As the story opens, Lady Mara St. Bride (sister of Simon from The Rogue's Return) is on the run down the worst streets of London, dressed in nothing but her skivvies. Lady Mara has a condition called Black Ademar's Hair. It evidently means that for every inch of hair growth, the sufferer loses an IQ point. And Mara's hair is really, really long. She was visiting a pregnant relative, got bored, so she snuck out to meet this middle-aged guy she thinks of as a "cool uncle," but he thinks of himself as This guy thinks the only reason Mara says stuff like "Go away, ass-breath" is cuz her parents are too uppity to allow their "love." He figures if she's compromised, that'll force her parents to accept him. So… he strips her to her knickers and, keeping in mind her virtue (because he's a really BORING deranged stalker), locks her in a hotel room while he gets tap-hackled in the next room. Mara, tho, is not your usual wilting heroine. She'd rather make a run for it in her skivvies than marry this plonker, so out the window she goes, and then she's dashing from shadow to shadow, hoping to find a familiar landmark before her reputation is ruined. Et voila! She arrives at the street where Darius Debenham lives. She's known him all her life, and he's always made her heart go kerthunkity. She's heard he's in town, and that he's got a monkey on his back, whatever that means…But surely he'll help her out.Dare was given up for dead at Waterloo; turns out he was badly wounded, and abductedrescued abducted by an amazingly psychic villainess from previous stories who somehow, in the sewers of warfare, knows that he's one of the Rogues, and she can use him as her TOOL OF VENGEANCE against Nicholas (hero of book 1 in series). The witch "treated" Dare's injuries with a liberal dose of laudanum, which kept him semi-comatose for way too long. She's dead now, and all the other wounds the bitch inflicted are healing well. But Dare's still beating back an addiction that, if he tries to break it outright, might kill him. He's found a mentor who is helping him to wean off, bit by bit. And one of his final steps before… is a sojourn in the Devil's Arsehairs, London. It's all a test. And the testiest test he could possibly encounter is the suddenly bewitching Mara St. Bride. The rest is basically a sort of romancey 12-step program, complicated by things the creepy stalker does in his quest for "twue wuv." The ending is not easy—addictions rarely are—and the love story is just what you'd like it to be under the circumstances. Maybe it's me. I like stories built on danger/adventure/mystery, with a little romantic tension as seasoning. In this series, the danger/adventure is the seasoning and the romantic angst is the main course, and this time it did bug me. So I'm gonna give this a solid Three stars.
Beverley is a hugely hit-or-miss author for me (My Lady Notorious is one of my all-time favorites but some of her novels, not so much). Luckily, TRaR falls into the ‘awesome’ pile. Not only is it pretty much hurt/comfort fantasy come true, I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen such an amazingly common-sense, sane heroine (the hero is awesome too, but the heroine’s sheer wonderfulness knows no bounds).Mara, our heroine, has known Darius (Dare to his friends) all her life as Dare and her brother Simon were close friends. So when she gets into a scrape in London, it is second nature to ask for his assistance. However many things have happened since she last saw him when she was a gawky adolescent and he a charming and happy young man. For one thing, Mara grew up into a beautiful and strong young woman. For another, Dare was horribly wounded and left for dead at Waterloo. And after that he was ‘rescued’ by some bad guys who got him addicted to opium as part of some sort of revenge plan (I am not exactly clear on the details of said revenge plan (though it’s immaterial) as this book is part of a really long series, and I haven’t really read the rest - it’s fine as a stand-alone). Ever since he’s been rescued and came back, Dare has been a broken shadow of his former self - trying to recover and also to kick his opium addiction. And Mara decides to help.Why is the book so wonderful? It’s romantic to bits, and Mara and Darius are just such good people, who are not just hormonal together but actually are genuinely friends and have fun together. You could actually see them spending years together. There is also h/c, of course (mmm) and all sorts of other wonderful things, but to me it ultimately comes down to Mara. She is pretty much the most sensible heroine I have ever come across in a romance novel. She realizes she is in love with Dare by about page 10 of the book, and then decides to both try to get him to fall in love with her, and also to help him get better/happier. She also tells him she loves him, without being pushy, but so he’d know. And there is also the fact that while she wants him off opium, she is aware he may never be able to get off it and her attitude is that as long he takes only a little so he can be functional but not incapacitated, she can deal with it.Dare is wonderful enough to deserve Mara though - he is obviously tormented and holding on to his sanity by the skin of his teeth (and at one point suicidal), but he is still such a good kind person with an incredibly strong will and conscience. I basically ship them so much and want him to get fixed and for them to be happy forever and ever.
What do You think about To Rescue A Rogue (2006)?
While I appreciate the unique twist of having a drug-addicted hero, the actual characters were rather boring and the romance tepid. There were so many cameos of the other characters in the Rogue series it was overwhelming and impossible to remember who was who. They all started sounding the same. I was excited at first to see more of Hal and Blanche's story but they were merely two names bandied about by the other characters. They were made out to sound much weaker and pathetic than they'd seeme
—Greymalkin
I want to give myself a gold star! I read the entire Company of Rogues in less than a year. I have just finished To Rescue a Rogue and found it just as wonderful as the first - maybe more so since some of the Rogues, their families and their friends continued to turn up in each successive book until they are able to all rally around Dare and Mara in the final book. I am eager to continue my association with the Rogues in further books - like Lady Beware, which features Dare's sister. Oh, but a good snow storm might be just the thing!
—Mary Craven
Another story of The Company of Rogues this one tells the story of Lord Darius Debenham, the Rogue. In previous books of the series we discovered that Darius was believed to be dead after Waterloo. But after years of grieving the Rogues discovered he was still alive albeit imprisoned by Nicholas Delaney's enemy Therese Bellaire who doused him with huge amounts of opium making him an addict. As the story opens Mara St Bride, the sister of Simon of The Rogue's Return, is in big trouble. She is running through London in the middle of the night, half naked. I have to say Beverley knows how to write an interesting opening chapter! Her rescuer is none other than Lord Darius (Dare) Debenham, he is in London, trying to get rid of his opium addiction, but he doesn't go about in society much. Mara is at first a bit embarrassed but quickly decides that she has to help Dare recovering. She is quite an enterprising young lady so she decides to badger him into taking her to visit London's attractions. I thought Mara had quite refreshing ideas on how to nurse someone back to health.I did like Mara as a character although she has a tendency to get into trouble. And I did like Dare. I particularly liked the oriental touch Beverley gave to his recovery program and how Mara also became a part of that. They have some problems to work on and they do it as a couple. I guess the only thing stopping me from giving this one a higher grade is that there was little tension among them, in fact it was almost as they were fated for each other seeing how they fell in love so quickly. While I was reading this book I realised that these books are better read in order and quick succession. There's so much talk of the other Rogues and past events that someone not familiar with them will not only not fully appreciate the story but also maybe think they are a bit presumptuous, always considering themselves so high and powerful. But the author really knows what she doing because in the end she introduces someone who really dislikes the Rogues. I couldn't wait to know more! Grade: 4/5
—Ana T.
