Smitten by Books

The Rogue Prince
Author: Margo Maguire
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Pub. Date: April 27, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0061667893
Retail: $7.99
384 pages

The prince of pleasure . . .

To the ton, he is a wealthy and powerful royal, the dashing and enigmatic Prince Thomas of Sabedoria. And to Lady Margaret Blackmore, he is irresistible. Innocent in the ways of true passion, Maggie has lived a life chaste and proper—until now. Mad with a desire unlike anything she’s felt before, she would do anything to tempt Thomas to her bed. But he hides a damning secret . . .

In truth, Thomas is no prince. He is Thomas Thorne, sent away for a crime he did not commit. Hell-bent on revenge, he would do anything to destroy his worst enemy, even seduce the man’s innocent sister. But he did not count on the one thing that could spoil his perfect plan—falling in love with the beautiful lady in question. Now he must choose between his fervent wish for justice and his devotion to his tempting conquest . .

~*~*~

Seventeen years ago, a pair of aristocratic boys decided to play a cruel joke on a sixteen-year-old country boy. Set up as a thief, Thomas Thorne, was tried and transported to a penal colony. Now he’s back, he’s rich, and he’s out for revenge. Posing as a prince of a fictitious country, he goes to London armed with an elaborate plan to right past wrongs.

His plan lands him squarely in the path of Lady Margaret Blackmoor, hapless sister of one of those boys and widow of the other. When they first meet, Thorne doesn’t realize her identity and is immediately taken with her. Thus begins Margo Maguire’s The Rogue Prince.

While this story is driven by a classic revenge plot, it’s more than that. It’s about letting go of the past. Both the hero and heroine have episodes in their past that rule their present and that they must learn to let go of in order to have a future together. In Maggie’s case, her cousin tried to rape her when she was a child, and, rather than protect her, her family has blamed her for this perceived disgrace. Part of her character growth includes breaking away from her family’s influence and learning to be her own person.

That was one of the things I liked most about her. Left indebted when her gambler of a husband died, she seeks ways to pay back what is owed by means of her own talents, rather than play the damsel in distress and turn to the wealthy prince who has taken an interest in her. She’s a heroine the modern reader can root for without coming across as an anachronism.

The hero comes into the story bound and determined to get his revenge. I’ll leave it up to you to discover whether or not he’s satisfied with the outcome of events by the end of the story. To say more would spoil the ending.

I enjoyed this story as a fairly solid read. The only thing I might find to say against it is the author’s fairly constant repetition of the backstory. I found I could follow the plot quite nicely without all the reminders of the past. Overall, though, the story held my attention and I quite enjoyed it.

Rating: 7 (Good)

Heat-Level: 4 (Hot)