Wonderful beginning, falters the last 100 or so pages as the plot winds down.

Still recommended.

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3.5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

William is a high ranking duke who finds all the trappings that come along with the title more annoying than enjoyable. All he wants to do is be left alone to ride, breed, and race his horses but when talk about his mother's eccentrics starts to get louder, he decides it's time to assert his presence. Jenna is his mother's companion and the mysterious captivating lady he meet at a ball. Her mannerisms and personality in public and private don't quite match up and what she is really doing with his mother starts to become a question William finds himself asking. Jenna may be more than just his mother's wallflower companion and William might just be more than a duke.

A Good Rogue is Hard to Find is second in the Lords of Worth series from new author Kelly Bowen and if you ignore the overly common historical romance title (I don't consider this hero a rogue but can a regency romance exist without rogue in the title?) there is some surprisingly good depth to this story. I didn't feel the story was especially ground breaking but our couple was level headed and shared a bond that was easy to feel to me as the reader. There was an ease to the writing and flow to the story and characters that was enjoyable to read, certain aspects felt a little implausible in regards to Jenna and William's mother mission to avenge the poor but not so much that I wasn't willing to go along with it all. The beginning was a little slow moving for me but the story picked up speed around 45% in when William and Jenna started to come together and be a little feisty.

William was a good character in that he at first fit the role of his times, oblivious to his privileges. He focuses on his horses because he can and maybe a bit sulky because he is annoyed with how everyone only views him as a duke and not as a singular man. When he finds out what his mother and Jenna is involved in, he is awakened to his advantages. The world suddenly becomes grey for him and I thought his evolution was believable and impactful. Jenna was the forceful, feisty, avenging angel character but with more realism, thought, and useful action behind her. The network and how she goes about getting aristocrats to pay back their debts to merchants with the help of William's mother may not be wholly believable but it was valuable in its effectiveness. When William and Jenna start to come together and the tangled weave of Jenna's actions starts to get unraveled by William, the couple shone. There was good emotion between the two and their dialogue was tinged with sweet humor. William being outwitted by his mother and Jenna and being lead on a merry chase was also entertaining to read. The best aspect though, was how William grew as a character with Jenna's influence; they didn't complete each other so much as made each other better.

I loved the character of William's mother, Eleanor, and her backstory of being oppressed by her husband and how she has cultivated the reputation of being a head in the clouds eccentric only to rival any military general with her network of spies and soldiers helping her to bring aristocrats to her quiet form of justice. There is a story of quiet enduring, surviving, and thriving behind her that was pushed a little more to the side than I wanted but probably warranted; I hope she gets a novella and a happy ever after. There were at times I thought the author got a bit heavy handed with the righteousness of the poor versus the rich. It was a bit manipulative with the sob stories, guilt, and wanting to punish when William sits in the House of Lords and is a powerful duke, he has the power to truly change things and Jenna kind of ignored that in favor of being a feel good vigilante.

With this being a new author I was impressed with the quality of writing and the emotion between our couple, I just wish there had been more of it. Ultimately, the main message of the characters and their desire to be seen as more than who they are represented to be and instead who they honestly are was heartfelt. This author has promise and I'll be on the lookout for the next book in the series starring William's sister and his friend.
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William has an eccentric mother, and he has become worried about her behaviour. Little does he know that she carefully cultivated her eccentricity to hide her crusading activities on behalf of those unfairly treated by the nobility. She does this with the help of a woman she sometimes describes as her paid companion, Jenna, together with the rest of her unusual staff. William decides to move into his mother's house to keep an eye n her and gradually uncovers all of her and Jenna's secrets.

An outlandish plot as usual, but filled with excellent characters. I liked William and his mother very much and the Duchess' staff were endlessly entertaining. I'm not sure that the way the Duchess and Jenna were going about their crusade was the way I would have chosen myself, but anyway... ( )

This is the second novel penned by Kelly
Bowen, and let me tell you that she is really good at wrapping a moral lesson into an engaging story without sounding preachy.

This book continues with characters we met in I've Got My Duke To Keep Me Warm, so I recommend you read that book first. In the first book, our eccentric Dowager Duchess of Worth helped battered spouses, and in this book she is helping destitute members of the trade community who have been forced into the poor house by members of the ton.

Our heroine in this story, Jenna, is another tortured heroine who has risen from her circumstances and determined to save others from the same fate. She is acting as the Dowager Duchess' companion during a dinner party turned fiasco when the Duchess' son, the Duke of Worth, arrives and announces he will be moving into the Dower house due to his mother's increasing eccentricities. As you can imagine, such an occurrence could reveal the Duchess' ruse and unravel all their plans. So it will be up to Jenna to keep this from happening. I really liked Jenna - she was a strong heroine who acted as she felt it was morally right when doing so came with great risk to herself.

Through Jenna, Worth realizes that he has been woefully blind to misdeeds committed by his peers on undeserving members of the community. She opens his eyes to suffering and wrongdoing, and Worth realizes that he wants to help. This leads to a sweet love story, for all that it carries much deception.

This book had a lot of depth. There were moments of hilarity given the Dowager Duchess' antics, and moments of extreme sadness when faced with the circumstances of the lower societal classes. The story highlights the disparity in laws of the time, and paints what is most likely a realistic picture of the way things were in Regency England.

In addition, we get what we normally expect from a period romance including balls, gossip, scandals, and money-grabbing husband hunters. Pair that with the sweet love story that transcends class lines and some steamy moments between the sheets, and you have another winner from this rather new author. I am looking forward to continuing this series with Worth's sister and the Earl of Boden in You're the Earl That I Want.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars / 2 flames. ( )