Rory: The Rakehills of Rochester Book

Rory Rayborne is involved in a duel with a Lord Cordland after he and the Lady Cordland are caught coupling during a dinner. Rory makes no apologies for being seduced by Cordland's wife (she did stick her hand down his pants after all, and couldn't deny her since he's a gentleman always seeking pleasure) since he loves sleeping with the married women of the realm. The duel takes a turn for the worst when Rory is shot. He's sent to recover at his brother Victor's residence and is very pleased since he'll see Shannon, a maid that works there. Ever since Rory first met Shannon, he can't get her off his mind and wants her desperately, as well as learn her secrets he knows she's hiding.

Shannon and her brother Zachary O'Conner both enjoy working for Lord and Lady Graston. Shannon and her brother Zackary were former peers in Ireland, now hiding from their greedy cousin Clinton, who killed their parents for their fortune he believes should be his. Shannon doesn't have a very high opinion or Rory, which grows to disdain, when she catches him having sex with one of the housemaids while he recovers from his gunshot wound. But for some strange reason she's very attracted to him. As Shannon nurses Rory back to health, she starts a secret affair with him, knowing she can never have a future with him.

As both Rory and Shannon spend most nights in his bed, Clinton is close to finding her and Zachary. Shannon must make a choice to either go back on the run or trust Rory so he can protect her and keep her safe. But is she willing to give over her complete trust knowing what type of man he is and that he may never be faithful to her in both body and mind?

I've truly enjoyed Julia Templeton's first two books in her Rakehells of Rochester series about three man whore brothers, who when they meet that one special woman, change their tomcatting ways. I was especially looking forward to Rory's story and his romance with Shannon, an Irish lady who is not what she seems. Rory figures this out right away and will stop at nothing to find out Shannon's secrets. Whereas I really connected with Rory's two brothers and their journey as they claim their special woman, Rory's story was unbelievably lacking in everyway for me as a reader.

My main issue with Rory, is that Rory is not just a rake to the tenth degree, but his only concern is his pleasure and satisfaction and nothing else. He's obsessed with sex 24/7. Even as he's suffering from a fever and is intense pain from his gunshot wound based on his selfish act in being with another man's wife, he's willing to be "tupped" by one of his brother's maids knowing Shannon will come upon them at any moment. And when Shannon witnesses Rory in the act, she's ashamed and mortified. Rory is also embarrassed to a point, but while he's inside this horny maid, he ponders how he'll go about seducing Shannon next.

Shannon comes across as a complex character, or should, but I simply couldn't understand her attraction to Rory. First she knows he's a man whore. Even when she finds him with her fellow maid, she has a justifiable reaction, but then the next minute wonders how Rory is as a lover and welcomes his seduction techniques. She knows his "Little Rory" has been in too many women to count without any protection, and yet she's more than willing to take "Little Rory" in her. Now I know this is a romance and everything, and the idea of using protection may destroy the fantasy and all, but I was so turned off because I couldn't help but think that Rory would pass some STD to Shannon.

Even as Shannon gives up her body to Rory and loves being with him as he brings her pleasure, she constantly second guesses that he'll leave her since she's just a lowly servant and he's a sexual deviant with a furious sexual appetite and needs variety with his lovers. I just couldn't understand why every woman Rory comes in contact wants him just because he's a well known man whore. What does that say about the female characters who are attracted to a man like Rory just because he's been with almost every woman in England?

I also felt the mystery regarding Shannon and Zachary was unbelievably tame and their cousin Clinton was a very one-dimensional pussy cat type villain. I also had high hopes for a secondary storyline regarding a close to degenerate sexual deviant worthy of Rory with the Lady Anna and the character of Marilyn who was introduced in Sinjin. This is a subtle lesbian romance that I hoped would be concluded in a nice way, but what happens between them was practically destroyed for no reason I could understand. The Lady Anna and Marilyn relationship had so much going for it, and at one point I wished they would have had their own story separate from this series, but for reasons not explained, they are left to secondary storyville where it was basically cut off and ended abruptly just as it was getting interesting.

As a whole, Rory was an unsatisfactory reading experience from beginning to end. Rory's belief that it's okay to screw any female just because he feels he's entitled to it and the reasoning for Shannon accepting him just because he makes her all hot and bothered left a bad taste in my mouth. I had such high hopes for a romance about a rake's redemption. But what I read instead was an erotic romance with demoralizing characters whose actions have no real consequences and a HEA I can't believe in.