Julie Anne Long’s How to Tame a Wild Rogue is a joyful, sexy and stylishly written Regency romance that reunites readers with the quirky found family of the Grand Palace on the Thames boarding house.
The sixth installment of Long’s Palace of Rogues series introduces its main couple, infamous privateer Lorcan St. Leger and Lady Daphne Worth, in what is possibly the single greatest meet-cute this reviewer has ever read. After her father gambled away the family wealth and her fiancé left her for a governess, Daphne was forced to find work as a lady’s companion. But when her employer’s husband makes a pass at her, Daphne ties together her bedsheets and hoists herself out the window to escape him—only to find that the barrel she was relying on to help her reach the ground has been moved. Lorcan, curious as to why a beautiful woman is dangling out a window, decides to offer a hand. When the weather takes a turn for the worse, the pair take shelter at the Grand Palace on the Thames. In order to share the only remaining suite at the boarding house, the two must pretend to be husband and wife, but real feelings soon begin to take hold. As the tension between her and Lorcan escalates, Daphne must decide if she is willing to take a risk for love.
This excellent book will be best understood by those who are already familiar with the wonderful inhabitants of the Grand Palace on the Thames; newcomers will most likely want to start at the beginning of the series. The Grand Palace itself is a key part of what makes How to Tame a Wild Rogue so enjoyable, as Long is able to revisit a place that has already been the setting of so many love stories. She tells the story not only from Lorcan’s and Daphne’s perspectives, but also from the points of view of Angelique and Delilah, the owners of the Grand Palace who have starred in previous books in the series. Fans of these characters and their dashing husbands will be delighted by the insight Long provides into their lives post-happily ever after. They and their regular residents all feel like family, providing equal parts comedic relief and suspense. However, the strength of the supporting cast doesn’t draw attention from the compelling two main characters. Lorcan and Daphne are both desperate to be chosen and loved, and they respond with such tenderness to the possibility of healing from their pasts and building a new life with each other.
Long proves once again that she’s one of the queens of Regency romance in the wonderful How to Tame a Wild Rogue.
