Chasing a Rogue

Harriet Nash is a desperate lady. Still unwed after several years of being out in society, Harriet is feeling the pressure to either marry or return to country where the matrimonial prospects are dismal at best. However, being neither an heiress nor a great beauty, she has long been overlooked by most of the ton's bachelors. Given her desire for a true love match and the fact that time is running out, Harriet knows that it will take a miracle to find the right man. A miracle that happens the night she claps eyes on the newly returned Steven Morris, the Earl of Heath. Steven Morris is in trouble. Big trouble. He's just found out that due to covering his mother's debts, he is now practically bankrupt. The only way to save his patrimony is to marry an heiress. Enlisting the help of his friend Royce, the pair decides to go on a "hunt" for a proper wife. But having barely begun his mission, Steven finds himself attracted to the wrong woman. There's something special about Harriet Nash but, alas, she doesn't have the kind of dowry that can save him from debtor's prison. What this earl doesn't realize is that he's just met his match. In this spin-off to last year's A MERRY CHASE, Victoria Malvey brings back Laurel and Royce Van Cleef and pairs their best friends with each other. Harriet and Steven's story is a classic tale of the battle of the sexes. Taking a page from the original story, Steven has set up a wife hunt, but he doesn't count on Harriet taking the very same game plan and modifying it with a fiendishly feminine twist. Add in her clever idea of joining forces with him, supposedly to rehabilitate his reputation and teach her how to flirt with men, and one can practically hear the rod reel this hero in. Eating asparagus was never this much fun. TheSchemer

Despite a few flaws--mostly pertaining to compromising situations, as though both, especially the heroine, would not be more cautious of her reputation--this book is a delight to read. Witty, warm, and engrossing. The lead characters are fun and suffer none of that annoying tendency to be ridiculously obtuse. They have misunderstandings, but both are smart, thoughtful people who can figure things out well enough that they don't spend most of the book blindly stumbling about with wrong perceptions.Although the resolution of the mysterious financial matters is not completely believeable, the romance is beautifully written and brimming with passion and respect. Harriet is stupidly stubborn at one point, but it allows Steven to play out an interesting proposal scene. Their interplay is lively, sensuous, and loving. No deep heaartache here, just a heart-warming, feel-good romance that hits the right notes and leaves the reader is a great mood.

In 1817, Harriet Nash decides she wants Steven Morris as her husband so she decides to go after him treating him like a dog chasing after her, the fox. Steven wants Harriet also, but he needs money to climb out of severe debt caused by his mother when she met with a series of "accidents" while traveling the continent. Steven knows he needs an heiress.Harriet persuades Steven to teach her how to "flirt" so she can go after a rake. In their tryst, both get carried away and they make love. He plans to marry her as more than just the honorable thing to do but even his best friend Royce is unable to help with the debt because his money has been challenged in court and frozen by a MacWilliams. This is the same person who bought up all of Steven's promissory notes and may have caused his mother's accidents. If he is to wed for love, Steven must learn why MacWilliams wants to destroy him.CHASING A ROGUE is an enjoyable Regency romance that actually explains why the hero needs to wed an heiress as opposed to marrying for love. Though the reason behind the accidents seems very weak, sub-genre readers will delight in the antics of the lead couple, especially Harriet's campaign tactics. The return of characters from A MERRY CHASE will send the audience seeking that novel and other works by Victoria Malvey.Harriet Klausner