Right now my brain is very, very tired. My brain doesn’t want puzzles to solve; it wants a nap, a cat to cuddle, and possibly a glass of wine. Rogue Most Wanted worked really well for my brain-fatigue; it’s a fake-engagement romance that features the heroine being welcomed into a warm and loving family. The black moment and resolution were pretty predictable, but predictable worked for me perfectly in this moment. I already guessed what was going to happen and how it would be fixed, and I was totally content with all of that. I just wanted to go along for the ride, and the ride itself was quite enjoyable.

Lady Theodora Worth spent seven years running her grandfather’s estates, and upon his death should have inherited one of his titles to become the Countess of Eanruig. The problem is that Thea cannot find the charter of title that stipulates that her title (a Scottish one) will pass down through “heirs of the marriage” and not “male heirs of the marriage.” The next in line to inherit the title, the Duke of Ferr-Colby, is contesting Thea’s claim, planning on kicking her out of her home, and her tenants off their land so he can sell it for mineral rights.

Cue our hero, Lord William Cavensham. His great aunt, Stella, is Thea’s neighbor, and Stella implores William to help Thea out. Stella is hoping for marriage, but instead William and Thea develop a quick friendship.

Thea’s grandfather suffered from dementia, so for seven years she lived in near total isolation with him and a few trusted servants. She acted as her grandfather’s caregiver, and managed his estates. She couldn’t enter society or have visitors for fear that her grandfather, who was prone to doing things like running around naked, might be sent to an asylum.

As a result, Thea doesn’t know how to do things a countess should able to–like properly pour a cup of tea or dance. Will offers to escort her to London where she’ll be defending her claim to her title and teach her all the countess-ing she needs to know in order to quickly enter society. As a result, Thea is embraced by Will’s large family and comes to think of him as her best friend.

A big part of this book is the hero and heroine giving each other moon eyes and refusing to acknowledge that they’re in love, even though everyone right down to the cat knows that they’re in love. In an attempt to better secure her place in society and therefore her claim to her title, they eventually agree to a fake engagement even though they’re totally gonna break up. Totally.

Except for all the time they spend touching and talking on their adjoining balconies at night and how often Will thinks of how her hair smells. Except for all of that.

Will is definitely a beta hero and I loved that he offers to help Thea without jumping in and rescuing her. Even as Will teaches her to act the part of a Countess, and even as he offers to be her fake fiance, he doesn’t overrule her or insist that she’s under his protection and therefore he can settle matters for her. Will’s respect of Thea’s agency highlights the difference between a hero who helps, and one who saves.

I also loved the kindness and warmth with the Cavensham family embraced Thea. Having grown up in a situation that kept her almost completely isolated leaves Thea with some well-founded social anxiety. Further, as a new Countess and an object of speculation, (the papers are having a field day with the battle over her title) she knows that she’ll be the talk of the town. It’s enough to have me reaching for the antacid out of sympathy. Will’s family is incredibly gentle with her, and when she makes mistakes that she’s certain are humiliating faux pas, they brush it off with kindness. In one scene Thea stands up to get herself a second helping of dessert during a dinner party, realizes this is not how things are done, and wants to die from embarrassment. Will takes the time to comfort her and point out what a small thing this is, and his father makes sure he sends her extra dessert to her room so she doesn’t miss out.

I also appreciated the reality of Thea’s situation with her late-grandfather. She’s convinced that he hid the charter of title, since hiding things was something he did quite a bit as his dementia progressed, so she feels some frustration over that. She feels guilty about that frustration, and about how, at the end of his life, she largely felt relief that her time as a caregiver was over. Thea performed all of her grandfather’s personal care, even when his dementia reached the point that he was abusive to her. The combination of guilt, relief, and emotional exhaustion felt like a very real depiction of caregiver burnout.

The only thing that was a little wobbly with Rogue Most Wanted was the fact that very early on I knew where the charter of title was hidden, what the villain was going to do, and how it was all going to be resolved. The Duke of Colby-Ferr is one mustache twirl away from being cliched, and the predictability of the plot might irk some readers.

For me, the charm of Will’s beta-hero kindness, his family’s welcome, and Thea’s realistic relationship with an aging grandparent overrode any irritation I might have had at the plot. I was fine knowing where the charter was and what would happen to Colby-Ferr. I knew I was in for a happily ever after, and while this book might not be ideal for everyone, it was the soothing read filled with kind-hearted characters that I wanted.