An Honorable Rogue by Carol Townend

I'm not usually a big fan of the "road romance". Often, road romances feel more like a series of episodes rather than a story, and they often have a lot of external "stuff" going on. But in this case, the road section was the best part of the book - it was only when the journey ended that the book ran into problems.

An Honorable Rogue by Carol Townend (HH 229)
(2008, Medieval) 8/19/08
Grade: 3.5

Rose Kerber is determined to go to England, despite the political turmoil of 1067. After an unhappy marriage, she has the chance to marry a knight who can give her the stability she crave. But why does she have such warm feelings for childhood friend Ben Silvester, a flirtatious minstrel? She may need him on her journey, but she must resist his kisses...

It was interesting to read a medieval that, for the most part, wasn’t set among lords and castles. Rose and Ben were ordinary people - a seamstress and a minstrel - and it was fascinating to see the medieval world from a different perspective. I also enjoyed these two characters - Ben was very attractive, the rogue with a heart, and I also liked practical Rose. I’m not a huge fan of road romances, but this one worked fairly well. However, even though the initial attraction between Ben and Rose worked well, I felt that the book took a long time getting started, and then kind of fizzled out at the end. The fun chemistry between the hero and heroine got lost in the last few chapters, so that the author could deal with all the plot points that needed to be wrapped up. I ended up a little bit disappointed.

Even though this wasn't the best book, I'm grateful, as always, to Harlequin Historicals, for publishing books that might not be flashy enough or trendy enough to be published as single titles.