Pub Date: 1990
Illustrator: Elaine Duillo
Book Series: Malory & Anderson #3
Published by: Avon
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 426
Format: Audiobook, eBook, Paperback
More at: Goodreads
Purchase Book: Buy on Amazon
Heartsick and desperate to return home to America, Georgina Anderson boards the Maiden Anne disguised as a cabin boy, never dreaming she’ll be forced into intimate servitude at the whim of the ship’s irrepressible captain, James Mallory.
The black sheep of a proud and tempestuous family, the handsome ex-pirate once swore no woman alive could entice him into matrimony. But on the high seas his resolve will be weakened by an unrestrained passion and by the high-spirited beauty whose love of freedom and adventure rivals his own.
GENTLE ROGUE by JOHANNA LINDSEY
Reviewed by: Introvert Reader
VERY MILD SPOILERS 😉
The Book
Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey was her third entry in the Malory series and is arguably her most popular book. After 30 years, it is still in print and read by many new-to-the-romance-genre readers.
Johanna Lindsey Mania
I first read Gentle Rogue eons ago, when Johanna Lindsey was the greatest writer on earth. At 12 years old, what did I know? I recall anxiously walking to Woolworth’s daily in November 1990, freaking out for her latest release. Boy, did I annoy the clerks by repeatedly asking when it was coming in!
The day I saw the clerk stocking the shelves, I grabbed the first book from the top of the box, not caring that it had a tiny slit in the cover. I was a bit disheartened, because for a Duillo–Fabio–Lindsey cover, save for Georgina’s lovely rose-trimmed gown, to me, it was ugly. With its drab green tones and bird-bats flying in front of a huge moon, I was less than impressed.
When I saw the cover for Lindsey’s next book, Once a Princess, I was disappointed in the artwork. No more Fabio (although he’d make a comeback for a few more Lindseys). Plus, Once a Princess had a step-back cover with a floral font on the front. I actually preferred that weird, pointed sci-fi-looking type. The “old” Lindsey era was over with Gentle Rogue.
The Plot
Gentle Rogue starts hilariously. Georgina Anderson is in a grungy inn and tries to kill a cockroach, fails, but doesn’t care as long as it’s out of sight.
As usual with a Lindsey book, things get ridiculous, so check your brain at the door. Just enjoy the ride.
Stuck in England after travelling there to search for her long-lost love who’d abandoned her years before, the American Georgina and her companion, Mac, are looking for a way back home. Georgina disguises herself as a boy to obtain passage on a ship, The Maiden Anne.
Little does she know that the ship’s captain already knows she’s a female because: #1 he’s James Malory and he has eyes. And #2 he’d met her before at a tavern when she was in dressed in her masculine garments, and he picked her up, getting a feel of her boobies. Hardly someone you’d forget.
James has the time of his life as he slowly seduces Georgina, or George as he lovingly calls her. But the tables are turned on this love-’em-and-leave-’em rake, as Georgina leaves him when they land in the Caribbean. One of her sea-faring brothers is there at the port and whisks her away.
Parts of this book run parallel to its precursor, Tender Rebel (which, for me, wasn’t that great due to a dull-as-dishwater heroine). There is some repetition of previous scenes. Thankfully, in Gentle Rogue, all the characters are a blast: James, Georgina, James’ brother Anthony, and especially Georgina’s five belligerent older brothers. They all take turns beating James in a memorable scene.
Lindsey and her readers must have loved them too, as three of the Anderson brothers are featured as heroes in books of their own.
Final Analysis of Gentle Rogue
The title of the book is quite accurate. The hard-muscled ex-pirate James Malory is an unrepentant rogue, through and through, taking advantage of Georgina. He thoroughly disgraces her in front of her brothers so that they’re forced to wed. James is such a droll charmer, witty, and very arrogant. The perfect hero.
My favorite Anderson brother was Warren. His book, The Magic of You, is my 2nd favorite in the Malory series. There he meets his match with the much younger and very persistent Amy Malory. Those two romances are the high points for me in the Malory-Anderson series, although Gentle Rogue is a wee better.
I enjoyed Gentle Rogue very much when I first read it. I’ve grown to love it so much more, now that I picture James looking like another blond, green-eyed Englishman: a young Sean Bean!
Nothing against Fabio, he’s a legend, but he can’t be the hero of every book!
If you haven’t read Gentle Rogue, do yourself a favor and pick this one up; it’s a romance classic.
5 Stars
Oh, this is one of my favorites! Love that swoony cover
Definitely an all time great!