Wicked Rivals - Lauren Smith

I've been waiting for the new League of Rogues book since Her Wicked Proposal came out in January. Lucky me, managed to get my hands on an advanced copy, just in time for my birthday last weekend. I managed to resist the temptation to start it for a few days, then dived in while having a birthday lie-in.

The danger with a series that you love, is that you're looking forward so much to the next installment, that when it arrives, it just doesn't measure up. Fortunately, this was far from the case this time, Wicked Rivals is fantastic.

This time we get to hear Ashton's story. He's the business man of the group, the one most in control, or at least until it comes to Lady Rosalind Melbourne. She is his rival in business at every turn, but there's something about her that he just can't resist. He attempts to take control of her business and put himself back on top. But this just throws them together in ways that he didn't expect. 

I loved reading about Rosalind and Ashton learning about one another, they discover that they actually work better together than against one another. Rosalind also discovers that she has been used as a pawn in the ongoing hatred between the league and Waverly. She fears that Ashton's interest in her is more do do with this dispute and believes that Ashton is just using her. Of course, love wins through and we find out more about Waverly in the process.

I really enjoy the little insights that we get into the other league members in these books, although you could read each one as a standalone novel, they do work really well as a series and the other league members always have sizeable roles in the stories. The next one due out is Jonathan's story, which I am looking forward to, although as I have an ongoing Charles theory, I really want to know what's going to happen there. (I'm not going to go into details of my Charles theory, in case I'm wrong, or perhaps even more importantly in case I'm not. But, I will say that there were parts of this book that reinforced my ideas.)

I loved this series before reading Wicked Rivals and I finished the book, wishing that I hadn't finished it quite so quickly and still loving the series. As with the other League of Rogues book, Wicked Rivals is highly recommended.