Review & Giveaway: Rogue Most Wanted by Janna MacGregor

Rogue Most Wanted (The Cavensham Heiresses, Book #5)
by Janna MacGregor
Release Date: June 25th 2019
2019 St. Martin's Paperbacks
Kindle Edition; 371 Pages
ISBN: 978-1250295996
ASIN: B07H7C1YZV
Genre: Fiction / Historical Romance
Source: HFVBT

3.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
Lady Theodora Worth needs to marry fast in order to keep her estate. It’s been her heart and home for years, and she’ll not lose it to anyone. There’s just one problem—as a woman who was raised in isolation by her grandfather, she’s completely incapable of pouring a cup of tea, never mind wooing a man. She’ll need a little matchmaking help from her sprightly next-door neighbor in order to find a convenient husband…

Lord William Cavensham’s heart was broken years ago, and since that day he vowed to never love again. But his spirited Great Aunt Stella is determined he’ll marry or not inherit a single penny from her. And she’s got just the woman in mind—her beautiful and completely hapless next-door neighbor, Thea…

Thea and Will agree there’s no sense in marrying each other. Will wholeheartedly believes he’s incapable of love, and Thea refuses to marry the first man she’s practically met. But Will may be the rogue Thea wants the most after all…

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My Thoughts
Rogue Most Wanted is the fifth entry in The Cavensham Heiresses series and focuses on Will Cavensham, a man previously jilted and who has sworn off love for the foreseeable future.  Not the most original story line, but I have always liked the author's writing style so I stuck with it which I'm glad I did.  And while it was fairly predictable, I thought it was enjoyable.

I really liked Thea's personality and character and although you have the really strong feeling she will win everything in the end (it is a romance novel after all), I definitely was on her side in all of this. She had a strong will and was very positive in her outlook on life. I wasn't overly crazy about the romance aspect in this story as I didn't really feel that spark between them like in previous books, so I chose to focus more on Thea's fight to save her inheritance and the plight of women during this time period.  Women had so little rights during this time period, but Scottish women tended to have a bit more independence which is why I think I tend to prefer Scottish romances a bit more.  I always find the intrigues of who is who and what is what quite fascinating and will probably never tire of the endless rules and etiquette one had to learn in order to move among the ton successfully.  Thea, having grown up isolated on her grandfather's estate during his illness, had not learned a lot of the etiquette required of her in society so I found her instruction to be interesting.  And when I thought that was more interesting than the romance, I knew there was a small problem.

To be fair, I really liked both Will and Thea, but Will was a bit too syrupy for my taste.  He was sweet and kind, but really didn't do anything. And while they both had a history that clearly defined who they were, I don't really think it was used enough to develop the story and the attraction. And Thea felt like she could trust him so much upon meeting him that she could share her darkest secrets with him. It just didn't sit right with me. So what we have is a story that is interesting, but isn't steamy. There is little to no push-play between them and I think I just wanted to feel that physical attraction between them a bit more. There wasn't a whole lot of drama, and Thea's capitulation seemed a bit out of character for a lady during this time period, especially one who was focused on trying to save her childhood home and title. It is interesting to note that one of my favourite scenes is where Lady Avalon returns, the woman who jilted Will; you could just feel the tension and I was really fascinated by that scene, wondering where it would go.  For the first time, I felt real sparks happening.  


Verdict
Rogue Most Wanted isn't exactly what I was expecting as I just didn't feel that connection between the two main characters. I liked both of them a lot, but just not necessarily with each other.  I tended to struggle with the pacing of this book, but it is well-written and I really, really liked the secondary characters, some of whose stories I've already read, some I hope are forthcoming.  It does read decently as a standalone so if you haven't read the previous entries in this series, you will be fine. As for those sparks? Looks like they will be happening in the next book in this series, Wild Wild Rake, to be published in 2020.  Furthermore, I would recommend a couple of the earlier entries in this series, in particular The Luck of the Bride.


Giveaway


  Rogue Most Wanted