Customer Reviews

What A Rogue Desires (Zebra Historical Romance)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stand and deliver!.....Those are not the words one wants to hear while traveling on the road. Apparently the day has just gotten even worse for David Reece. First his brother, the duke, decides to leave the care of his entire finances to David while on his honeymoon trip abroad for three months. The pressure enough of that responsibility is suffocating. Next he becomes stranded while his horse goes lame on the way to London. And finally he's forced to take a smelly, dusty and dingy coach the rest of the way. Now he has to deal with highwayman! Bloody hell! Life was so much easier when he had no responsibilities; gambling away his fortune, dallying with any willing woman and drinking till he couldn't remember where he was or where he'd been.

Life has never been easy for pickpocket and thief Vivian Beecham, but that hasn't stopped her from getting what she can for her and her brother. It may be illegal but it keeps food in her belly. But when she tries to pawn some stolen goods, its her that gets captured by none other than one of her victims. Only this time its not the constable she has to worry about. The danger lies in the rogue who just might steal her heart.

So good! Not precisely a reformed rake story but similar. David has already decided to change his scandalous behavior on his own. Vivian just adds fuel to the fire. Their relationship begins rather oddly (he keeps her prisoner in his house!) and then changes several times through out the the book. Great characterizations by Linden (author). I was particularly impressed by the way she showed the consequences of Davids lifestyle. I don't think I've ever really read that before. It always seems that the rogue hero's life is secretly envied and even admired by everyone. Obviously thats not true. Seeing the ramifications was eye opening. I also love how Vivian is a real commoner and not someone who is, for example, the long lost daughter of an earl. Just makes the whole book more credible. David needs someone like Vivian who understands the lows and highs of his life and his shame.

Definitely a stand alone book, but I strongly recommend the prequel 'What a Gentleman Wants' (great Lizzy/Darcy thing going on in that one). I normally don't say this but you'll miss out if you don't read it first. David's scandalous behavior is highlighted there. You'll get a better general picture of who he was and why he determined that he must change. So if you haven't read it, go and read it first.

What a Rogue Desires has only one good thing about it and that was how I was impressed by Vivian, the heroine and the way she was written. She is a thief and ends up stealing from the hero, David Reece. Vivian is also smart and speaks her mind. But when David finds out that Vivian was one of the people responsible for being the victim of highway men and having his precious family ring stolen, that's were this story went to a place of no return.
David eventually finds Vivian and locks her in a room in his mansion. See David is a rake and spends money and has no meaning in his life until his brother gave him some responsibility. He apparently has had a life changing epiphany where he will now be responsible and do something worth while with his life.
So, he keeps Vivian locked in a room until she will tell him where his precious ring is. She sits day in and day out with no change of clothes or even a place where she can bathe till he gets to know her better. But he makes sure she has books to read. But all too soon, they become friends because they talk and he cooks her great food because she has always gone hungry because of the life she leads. Soon after they fall in love and all is forgotten about her stealing from him and being kept locked in a room.
David and Vivian have sex by the middle of the book and Vivian no longer wants to escape. But her crew wants to find her and get some money for this ring of David. Plus there is Vivian's poor brother that she needs to take care of also.
A bit inane and at points boring, but I guess if you want some fluffy reading and enjoy historical romance, take your chance on What a Rogue Desires. I am still wondering after weeks of being locked in a room how David could find Vivian attractive because there was no mention of soap and water.

Katiebabs

What A Woman Needs (Zebra Debut)
What A Gentleman Wants (Zebra Historical Romance)

This is the story of David Reece twin of the Duke who gets caught doing stupid things all the time. Vivian Beecham is a thief who was with the gang that robes David. David decides to get back his stolen items and kidnaps Vivian and holds her in his home.... A great historical far-fetch happy every after story (my favorites)- enjoy!

Looking forward to her next novel, A Rakes Guide to Seduction (Celia's story) due out June 2008

Posing as a widow on a stage to London, Vivian Beecham is a highway robber as well with her brother. Having lost their mother at a very young age they have turned to a life of crime to make ends meet and survive. While on their latest robbery attempt they encounter problems when one of the victims has no intention of losing his valuables. Knocking him out they think they are in the clear until a couple of days later when Vivian is kidnapped outside a pawnshop. Taken to his home and held prisoner Vivian is hostile and no help to her captor, but as time goes by she is slowly falling in love with him and understands him like no other person has done before.

David Reece is one of London's most reputable rogues; he is irresponsible, reckless and a ladies man. When his brother turns over his estate to him to run while away, bets circulate through London to see how long it will take David to wipe out the family fortune. David is on the stage that is going to London when it is robbed, devastated that he lost his family ring; he sets a trap for the robbers in London. Now he has one of the thieves held hostage in his house as time goes by, he sees that deep down she is a woman that matches his desires and needs from life and is clearly torn when he wants to seduce her as his past would dictate he do. But in a strange twist of fate, David is accused of being the "Black Duke" robbing the stages on route to London. Together they devise a plan that hopefully will clear his name and save her from the gallows.

What A Rogue Wants is Caroline Linden's third novel; it is a charming and engaging story that held me captive while reading it. Vivian is a heroine that is not noble by birth but does contain morals that keep her torn through out most of this novel. David is a rogue that grows up in this novel and his friend's reactions are pretty funny as he is doing so. What A Rogue Wants is a novel that will keep the reader entertained as they flip the pages reading to the very end, it contain, drama, humour and very sexy love scenes. Caroline Linden shows she has great career writing Historical Romance before her. Each book gets better and better and I look forward to reading what she is publishing next.

I couldn't like Vivian. She was rude in the beginning, and quite manipulative. The whole romance was based on lust, nothing else. They liked the way the other looked.

Besides those issues, the story was just boring! I knew I wouldn't like it when I found myself skipping pages only a quarter of the way through.

Not one of Linden's good ones.

I was not familiar with this author, but am a big fan of historical romances (Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, Elizabeth Hoyt). I got a few of Caroline Linden's books for my Kindle since they were so cheap. What a pleasant surprise! Good writing, compelling characters, great tension and romance. I read What a Gentleman Wants first and liked it but What a Rogue Desires was even better.

I will definitely be reading more from this author!

Well-paced romance. Part of a 3-book series about this family. Good dialog and interesting, if somewhat fantastical, scenarios. Enjoyable. Perfect format reading experience for the Kindle.

The old tale of a Prisoner/Captor love story, keeping the interest in the beginning of the book, slowing down, dragging in the middle, and then picking back up at the end. ~Affaire de Coeur

I did not find this book to be equal to any of Caroline Linden's previous books. David kidnaps Vivian and keeps her in a room through the first half of the book. You talk about boring!!!!! All Vivian does the first half of the book is EAT!!!!! To me, their love and relationship never develops even at the end of the book. Just my opinion. I will be reading her books in the future because I know she can write a better book because her previous books were great.

I'd read a great review of this book on another site and had high expectations. The book fell flat for me and I thought the chemistry between David and Vivian was very underdeveloped. He locked her in his house because he wanted his ring back then never asked about it again! She was so worried about her brother and his treatment by Flynn before David caught her - then she never gave him another thought! And I've read enough Regencys to know that an unmarried woman in a bachelor's house would cause a HUGE scandal. It would be impossible to hide and the servants would be horrified. And NO ONE would ever believe for a moment that David was the "Black Duke." He would be a fool to rob people wearing his own, easily recognizable signet ring that had already been reported stolen. Hmmm, what makes more sense - that he reported it stolen then wore it to rob coaches or that the thief that took it from him is the highwayman? No rocket science. I couldn't even finish it.