Early Book Review: A Most Devilish Rogue by Ashlyn Macnamara

A Most Devilish Rogue is a historical romance by Ashlyn Macnamara, which is schedule for release on August 27 2013. When Isabelle Mears was still an innocent young miss she made the mistake of surrendering her innocence to a dishonorable man. Cast out from society and her family, Isabelle has sworn off men and works hard to shelter her illegitimate son, Jack. That is until handsome stranger rescues six-year-old Jack from the pounding ocean surf. George Upperton has a pregnant mistress, trouble with debts, and a meddling family. He has no business flirting, or doing anything else with, the mother of the young boy he saved from the sea. When Jack is kidnapped, Isabelle discovers the true depth of George’s devotion, and how much a good man will do for the woman whose love is all that matters.

A Most Devilish Rogue follows Macnamara's debut novel, A Most Scandalous Proposal, which I did not read. I believe that I did not miss much in this story because of that lack. With that said, I really enjoyed the characters. Isabelle is a strong woman that has managed on her own in a time and place that was nearly impossible for women in her situation to survive with becoming prostitutes or mistresses. However, her survive was because of hard work and a little good luck rather than everything magically falling into place, as is sometimes the case in fiction. She resists the urge to fall into George's arms, not for proprieties sake, but for her own peace of mind and her son's well being. George is a rake with a heart of gold, he has debt and a pregnant mistress so he is not exactly a pure her but even some of his mistakes came into play through attempts to please his father and help a friend's family. Together the pair were a good match, but the progression of attraction to love seemed a little lacking. The story was good, the plot interesting, and the characters great. This made for a good read, a solid historical, but not a real stand-out (unless you count the buns on the book cover).

I enjoyed A Most Devilish Rogue and would recommend it to readers that enjoyed A Most Scandalous Proposal. I think this book would appeal to many fans of the historical romance genre. This is a fun and entertaining read, it just does not stand out as among the best that I have read.