THE ROGUE'S BRIDE

Author: Leslie LaFoy ISBN: 0312347715 11/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS
Time Period: Victorian 1885

Tristan Townsend has come home to London to assume his duties as the Marquis of Lockwood after all the men in his family have died. Desperate to rid himself of the “Lockwood curse” and restore his family’s honor, marriage is the furthest thing from Tristan’s mind…until he lays eyes on an enchanting stranger and vows to make her his… Lady Simone Turnbridge—beautiful, bold, and with a scandalous past—is not eager to be some wealthy man’s bride. Some men want her hand in marriage; others merely want her in their beds. She mocks them all with a twinkle in her eye, knowing not one of them can tame her… Tristan will do anything to have Simone in his bed and his ring on her finger. Simone, who has sworn to let no man control her, is held in thrall by her fascination with this forbidden Lockwood. But it’s too late to walk away now—when the promise of passion is so wanton, wicked, and thoroughly wonderful…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Whew! This is one smoldering, sensual page turner of a book! The relationship between the two main characters in LaFoy's THE ROGUE'S BRIDE is so combustible that there were times I thought this book would turn into ashes in my hand.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not talking graphic sex scenes here, though the more explicit sexual encounters Tristan and Simone have will make you just as heady. I'm talking about an underlying chemistry, an electrically charged charisma that occurs between a man and a woman that isn't easily captured on paper and transmitted to the reader. Here, LaFoy has written that seething sexual tension just brilliantly—so much so, that this is one romantic pairing that reads almost too hot to handle (but I love it!).

It's so wonderful when a writer can take the seducer and make him the seduced, unaware at first that it's happening to him, especially when he's supposed to be the seasoned veteran when it comes to sex, and the heroine's the novice needing to be taught. But that's what happens in THE ROGUE'S BRIDE. Simone's character isn't just strong, she's utterly fearless, bold and daring, a take-charge woman who is so sure of herself sexually, that if LaFoy had set this story any earlier in time it probably wouldn't have worked.

Instead, Simone's character is right where she needs to be, right before the turn of the century when women were beginning to understand their own worth and sexuality, bucking against a society dominated by men's rules. Simone's not a suffragette in that sense, but instead she's an independent, charge ahead thinker who's been around in life and doesn't let it knock her down. She knows what she wants and is the perfect pairing for Tristan, a man who's cut from the same cloth. It's a powerful infusion of personalities into one combustible mix.

THE ROGUE'S BRIDE is the second installment following on the heels of LaFoy's HER SCANDALOUS MARRIAGE, of which Lady Caroline and her husband, Drayton, the Duke of Ryland, make return appearances as Simone's half-sister and their guardian. Once again, LaFoy treats us to a perfect blend of dialogue, humor, action and suspense, but this time mixes in so much sexual tension that it's hard to keep your heart from racing. The underlying subplot of the widowed stepmother trying to keep Tristan from marrying so she can off him for his insurance money is intriguing and makes for good story. But the real enjoyment here is Simone and Tristan, whose pairing will more often than not, simply leave you breathless.

Just when you think LaFoy can't get any better, she always manages to surprise. THE ROGUE'S BRIDE is simply the latest Top Pick from this talented author, one who never fails to deliver top rate, historical romance.

Nancy Davis