The Rogue Not Taken
Series: Scandal & Scoundrel #1
Author: Sarah MacLean
Published December 29th 2015 by Piatkus

Goodreads Synopsis
LADY SOPHIE'S SOCIETY SPLASH

The youngest of the infamous Talbot sisters scandalized society at the Liverpool Summer Soiree, striking her sister’s notoriously philandering husband and landing him backside-first in a goldfish pond. And we thought Sophie was the quiet one…

When she finds herself the target of very public aristocratic scorn, Sophie Talbot does what she must to escape the city and its judgment—she flees on the back of a carriage, vowing never to return to London…or to society. But the carriage isn’t saving her from ruin. It’s filled with it.


ROYAL ROGUE'S REIGN OF RAVISHMENT!

The Marquess of Eversley was espied descending a rose trellis—escaping an irate Earl and his once-future countess. No lady is safe from Eversley’s Engagement Ending Escapades!

Kingscote, the Marquess of Eversley, has never met a woman he couldn’t charm, a quality that results in a reputation far worse than the truth, a furious summons home, and a long, boring trip to the Scottish border. When King discovers stowaway Sophie, however, the trip becomes anything but boring.

WAR? OR MORE?

He thinks she’s trying to trick him into marriage. She wouldn’t have him if he were the last man on earth. But carriages bring close quarters, dark secrets, and unbearable temptation, and suddenly opposites are altogether too attractive…
Goodreads

Review
I've just started to fall in love with Sarah MacLean's books, and decided to treat myself to the Scandal & Scoundrel series for my second foray into her writing. The Talbot sisters have been the talk of the Ton since their entrance into society. Known as the Dangerous Daughter's of the newly created Earl of Wight, the good and the great in society see them as social climbers, full of scandal and pariahs in town. Most of the sisters adore being in the limelight and having the gossips talk about them, but Sophie, the youngest, hates it all, and despises the attention. However, after spotting her philandering brother-in-law having a dalliance, just not with her sister, at the Liverpool Summer Soiree, she pushes him into the koi pond, in front of those assembled, and is publicly shunned. She knows she needs to leave, and not just the party, but London too, and asks King, the Marquess of Eversley, to help her. He refuses, but by taking the livery of one of his footman, Matthew, she hides in his carriage as it travels north towards Cumbria, and her home in Mossbend. When King discovers her, he thinks she's just like her sisters, and is trying to trap a Marquess, and heir to a Dukedom in marriage, and wants rid of Sophie as soon as possible, but he can't leave a Lady alone on the Great North Road, especially after she is injured by highway men. Will he make it to Cumbria in time to see his dying, estranged father, or will caring for Sophie become more important?

Sophie was just the perfect heroine for this book. I loved her from the get go, and the way she acted with everyone around her, especially those who treated her as if she was beneath them because her father had earned his Earldom, rather than just being born in the right family. She's always been the quiet one, sometimes called the boring sister, but she's never wanted the lifestyle she now has, and loved more than anything her childhood in Mossbend. Getting out of society and back to Cumbria is all she wants, and King is just a means to an end. King, for the rogue that he is, is definitely a lovable one, and a gentleman to boot. Even though he wanted nothing to do with Sophie, he can't leave her, and the more time he spends with her when she is recovering, and getting jealous of the handsome doctor treating her, the less he wants to stay away. Their banter and chemistry was phenomenal, and this is one of my favourite adult romances I've ever read. I definitely have fallen in love with Sarah's writing, and will be collecting all of her book as soon as I can. A fantastic start to the series, and I can't wait to start A Scot in the Dark!

Dates Read:
July 8-9, 2020

Rating
5 Stars