of the story meant that weeks' or months' worth of courtship had be crammed into a single day.
The same was true of most of the other stories, and that, I suppose, is part of the challenge of a historical romance novella. Traditionally, readers expect historical romances to end in marriage, but it's hard to make a courtship and marriage seem believable in the space of a novella.
Of the other stories, I liked HIDE AND SEEK (by Melinda McRae) and MAD, BAD, AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW (Mary Jo Putney) the best. The Putney story really needs a content warning, as it deals with miscarriage- but of course, they didn't do content warnings back in the '90s.
The fourth novella, CATS-PAW (Maura Seger), ended far too abruptly for my taste. The final few pages crammed a lot of resolution into too little space. It, too, might have benefited from expansion.
The last novella, HIGHWAY ROBBERY (Anita Mills), had better pacing than CATS-PAW. It also in some ways had a more compelling story. My main objection is that when the lead characters meet, the male lead 1) kisses the female lead nonconsensually, and 2) takes her hostage, holding a knife to his throat. That's a hard pass from me, thanks! I don't like violent or abusive lead characters.
By today's standards, the anthology is fairly low spice. Some of the stories have open door sex scenes, some (HIGHWAY ROBBERY) do not.
My overall verdict is that if you stumble across this collection in a used book store or library, it's worth reading as long as you aren't disappointed by the low heat level or the somewhat dated writing.
The same was true of most of the other stories, and that, I suppose, is part of the challenge of a historical romance novella. Traditionally, readers expect historical romances to end in marriage, but it's hard to make a courtship and marriage seem believable in the space of a novella.
Of the other stories, I liked HIDE AND SEEK (by Melinda McRae) and MAD, BAD, AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW (Mary Jo Putney) the best. The Putney story really needs a content warning, as it deals with miscarriage- but of course, they didn't do content warnings back in the '90s.
The fourth novella, CATS-PAW (Maura Seger), ended far too abruptly for my taste. The final few pages crammed a lot of resolution into too little space. It, too, might have benefited from expansion.
The last novella, HIGHWAY ROBBERY (Anita Mills), had better pacing than CATS-PAW. It also in some ways had a more compelling story. My main objection is that when the lead characters meet, the male lead 1) kisses the female lead nonconsensually, and 2) takes her hostage, holding a knife to his throat. That's a hard pass from me, thanks! I don't like violent or abusive lead characters.
By today's standards, the anthology is fairly low spice. Some of the stories have open door sex scenes, some (HIGHWAY ROBBERY) do not.
My overall verdict is that if you stumble across this collection in a used book store or library, it's worth reading as long as you aren't disappointed by the low heat level or the somewhat dated writing.
September 14, 2018
I read two of the five, Mary Balogh's and Mary Jo Putney's .
Mary Jo's Mad, Bad and dangerous to know is my fav of the lot.
Mary Jo's Mad, Bad and dangerous to know is my fav of the lot.
March 31, 2012
Story 1 Hide and Seek was kinda cute. Very short so it mad for a nice quick read. Kinda rushed, but im just used to full books, but I still enjoyed the story. Can't wait to see how story 2 turns out.
Story 2 Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know was not my usual romance story. I normally stick to anything that isn't American related. Like Ireland, Scotland, England, etc. Story was ok. Im glad it turned out with a happy ending. It was sad that she had to lose the baby to get the end she needed. But it really would have been terrible had she lived there with the in-laws forever.
Story 3 The Wrong Door reminded me of a similar book I read not long ago. It was cute, and funny. I liked how she was already hooked on him before he even came to her room in the night. I would love to have seen this story alot longer and a whole book on it's own.
Story 4 Cat's-Paw had really good hopes of being a great story. It was way too short and could have stood on it's own as a full book.
Story 5 Highway Robbery has some good points that could have made for a very good story. Evil dad who doesn't claim his bastard son who turned thief.
Overall since the book was short stories I was left with wanting more from each story and of course there isn't anymore. If I read anymore books like this, i'll stick to ones with fewer stories and written longer.
Story 2 Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know was not my usual romance story. I normally stick to anything that isn't American related. Like Ireland, Scotland, England, etc. Story was ok. Im glad it turned out with a happy ending. It was sad that she had to lose the baby to get the end she needed. But it really would have been terrible had she lived there with the in-laws forever.
Story 3 The Wrong Door reminded me of a similar book I read not long ago. It was cute, and funny. I liked how she was already hooked on him before he even came to her room in the night. I would love to have seen this story alot longer and a whole book on it's own.
Story 4 Cat's-Paw had really good hopes of being a great story. It was way too short and could have stood on it's own as a full book.
Story 5 Highway Robbery has some good points that could have made for a very good story. Evil dad who doesn't claim his bastard son who turned thief.
Overall since the book was short stories I was left with wanting more from each story and of course there isn't anymore. If I read anymore books like this, i'll stick to ones with fewer stories and written longer.
July 26, 2022
I was interested in Cat's Paw from a description I read so that's all I've read for now.
July 4, 2018
Hide and Seek (McRae) Rake keeping his illegitimate children together in a house wil staff including governess. Governess is in love with him. He obsesses about her after masquerade party. Happily ever after.
Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know (Putney) Western gambler in jail falls in love with widow. She sends judge to his rescue. Happily ever after at ranch in Colorado.
The Wrong Door (Balogh) Rake chooses wrong door & compromises innocent. She has been in love with him from afar. They both have tempers and try to trick each other. Happily ever after.
Cat's-Paw(Seger) Irish immigrants try to make good, living in poverty in NYC. Rake falls for heroine. Story seems to be cut short - heavily edited.
Highway Robbery (Mills) Illegitimate son irritates his father by robbing visitors near father's estate. He assists neighboring woman in trying to establish her siblings' paternity in order to regain their fortune. Both go off to America, happily ever after.
Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know (Putney) Western gambler in jail falls in love with widow. She sends judge to his rescue. Happily ever after at ranch in Colorado.
The Wrong Door (Balogh) Rake chooses wrong door & compromises innocent. She has been in love with him from afar. They both have tempers and try to trick each other. Happily ever after.
Cat's-Paw(Seger) Irish immigrants try to make good, living in poverty in NYC. Rake falls for heroine. Story seems to be cut short - heavily edited.
Highway Robbery (Mills) Illegitimate son irritates his father by robbing visitors near father's estate. He assists neighboring woman in trying to establish her siblings' paternity in order to regain their fortune. Both go off to America, happily ever after.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 26, 2018
Read Mary Balogh’s The wrong door. Cute story but kind of rushed.
November 18, 2018
Fun anthology of romances. The Mary Balogh and Mary Jo Putney's were my favorites.
April 10, 2021
Maura Segar was the only author I wasn't familiar with; while Mary Balogh is a favorite. Different times and places were the backdrops of these stories. Each story was unique in its own way. At the end, I will rate the stories from favorite-to-least.
HIDE-AND-SEEK (Melinda McRae) --
George Atwell, the 6th Viscount Belmont has collected his various illegitimate children from his former mistresses and Miss Waldron does a magnificent job taking care of them and melding them into a little family. Juliet is in love with Belmont but she had a scandalous history, including an illegitimate son from an earlier error in judgment. Belmont thinks Juliet is a cold fish, but he knows she is priceless as a governess. For a masked ball, Juliet sends an invitation to Belmont to meet her.
I can't imagine why Juliet thinks he will be true to her, he already has 7 children with 7 women. He says himself that he prefers to 'love-'em-and-leave-'em' and has never really considered marriage. This was one strange story.
MAD, BAD, AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW (Mary Jo Putney) --
Liza Holden, a recent widow, is coming back from her father's funeral when she sees a handcuffed man being abused. Andrew Kane is a younger son of an English baronet who is to be hanged for murder. She finds out that Kane was the one who killed her husband, and she isn't surprised that it was self-defense. Since her dead husband's father is a major force in the area, there was a kangaroo court that condemned Kane in 10 minutes. This is an engrossing story and I enjoyed it very much.
THE WRONG DOOR (Mary Balogh) --
Viscount Lyndon has been invited to a house party that is fairly dull. Lyndon suddenly finds himself in the wrong bedroom, naked with the wrong woman. Early the next morning, he admits his error to the host of the house party and offers for Caroline Astor's hand in marriage. Caroline comes into the room and refuses the marriage. Instead, the couple agrees to a very strange wager. Pure Balogh; great reading.
CAT'S-PAW (Maura Seger) --
Archer Davalos has a problem; he needs to retrieve some compromising letters of his sister, written to a bounder. The cad is now threatening to release them to the newspapers if Archer does not give him loads of money and an entre' into society. After Megan Dougherty comes to Archer's house and appeals to him to hire one (or more of her brothers), he tells her about needing a woman to collect those compromising letters. Megan needs the job desperately because she is in charge of 5 brothers and a cousin; they are near the end of their rope and about to lose their pitiful housing.
I really enjoyed this story even though how Megan could capture those letters seemed impossible. The pages flew by because I was fascinated with the tale.
HIGHWAY ROBBERY (Anita Mills) --
This is another well-written story about Anne Hardinge trying to pay the fine to release her brother from jail. She's accidentally taken to see Nicolas Swann instead, how is in jail and about to be hanged. Swann uses Annie as a hostage to escape with her. Over the course of a few hours, they share their stories. Swann knows there is no help for him but he tries to assist Anne. When Swann is caught again, she tries to rescue him from the earl's anger. This was an exciting story with lots of action.
Overall ratings (fave-to-least): Balogh, Putney, Seger, Mills, and McRae. In reality, I thought each of these stories was worth my time. 4.5 stars
HIDE-AND-SEEK (Melinda McRae) --
George Atwell, the 6th Viscount Belmont has collected his various illegitimate children from his former mistresses and Miss Waldron does a magnificent job taking care of them and melding them into a little family. Juliet is in love with Belmont but she had a scandalous history, including an illegitimate son from an earlier error in judgment. Belmont thinks Juliet is a cold fish, but he knows she is priceless as a governess. For a masked ball, Juliet sends an invitation to Belmont to meet her.
I can't imagine why Juliet thinks he will be true to her, he already has 7 children with 7 women. He says himself that he prefers to 'love-'em-and-leave-'em' and has never really considered marriage. This was one strange story.
MAD, BAD, AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW (Mary Jo Putney) --
Liza Holden, a recent widow, is coming back from her father's funeral when she sees a handcuffed man being abused. Andrew Kane is a younger son of an English baronet who is to be hanged for murder. She finds out that Kane was the one who killed her husband, and she isn't surprised that it was self-defense. Since her dead husband's father is a major force in the area, there was a kangaroo court that condemned Kane in 10 minutes. This is an engrossing story and I enjoyed it very much.
THE WRONG DOOR (Mary Balogh) --
Viscount Lyndon has been invited to a house party that is fairly dull. Lyndon suddenly finds himself in the wrong bedroom, naked with the wrong woman. Early the next morning, he admits his error to the host of the house party and offers for Caroline Astor's hand in marriage. Caroline comes into the room and refuses the marriage. Instead, the couple agrees to a very strange wager. Pure Balogh; great reading.
CAT'S-PAW (Maura Seger) --
Archer Davalos has a problem; he needs to retrieve some compromising letters of his sister, written to a bounder. The cad is now threatening to release them to the newspapers if Archer does not give him loads of money and an entre' into society. After Megan Dougherty comes to Archer's house and appeals to him to hire one (or more of her brothers), he tells her about needing a woman to collect those compromising letters. Megan needs the job desperately because she is in charge of 5 brothers and a cousin; they are near the end of their rope and about to lose their pitiful housing.
I really enjoyed this story even though how Megan could capture those letters seemed impossible. The pages flew by because I was fascinated with the tale.
HIGHWAY ROBBERY (Anita Mills) --
This is another well-written story about Anne Hardinge trying to pay the fine to release her brother from jail. She's accidentally taken to see Nicolas Swann instead, how is in jail and about to be hanged. Swann uses Annie as a hostage to escape with her. Over the course of a few hours, they share their stories. Swann knows there is no help for him but he tries to assist Anne. When Swann is caught again, she tries to rescue him from the earl's anger. This was an exciting story with lots of action.
Overall ratings (fave-to-least): Balogh, Putney, Seger, Mills, and McRae. In reality, I thought each of these stories was worth my time. 4.5 stars
April 3, 2020
Balogh - "The Wrong Door"
September 9, 2015
I am currently reading this anthology, but have decided to review each story as I read it. So many times here on Goodreads I see folks who only read one or maybe two of the stories....I feel if you pick up a book, you should be willing to read it in its entirety, but that's just my own opinion.
So, first story was Hide and Seek by Melinda McRae, and I would give it 4 stars. It's what I'd call a true Regency read, and I was impressed with the amount of character development even in such a short story (50 pages or so). I liked both the male and female leads, and thoroughly enjoyed the story.
I finished the second story night before last...Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know by Mary Jo Putney. Once again I was impressed with the character development, and I'd have to say this was my favorite of the two stories, simply because it sort of combined two favorite genres, historical western, with an Englishman of the Regency era as the hero...just loved this one, giving it 5 stars.
I have just finished 'The Wrong Door' by Mary Balogh. So I admit to being an incurable romantic and I loved this one as much as the second story. Several chuckles as well, and once again, good character development for such a short read...I'd give this one 5 stars! Will review the other two stories as soon as I've finished them.
I've just finished 'Cat's Paw' by Maura Seger, which was another excellent story. I'd give this one 4 stars, only because a couple of times I thought it felt a bit rushed, but certainly not enough to spoil the story, and you have to cover a lot of ground in a few pages in an anthology. I liked both the hero and the heroine, and the villain was portrayed as quite evil enough to make you dislike him intensely! One story left to read....
I have now finished the last story in this anthology, 'Highway Robbery' by Anita Mills. I really enjoyed this story, up until the last couple of pages, when it all got very rushed. This was unfortunate, because the story line was fine, I liked the hero & heroine, and felt the character development was very good, again for the length allotted in one of these anthologies. However, it was as if, all of a sudden the author realized, in the last few pages, that she was running out of space and had to wrap things up in a hurry. For all of that, I am still giving this one 4 stars because I enjoyed most of the story a great deal.
Overall, this was a great book, would recommend to anyone who enjoys historical short romances.
So, first story was Hide and Seek by Melinda McRae, and I would give it 4 stars. It's what I'd call a true Regency read, and I was impressed with the amount of character development even in such a short story (50 pages or so). I liked both the male and female leads, and thoroughly enjoyed the story.
I finished the second story night before last...Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know by Mary Jo Putney. Once again I was impressed with the character development, and I'd have to say this was my favorite of the two stories, simply because it sort of combined two favorite genres, historical western, with an Englishman of the Regency era as the hero...just loved this one, giving it 5 stars.
I have just finished 'The Wrong Door' by Mary Balogh. So I admit to being an incurable romantic and I loved this one as much as the second story. Several chuckles as well, and once again, good character development for such a short read...I'd give this one 5 stars! Will review the other two stories as soon as I've finished them.
I've just finished 'Cat's Paw' by Maura Seger, which was another excellent story. I'd give this one 4 stars, only because a couple of times I thought it felt a bit rushed, but certainly not enough to spoil the story, and you have to cover a lot of ground in a few pages in an anthology. I liked both the hero and the heroine, and the villain was portrayed as quite evil enough to make you dislike him intensely! One story left to read....
I have now finished the last story in this anthology, 'Highway Robbery' by Anita Mills. I really enjoyed this story, up until the last couple of pages, when it all got very rushed. This was unfortunate, because the story line was fine, I liked the hero & heroine, and felt the character development was very good, again for the length allotted in one of these anthologies. However, it was as if, all of a sudden the author realized, in the last few pages, that she was running out of space and had to wrap things up in a hurry. For all of that, I am still giving this one 4 stars because I enjoyed most of the story a great deal.
Overall, this was a great book, would recommend to anyone who enjoys historical short romances.
March 15, 2015
I've given it one star for each story I enjoyed. One for hide and seek, another for mad, bad and dangerous to know, and the last for the wrong door, which I particularly enjoyed very much. It was short but it had everything you neee to enjoy a romance. Loved it!
The ones I didn't like were cat's paw and highway robbery, which I couldn't even finish.
The ones I didn't like were cat's paw and highway robbery, which I couldn't even finish.
May 15, 2016
As an anthology, obviously this starts off with a disadvantage - I just prefer longer stories. These aren't too bad though and as there are two authors (Balogh and Putney) in here who I really like, I figured this was worth a read. It was, and I enjoyed discovering the other authors. The stories are interestingly varied, and entertaining. Perfect for some excessively rainy spring days.
reprint
April 12, 2020Read Mary jo Putney Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know in Her anthology Dangerous to know
Read/own Balogh The Wrong Door in rereleased ebook A Rogues Downfall
"The Wrong Door" by Mary Balogh
"Hide-and-Seek" by Melinda McRae
"Highway Robbery" by Anita Mills
"Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know" by Mary Jo Putney
"Cats-Paw" by Maura Seger
Read/own Balogh The Wrong Door in rereleased ebook A Rogues Downfall
"The Wrong Door" by Mary Balogh
"Hide-and-Seek" by Melinda McRae
"Highway Robbery" by Anita Mills
"Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know" by Mary Jo Putney
"Cats-Paw" by Maura Seger
September 14, 2016
Lord with a full house of bastards and a governess; Wild West widow and ex-Englishman; Wrong door and a 24 hours bet for love; Rich half-Indian and Irish-girl finding stolen letters; Bastard highwayman and a lady with stolen inheritance. Interesting combination!
December 12, 2011
Did not read at a 4 star level second time through
August 15, 2010
Five great stories
February 6, 2012
All the stories in this were good but I was a tiny bit disappointed to find I'd read two already before...
January 26, 2012
Four stars for Mary Balogh's The Wrong Door. Very well-written and nicely paced!
June 8, 2015
For Mary Balogh's story
November 23, 2013
Four Stars for Mary Balogh's 'The Wrong Door', a very romantic novella in which a sexy rake finds himself in the wrong lady's bedroom.
February 19, 2015
Hide and seek 4
Mad, bad, and dangerous to know 4
The wrong door 2
Cat's paw 2
Highway robbery 1
Mad, bad, and dangerous to know 4
The wrong door 2
Cat's paw 2
Highway robbery 1
August 17, 2015
Hide and Seek 4
The Wrong Door 2
The Wrong Door 2
January 30, 2016
Mary Balogh story was the best
September 17, 2016
I have a copy to "The Wrong Door" by Mary Balogh that I enjoyed first before finding this book, luckily I had both eBooks and was able to read them right after each other.
March 18, 2017
Have read several times 3.85
September 19, 2019
I’m going through bookcases, getting rid of things that don’t spark joy. But a few of these stories are some of my all-time faves and so will stay on the shelf.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews