Reviews for Valentine rogues

The average rating for Valentine rogues based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-02-27 00:00:00 Angela Diamond Cindy Holbrook's A Valentine's Dream is equal parts fun and confounding. The H's prospective mistress, the one he's staking, wakes up from a nightmare where a 'female' devil tells her to help find a poor girl find love or she, the flamboyant Italian opera singer will die by Valentine's day. The confused female derives that the beneficiary is the h's maid and the lucky guy is her admirer, the earl himself. She ropes in the h in this very hairy scheme to bring the two 'lovers' together. The H is dragged by the courtesan to the h's house where the h herself remembers him from a dream of hers where he walks towards her and the dream ends. I'm not sure I liked the H's easy acceptance of courting the maid (even in fun) and the comedy of error that ensues. So, he meets and escorts around the h, the maid and the courtesan regularly. Quite senseless and unbelievable, all. I liked the h/H's connection but 'twas all too silly. Debbie Raleigh's Merry Cupids had a seriously irritating and uppity h so I dnf-ed. A companion to his aunts, with seriously supercilious and rude attitude. Why would a nephew not be concerned if his old aunts suddenly decide to leave their all to a new companion? After the initial shock of learning about the will, she doesn't even try and dissuade the ladies about it. I dnf-ed here. Donna Simpson's Wild Honey had such promise! Sad it petered out. The 18 yo h is a sweet, warm natured debutante and the H, a future viscount (at 24) is already bored and cynical at heart. They meet (or rather see each other) at the Valentine's day ball - it's her birthday as well. Despite himself and his cynicism at her apparent sweetness, he's attracted to her. Her band of admirers keep her busy and he decides if he still remembers her(!), he'll ask her for a dance at the next ball, few days later. Only, he learns that her money hungry father has forcibly married her off to a septuagenarian merchant within days of the last ball. He's devastated but carries on with life. He buys a commission and makes a career in the army but always he stops to help a girl if she's being forcibly wed. Now, 12 yrs later, they meet again when he's hiding after a scandal at a friends place in distant Yorkshire. At a small local 'ball', he sees and recognizes a local widow as his 'Honey' but she doesn't remember him. Sadly, the story did not keep its promise from hereon. I wanted a sweet, romantic progression for this extremely angsty story. But, the H still hadn't learned his lesson - of love - despite the h featuring in all his recurring dreams! He wanted to just bed her while she's the same sweet untouched girl who sees good in everyone. So, it was a letdown. Still a nice ending.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-01-31 00:00:00 Felix J Delatorre Finished this yesterday. Once in a while, I will read an Old Skool style romance to remind me of why I like newer, more inclusive romance. This collection of novellas from around 2000 (which I totally grabbed from my pile of free stuff from a friend because LOOK AT THAT COVER) is a good example. It's mostly fine, but there are little things that kick me out because the stuff I tend to prefer Doesn't Do That Anymore. So, for instance, secondary characters in a couple of these were kind of cardboard. I tend to enjoy the any-point-of-entry group series (sets of siblings or friends who all get their own books), so thin secondary characters irritate me now. Slutshaming-- having a flirtatious character (the sister of our protag) who is acting out referred to as "whorish" really did not work for me. Yes, she crossed the line (that was her plot job). But having the hero call her a whore is not really what I would have gone with in the scenario where you want me to LIKE him. There are ways to express social displeasure with out doing that. Stereotypical "high drama Italian courtesan" was really not my cup of tea, although I'm glad her character got rehabilitiated after our main couple got together. Also, there was some deeply classist stuff that just threw me off. Again, most of this was perfectly passable, and each contained an Important Valentine's Day Ball Scene with Lovely Frocks. But the things that kicked me out outweighed the things I stay for.