One never knows where fate might take them each morning when they wake up. That is the thought our hero, Deverall Fairfax (Viscount Raleigh) and heroine, Jane Trowbridge must have thought when they awoke that bright, confusing morning to find themselves in bed together. Deverall immediately knew he was in trouble, and things went from bad to worse--they were in Jane's sister's home, and her sister insisted Deverall must be living up to his reputation as a tomcat with her little sister, and in order to save her sister's honor, insisted they marry, that day. Well, they are brought to the altar, and duly wed, but Jane will have nothing to do with her new husband. He may be a well-loved London socialite lay-about, but Jane had plans for her life. Her father, the vicar, had need of her, and she would like nothing better than to remain his caretaker, and caretaker to his flock, and his sons, her nose buried in a book, unmarried, unattached, forever more. But no; here she finds herself married to this cad Raleigh, and soon, facing a new family, with no idea how she--Plain Jane--will fit into the Viscount's family scheme, for she certainly has no intention of baring his childen. Ever. And neither does Raleigh want her to. They care nothing for each other. Or do they?

Nothing goes according to Raleigh's plans; his mother and father are far from being overjoyed to hear this news, and will do nothing but scowl at Jane; furthermore, they send Raleigh and Jane to claim the dubious inheritance Raleigh's uncle has so graciously left him: a creepy, run-down, probably haunted manor in Northumberland.

Neither one of them want to be alone together, and spend every waking moment plotting ways to effectively end their marriage, and rid themselves of this dubious inheritance. But slowly, the charm of the situation becomes apparent; as Jane begins to appreciate--and later love--the manor, Raleigh comes to appreciate and fall in love with his stiff, prudish bride, and lament that their marriage still--after several weeks--remains unconsummated. And therein lies the challenge for each: as Jane must help Raleigh appreciate the manor; Raleigh has to teach Jane a thing or two about indulging her passions, for everything, including himself. Will they succeed? You'll have to read to find out.

This was a charming little romance--a Harlequin--somewhere on the cusp between Regency and Gothic, and the first of its kind that yours truly has read in a long time. And I had a lot of fun with it. That said, I will remind the reader to keep in mind, this is first and foremost, Romance and a little over the top with regards to the racier scenes, and should probably be viewed (if one cares about such things) as a PG13 read--if not higher. But for myself, I found, above and beyond the Romantic bent, that the sprinkling of comic touches, the leaning towards the Gothic (A creepy house, a very odd housekeeper, and strange occult things going on around the manor to frighten the new tennants) were endearing. I even found myself wondering about Mrs. Graves, the odd housekeeper, and giggling now and again at the shock on Jane's face when she would catch Raleigh--ahem, less than well-dressed, shall we say? Or at the grimace of disgust on Raleigh's face when he soiled a good coat with too much dust from the old manor. There were a few flaws in the printing of the copy I own, and I found I had to look up a few of the Regency era terms, to clarify various points in the text, but all in all, I enjoyed The Last Rogue very much, and look forward to trying to find a few more of Ms. Simmons' titles. This novel is a good nine years old, but if you love a good gothic romance, and can find a copy of The Last Rogue give it a try. I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised.

~Webmistress