Review: A Rogue by Night

A Rogue by Night by Kelly Bowen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've heard good things about Kelly Bowen's books many times before, and I wish I hadn't waited so long to read one. I loved "A Rogue by Night"! It was such a refreshingly different take on historical romance, featuring a heroine (Katherine) who was not a member of the nobility, and a hero (Harland) who was an aristocrat but also chose to become a doctor. Harland and his family were considered to be "peculiar" by Society, but they did whatever they wanted to do anyway, and I loved them for it.

I thought the smuggling plot in this story was very interesting. When smuggling has been featured in previous books I've read, it has always been painted in a negative light because of the criminals, like King, who tended to get involved in it. It was very interesting to consider the motives of people like Katherine's family, who only turned to smuggling out of desperation and a need to support their families. They really had no other choice, especially in the wake of the Napoleonic wars when so many veterans returned home and there weren't enough jobs for all of them. They just did what they had to do to survive, despite the potential dangers.

I enjoyed how Katherine and Harland's relationship unfolded as well. They both had a lot of baggage from their previous relationships, but they managed to overcome it together. Harland stood up for Katherine when necessary, such as the times when he made others acknowledge that her medical skills were equal to his own, but he also let her have her independence. I appreciated that he didn't try to badger her into a relationship, but instead let her take the lead.

This book stood very well on its own, but I do plan to go back and read the first two books in this trilogy. I really enjoyed Ms. Bowen's writing style and look forward to checking out more of her work in the future.

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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