The Scandal of It All: The Rogue Files

“Bodice-ripping” romances can be one of two things: fun or a bit of a bore. Thankfully, this one falls more into the fun category. It takes place in Victorian England. The Duchess of Autenberry is a widow, alone in a large house with one child and a couple of step-children from a husband who did not truly love her. And on top of that, she is from a foreign land, Spain, so she stands out, and not in the good way, in the well-heeled parts of London. After much nagging from a friend, she goes to Sodom, a place of debauchery and sin, to finally open up to men. She meets Lord Strickland, who happens to be best friends with her step-son. And if her step-son finds out, it would be scandalous around town and would ruin reputations. But the much younger Lord Strickland has fallen for Duchess Autenberry and will not take her negative responses for an answer. While thoroughly predictable in how it will end, Sophie Jordan does a good job keeping the reader entertained, not only in the romantic scenes between Autenberry and Strickland but also in the conflict that she feels.