Gentle Rogue

★★★,5

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance Summary Georgina Anderson, has been on the hunt for the fiancee that disappeared during the war with Britain. Its been four years since he was taken by their Navy, and never heard a word from him. After her brother Thomas refuses to go in search for him, Georgina along with a trusted family friend and protector "Mac" go to England on their own to search for her missing fiancee Malcolm. But what she finds is a fiancee that married a English woman and already had children without a word to her. After a long search, and low on funds Georgina misses home and her overprotective brothers and wants to return back to the America's. Mac finds passage on a ship heading to the West Indies, where one of her brothers ships is at. And so she poses as the "cabin boy" for Captain James Malory. James Malory has been searching for the lady dressed in men's clothes that kicked his shin not too long ago, and shocked to find her dressed as his new cabin boy. Delighted and intrigued, he acts as though he only sees a boy, and plays with her. But the truth comes out, as does the desire they feel for each other. But Georgie will have to face her family that the man she has fallen hard for is the same pirate who sunk one of her brothers ships and has been their nemesis ever since...not going to go over well. The Hero James Malory is a rogue and loves his women...all different shapes and sizes and passions. He is known as the gentleman pirate, because he once was rebellious and wanted adventure and captained his own pirate ship. But gave that up so he could return home and be with his family once again. Especially when he learned that he has a teenage son who knew him upon meeting him. He had to turn somewhat respectable but it still chafed at him having to be all proper in society. Now James deals in trade, trying to be as good a father as he possibly can. James is the king of all rakes...I am telling you and boy is he entertaining. James might be one of my all time favorite characters of the whole Malory clan. He is so lively and entertaining, and very roguish in all so many fun ways. You can't take his character seriously, he is very amusing especially when you see the lengths he goes to be with his true love. The Heroine Georgiana Anderson has been well loved and pampered by her five older brothers. From forty years old to the youngest barely twenty. She may have lost her parents at a young age, but her brothers gave her a home and family and love. She grew up knowing how to get around any of their family company's ships since she could walk. She had a childhood sweetheart "Malcolm" that her brothers tried the hardest to keep her from falling for. But while all had left, she decided to go in search for him after six lonely years, if only to find some closure. Georgie is a spirited and care free character. She can be willful and impulsive at times, but she has a heart of gold with a bit of a temper. I love Georgie so much, so fiercely independent and a fighter. Plot and Story Line Gentle Rogue has to be one of my favorite books of the series, and I believe it was my first book I read in this series and got me hooked on this family and their amusing antics. In this book though, we are introduced to a new family, a family that will eventually work along side these Malory's...The American Anderson family. Now at the beginning of the book here, the Anderson despise anything English literally. "Then why didn't you leave in the customary fashion, by purchasing passage?" "Because the only ships crossing the atlantic were English." "I imagine that's supposed to make sense. Give me a moment and I might figure it out...then again, I might not. What the deuce is wrong with English ships?" "You wouldn't find anything wrong with them, but I happen to despise all things English." "Do you indeed? Am I included in that package?" When his brow went up this time, she had the greatest urge to yank it back down. "You were. I haven't made up my mind whether you still are." But we see these families come together in such a glorious and adventurous way. Now it starts off with our lovely heroine Georgie. She has convinced a family friend Mac, to go with her to England in search of her fiancee. And they go through England searching for news of him. She and Mac do get into an altercation with James Malory and his brother in Tender Rebel but then Georgie finds out where Malcolm is and learns the painful truth. Now she wants to return home and agrees to be a cabin boy and dresses and acts the part. Now this is where the story really gets interesting. Because our hero is a devil at times and loves to play games, mostly harmless. He has George (his nickname for her and continues calling her that for the rest of the series) doing all sorts of things for him. Washing his back, delivering his food, cleaning his cabin, reading to him erotic stories (Yeah...he is totally working the disguise) she found the page, Cleared her throat, and began to read. '"There was nary a doubt that I had ever seen such big ones, round and ripe. My teeth ached to bit them."' God what tripe. This would have them both asleep in minutes. '"I pinched one and heard her gasp of delight. The other beckoned my mouth, which was panting to oblige. Oh, heaven! Oh, sweet bliss of those succulent...beasts..."' Georgina slammed the book closed with a horrified gasp. "This...this.." "Yes. I know. Its called erotica, dear boy.. , acting like he has a headache and having her massage his scalp and she soon learns that he knows the truth and she also discovers that certain "feelings" she has had is desire and James introduces her to it. So they have a bit of a love affair going on while on his ship. But then they land in the West Indies, and Georgie leaves James without a word, to go to her brothers ship before it leaves for the America's. And James does what he does, and chases after her not realizing how much he cares about her at this point and there is a intense confrontation with her five over protective brothers. Now when reading this you have to understand the personality of James. He has a devil may care attitude at times and boldly tells them all the truth. Yeah five big muscled over protective brothers don't take the truth very well. What has made this a wonderful and most memorable romance over the years is really James Malory and our introduction to the Anderson Clan. I love that so many of these brothers become heroes in future books. We get to see some of our favorite characters including Anthony and Derek and we can't forget Percy. Now we don't get much of Percy until this point really...but you see a lot more of him in Say You Love Me and A Loving Scoundrel. His character is so funny a bit silly at times, but he is a charming rascal. The romance between James and George isn't conventional or what you expect but this is what I love about Lindsey. She can write outrageous and crazy and unique romances that endear you. And she does that with Gentle Rogue and I love the way this book was written. I was laughing and smiling all the way through the book and I realized why this is one of my all time favorites and had a blast reading it again especially since its been years. I can't wait for the next one up, Warren and Amy's book. The Cover I just adored these townhouse covers that are in the first half of the series, it has such a calming feel to it. Overall View Gentle Rogue is a romantic tale of adventure on the seas....of unconventional characters, a stunning display of humor and charm and a book that is guaranteed to leave you with a smile on your face and wanting more of these delectable characters that are beyond memorable. Click To Buy On Amazon [foogallery id="19026"]

I want my own Malory, or Anderson at that. Oh boy. I just love boats. Also Georgina was alone of the best romance protags I have ever read about. Love.

So great! Started off with a rocky start to much back story yada without the two main leads ever conversing. But when they finally "meet" the story really picks up. One of my favorite regencies. Want to read the rest of the (longass) series now

I read a few Johanna Lindsey's stolen from my mother around the age of 11 or 12 (most significantly Prisoner of My Desire and Savage Thunder, omg), and they certainly made an impression on my young psyche. If I would have read Gentle Rogue at that same time, I think I would have loved it way more than I did reading it today. That said, it was immensely readable and fun looking at it through the context of the time and place it came from. I loved Georgie the most and for a book from 1990 she is a damn delight. She's not afraid of sex, doesn't feel ashamed about wanting sex once she figures out that she isn't actually nauseous (so silly), and she's not afraid to stand up to her brothers and James Mallory when she can. I didn't like that James didn't tell Georgie that he recognized her right away nor did I like that he made her do things no cabin boy would have ever been asked to do, so that took away some of his charm, not to mention that he's probably a slave owner. Yikes. I did love the banter between James and Georgie, especially once the jig was up. As having never read any of the other Malory books, I was meh about all the other characters, and I felt the last third of the book was way too long and not enough about James and Georgie's relationship, which felt mostly settled besides them refusing to realize they loved each other.