Scan barcode
A review by etprincipalis
A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean
3.0
My first Sarah McLean reading. I've been looking for an HR novel that had some of the same qualities as Lisa Kleypas and found considerable success with this choice.
It was an enjoyable read, though obviously, I have some criticisms towards a few parts which I will get into a bit later.
It's a good book but it didn't have the same "hook" as Kleypas' books had for me, which means I would start reading and obsessively binge until I was finished. This particular novel I read in about four days, very on and off before going to bed.
The beginning was very promising.
I enjoyed the premise and the characters as they were introduced.
Bourne is interesting, revenge-focused, and mysterious.
Penny is a lady who thought she knew how courtship worked and was prepared to fulfill her duty until her fiancé broke their engagement to marry someone else for love, turning her whole world upside down, and leaving her to try and cope with the results of being dropped so suddenly by such a prominent match.
Though Penny's character showed a lot of promising traits, I was disappointed with how she evolved throughout the novel, as I didn't think her feelings and experiences were explored in a meaningful way. To me, it seemed that she spent years trying to block out the thought of marrying for love, but was so entranced by the idea that she couldn't accept any other marriage proposal that came her way to the distress of her family and in particular her overbearing mother. And that seems to haunt her a little bit. She wants to do her duty, but that inherently conflicts with the fact that deep down she wants to marry for love.
This debacle creates a problem because her lack of marriage reflects upon her sisters, who are loud and clear about how Penny needs to get it together and marry someone already to not make it harder for them to find suitors as well.
With regards to her sisters, despite the considerably mean ways in which they treated her in the beginning of the novel, it's almost like the author completely forgot about it later on?
They were rude and not at all supportive of their sister, pressuring her to marry literally ANYONE for their own sake, and don't care much about how Penny felt in this situation, being blamed by everyone for their misfortunes. Openly talking about how Penny being dumped in her first season created so much gossip that her two other sisters had to "settle" for the first men who proposed.
And Penny, carrying this guilt imposed upon her by her family, ultimately does what a good girl does: marries someone.
The author hints at this maybe playing a larger role in the development of the main couple's relationship, going as far as to have Bourne ask her what does SHE want, and not what her sisters or anyone else from her family, but ultimately, there's no significant resolution.
She talks about "wanting an adventure", and that ends up being "going to the gaming hell owned by her husband". A lot of the themes of loneliness, duty, and sacrifice aren't explored to their full capacity, leaving the story to be a bit shallow.
It all becomes focused on Bourne's revenge, which should be interesting if anything ever felt like it had weight.
Bourne always has all the cards, or if he doesn't, he's very soon presented the missing piece to his plans. There's no tension. The stakes are not there.
He plans on ruining his old friend's reputation in order to destroy Langford, his old friend's father, but we aren't given ANY reason as to why should we even care other than the fact that this said friend also proposed to Penny at the start of the novel.
There's no back story between him and Bourne, no meaningful interactions other than when they're arguing over Penny. How much either of them loves her. Nothing else connects them.
One of Penny's many concerns is how Bourne only married her to regain Falconwell, his ancestral home, taken by Langford so many years prior. She is haunted by this. Every time she thinks they're developing a genuine connection, she second guesses everything, it's all a ruse. It can't be real.
Michael makes NO meaningful concession to reassure her of her worth.
In fact, her own father further rewards him for "taking her off his hands".
Eveyone gets what they want, but unfortunately, Penny's character continues to live for others and not for herself.
It was an enjoyable read, though obviously, I have some criticisms towards a few parts which I will get into a bit later.
It's a good book but it didn't have the same "hook" as Kleypas' books had for me, which means I would start reading and obsessively binge until I was finished. This particular novel I read in about four days, very on and off before going to bed.
The beginning was very promising.
I enjoyed the premise and the characters as they were introduced.
Bourne is interesting, revenge-focused, and mysterious.
Penny is a lady who thought she knew how courtship worked and was prepared to fulfill her duty until her fiancé broke their engagement to marry someone else for love, turning her whole world upside down, and leaving her to try and cope with the results of being dropped so suddenly by such a prominent match.
Though Penny's character showed a lot of promising traits, I was disappointed with how she evolved throughout the novel, as I didn't think her feelings and experiences were explored in a meaningful way. To me, it seemed that she spent years trying to block out the thought of marrying for love, but was so entranced by the idea that she couldn't accept any other marriage proposal that came her way to the distress of her family and in particular her overbearing mother. And that seems to haunt her a little bit. She wants to do her duty, but that inherently conflicts with the fact that deep down she wants to marry for love.
This debacle creates a problem because her lack of marriage reflects upon her sisters, who are loud and clear about how Penny needs to get it together and marry someone already to not make it harder for them to find suitors as well.
With regards to her sisters, despite the considerably mean ways in which they treated her in the beginning of the novel, it's almost like the author completely forgot about it later on?
They were rude and not at all supportive of their sister, pressuring her to marry literally ANYONE for their own sake, and don't care much about how Penny felt in this situation, being blamed by everyone for their misfortunes. Openly talking about how Penny being dumped in her first season created so much gossip that her two other sisters had to "settle" for the first men who proposed.
And Penny, carrying this guilt imposed upon her by her family, ultimately does what a good girl does: marries someone.
The author hints at this maybe playing a larger role in the development of the main couple's relationship, going as far as to have Bourne ask her what does SHE want, and not what her sisters or anyone else from her family, but ultimately, there's no significant resolution.
She talks about "wanting an adventure", and that ends up being "going to the gaming hell owned by her husband". A lot of the themes of loneliness, duty, and sacrifice aren't explored to their full capacity, leaving the story to be a bit shallow.
It all becomes focused on Bourne's revenge, which should be interesting if anything ever felt like it had weight.
Bourne always has all the cards, or if he doesn't, he's very soon presented the missing piece to his plans. There's no tension. The stakes are not there.
He plans on ruining his old friend's reputation in order to destroy Langford, his old friend's father, but we aren't given ANY reason as to why should we even care other than the fact that this said friend also proposed to Penny at the start of the novel.
There's no back story between him and Bourne, no meaningful interactions other than when they're arguing over Penny. How much either of them loves her. Nothing else connects them.
One of Penny's many concerns is how Bourne only married her to regain Falconwell, his ancestral home, taken by Langford so many years prior. She is haunted by this. Every time she thinks they're developing a genuine connection, she second guesses everything, it's all a ruse. It can't be real.
Michael makes NO meaningful concession to reassure her of her worth.
In fact, her own father further rewards him for "taking her off his hands".
Eveyone gets what they want, but unfortunately, Penny's character continues to live for others and not for herself.