The Rogue: The Rogues of Ravensmuir (Volume 1)

A historical fiction that tells the tale of a young maiden who impulsively marries a laird the day that she meets him. As the story goes on to tell the reader of her tale when after on weeks she decides her husband is not the man she thought he was and goes on to make a life for her and her family. But what happened when after 5 years the wayward husband tracks the maiden down? I did not want to put this book down. It is definitely a must read for historical romance fans.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

In 1371, Merlyn Lammergeir goes to see his estranged wife Ysabella, but she rejects him as she has done for the past five years since she learned he peddled religious relics. Ysabella works extremely hard as an ale maker to provide food and shelter for her sister and brother. The next day she finds out that her spouse died and she inherited his estate Ravensmuir. She moves into the hold.

That night she dreams of making love with Merlyn only to awaken in the morning and know he still lives as her dream was real. When she confronts him, he admits he faked his death because he was framed for murder. Merlyn believes that Ysabella will uncover the culprit and so set in motion his plan by giving her the property. Unbeknownst to Ysabella is that Merlyn has a second objective to reconcile with his spouse.

THE ROGUE is an exciting historical romance that lives up to its title through the dynamic charming Merlyn. Ysabella is a fine lead character, but at times one must wonder about the cost of her obstinacy on her relatives so that she can comply with her so-called values. The intrigue is cleverly handled so that the audience receives a wonderful fourteenth century tale as expected from the gifted Claire Delacroix.
Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed this book. It was well written, sexy and suspenseful. This story was a medieval romance with a heroine who is a villager and a lord of the manor who falls in love with her. They marry and spend two weeks together, then she leaves him. Five years later he comes back to ask for her help. It includes a mystery and I couldn't put it down while I tried to figure out what was going on. I look forward to reading the rest of this series. Copy gifted by the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Ysabelle and Merlyn's story was a well written story, it just did not motivate me to want to read it. Done in an overblown gothic feel (which I didn't mind too much), I never really engaged my emotions while reading this story. The beginning of this book, written in Ysabelle's POV, kept emphasizing the fact that Merlyn was a cheat and a liar. Ysabelle did such a good job maligning our hero, that I never fully came to like him, even after everything was explained. Also, because the POV in which this book was written, Merlyn comes across as so completely mysterious, that I never felt like I got to know him.
There also seemed to be some glaring inconsistencies in the plot. Some of these were explained to a limited extent in the end, but they did not ring true to me. Without giving away too many spoilers to the story, Ysabelle relates the story as a peasant girl growing up in a village devastated by plague and war. No one seems to remember much of their over lords or what it means to live in a feudal society, and everyone else on the outside seems to have forgotten this area of Scotland. The reader sees that this is not true in the end, and that there are "outsiders" who care about this area, but this interest seems contrived to me, to make sure the plot continues. I guess if Ms. Delacroix was trying to show a lawless, dark time, filled with uncertainty or I would even call it apathy, then she succeeded. I just was not comfortable with the climate/atmosphere she built.
I know that I am now getting nit-picky, but the name of Meryln also bothered me. It was explained in this book that his surname was a predatory bird. Although spelled differently, why was his first name also related to a predatory bird? It seemed a bit redundant to me. Overall, I am giving this book 3 stars because I thought the quality of the writing very good; I just could not get into the story itself to enjoy the writing.

I got halfway through and couldn't read anymore. I didn't like either of the main characters and found little to redeem either them or the story enough to encourage me to complete the book. I have read romance for over 30 years and have never been compelled to write a review...my negative reaction to this one was strong enough to make me write a review. Gave it 3 stars because I do respect the author's work in general.

“Copy gifted by the Publisher in exchange for an honest review”
Ysabella of Kinfairlie has run from the man that she has married believing lies.
Merlyn of Lammergeier has come in search of his wife to help him.
When Ysabelle is told that Merlyn has been murdered, she sets out to find who did it.
Merlyn fakes his own death in order to get Ysabelle help. Will love win or lies.

I haven't read any romantic mystery books. This is the first for me and it has I inspired me to read more. I loved this book. I will admit that I didn't like Merlyn at all in the beginning but he slowly won me over. The story was so very intriguing that I couldn't put it down. The ending took me completely by surprise and left me saying Wow! Just wow! I highly recommend this book!!!!!?????

I usually enjoy Claire Delacroix's historical romances, with or without the supernatural element. "The Rogue" veered too far into gothic territory for my taste, however. I wish I had read the author's afterward first, before purchasing this particular title, because she clearly warns the (developing) Ravensmuir series will showcase her approach to "neo-gothic romance."
To me, this read like a bad melodrama. The characters, in spite of their frequent protestations against it, persisted in behavior inconsistent with their own description of their characters. Early on I lost any interest in who was lying about what, and when, for whatever reasons. If this were a movie, almost every development in the plot would be accompanied by weeping strings or threatening music. With so much angst and foreshadowing, all the unknowns supposedly contributing to the suspense were easily discerned far before the ending.
I think even diehard gothic romance fans will find this an unsatisfying offering. And if you actually prefer her writing as Claire Cross (I do), give this one a miss.

Excellent book. I read this when I bought the boxed series. There are so many so called historical romance books that I start to read and just delete. Ms. Delacroix is not in that category. She is one of the few writers that I look forward to reading. Her books give me pleasure, I never have to trudge through and skip pages, wishing for the end. I really loved this book. True love story. Go ahead and get it.

I really enjoyed The Rogue. The heroine, Ysabella was feisty and very well executed. Merlyn was a great match for her. Secondary characters were well thought out and I enjoyed their arcs. The book was filled with twists and turns right up until the very end. I look forward to reading more from this series.

“Copy gifted by the Publisher in exchange for an honest review”

I was hooked right from the first page. Claire Delacroix has an amazing writing style. This is my first book of hers and I can't wait to start the next in the trilogy. The chemistry between the H/h was perfect and the dialogue was quick and witty. Talk about a strong heroine! Merlyn was dark, mysterious and wonderful. I absolutely loved the way this book flowed. Wonderful!

this author knows how to write a great romance novel with a nice bit of intrigue and mystery thrown in for good measure. really unusual plotline, great characters, nice twist at the end.....really a great read. hopefully her other books are just as good, since i just downloaded them all:)

Ysabella left her husband 5 years earlier because he lied. Her husband dies and she's inherits Ravensmuir. The story kept me interested because I needed to find out who the "murderer" was.
A copy of the book was gifted to me by the publisher in an exchange for an honest review.

The attention to detail is wonderful! Well written and highly stimulating to a visual imagination. Couldn't resist picking up the rest of the series to read

Copy gifted by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. Ysabella and Merlyn captured me and held me in their world. Delacroix's 1st person was so masterfully written that I knew the other characters as well as I did Ysabella. Well done, Claire.

The attention to detail is wonderful! Well written and highly stimulating to a visual imagination. Couldn't resist picking up the rest of the series to read

Copy gifted by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. Ysabella and Merlyn captured me and held me in their world. Delacroix's 1st person was so masterfully written that I knew the other characters as well as I did Ysabella. Well done, Claire.