Now, Julie was definitely not my favourite kind of heroine. Indeed, I would say that she often seems quite capricious, sometimes naive and also unselessly virtous (I mean in general, not in the love story).
Moreover, the reason why I could not really love the story is that I honestly could not appreciate the romantic plot, and its developments, between the protagonists. In fact, I have unfortunately been pretty untouched by it.

Even more, I enjoyed the previous novels well enough, but where the heck were the heroine's sisters in all this mess??? I am pretty sure that it would have been noticeable, at least to such emotionally close family members, if a problematic economic situation was presenting itself. Like it is described in this instance.

So, in the end, my two and half stars go to the villain; who despite what it seems to be the general thought here, I liked; not because I found him to be a nice person obviously, quite the contrary. I found him to be a 100% bad guy and not one of those that at some point, despite being described as the cruelest, ends up being a person with all the reasons to act wicked. Sometimes a bad person is 'naturally' bad.

Nevertheless, I can understand why some readers might like it, it is well written and cohesive, not necessarily objectively a boring or bad story.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the final instalment of the Wayward Wallflowers series. It can be read as a stand-alone. This book focuses on the youngest Lacey sister, Juliette. Juliette spends her time looking after her eccentric uncle now that her two sisters are married. Her uncle hopes Juliette will marry but Juliette is ashamed that she was duped by a handsome Marquess into a scandalous kiss.

Samuel Travis is an unrepentant rake. Recently returned from the continent Sam is back to his old escapades. After one eventful night, his brother has had enough. Sam is given one task to get back into his brother’s good graces. Evict an elderly man their late father allowed to live in one of his properties.

Juliette is shocked when Sam turns up on her doorstep demanding she and her uncle leave. Devising a plan to stay, Sam poses as her uncle’s research assistant while Juliette tries to find a way to stay. Complicating matters, Juliette’s Marquess is Sam’s older brother and while he presents himself to society as an honourable gentleman, he has quite a nefarious scheme at play.

I didn’t enjoy this book. Juliette to me was naive and easily led. Everything could have been averted if she just wrote to her two powerful brothers in law. While I did like the character of Sam I felt his progress from rake to reliable was too quick and easy. The Marquess was horrible and he is never held accountable for his misdeeds. The entire plot just seemed implausible and contrived. Uncle Alistair is by far my favourite character, he added quite a lot of humour and heart to a story which otherwise would have been quite dull.

I absolutely loved this book. I could not put it down! It's sexy and funny! Must read

Disclaimer: Much of the plot line of The Rogue is Back in Town, book three in the Wayward Wallflower series by Anna Bennett, ignores the societal rules and mores of the Regency Era. If you can suspend your sense of logic and accept the characters' actions, no matter how ridiculous, then you'll enjoy the author's breezy style. If you're a stickler for accuracy, skip this series.

The little bit we've seen of Juliette Lacey in the first two books of the series has shown us a spoiled little sister allowed to blurt out inappropriate comments including references to sexual activities. Due to her unrestrained behavior, it shouldn't be surprising that the youngest of the Lacey sisters would be the most passionate.

At the masquerade ball held by Alexander Savage, the Duke of Blackshire, in I Dared the Duke, Julie had a tryst with Nigel Travis, the Marquess of Currington, whose kisses turned her mind towards romance. Yet afterwards the gentleman remained scarce, neither calling or sending a message to the besotted girl.

Disturbed that her inappropriate behavior might reflect badly on her family, imagine Julie's surprise when a disheveled Samuel Travis, with similar looks and build to his handsome brother Nigel, turns up at her door. Her reaction turns to horror when Sam nonchalantly requests her eviction from the place her Uncle Alister, Lord Wltmore, has called home for the past forty years. Seems Nigel has discovered the tumbledown townhouse is a part of his recently inherited estate and he'd like it back. Of course the headstrong girl refuses to leave until she is provided with proof, but the desperate Sam must stay put until he completes the assigned task. After some negotiation, Julie agrees to let Sam remain (hidden from outside eyes) posing as a research assistant to her Uncle.

Sam's resemblance to her crush Nigel evokes Julie's sensuality and the electric attraction between the two housemates soon results in an inappropriate liaison. While the scandalous Sam is prone to over indulge in drinking, gambling, and wenching, the true scoundrel is Lord Travis who has a hidden agenda which defies the outward gentlemanly manner presented to society.

Foolishly, the headstrong, independent Juliette tries to resolve this crisis without disturbing either sister (or their well connected husbands). To complicate matters, her attraction to Sam turns steamy with the two lovers having difficulty keeping their hands off each other. Perhaps Julie is responding to Sam's vulnerability or his innate desire to be respected. Uncle Alister has a positive influence on his new assistant and the two develop a heartwarming bond. Determined to find a purpose in life, Sam strikes out on his own. He truly loves Julie and is resigned to accept her choices, hoping that if he can prove himself worthy she'll choose him. Of course, events spin out of control and someone needs to play the hero.

One wonders whether the randiness of the three Lacey sisters is due to the untimely death of their parents, or perhaps for the ridicule they previously experienced as the Wilting Wallflowers. Either way, each was easy to seduce, succumbing to their lusty nature almost instantly after meeting their perspective paramours. Samuel, known for his prowess in the bedroom, is a worthy partner for the amorous Juliette. Definitely steamy!

Three and a half stars and a thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lord Samuel Travis has been on the continent trying to deal with his father’s death the only way he knows how – get drunk constantly and bed women. That didn’t exactly work but he’s now back in London and not doing a whole lot better. His older brother, Nigel, has had enough of Sam’s antics and kicks him out of the house. In order to get back into his brother’s good graces he must kick people out of a town home that apparently belongs to the estate. Sam’s determined to do this right except when he gets to the house he finds not only an old man but his young, beautiful and fierce niece.

Juliette Lacey has been taking care of her aging uncle for years but now that her two sisters have married and moved out she’s the only one there to keep him on the straight and narrow. When Samuel Travis shows up and demands they move NOW Juliette puts her foot down. She knows that the house belongs to her uncle she just needs time to prove it. In the meantime, she’s dealing with Sam’s brother Nigel who is trying to blackmail her into being his mistress by holding the house over her head. Yeah, he’s a real bastard.

Sam agrees to stay in the house so that Juliette can look for the deed to the townhouse but the more time he spends with Juliette and her uncle Alistair, and the no time drinking, he sees the type of man he could be. One who’s not only cut out to be a lazy sod, but someone who can make his own way and be someone that Juliette could be proud of, if she’ll have him.

I can’t say that this was a love at first sight story, but it was pretty darned close. That was love for Samuel at first sight. For Juliette it was pretty much loathing at first sight. Sure, she thought he was attractive but the minute she found out what he was there for she put her guard up. Of course Samuel eventually wooed her into his bed but that was actually ok in my book. I was just happy that it kept Juliette away from the evil brother, Nigel.

The story moved quickly in all ways. I thought that some of it could have been slowed down a bit (the romance) as it would have given us time to truly get involved in the characters and the feelings they started to share. That didn’t happen however, so I dealt with it. :) Overall it was a good book with a cute story.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

This will post as a guest review on Book Binge.
http://bookbinge.com/

Wonderful story! Liked the romance - will be looking for more by this author!

What’s it About? Charming, seductive, and wholly irresponsible Lord Samuel Travis is not only back in London but he's back to causing his older brother Nigel headache after headache until Sam causes one problem too many and is given an ultimatum: Take possession of a town house. It sounds simple enough until Sam arrives at the town house and finds it occupied by an old man and his enchanting niece. Juliette Lacey has lived in the town house almost all her life and when Sam arrives determined to kick her and her uncle out she becomes even more determined to stay. As much as they bicker, Sam and Juliette can't help but become more and more attracted to each other. The problem is that Julie once shared a kiss with Sam's brother Nigel and now she's caught between two men who each want her for different reasons.




Overall reaction to the story? Anna Bennett's charm and wit is on full display in The Rogue is Back in Town! The final Lacey sister gets her happy ending with the least likely man she could have imagined. The plot was fun and easy to follow along and I enjoyed playing catch up with Juliette's sisters as well as their offbeat but lovable uncle. The conflict wasn't something too difficult though it did create what I thought was unnecessary drama on Juliette's part. Overall though I really enjoyed this book and was a bit sad to say goodbye to the Lacey sisters.



Describe the hero in five words: Irresponsible. Charming. Smart. Caring. Irresistible.

Did you like him? Yes.

Why? For all his rakish ways, Sam is a good guy, he just doesn't feel he has a real purpose in his life. He's a second son with no legacy from his father, and dependent on his elder brother for an income and home. Sam had a lot of charisma that definitely made me see why women just went nuts over him but he also had this tender heart that just wanted to find someone who saw more in him than just a rake. My favorite thing about him though was how aware he was of his emotions, as he started falling for Juliette he recognized it, and faced them, hoping she could somehow find a way to care for him like he was starting to care for her. His one failing though was that he wasn't willing to really fight for Juliette's affections, it was like he just sat there, waiting and hoping she'd recognize that she loved him instead of stepping up and doing everything he could to show her that he could and would protect her.




Describe the heroine in five words: Naive. Kind. Loyal. Stubborn. Proud.

Did you like her? For the most part.

Why? Juliette has the Lacey stubborness that made her stand her ground with Sam even though he made her nervous. She has such a fierce loyalty to her family, particularly her uncle that I liked. At times she could be terribly naive and proud, two traits that made her problem much bigger than it needed to be and could have landed her in some very serious trouble. I thought that was a little silly (Or stupid if you want to be blunt) of her not to see that possible outcome in advance given how smart she normally was. That said, she wasn't a bad character, just naive and proud to the point of recklessness.


Let’s talk about the romance: Sam and Juliette's relationship was so lovely, it wasn't just passionate and romantic, it was entertaining too. As these two tried to "out stubborn" each other they unknowingly began a friendship built on affection, admiration, and an understanding of the difficulties the other had faced. Sam's plan to move into Juliette's home totally backfired as he started to realize that she was someone he wanted to be worthy of. The way these two fell in love was straight up, no deception, no denials. Sam recognized that he was falling for Juliette and instead of lying to himself he acknowledged it and wanted to keep going forward in hopes that she would fall for him too. Surprisingly that made a big difference in how the romance felt in this book. I felt it gave Sam and Juliette's romance a softer side to go with the passion and chemistry they had, making it more tangible.


How about that supporting cast? Catching up with the two elder Lacey sisters was delightful as I loved them to bits but I really enjoyed the moments with their uncle who doesn't always use the right words when he's speaking. He's adorable and it is so clear that he loves his nieces more than anything in life. I pictured this old man with spectacles, rumpled clothes, and an affectionate gaze. He is definitely the heart of the series.



Click It or Skip It? Click it. Sam and Juliette are a wonderful couple and Anna Bennett is an author that shouldn't be missed.

Charming! ____ 3.5 stars

A young woman moonlight kiss in the garden during a ball is just the beginning. Contrary to Miss Juliette Lacey's expectations, the erstwhile respectable Duke Nigel (the worm!) does not come a wooing. Instead he sends his rogue of a brother, Lord Samuel Travis, to evict her and her uncle from their home. The relationship between Nigel and Sam is really a key to Sam's behaviour.
Entranced by Juliette, the rogue in Sam finds himself wanting Juliette, but the suppressed Sam wants a chance to change his path. There are some deliciously wicked moments and some humorous ones. Uncle Alistair is a wonderful character. He won my heart with his platypus exchange with a hide bound member of the Royal Society. (The science community did repudiate that such an animal could exist when it was first reported.) Uncle's investigations of the Thames River are also a rather stunning inclusion. A man ahead of his times!
So we have the respectable yet devious brother, the reckless rake seeking to reform and the redoubtable young woman who wants so much more.
The Lacey sisters do indeed have a way with them. Juliette's story is bravely done.

A NetGalley ARC

This is the final installment of the Wayward Wallflowers series. However, it can definitely be read as a stand alone historical romance. Julie is the youngest and the only one of the sisters not yet married. But she is content taking care of her eccentric uncle. Or at least she is until, Samuel comes to evict them from her childhood home. Now she wants not only to keep her home, protect her uncle, and maybe keep Sam, the infamous rogue for herself as well. This was an enjoyable romance that shows that people are not always as they appear to be. When in fact, the rogue might be more of a gentleman than the man trying to pass himself off as a gentleman. I only wished that the "gentleman" was revealed for the man he really was.to society.

The last of the Wayward Wallflower sisters, Miss Juliette Lacey, is content in her life. Her sisters have found loving spouses while she looks after the Uncle who took them in after their parents died. While she would love find love as her sisters did, living with her kind Uncle and encouraging his scientific musing will have to be enough.

Sam Travis has returned to London with no purpose except for carousing and causing mayhem. His brother Nigel has enough and sends him to remove the tenants of one of his newly discovered properties; the tenants being Juliette and her Uncle. Meeting on the worst of terms, can this rogue and wallflower overcome the lies and deception of others and find love?

Perhaps because I loved the first two books in this series, my expectations were too high with this final installment The instant lust and and the acting upon it did not seem to go along with what was taking place in the story. Both characters were easily manipulated by a villain who barely ended up with a slap on the wrist. The timing was also either very slowly drawn out or so fast it made a connection between the hero and heroine hard to accept. Not on the same level of the two preceding books which I loved.

Entertaining historical read. Sam is the bad brother and is out to prove himself to his brother but Julie stands in the way of it. Forced to live with Julie and her Uncle until his brother Nigel can produce the deed to the house he becomes close with her Uncle and the chemistry between him and Julie sparks. I liked read, the banter between Sam and Julie is fun and the story is good although Julie doesn’t seem to be the brightest to me. Overall it is a good read.

London - 1818

Lord Samuel (Sam) Travis has been summoned to see his brother, Nigel, the Marquess of Currington. Sam is being put out of his brother’s home and his funds are being cut off His days of being a lazy scoundrel have caught up with him. He is to live in a tumble down flat in London.

Miss Juliette (Julie) Lacey and her siblings were taken in by their aunt and uncle years ago after the loss of their parents. Now, their aunt has passed away leaving just their uncle, Lord Whitmore, and Julie provides care for him. Her two sisters are now married and Julie is the one sister left to care for her uncle. They were once known as the Wilting Wallflowers. Now, one sister is married to an earl and the other to a duke.

When Sam pounds on Julie’s door telling her that he is evicting her and reclaiming the house, she is shocked. She demands that he show proof of his claim and he agrees to ask his brother to provide it. In the meantime, he has no other place to stay so he insists that he has to move in with them since his brother kicked him out. She reluctantly agrees to his demands. Thinking he has sweet-talked her into letting him stay, she turns the tables on him and lets him know he will have to work for his housing by being an assistant to her uncle.

Uncle Whitmore is becoming more and more confused and Julie is worried about him. He talks with his deceased wife whom he still adores. The home is cluttered with things he has collected that he feels could be worth something to the country. Therefore, Sam has been enlisted to help him sort through the mess and put it in some sort of order.

Nigel thinks that he can easily claim Julie as his own and tries to seduce her. This infuriates both Julie and Sam because the two of them have found a fondness for one another. Will it turn out that Julie and her uncle will have to leave their home? Will Julie and Sam have a future together?

This is a cute story but not one of my favorites by this author. While it seemed to drag a bit, I did enjoy the author’s signature humor with which she peppers her books. She created a really fun character in Uncle Whitmore.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Historical Romance . Third book in the series. I didn’t read book 1 or 2
Hero Is Sam. Heroine is Juliette.
Sam is a Rogue , a ladies man and all kinds of things that in today’s world is normal but back in Regency times. No way .
Sam comes in drunk after a night of gambling and drinking. Sam did an unthinkable while drunk . So his brother Nigel , the Marquee , gives him a task , evict a family from a townhouse in London .
Julie lives with her Uncle who is an unusual. Julie with her 2 sisters (book 1 and 2 ) have lived with her uncle since her parents passed .
When Juliet hears Sams demands she can’t believe it , this is the only home she and her uncle have known . She won’t leave she tells Sam and gives him her own demands .
Sam has to stay in the house so Sam starts to help with the Uncle cleaning up a study Room . Meanwhile Julie tries to find the Deed showing her uncle and his late wife own the house. Grab it and see what happens

This is book 3 in the Wayward Wallflower series. This is the story of Juliet and Sam. Juliet is the youngest of three sisters who is the only one remaining at home to help take care of her eccentric uncle. She has lived in this house since the day her aunt and uncle took in her and her sisters when her parents died.
Sam is the second son of a marquess and a rogue. Sam is a great disappointment to his brother because of his bad behavior. He is thrown out of the house and told not to come back until he is accomplished one task. He has to throw out the occupants of a suddenly found townhouse that is owned by his brother and reclaim it for their own.
As you can guess the house is where Juliet and her uncle live. But there is more to this story than a simple matter of boy meets girl and is attracted to the girl, which is all true. There is a devious, underhanded plot involved, with many twists and turns. It kept the story interesting and in the end have a very satisfying happily ever after.

Hide your daughters and your maiden aunts…Lord Samuel Travis is back.
―The London Hearsay, special society edition

Equal parts scoundrel and seducer, he’s returned to London determined to mend the rift with his older brother. All Sam must do is take possession of a tumbledown town house. A seemingly simple task, except the house is occupied—by an infuriating, whip-smart beauty who refuses to do his bidding.

Miss Juliette Lacey’s wallflower days are over. She has a plan to turn her eccentric family into the toast of the ton—but the devilishly handsome rake trying to oust them from their home thwarts her at every turn. How can one man be so vexing andmake her simmer with desire?

As her attraction to Sam deepens, Julie’s problems grow—she may have, once upon a time, secretly shared a kiss with his honorable older brother. Suddenly, Julie’s caught between a rogue and a marquess, between passion and respectability. Torn between two brothers, what’s a girl to do?

Review:

This is my first time reading this Author and obviously first book in the series I have read. I enjoyed both the story and the author's writing style. There is nothing new in this is historical romance, what makes it fun to read is its quirky characters and it has just enough of twist with the good brother really being the bad one and the rake it the good one at heart. Juliette and Sam are very likable characters and really liked the tension between them. The chemistry between them is quite obvious and the Author does a great job writing the intimate scenes. There are some predictable moments, but they never lessened my enjoyment of the book. Of course this is the third book and I have read them out of order, but it really is a self=contained story. There are mentions of Juliette's sisters and past events, but I was never lost or confused reading them out of order.

4Stars
*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy or this book provided by the publisher.*

4.5 Stars rounded up to 5 for the amazing romance!

The Rogue Is Back in Town was an enchanting romance between an unrepentant rogue and the heroine determined not to fall for his charms.

Lord Samuel Travis enjoys the pleasures life has to offer, but it appears he has finally gone too far as his brother has finally cut him off. In a bid to mend their relationship, Sam aims to take possession of a townhouse that belongs to his brother but is currently occupied. Believing this to be an easy task he sets out to complete it only to meet resistance from one of the occupants, Miss Juliette Lacey. Julie has finally figured out a way to elevate her eccentric family in the eyes of the ton when Sam shows up trying to remove them from their home. Despite being on opposing sides, Sam and Julie are soon fighting their attraction to each other while each trying to achieve their desired outcome.

Julie is incredibly close to her family and has always been the closest to her Uncle Alastair whom she is fiercely loyal to. Now that her uncle is getting older, his memory fails him at times and Julie feels like he’s slipping away. When having Sam around helps her uncle and makes him happy, Julie is ecstatic despite her jealousy that someone else is helping him and the real reason Sam is around. Julie is a very intelligent and clever woman and she devises some interesting ways to stall leaving the townhouse. She knows what’s truly important to her and knows her own worth.

Sam is a very charming and charismatic man who has never had to put forth any effort in life and so he has never tried. Society has always viewed him as the bad brother while his brother Nigel was seen as the respectable one, but despite their differences, Sam cares deeply for Nigel as he is the only family he has left. After arriving at the townhouse, Sam begins to help Uncle Alastair organize his research which he ends up finding really interesting which surprises him as he was a poor study in school and initially he had no interest in helping.

Julie and Sam have great chemistry right away with conversations full of excellent banter and a great enemies to more dynamic. In a nice twist, Sam is the first to admit to himself that he may be falling for Julie and he didn’t run from the feelings but rather tried to explore them. In meeting Julie, Sam has finally found someone who makes him want to be a better man and he grows immensely as a person from his first appearance. There is a bit of a jealousy plot to their romance as Julie previously secretly kissed his brother. The physical side to their relationship was excellent with some steamy kisses and eventually more.

The plotline dealing with the house was a good one and it filled out the book nicely. I was surprised by how everything turned out and I liked that the author didn’t go for the obvious way of resolving everything. The epilogue was a sweet ending to the series with all of the couples coming together plus the addition of an adorable puppy.

The Rogue Is Back in Town was my favorite of the Wayward Wallflower series with its fantastic romance and charming characters. I definitely recommend this book (and series) for anyone looking for a fun historical romance series. I can’t wait to see more books from Anna Bennett in the future.

I much preferred the first two books in the series but still this an enjoyable Regency romance.
Julie and Sam's relationship starts off very charming and cute. I didn't really care for the story line involving Sam's brother and felt that Julie could have saved herself a whole lot of bother if she'd asked her 'close knit and loyal' family for help.
The parts of the story that worked best for me were the scenes involving Uncle Alistair, my favourite character, and Sam's kindness towards him. Their genuine friendship and playful interactions were sweet to read. Uncle Alistair added quite a lot of humour and heart to a story which otherwise would have been quite dull.

The Rogue is Back in Town by Anna Bennett, book three in her Wayward Wallflowers series, is Juliette’s, the youngest of the Lacey sisters, story. She stands her ground when scoundrel and rogue Sam Travis tries to oust her and her uncle from their town house. Sam is only doing his older brother, the Marquee’s, bidding as he attempts to once again end their rift. Julie’s attraction to Sam grows and surpasses what she thought she felt for the Marquee. However, the brothers are not really all they seem to be; as one is only polite in the public while the other is truly kind and caring. With both brothers wanting her, Julie needs to decide between passion and respectability, between a rogue and a marquee. Whatever shall she do?

I really enjoyed reading this book but struggled with the pacing at a few places. I did love how Ms. Bennett created Juliette as a strong, single woman, especially for the times, who stood her ground for her family. Also, she did an excellent job showing the growth, changes, and realizations of Sam, as well as describing Nigel's true colors. I can definitely recommend this book to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

THE ROGUE IS BACK IN TOWN (The Wayward Wallflowers: #) Anna Bennett

JANUARY 2, 2018; 352 Pages (St. Martin's Paperbacks)
Genre: historical romance, fiction, series, romance

(I received a paperback copy from the PUBLISHER via NETGALLEY)

Rating: ★★★

Second son, Sam has messed up again and forced his older brother's hand. If Sam wants to have a home and money he must evict a man from his brother, Nigel's property. When he goes to the home he discovers that the man is an older man with his niece. As he tries to get them to leave he falls for the niece, Julie.

Julie thinks she loves Nigel, but discovers that he wants her for a mistress not a wife. She discovers that Sam, the rogue is the one worth giving her heart to.

I really enjoyed the first two novels in this trilogy but this one really fell flat. Everything seemed forced in this book. While, I can buy that roguish Sam turns into a prince, but how they come together is quick and less romantic. However, hating Nigel and loving Julie's uncle saved the book for me and I liked it. I was sad to hear that Charlotte and Alec didn't get a book...unless there is a spin-off.