Much Ado About Rogues by Kasey Michaels

May 4, 2012

"Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little,
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little,
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little,
Cheep cheep cheep  Cheep cheep cheep Cheep cheep
Cheep cheep cheep  Cheep cheep cheep Cheep cheep
Cheep cheep cheep  Cheep cheep cheep Cheep cheep
Pick a little, talk a little, cheep!" - Meredith Wilson
 
http://www.kaseymichaels.com/

If any of you have ever seen the play/movie Music Man, you may remember that rather irritating song Pick a Little, Talk a Little.  Well, that is what we have here my fellow readers.  We have talk, talk, talk.  We do not have a "failure to communicate." And, I never thought I'd say this about a romance novel, I wish we had a failure!  Oh, by the way I do make movie references and I do have spoilers!
 
Much Ado About Rogues was a hard book for me to review, mainly because I'm a big fan of Kasey Michaels.  Many of her earlier works are some of my favorites, especially those with touches of humor in them.  This book is also the third and final in the Blackthorn brother trilogy.  And, I was very much looking forward to reading it.  In the end though, I would have to say this book does not live up to the other two in the series.  Or my expectations.
 
Let's talk about my expectations, shall we?  One of my expectations when buying a romance book is that they contain at least a minimal amount of romance.  Call me silly, but there you have it.  Yes, I like romance in my romance novels!  This one, sad to say, had barely a scent of any.  Oh sure, there was a couple.  We have Jack (hero) and Tess (heroine) and they have a past, problems, and secrets.  Jack's a hunk, and Tess is one of those plain-never-looked-in-a-mirror-heroines.  So, you would think with all the standard plot devices around this couple there would be romance.  There wasn't.  There was no chemistry, no sexual tension, nothing.  Oh, there was sex, and plen-ty of it.  But, gee-willikers it was tedious.
 
For me, this book seemed to focus on the one-step-ahead of the master of intrigue, Tess's father.  There were loads of discussions of mysterious messages, hidden treasures, puzzles to solve, tricks to prevent, disguises to uncover, deceptions, intrigues, who, what and where's.  And, we have to talk, talk, talk all of it out.  Any moment I was expecting someone to shout out, "it was Colonel Mustard in the kitchen with a candlestick!"  While I will admit that some of this was well-written and interesting, it wasn't what I wanted.  I wanted to see some sparks between Jack and Tess; some romance.
 
Then there was the epilogue.  If any of you saw Lord of the Rings, you may remember the epilogue, or should I say, ep-i-logues.  While, I'm a big fan of Lord of the Rings, I still remember the person sitting behind me groaning as one more ending appeared on the screen.  And, that's what we have in this book, epilogues with a capital S.  One rather inane and confusing almost-epilogue was Cyril’s long winded explanation over the “why” of his marriage.  And, why did we have to go to the United States just to come back to England? 
 
So, even though I am a gigantic fan of Ms. Michaels, this story disappointed me and is the least favorite in the series.  I found some of the discussions in the book fascinating, but there were way t-o-o many.  And, most important, where was the romance?

Time/Place: Regency England

Sensuality: Lots of sex, just not hot!