Series: The Rules of Scoundrels, #2
Traits & Tropes: titled hero; bluestocking; damaged hero; she's engaged to someone else; lessons; second son; unexpected/unwanted inheritance; gaming hell owner
Publication Date: 01.29.13
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; London, Spring, 1824
Heat Level: 3
Rating: 3/5
Narration Rating: 5/5
Despite her lofty societal position as the daughter of a double marquess, Lady Philippa Marbury has no interest in balls or the season, preferring experiments and logic over socializing or looking for love. She’s prepared to marry her dull fiancé and live a quiet life filled with dogs, scientific experiments and estate management. But she has many questions about the more physical aspects of the marriage vows and only fourteen days to gain an understanding of them before the wedding.
With so little time, Pippa takes to the seedier streets of London for her research to seek out Cross, the mathematical genius who is a partner in London’s most exclusive gambling establishment. The man has a very curated reputation for wickedness both in and out of the bedroom, so he seems the perfect candidate to give Pippa all the knowledge she seeks. When he hears Pippa’s bold request, Cross is tempted to give her exactly what she’s asking for, but he is much more than his scandalous façade would suggest and it will take all of his considerable willpower to resist giving Pippa much more than either of them expected.
After how much I loved the first book in this series I had super high hopes for this one and maybe that’s why I found it to be disappointing. Perhaps I would’ve liked it more if I hadn’t gone in with such high expectations. Unfortunately, that was not the case here because even though I adored this premise of the bluestocking with the dangerous gaming den owner, it just didn’t turn out to be what I was hoping for. To be such an erudite heroine, Pippa often did and said such nonsensical things that she came off frustratingly tstl. She was constantly popping up where she shouldn’t be without exercising a lick of caution and then puzzled when Jasper was frustrated with her. He was trying so hard to be honorable and good and she just wouldn’t leave him be no matter how many times he told her to, which I’m of course glad she didn’t else we’d have no romance story, but the frequent rejection definitely made things feel one sided and did a number on the chemistry. Without that spark it just felt like Pippa insinuated herself into Jasper’s life where she was never invited and then got angry with him for not telling her every detail about himself. She berated him for lying because he withheld things from her, taking the moral high ground on honesty when she had zero reason to expect anything from him.
For his part, I felt that Jasper gave up way too easily and the approach taken on the villain in this story was just annoying to me for some reason. The villain was definitely clever, but that dynamic just made me want more of Jasper’s backstory earlier and made me frustrated by how easily he was manipulated. This was a double-edged sword for me because Jasper was being manipulated like putty in this villain’s hands and the supposedly brilliant Pippa somehow could not see this. The reasons for Jasper and Pippa not to be together seemed very feeble and his insistence that he was not good enough for her went on so long as to be annoyingly repetitive. I think I would’ve found it much more romantic had Jasper listened to Pippa and what she wanted, especially after her grand gesture, which was admittedly quite brilliant, rather than continuing to try to high-handedly do what he thought best for her. That said, he did come through with a good spot of romance in the end, but it was a bit too little too late to boost my enjoyment of the story up to where I’d hoped it would’ve been all along. I did love the fact that Pippa and Jasper made such an odd couple and that beneath his gruff exterior, he’s just a hurting man desperate for love and acceptance. It definitely felt like that aspect of their connection needed to be explored more, especially since I felt the chemistry between them had suffered. I also think some things were left undone with regards to his sister and since she was so full of vitriol towards him, I would’ve loved to have seen some steps toward healing there. Overall, this was a fine story, but I think Jasper had a lot more potential as a character and that wasn’t fully realized enough for this story to live up to my expectations.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/140082668
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4270334940
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