The Lady Rogue

Jenn Bennett’s The Lady Rogue is a historical adventure/romance set in the late 1930s. I have to thank Netgalley and Simon Pulse for providing me with an advanced reader copy. I enjoyed the other book I read by Ms. Bennett, Alex, Approximately (link is to my review), and I liked this book as well. This is definitely a different kind of book, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Theodora is a spirited girl who gets into trouble and loves crossword puzzles. Her dad left her in Turkey while he goes and traipses around Romania in search of Count Dracula’s magical ring. When he disappears and Huck, a boy she has a history with, shows up, they have to go on a trip to try to find him and rescue him. All while their funds are dwindling, they’re being chased by bad guys, and people around them are dying.

I loved the characters in this book. This book is set in 1937, so the mindset of people was a little different back then than it is now, but Theodora is adventurous and smart. I really liked her character. She and Huck obviously have a lingering attraction to each other, and their interactions are fun to watch. It’s also fun to find out exactly what happened and watching them work through their conflict. If you like enemies to lover’s books, this has got a little bit of that going on (also a twist on there’s only one bed).

The Lady Rogue has a great setting. Reading the book, you get to experience a little bit of old Turkey, the countryside of Romania, a haunted forest… it’s a lot of fun. The descriptions are great and well done. I enjoyed the historical context to this story as well. It was fun to learn about Dracula and Romania.

If you’re looking for an adventure story with a spirited heroine, evil magic, bad guys, and magical artifacts, then The Lady Rogue might be for you. It has a hint of romance to it (probably less than many of her books), but the other exciting elements of the book make up for it. I highly recommend it. It won’t be released until September 3rd, but you can pre-order it now.