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A review by books_ergo_sum
Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
I love a widowed heroine, I love a reformed rake, love epistolary elements, and, as much as reading is an escape from The Kid Life™️ for me, I live for the heart-squeezes of a love interest feeling parental about a single parent MC’s children 🥹
But mostly I’m a bit stunned by how excellently these tropes were written here—and I’ve been pondering why that is. Here’s my theories:
✨ The very realistic (and even legalese) setup for the premise added well-earned tension. I can’t resist a book with a bibliography and I think the attention to detail made this book feel dramatic without hyperbole, which I appreciated.
✨ The characterization was top-tier. Everyone had some flaws. I liked how we let our rake Nate dig himself into a hole (on-page) for a little bit before his redemption arc started. And I liked how Cora wasn’t just a patiently angelic mother, she had some things to work on too. Plus, the tie-in to Raymond, Nate’s older brother/guardian from the novella, made me feel feelings.
✨ The pacing was slow, in a good way. "On-page” was the name of the game. It had an intimate, almost Mrs. Dalloway feeling because nothing was skipped or merely gestured at. I loved how dialogue, actions, and even the steam meaningfully mapped on to plot and character arcs. I don’t know.. the whole book just had an immediacy that was very compelling.
Plus, Nate Travers can get it 😮💨
But mostly I’m a bit stunned by how excellently these tropes were written here—and I’ve been pondering why that is. Here’s my theories:
✨ The very realistic (and even legalese) setup for the premise added well-earned tension. I can’t resist a book with a bibliography and I think the attention to detail made this book feel dramatic without hyperbole, which I appreciated.
✨ The characterization was top-tier. Everyone had some flaws. I liked how we let our rake Nate dig himself into a hole (on-page) for a little bit before his redemption arc started. And I liked how Cora wasn’t just a patiently angelic mother, she had some things to work on too. Plus, the tie-in to Raymond, Nate’s older brother/guardian from the novella, made me feel feelings.
✨ The pacing was slow, in a good way. "On-page” was the name of the game. It had an intimate, almost Mrs. Dalloway feeling because nothing was skipped or merely gestured at. I loved how dialogue, actions, and even the steam meaningfully mapped on to plot and character arcs. I don’t know.. the whole book just had an immediacy that was very compelling.
Plus, Nate Travers can get it 😮💨