RITA® Award-winning author Sarah MacLean reveals the identity of The Fallen Angel’s final scoundrel in the spectacular conclusion to her New York Times bestselling Rules of Scoundrels series . . .
By day, she is Lady Georgiana, sister to a duke, ruined before her first season in the worst kind of scandal. But the truth is far more shocking—in London’s darkest corners, she is Chase, the mysterious, unknown founder of the city’s most legendary gaming hell. For years, her double identity has gone undiscovered . . . until now.
Brilliant, driven, handsome-as-sin Duncan West is intrigued by the beautiful, ruined woman who is somehow connected to a world of darkness and sin. He knows she is more than she seems, and he vows to uncover all of Georgiana’s secrets, laying bare her past, threatening her present, and risking all she holds dear . . . including her heart.
Other books in the Rules of Scoundrels series:
This is probably one of the sweetest, most anticipated, wrap books to a series for 2014. I’ve been salivating for this book, and judging by the number of posts, pre-release reviews, and facebook-gasm’s I’ve seen in the last several months I’m not the only one.
If you’ve read the entire series, then some readers may be shocked to find out Chase’s secret identity from the get go. I wasn’t upset in the least. What I wanted to know is how the whole thing would play out. Because if there’s one thing I know about secret identities it’s that they can cause some volatile situations in romance novels.
Now what does MacLean excel at: dialogue. Sharp, biting and barbed dialogue and these characters have it. From Georgiana’s interactions with the other owners of the Angel to nearly every conversation with our hero, Duncan… I couldn’t get enough. I’d easily remove all the dialogue bits from the book to read on their own. The meet cute is probably the best, but again another area that MacLean does a phenomenal job with. Here’s snipped I enjoyed:
He sense the shift in her. Changed the top. “How did you know me?”
“When we arrived, my brother pointed out the lions in the room.” The lie came easily.
He tilted his head. “Those who are regal and important?”
“Those who are lazy and dangerous.”
The web spins on from there as all the secrets are cast out of the shadows and into the open. West is not who I thought we was… in fact, he was so much more. His past is exciting because up to this point if you’ve read all the books you know Georgiana’s past, in intricate detail. West is the mystery. The one I was dying to get intimate with. Thankfully, there’s no disappointment.
Once West discovers Georgiana has a connection to The Fallen Angel, all bets are off. This is where the story dives into even better territory. The plot has it all, secrets, deception, attraction, and head on collisions with the other owners of The Fallen Angel who protect their friend, at all costs.
I could not. Put. This. Book. Down. Yes, I punctuated that out for effect. This was a non-stop page turner. I had to know how it ended. Is Chase revealed to the world? Does The Fallen Angel close? Does Georgiana get her revenge against society? So many questions and only 384 pages provided to answer them all.
Overall, this is a must read historical romance. You have to buy it for the simple fact that there’s a woman on the cover in breeches. Yes, the first ever woman in pants on the cover of a historical romance, this is history in the making. A woman has masqueraded as a man for an entire series and survives to get her own HEA. Love it, buy it, and devour it.
For readers who enjoy… books in their own stratosphere.
Reviewed by Landra
Heat Level: Hot
Love your review and the cover intrigues. I guess I have to go out and buy the series!
“Yes, the first ever woman in pants on the cover of a historical romance”
Not true. Check out the cover for Helen Dickson’s Beauty in Breeches (a terrible novel, but still, the cover features a woman in trousers). There might be more, especially if “historical” also means American West and not just Europe, but NJaLBHC isn’t the first.
I thought about quitting this series, because I hated the third, one, but I think I’ll persevere through the fourth!
I’ll check it out Lou. I’m on a mission now. 😀 — I’ll tell you the 3rd book was probably my least favorite of the series.