A review by loyaultemelie
The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I find reviewing romance novels to be particularly difficult, because my feelings surrounding them are much more the result of my emotions then specific plot beats or passages I can point to - this being one of the features and, in my opinion, strengths of the genre. That being said, I will try. 

This book really, really worked for me. Maybe because I understood Sophie's emotions and feelings, maybe because the plot of 'new money lady is fed up with snobbery and disguises herself as a man and gtfos' is just the most delightful set up for a romance novel. Maybe because Sarah Maclaen is a master at plotting, and the circular nature of the beginning and the ending made me just delighted. Whatever it was, I really enjoyed this book. I found it refreshing and novel and I just loved the way that our main leads work together. Certain romance novels make you feel like characters are attracted to each other, but this one made me think not only that, but that King and Sophie are innately very compatible. Their love, while of course involving sex, was way more developed than just physical attraction. It really was impressive. Even more so that their relationship developing into love felt very natural, despite the fact that I really did want to push King into his own fishpond a few times. Well played Maclean, well played...