Review: Sadly, not fleshed out
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 9, 2012
I'll skip the summary of the novella, as I feel others have sufficiently covered the basics. I loved the first two novellas in the trilogy, "Thief" and "Fortune Hunter".  In the first two, the reader sees enough of Linus and Robert to know there is an incredible backstory, and frankly, they left me chomping at the bit to read it.That being said, "Rogues" was quite a let-down. As usual, Ms. March has nailed the technical proficiency of writing and has provided enough detail to effectively set the scene, but this story felt rushed.  She hints to a horrible past for Linus, but never gives more than a few pat one-line "explanations" as to how this has affected him as a man, or how Robert helped him get through it.She also was pretty heavy handed with an incident in which Linus "learned his lesson early" about falling in love with Robert, and she even has Robert internally acknowledge that Linus must have been in love with him for quite some time, but maddeningly, she never explains the incident or gives any further details.This story was only 27,000 words, and it definitely felt like she rushed through writing it just to finish it. It could have been awash with so many more details, poignant moments between the pair, and a rich backstory to their love affair, but sadly, it had none of that. :(Ava March is an author I really enjoy (let's face it, there aren't many M/M authors out there writing Regency fiction, and she's one of the best), so I will continue to buy her books no matter what. I just wish this one had been better, and I wasn't so disappointed with the outcome.