Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Rogues of the Road #1
Publication Date: 2/22/21
Number of Pages: 209

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting George and Jane and following their journey toward their HEA – not to mention the entertaining internal dialogue each of them carried on within themselves. The story is well-written, well developed, and the characters were interesting – though I still haven’t come to understand why this group of men decided to travel on the illicit side of life. That still didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story.

The Honorable George Hawkins is quite a contradiction. He is the son of one of the most powerful men in the judiciary and he is also a master thief. He just couldn’t reconcile himself into a life as a member of the judiciary as his father wished – nor could he become clergy, etc. He’d always loved the thrill of the lie, the chase of the treasure, the planning and flawless execution of the theft, so that became his profession. Though now, he is becoming a bit jaded with that life and would love to make a big enough score to give up the life and become a law-abiding citizen – one of whom his father can be proud. He’s even more rattled when he nearly gets caught during a theft. That really brings home the precariousness of his position – he could very easily end up in the hangman’s noose. Just one more job – something big – something that would allow him to ‘retire’. He knows he’s found it when he sees the advertisement for an exhibit from the Ottoman Empire curated by one J. Scott, Esq.

Jane Scott has had quite an interesting and lively life. Her father was an antiquities expert and they lived in a number of other countries, but mostly within the Ottoman Empire. Jane worked a lot with her father and has been asked to oversee an exhibit in the Ottoman embassy in London. Jane meets a very handsome and interesting man during one of the showings – and he shows a pronounced interest – but she doesn’t trust him at all.

It was entertaining to watch George’s nefarious plans to steal from the exhibit frustrate him to no end while the lady in charge of it intrigued him more and more. Can George have it all? Can he steal from the exhibit, leave crime behind, and still get the girl? OMGoodness – George certainly has his work cut out for him.

I enjoyed this read and I hope you will as well. I will definitely be looking forward to the next book in the series, The Rogue and the Jewel.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.