The Last Wicked Rogue - Lauren Smith

The Last Wicked Rogue

He’s the last Rogue standing, and the wickedest … 

Charles Humphrey, the Earl of Lonsdale is infamous for his seductions. With laughing gray eyes and a halo of blond hair, he’s every woman’s wicked dream. Beneath that devil-may-care grin he has a painful past that has made him sure love was not for him, even as the rest of his friends, the members of the League of Rogues, settle down in wedded bliss. When he accidentally rescues a mysterious beauty with eyes as haunted as his own and shares one life-changing kiss with her, she vanishes in the night. Charles vows to find this angel who might yet save his soul but he knows anyone he cares about is in grave danger when an old enemy resurfaces a final time for revenge… 

She’s the only woman who can save him… 

Lily has secrets, too many secrets. When she’s abducted and taken into the London underworld by a gang of nefarious brutes, she’s rescued by Charles, the one man who can never know her past. She can’t let him discover her feelings or her secrets, but she can’t resist sharing one kiss with him before escaping his passionate embrace. That taste of the last bachelor of the League of Rogues leaves her desiring a future she cannot have - especially when her master demands she prove her loyalty in a most deadly way... 

Warning: This book contains a scandalous rogue with a heart of gold, a lady who risks it all to save him, and a league of rogues who value friendship and love above all else.

The Last Wicked Rogue by Lauren Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've spent the whole day debating how many stars to give this book. It's been hard, not because I didn't enjoy it, I really did, but because I've been waiting for this book for a long time and I think that finally having the 'final' instalment leaves me with mixed feelings.
Charles has long been one of my favourite league members, I had a theory or two about the identity of his lady love, (I'm not going to say more here, but I was right!) This was a good read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So why the hesitation about how many stars to award? Well, two reasons really. Firstly, my favourite league book is His Wicked Seduction. I love Lucien and Horatia's story, part of me wanted Charles to knock it off its perch and while it was good and came very close, it didn't quite manage it. Secondly, although there is the backstory in all of the previous stories, this being the last in the series, this story arc has to reach a conclusion. Of course, I wanted it too, but it did mean that there was a little less time spent on the romance between Charles and his lady. I loved the storyline that dealt with the League and more particularly Charles' past. I'd wanted to know about this since book one. At the same time though, I wanted more of the build-up of romance with Charles and Lily. That would have ended up being a huge book, so is silly to suggest.
I really enjoyed this book, it's just rather bittersweet as it's the last in the main series. I know that there is more to come with other family members and possibly the next generation, but it is the end of the main League members. I might just have to go back to the beginning and read the whole series once again...

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His Wicked Secret - Lauren Smith

When a lady decides to become a spy, she must resist all temptation…especially love.

Audrey Sheridan is London’s sweetheart¾a position that allows her access to the ton and all its secrets. As the enigmatic writer, Lady Society, she is wild, reckless, and speaks her mind. She matchmakes wicked rogues with their perfect wives. But there’s one thing she’s failed to find since her debut. A husband for herself. And there’s only one man she’s ever wanted. There’s just one problem…he doesn’t want her. What’s a lady to do to mend her broken heart? Run off to become a spy…

Jonathan St. Laurent is anything but a saint and certainly not husband material. He spent nearly his entire life as a servant to his half-brother the Duke of Essex. He’s trying to play the gentleman now, but it’s damned hard when he’s tempted by the ton’s darling spitfire Audrey. There’s something about her that makes him want to abandon the rules of polite society and show her just how wicked he can be…which is why it’s better to avoid the minx altogether.

When Audrey’s plan to be a spy is discovered, Jonathan knows he must move heaven and earth to protect her while guarding his own secret…


His Wicked Secret by Lauren Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love the League of Rogues series by Lauren Smith and I've been (not so) patiently waiting for the next instalment in the series. We were teased with Her Wicked Longing last year, which was just a little taste of what was to come in His Wicked Secret.
Of all the League members, I have to admit that I was less interested in Jonathan's story. I think that is simply because we know less about him. While he is mentioned in the other books, we see less of his character than some of the other members. I do like Audrey though. She's headstrong, willful and a lot of fun. Fortunately, Jonathan proved himself to be her match.
This was a great read and I really enjoyed it, polishing it off quickly. I will admit though, I'm really hanging out for the last of the main league characters stories. Charles has always been an interesting chap and I have a few theories about who he's going to end up with. But, as I don't want to spoil anything, I'm not going to say what they are here.

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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.

Her Wicked Proposal - Lauren Smith

Last year, I won a copy of the second book in Lauren Smith's League of Rogues series; His Wicked Seduction. I don't like starting a series mid way through, so I went back and bought the first book in the series; Wicked Designs. I quickly fell in love with both the League of Rogues and Lauren Smith's writing. Since then, I've been waiting for the third book in the series to come out, when it arrived a few weeks back on my kindle (having pre-ordered it as soon as I could) I had to start reading straight away. (In case you're wondering, I tend to be a couple of weeks behind in my reviews).

The League of Rogues are a group of handsome Rogues, who stick together through thick and thin, in Regency England. First meeting at Cambridge, they have been there for one another ever since. Indulging in all kinds of roguish behaviour, especially when it comes to women, one by one, the men find themselves meeting and falling in love with, their perfect women and doing what they thought they never would; marrying and settling down.

In book three, two of the Rogues have already found their partners. Life for Cedric, Viscount Sheridan though, hasn't been going well. Having lost his sight in a fire, he feels like a shell of his former self. No longer the dashing, confident man about town, he thinks that he no longer fits with his old life and lacks confidence when he goes out. 

Anne Chessley suddenly finds herself pursued by every fortune hunter in London, after the death of her beloved father. She approaches Cedric and suggests that they marry, saving her from the fortune hunters and him from his half life since the accident. Cedric agrees, but under the condition that it is more than a marriage of convenience, that they are fully husband wife in the bedroom, with all the passion that that implies.

Anne has a reputation of being an ice maiden, but there's far more to her than first appears. Not only have Cedric and Anne been drawn to one another since they first met, but Anne's stand offish temperament is down to a traumatic incident from her past. The threat that hangs over all of the League is still very much in evidence and threatens the couple, taking Cedric's eyesight was not enough...

I really love this series, although the second book is still my favourite so far, I love the stories and the way that the characters develop. There are still plenty of scenes with the previous couples that we've met and the other members of the league, which help give this series far more depth and story than many other regency romances have, without slipping into the ridiculous, as some less well written books have a tendency to do. 

I love Lauren Smith's writing style and she certainly knows how to write a steamy love scene and build a romance. While I've been loving her other books and series that she's been writing, it was the League of Rogues that I first fell in love with and like a first love, they'll always have a special place in my heart and be the ones that I look forward to coming back to the most. I only wish I didn't have to wait to read the next book in the series, I'm really looking forward to Ashton's story, especially after the little glimpses and hints of what's to come that we've been getting in this book.

League of Rogues and in this case Her Wicked Proposal? Highly recommended.