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melissad75 's review for:
Dearest Rogue
by Elizabeth Hoyt
I liked this one a lot! The heroine, Lady Phoebe Batten, is the younger sister of the Duke of Wakefield and Lady Hero Reading, both of whom had their own books earlier in the series. All along, we've seen as Phoebe gradually lost her eyesight, and by the time of this book she's completely blind. Her overprotective brother has assigned a former dragoon captain, James Travillion, to be her bodyguard. Travillion was also a minor character in previous books, having led the hunt for the Ghost of St. Giles until an injury crippled his leg and forced him to retire from the army.
Phoebe is a sweet girl and gets along with everyone -- everyone except her ever-present guard, that is. He seems like the embodiment of all her frustrations with the circumscribed life forced on her by her blindness and by her brother's reaction it. To her Travillion seems humorless, dour, stuffy, and controlling, and she finds him irritating.
In truth, beneath his serious, world-weary and cynical exterior, Travillion has fallen for the pretty charge twelve years his junior, and his stiff, controlled manner hides both his affection for her and his passion to keep her safe from harm no matter what. He's smitten with her, but she literally can't see what's on his face when he's with her. His voice and his manner certainly seem to be nothing but curt and businesslike.
When Phoebe becomes the victim of a kidnapping plot, Travillion takes matters into his own hands and spirits her away to safety at his family's horse breeding farm in Cornwall, in spite of the fact that he hasn't been there in many years and has reasons for having stayed away. As they travel together and then settle for a short time at the farm, Phoebe gets to know the man beneath the gruff exterior, and Travillion finds he can't keep a professional distance from her after all.
I really enjoyed the whole premise of this story. Travillion is one of my favorite of the Maiden Lane heroes. He's honorable and stoic with hidden emotional depths. I love how dedicated he is to keeping Phoebe safe, and yet he's one of the few people who treats her as an adult woman with a mind of her own, instead of an invalid who needs to be taken care of like a child. And he's the one who finally understands Phoebe's need to have some freedom and autonomy, even if it means she might sometimes stumble and be hurt - physically or emotionally.
Phoebe herself has been such an endearing character all through the Maiden Lane series, and I grew to like her even more in this book. She's kind, intelligent, and deals with her disability pretty matter-of-factly. She's not a figure of pathos at all. Yes, it's a shame that she can't see and sometimes she regrets that, but she doesn't feel sorry for herself and she doesn't want other people to do so either.
I enjoyed the part of the story set in Cornwall and getting to know Travillion's family background. Hoyt is really good at making even small characters very real and worth caring about.
The villain of this book is Valentine Napier of [b:Duke of Sin|26804433|Duke of Sin (Maiden Lane, #10)|Elizabeth Hoyt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1464745704s/26804433.jpg|46829059] fame, and he was definitely more villainous -- and seemingly nuts -- in this book than he was in [b:Darling Beast|19271097|Darling Beast (Maiden Lane, #7)|Elizabeth Hoyt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392183319s/19271097.jpg|27318281]. Val's sister Eve also played a part in the story and I enjoyed her introduction into the series.
All in all, one of my favorite Maiden Lane novels! It all worked for me.
Phoebe is a sweet girl and gets along with everyone -- everyone except her ever-present guard, that is. He seems like the embodiment of all her frustrations with the circumscribed life forced on her by her blindness and by her brother's reaction it. To her Travillion seems humorless, dour, stuffy, and controlling, and she finds him irritating.
In truth, beneath his serious, world-weary and cynical exterior, Travillion has fallen for the pretty charge twelve years his junior, and his stiff, controlled manner hides both his affection for her and his passion to keep her safe from harm no matter what. He's smitten with her, but she literally can't see what's on his face when he's with her. His voice and his manner certainly seem to be nothing but curt and businesslike.
When Phoebe becomes the victim of a kidnapping plot, Travillion takes matters into his own hands and spirits her away to safety at his family's horse breeding farm in Cornwall, in spite of the fact that he hasn't been there in many years and has reasons for having stayed away. As they travel together and then settle for a short time at the farm, Phoebe gets to know the man beneath the gruff exterior, and Travillion finds he can't keep a professional distance from her after all.
I really enjoyed the whole premise of this story. Travillion is one of my favorite of the Maiden Lane heroes. He's honorable and stoic with hidden emotional depths. I love how dedicated he is to keeping Phoebe safe, and yet he's one of the few people who treats her as an adult woman with a mind of her own, instead of an invalid who needs to be taken care of like a child. And he's the one who finally understands Phoebe's need to have some freedom and autonomy, even if it means she might sometimes stumble and be hurt - physically or emotionally.
Phoebe herself has been such an endearing character all through the Maiden Lane series, and I grew to like her even more in this book. She's kind, intelligent, and deals with her disability pretty matter-of-factly. She's not a figure of pathos at all. Yes, it's a shame that she can't see and sometimes she regrets that, but she doesn't feel sorry for herself and she doesn't want other people to do so either.
I enjoyed the part of the story set in Cornwall and getting to know Travillion's family background. Hoyt is really good at making even small characters very real and worth caring about.
The villain of this book is Valentine Napier of [b:Duke of Sin|26804433|Duke of Sin (Maiden Lane, #10)|Elizabeth Hoyt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1464745704s/26804433.jpg|46829059] fame, and he was definitely more villainous -- and seemingly nuts -- in this book than he was in [b:Darling Beast|19271097|Darling Beast (Maiden Lane, #7)|Elizabeth Hoyt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392183319s/19271097.jpg|27318281]. Val's sister Eve also played a part in the story and I enjoyed her introduction into the series.
All in all, one of my favorite Maiden Lane novels! It all worked for me.