All Men Are Rogues
Grade : C+

Though All Men Are Rogues is captivating early on, more and more problems creep in as the story progresses. Even though the heroine is immensely winning and the hero reasonably likable, the mystery sub-plot, and questions about the villain's indentity detract too much from the romance.

Evelyn Amherst lost her beloved father in service to his country. Sir Phillip Amherst had been a spy for England for many years, and he was killed protecting his country from Napoleon. Evelyn, having traveled with her father for all of her life, received excellent training and advice from him. She knows how to play the diplomatic game, but does not want to live her life that way. Right before his murder, he urged her flee from England after she received her inheritance. Evelyn has no idea that some believed her father was a traitor, so she is unaware of the political machinations surrounding her inheritance.

Justin Barclay, the Marquis of Rawlings, is also in service to his country. His superior, Wheaton, has informed him that Evelyn and her deceased father are a danger to England and Justin's job is to ferret out any information Evelyn may have regarding Napoleon's schemes. Since Evelyn is a very distant relation of Justin's, she will be staying at his home while she is in England. Justin is not happy with Wheaton's orders, but if he doesn't comply Wheaton will kill her outright, and so he agrees to the plan. Justin has no love for Napoleon's spies and vows to determine if Evelyn is involved.

I admired Evelyn's character. She is smart and adept at handling most situations. She doesn't trust many people, and has only two close friends. She likes Justin but believes he is innocent of any scheming, and doesn't want to draw him further into her situation, which has turned precarious. While Justin comes to believe she is innocent of any nefarious plot concerning Napoleon, he has no evidence to support this and Wheaton is not satisfied with Justin's conclusions. A complicated plot to find the real traitor sweeps up both Justin and Evelyn in its wake.

This is where the story started to lose focus for me. As Justin and Evelyn attempt to determine which side each other serves, they lose faith in each other (although Evelyn has every right to hate Justin for his actions toward her). They spend too much time trying to find the true villain and to discover why Evelyn's father was murdered. This subplot drags on too long and sucks the life and energy out of the love story. Evelyn's surrogate father, Sullivan, and her sexy friend Angel (who deserves his own book) also took time away from Justin and Evelyn.

What does serve the story well are Justin and Evelyn's conversations, in which they actually manage to discuss problems and issues rather than falling into bed to fix things, well, most of the time, anyway. However, Justin did not impress me as much as Evelyn did, which was unfortunate. He resembles a tortured hero (a favorite of mine), but because of the manner in which he had to deceive Evelyn about his work for the government, I had problems with his character. He also seemed a weaker hero than I enjoy, although he did develop more of a spine as the story progressed.

Overall, most of my problems with All Men Are Rogues surrounded the seemingly never-ending struggle to find the true villain. Less focus on that aspect and I would've enjoyed Justin more as a hero. I hope Angel will be featured in his own book as he is just about the best friend a girl could ever have and I certainly wouldn't mind spending more time with him! This is one of those books I realize others may enjoy more than I did, so if the plot intrigues you, definitely take a closer look. I'll try this author again myself.

Reviewed by Liz Zink
Grade : C+

Sensuality: Hot

Review Date : August 18, 2003

Publication Date: 2003

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Liz Zink

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