Review: Gone With the Rogue (First Comes Love #2) by Amelia Grey

Print Length: 304 pages

Publisher: St.Martin's Press (April 28, 2020)

From Goodreads.com:  She had an acceptable marriage of convenience. Now widowed, can this determined and beautiful mother find true and forever love?

The sinking of the Salty Dove took her husband’s life―but it didn’t drown Julia Fairbright’s courage to endure. She creates a proper life for herself and her young son. But now, the ton’s most notorious rogue is back in London, and how he makes Julia feel is anything but proper. She can’t deny the desires he awakens in her, even though she knows that the handsome devil will surely break her heart.

Garrett Stockton owns a successful shipping company and is rumored to have a woman on every continent and half-a-dozen in England. The truth, however, is that Garrett has but one mistress: the wide open sea. That is, until he meets Julia, whose spirit of independence matches his own. What begins as a flirtatious battle of wits turns far more passionate than either of them could have imagined. Suddenly, Garrett’s only desire is to sail into the sunset with Julia as his wife and young Chatwyn his son. But she won’t take his hand―how can he convince her that his love is real and his heart is hers? 

                                                         *******************

My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

While this is billed as book number two in a series, you do not need to have read the prior one in order for this one to make sense. In fact, aside from a brief mention of the characters from the first novel, this one focuses on the two remaining widows, both with life-altering choices ahead of them. 

One of the things that felt completely off and unrealistic to me was Julia's reactions to Garrett. We are told time and again that she is utterly under the thumb of her father-in-law. His word is the law and any deviation to that will result in a swift punishment (namely he will take her son away from her). And yet, she not only kisses Garrett where any nosy neighbor could see them, but she also has sex with him in her father-in-law's house? On the floor? Granted the man isn't there yet, but that is hardly the point. Time and again, she throws all caution to the wind to be with him even knowing what that will mean if she is caught. I just wasn't buying that. 

 I enjoyed Garrett's character only slightly more. He seemed to jump into wanting her/loving her pretty darn quickly (within a week if that), but I did enjoy the selfless way he was willing to do anything he could to help her (even if it came to doing something he was adamant that he didn't want to do). 

Together, they had their moments, but I much preferred reading about Julia's friend Brina. I felt like her character's story at times overshadowed the main story. She had her own choices to face, and I'm curious as to how the author is going to choose to resolve them. 

In talking about the characters, I feel like I have given away enough of the plot that people can decide for themselves whether or not they want to read this one (although I have to add if you are familiar with the term hurry up and wait you will see a lot of that in the plot as far as getting things done). 

Overall, I think the author has potential, and a lot of people will enjoy this story, it just wasn't a favorite for me. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

                                                         *******************

                                
                          Gone with the Rogue is available from Amazon.com