B+

Stealing the Rogue’s Heart

Stealing the Rogue’s Heart is the fourth book in the Rookery Rogues series. I loved the first book in the series, A Dangerous Invitation super hard. The series is set in London’s East End and follows the lives of people who—gasp!—are not in the aristocracy. I so want more historicals that don’t follow only the upper classes. You don’t have to read the series in order, but a lot of the characters from previous books make cameos so it’s fun to have that context.

This particular installment is a forbidden love romance, which is totally my catnip. Mina Mason is basically a mafia princess; her older brothers run the Kings, a dangerous and powerful gang. Mina is going to be married off to an old man in order to help secure their power, which, other than sucking in general, is a problem because Mina is in love with Charlie Thatcher.

Charlie and Mina were best friends as children but now have to avoid each other. Charlie is part of a rival gang, The Chapman Street Thieves, making him strictly off limits to Mina. Neither character is particularly involved in the underworld dealings of these gangs, though. Mina is just part of the Kings by family association. Charlie, formerly a child of the streets, is a bartender who became involved with the Chapman Street Thieves as a means of survival. Since Mina and Charlie can’t have each other, they of course fall in love even though it means they could both be killed for it.

Stealing the Rogue’s Heart is a nice departure from historicals set in the ballrooms with ducal heroes. The only thing I wanted was more time with Charlie and more character development on his part. We get a lot of Mina, but I’m a sucker for a lot of detail and deep POV with the hero. If you like gritty historicals or the words “underworld romance” make you giddy, then you should totally check this book out.

– Elyse

Scoundrels, thieves and rebels inhabit the rookeries–where the women are fierce and the men are dangerous.

WHEN AN UNDERWORLD PRINCESS…

Beautiful, innocent Mina Mason has led a sheltered life as the sister to the most notorious crime lord in England. Her family’s wealth and expectations keep her in a gilded cage, never able to act on her true desires. Like kissing — and engaging in far more scandalous behavior with–Charlie Thatcher, her childhood best friend. As a member of a rival gang, Charlie is distinctly off-limits.

FALLS FOR THE WRONG MAN…
Charlie Thatcher has known since he was a boy where his loyalties should lie: with the Chapman Street Thieves, who saved him from a brutal death in the dark alleys of the Ratcliffe rookery. As a bartender for the Three Boars public house, he protects his fellow brothers with his mind and his fists. But when one of those members threatens Mina’s safety, Charlie’s primal, protective instincts are triggered–and his defense of her puts them both in danger.

PASSION MAY BE THEIR DOWNFALL.