This was a real treat! I had assumed that the Diamonds In The Rough series ended after book 8, so yeah! Bonus! Also, Sophie Barnes is one of my favourite novella writers. She can hook you in quick and she delivers a great romance in a tiny package! Who doesn’t love a bitesize treat!?!

Sophia is a foundling that was taken in by the village vicar and his family. As a child her and her adoptive brother become close with the local gentry children, Baron Hawathorn and his two sisters… but childhood friendships don’t easily adapt to adult roles. Sophia finds herself in love with Baron Hawathorn, even though their positions make this a impossibility.

In order to avoid Sophia and her feelings, Hawthorne leaves his family estate and has started away for many years. Now that his sisters need to find husbands, he has been summoned home to assist in hosting a house party for potential husbands and is shocked to find Sophia is just recently engaged!

The heart always wants what it can’t have the most! Hawthorne is kicked into gear and needs to see if there is still hope for Sophia and him, before she marry another!

I was quickly swept away into the family dynamics of both Sophia and Hawthorn’s families and the dichotomy of a woman’s need to marry for security, compared to mans ability to create his own financial security.

I was surprised by some interesting twists that I didn’t see coming and exceedingly pleased by the final HEA.

Overall this was a great addition to the Diamonds In The Rough series, even if I had a had time placing Hawthorne previously within the series. I enjoyed the cameo appearance of the series favourites as well.

The Dishonoured Viscount by Sophie Barnes is scheduled to release 24th, 2022.

#TheRoguishBaron #SophieBarnes #NetGalley #pinkcowlandreads

The Roguish Baron was a very quick read that needed to be fleshed out. I wanted more of their relationship in the beginning and by the time I finished reading, I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters.

Thanks to Net galley and the publisher for an advanced copy of The Roguish Baron. My opinions are my own.

This is a childhood friends to lovers story of the aristocrat and the founding child adopted by the local vicar. He wants to be with her, but his father insists he marry someone of his own class. She pines for him, but understands his position, sort of. It takes a few plot twists and some stolen kisses to get to their HEA.

I enjoyed this book, especially the fact that he was willing to wait and work so hard to get his girl.

Thank you NetGalley and Sophie Barnes for the chance to read and review The Rougish Baron!

At 197 pages, The Roguish Baron is a very sweet regency romance. I did find Edward and how chill he was a bit odd, and I did think that maybe her adoptive parents needed to have a greater say in what happened at the end. I also hated how they were cut out and our main man asked for her brothers permission to marry her.

I would read more books by this author!

“Impossible female” …. “Impudent rogue”
“Because his body desperately needed, more than ever before, the one person he knew he should not want”
I really liked this book it was the ninth in the Diamonds in the Rogue series but you can easily read it without any hint of what happened in the previous ones !!! But honestly if they’re anything like this one I have to recommend you to read them !!!
A friends to stranger to enemies to lovers , a forced proximity and evident tension and attraction, some banter as well as a plot to make them end up together … the combination was really good and entertaining!!! I only wished it’d lasted more !!! It was spicy !! Sufficiently so but not excessively and I liked this. And the main characters were good ones to read about !! I honestly liked the fact that their story wasn’t the only one at the center of the book and that there was some sort of subplot following family members whose life became as complicated as theirs !!!! They all end up intertwined somehow and it’s refreshing to read !!!
“I’ve not been a child for some years now, Jack. People grow up and as they do, they change”
“I’ve missed you … And I’ve every intention of making you mine”

I really like Jack and Sophia together. She would have had a nice life with Edward but who wants nice. Exciting and loved is better. The Roguish Baron is a short story, I was able to read it in just a few hours.

This is the story of Jack and Sophia. They were childhood friends who grew up very attracted to one another. But Jack is a baron, son of an Earl. Sophia is an orphan raised by the local Vicar and his wife. A marriage between them wouldn't be acceptable. So instead of dealing with his feelings, Jack flees to London and becomes the biggest rake.
4 years have passed since Jack and Sophia have seen each other. When he returns home, she is engaged. Is it too late for them?
There are a few twists and turns in the story which make it more intriguing.
I thought Jack an utter jerk. I found Sophia too forgiving of both Jack and her family.
I did like the fact that it was a clean romance.
All in all, I did enjoy the book.
4⭐⭐⭐⭐
I want to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

The Roguish Baron is a good (but not great) novel. The fairly short book features one of my favorite tropes: Friends to Lovers (though it's exceptionally chaste overall). However, it equally follows the overdone Reformed Rake and Orphan of Mysterious Origins tropes, which dulled my interest somewhat.

Sophia, our heroine, is worthy and easy to root for, but Jack is unfortunately a bit of an idiot. He's saved from being unlikeable simply by realizing and acknowledging his stupidity as a fact (and subsequently recognizing that it's up to him to repair his image).

But most of all, I think the story suffers by dropping us in the middle of Sophia and Jack's tale rather than allowing us to experience their shared history, if only from a prologue or something. The occasional reminiscence just isn't the same.

It's a decent story, don't get me wrong. It's just not on par with the usual Sophie Barnes novel.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks!

Sophia was found abandoned as a baby and taken in by the Fenmores who live close to Jack's family's estate. Sophia and her adoptive brother Edmund were childhood friends with Jack and his sisters. Sophia has always loved Jack. Jack has... not handled this well.

Meeting again for the first time in four years Jack realises he has not gone about things in anything even approaching the right way, but Sophia is already engaged.

So I quite enjoyed this book. The story was fine and the characters likeable but as with many of these HRs it kind of felt like it had been dashed off for a deadline and as such could do with another couple of edits, de-Americaning and generally polishing up.

A decent, quick read which I think is likely the last in a series as there is an arbitrary smattering of Dukes and Earls at the end who I got the feeling I was supposed to be happy to see again.

Cute story. i love friends to lovers type stories. everyone got a HEA. luke warm heat level but still enjoyable.

I'm not sure if this is a novella or an incredibly fast read, but The Roguish Baron is an entertaining one. I do not know if this was the outline of the book as a novella, or if it is just a short-ish story. I liked the dialogue, it was clever, quick-witted and fast. Sophia is an orphan, in love with her childhood friend (who is a baron...that was never clarified?) In any rate, he's the son of an earl, who hasn't returned to their town for four years and the last time she saw him he told her they could never be. So she gets engaged to her adopted brother. It is kind of a predictable book, except for the part when Sophia's parentage is revealed.
I think there is a lot of loose ends that could be expanded on and turned into a longer book, with more detail and less abrupt changes for everything. It just goes from 0 to 100 and lightly touches on things before moving on.
I am not sure if this is my first Sophie Barnes book (or novella?), the writing has promise but it was really missing a storyline. I liked Sophie and Jack the son of the earl (and maybe a roguish baron), I'm just really confused if this was the whole book.
I received this as an ARC and all my opinions are my own.

Sophie Barnes is definitely one of my favorite historical romance writers. I also find myself swiftly drawn into her stories, her writing is compelling and well paced and her characters are sympathetic and understandable on a base human level. The Roguish Baron is a novella in The Diamonds in the Rough series and it is a charming and delightful installment in a series that I truly love.

This second chance romance is between Sophia and Jack who have been friends since they were children. Four years ago Jack's father sent him away because he knew the Jack and Sophia were starting to develop feelings for each other that he did not agree with. Sophia is an orphan who was taken in by the local Vicar and befriended Jack, who is in line for a Vicountsy, and his sisters. With his return, Sophia enters into an engagement with the small hopes of making Jack jealous and realize his true feelings.

This quick and delightful story is woven together with some of my favorite tropes, we have a fake engagement, we have a bit of unrequited love, there is a charming snowed in scene, a secret identity and we also find that our couple must weather some time apart. I love that in this novel Sophia really discovers how to stand up for herself and what she wants and she does not let Jack take the easy road in winning her heart. I also love that once Jack is all in, he decides to do everything in his power to win Sophia, no matter his father's wishes. This is a very quick read, and it is low on the steam, but it is a really lovely introduction to Sophie Barnes' writing, this installment in the series does not really need to be read in order.

I would recommend this if you love Sophie Barnes, if you love a quick and sweet romance and you want a read that will put a smile on your face.

This was a nice easy read. Jack and Sophia were childhood friends that were separated. Meeting again as adults, they have a strong attraction. Unfortunately there a some roadblocks on their way to happiness. Jack and Sophia are likeable people and there are some interesting secondary characters. I consider this to be a clean romance with a bit of sizzle.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC. This is my honest review.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC of The Roguish Baron, written by the fabulous Sophie Barnes from Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Jack Lancaster, Baron Hawthorne, has been away from home for four years, as a result of a threat by his father of disinheriting him if he were to pursue the likes of Sophia Fenmore who is an adopted child of the local vicar and his wife. Sophia has loved Jack since she was a young lady, but he never reciprocated her feelings. With no other option, she agrees to marry Edward, the vicar's son, who himself is in love with someone he believes he is not worthy of. What ensues is a story of revelations and untold truths. This is a quick great read and moves along very smoothly. Lovely story!

Jack tells his childhood best friend, Sophia, he cannot marry her and leaves for four years. When he comes back from a badly behaved four years in London, he finds she is engaged to his friend. Jealous, Jack tries to convince them to break the engagement and have Sophia marry him. Can she trust him? I received an ARC from NetGalley and Independently Published for my honest review.

I loved reading this one. The characters were great. Their chemistry was super Hot🔥.
The plot and storyline were great too. This story has action, drama, suspense, sex and romance.

Read it for yourself.

I received this book as an ARC from Net Galley. These are my opinions.
I enjoyed Jack and Sophia's story. There were a lot of misunderstandings and surprises along the way. It is a quick enjoyable read.

Sophia was a foundling that was raised by the vicar’s family. Jack was an Earl’s son. They grew up together. She’s been in love with him. Jack’s father threatened to disinherit Jack if he were to marry Sophia. He flees to London to make his own money and gets a reputation as a rake. When he comes home to help his sisters find husbands, Sophia is engaged to marry. Jack realizes he is in love with her. He has to plot to marry her. It turns out that Sophia is not a foundling but the daughter of a marquess. The marquess makes stipulations for Jack to marry Sophia. Jack must reform for a year and beg forgiveness. Sophia will have a season. I love Sophie Barnes’ stories and can’t wait for her next book.

In comparison to other books in this series there seemed to be less to this one story-wise. That being said, it is still a great story with great characters. I loved Sophia from the beginning and completely understood her decision to accept Edward's proposal. Years of being told you have very limited options because of being an abandoned child would make you take the first offer. Jack's sisters really knew him and were 100% correct in how he would react to Sophia being engaged to someone else. It was interesting that both Edward and Sophia got engaged because they believed they could never have the person they were really in love with. Having read other books in the Diamond in the Rough series I had a feeling it was going to turn out that Sophia's birth family was titled so that wasn't a huge surprise. I also liked that it flipped the script and that all of sudden it was Jack who was deemed to be not good enough for Sophia. I would have really liked one more chapter to see what Sophia got up to in London, but other than that this book was pretty perfect. It was also nice to see a few of the couples from previous books. I also could have read an entire book about Edward and Felicity's romance.

This was a very sweet novella, following Jack and Sophia, who grew up as childhood friends together but have been separated for four years after Jack's father told him that there could never be anything between the two of them. I'll be honest and say that I wasn't the biggest fan of Jack, who has all the excuses in the world for why he didn't fight harder for Sophia and only began to vocalize his care for her once she was otherwise engaged. I love a rake character, but they have to embrace that that is what they are and not make up constant excuses that don't really mean anything. It also felt like throughout the book, Sophia doesn't get a huge amount of agency in making her own choices, even down to the very end.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.