A Rogue by Any Other Name (Rules of Scoundrels) Paperback – Import, 28 Feb. 2012

Ten years ago, Michael Lawler, Marquess of Bourne, was left with nothing to his name except his title. Now a partner in London's most notorious gaming hell, Michael is a cold and ruthless man who will stop at nothing to get his revenge - even marrying Lady Penelope Marbury - his childhood friend for her dowry.Penelope was put firmly on the shelf when she was jilted and left for fortune hunters. She is determined to find adventure, passion and love. Luckily for her, Penelope dreams of finding all these things with her new husband, even if he's no longer the fun loving man she remembers.Bourne is determined to spare Penelope from the hard and unsavoury man he has become but he has no power to fight against the love that she will offer if he takes the greatest risk of all.--Sarah MacLean has been an auto buy for me ever since I read the wonderful Nine Rules... This story doesn't quite reach the same heights but I still loved it and definitely feel it's deserving of 5 stars.Michael is my favourite kind of hero - tortured, full of angst and feels undeserving of, while really in need of, the love of a good woman. I also just adored Penelope. She appeared briefly in Eleven Scandals... but this book starts a new series (the Rules of Scoundrels Quartet) so there's no need to have read any books to understand and enjoy this one. Penelope was feisty and fun while also being quite vulnerable and naive at times. She was someone that I really rooted for from beginning to end.The relationship between Michael and Penelope was filled with chemistry and passion. The letters that started off each chapter were a lovely addition and really built on the pair's past relationship. It was also easy to see the pair growing and falling in love which was a treat to read and kept me turning the pages at all hours.I'm looking forward to the other stories in the series and would recommend this book to you if you like a fun and interesting romance with great characters and good storytelling. 5 stars.

This book was a delightful treat, the type of book you want to curl up with as you a transported away. There’s a richness to this story that was unexpected, and which ensured I was engrossed.In this story MacLean gives us Michael, Marquees of Bourne, who in a night of gambling and betrayal at the age of 21 lost all, and gained a deep thirst for revenge and a drive to gain back all that he had lost. Then there is strong and intelligent Lady Penelope Marbury, Michael’s childhood friend but also someone he uses in his driving need for revenge. Watching the conflict and tension in Michael as his desire for Penelope and all she promised clashed with his longing for revenge was overall riveting, MacLean knows how to draw the reader in.This is an interesting book, written well, with MacLean taking the bones of a story we have seen before and creating a story with depth, and which has you rooting for Michael and Penelope, individually and as a couple.Looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

I enjoyed this book, the first in a series of four. I felt for Penelope the heroine in the story, who had been 'jilted' in her first season resulting in her 2 older sisters not making notable matches, and herself struggling to find someone she could settle down with. With her two younger sisters due to make their debut their mother was pushing her to marry, but she was reluctant to do so. Penny's dowry had been increased to include property which had belonged to her old male friend (Michael) who had lost everything including this property in a wager when he was a young man.. Since that time Michael had become hardened and a part owner in a 'gaming hell' all be it a high class establishment. He compromised Penny so that they had to marry and then planned his revenge on the man he lost his property to, he then planned on setting Penny 'free' but he hadn't planned on Penny being a strong and formidable female who 'shook' her husband up and 'thwarted' all his plans, heedless to say they gained their H.E.AI would thoroughly recommend this book.

Good quality characters,well written. Entertaining a bit slushy but likable characters. Needed a bit more starch to give the story a solid hero.

I loved this story... the romance between Michael and Penelope was great I didn't want to put it down....I do love this author and I always look out for her books..... but like most American authors they always seem to get the money for the period that they write about so wrong it was already mentioned that £35 was more money than some would see in their lifetime then starts talking in Hundreds of Thousands of pounds which in this day is huge amount of money it must have been in the millions in that period so please do a bit more research in to the money side of the period as well as all the rest please it's most off putting for your British readers

I really loved this book, the characters were great. The h&h were childhood best friends and the plot is interspersed with memories and past letters between them that made their love story very believable. On top of that when they meet again there is a strong sexual chemistry between the two. I was completely rooting for them the whole way through, even when the hero was behaving very badly. The story was original and fresh but still retaining what I love best about regency romances. Very good book, don't believe the doubters!

Loved everything about this book. Couldn't put it down, not even for sleep.The story gets going from the beginning, doesn't waste time, no over descriptions, just great

I liked the story, however I admit I skipped some pages because I was a little bored and somehow, when I began reading, after 2 hours, I’ve barely read 80 pages or so.I didn’t like Michael until the very last chapters, he was just so mean to Penelope since this was kind of a Hades/Persephone retelling. Anyway, I liked him a little bit more when he understood his wrong ways and realised how lucky he actually was of having Penelope’s love. In my opinion, he needed to grovel a little more.Penelope was amazing and definitely the tornado Michael needed to realise how much he was wasting his life on revenge. She was never the damsel in distress, in fact she was Michael’s hero.

I like it... Not really love it. It took time for the Hero to turn around and let go his stubbornness. Love the Heroine... My first book by the author. Her storytelling sets the tone for the series no doubt. Will read more of her books.

I know this is a romance novel and not a piece of literary art, but I still would expect some real tension in the story (that is not an effect of people refusing to talk to each other). The characters are not interesting at all. No depth to them and no development over time. The romance is utterly predictable and the sex scenes are not particularly hot. The women in this novel are such weaklings specifically the main female character. Don't waste your money or timw

So I have a new favorite author and its all thanks to a friend. I'm in charge of a big writing competition and one of the major deadlines were coming up, so I told her to name something fun for me to read. That I needed nothing that upped my stress level, just something to help me decompress at the end of the day.She recommended One Good Earl Deserves Another by Sarah MacLean which is one of her all time favorites books. However, I noticed that there was a book before it in the Rules of Scoundrels series and I have to read books in order so I picked up A Rogue by Any Other Name first.Let me just say... I lost a LOT of sleep because I couldn't put this book down.You have our heroine, Penelope, who is twenty-eight years old and unmarried because of a broken engagement from eight years ago which scandalized her. She's also turned down other engagements because the man who broke it off for her did so because he wished to marry the woman he loved. Penelope wants more out of life. More than being the proper lady who becomes the proper wife, more than a life in a loveless marriage, more adventure.When her father wins a particularly prime piece of real estate and attaches to Penelope's dowry, determined to get her married off, it looks like she'll get the adventure she's wanting.Our hero, Michael, Marquess of Bourne, lost his fortune at twenty-one in a game of chance and vowed revenge ever since. When his once childhood friend's father wins his land from the bastard who stole it from him and attaches it to her name, Michael kidnaps her with plans to ruin her and force her into marriage. He would have his inheritance back at any cost.It's been nine years and since then he's amassed his own fortune and runs one of the most legendary gaming hells in London. All with his eye on revenge.Penelope hasn't seen Michael in over nine years, since his ruination, but she's never stopped thinking about him. Always writing him letters, always putting flowers on his parents grave. When he shows up at her home one dark, cold night, she's happy to see him until she realizes just how much he's let his bitterness take over his life. This is not the boy she once knew.Knowing he is going to ruin her anyway, she strikes a deal. Michael insures that their scandalous marriage does not hamper her two younger sisters from making good matches on the marriage mart and she'd agree to marry him.When Michael agrees, he does not know what he's signing up for: A return to society, pretending to have made a love match, and a very tempting bride who wants adventures in his dark underworld.But they begin to wonder what part of the marriage is farce and what is true.This was a fabulous book that was almost painful to put down. When I did have to lay it aside and get work done, my mind was constantly one it. Well written, great tension, and just a fun read all around. Wonderful characters. I can't recommend this book enough.As I read each little snippet of letter at the beginning of each chapter, I would smile. They were one of my favorite parts. And I always got a sense that, even if Penelope didn't realize it, the reason she kept turning down for proposals was she was waiting for Michael.