Staff Review: Ready, Set, Rogue by Manda Collins

Like a lot of people, I enjoy a good romance novel. And, also like many others, I have my preferences about what I want those novels to be like. When I look for a romance novel I'm usually looking for a historical romance with strong female characters and plenty of humor. Manda Collins's Ready, Set, Rogue was just the kind of book I wanted.

Miss Ivy Wareham has received word that she is one of four women scholars to inherit the home of Lady Celeste Beauchamp, with its magnificent library. Lady Celeste's nephew, the Marquess of Kerr, Quill Beauchamp, is determined to keep the house in the family and drive the bluestockings out. When Lady Celeste's death is revealed to be murder, Ivy and Quill work together to find out what really happened and fall in love along the way.

This is the kind of romance novel I really enjoy. The Regency England setting, the strong and opinionated female characters, and the jokes and hijinks made this a recipe for success as far as I am concerned. There were plot points romance readers will be familiar with, but they didn't feel tired or overdone.

The fact that this is the first in a new series is all the better. I enjoyed the minor characters and am excited to read their full stories in due time. The next book in the Studies in Scandal series, Duke with Benefits, comes out in June.

-Libby, Youth Services.