All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue: The Debutante Files (Debutante Files, #2)

by Sophie Jordan

First friends, then enemies ...Lady Aurelia hasn't always hated Max, Viscount Camden, her brother's best friend. In fact, as a besotted girl, she thrived under his kind attention- sure that he was the most noble and handsome man in the land. Until her young heart discovered what manner of rogue he really was. Now, though she enjoys nothing more than getting on his last nerve, she can't deny Max drives her to distraction- even if she tries to pretend otherwise. Now something more ...Max cannot recall a time when Aurelia did not vex him. If she was not his friend's sister, he would stay far away from the infuriating vixen. Unfortunately, they are always thrown together. At parties and family gatherings ...she is always there. Mocking him, tossing punch in his face, driving him mad ...until one night, she goes too far and he retaliates in the only way he can: with a kiss that changes everything.

• ISBN10: 006222252X
• ISBN13: 9780062222527
• Publish Date: 30 July 2015 (first published 28 July 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 15 October 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Avon Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue was chock full of tension! Aurelia and Max use to be friends of sorts as children. She had a crush on him, and thought herself in love until she saw him with another girl. Aurelia reacted badly to this seeming betrayal, and ever since the two have been at odds. And it’s not like they can easily avoid each other, since their families are close friends. But once Aurelia starts seriously searching for a husband, she keeps finding herself face to face with the bane of her existence.

I really enjoyed All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue. Aurelia and Max seriously go at it! They push each other to their limits, and at times are straight up vicious. Aurelia is still hurting from that incident years ago and refuses to let Max get to her again. Meanwhile Max cannot stand the idea of her being with another man, even though he keeps telling himself that he doesn’t even like her, just finds her maddeningly attractive. This makes for some seriously explosive scenes!

All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue does drag a bit toward the end, but I still enjoyed it a lot nonetheless. I absolutely loved all of the hostility and tension between Aurelia and Max, and how everyone around them knew that it was basically foreplay for the two of them. It just took them a lot longer to realize it.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Cocktails and Books]

This review was originally posted on Cocktails and Books

ALL THE WAYS TO RUIN A ROGUE was a book that really tested my ability to forgive the hero. From the prologue, it was very, very hard to like Max. But as the story unfolded, Sophie Jordan tested my resolve and ultimately made me hope that Max and Auriela could somehow have a HEA.

Auriela had been in love with her brother's best friend, Max, since practically the day she met him. She loved how he always included her and was nice to her when he could have very easily been a teenage jerk like her brother. But all of that changed for her when she was fifteen and she witnessed Max in flagrante delicto with one of the chambermaids. From that point forward, the easy going relationship between Auriela and Max changed into one that was combative and often times caustic.

Auriela was a character I really, really liked. Probably because of the often sharp, always sarcastic tongue the woman had. Of course, that sharpness and her sarcasm were often defense mechanisms to protect herself, especially when it came to Max. But we could see how Max's horrible words and dismissive behavior wore on her. She was a strong woman though and I knew that regardless of what happened with Max, she was going to be ok.

Max often times came across as the biggest ass to walk the face of the earth, but we discover his actions and his attitude were a screen that he hide behind. He was scared of losing those that he loved, like he had his parents and sister, and he was unwilling to open himself up to that kind of pain again. When he realizes that despite fighting it, he had let Auriela behind his walls, he finally stopped being an ass and welcomed the woman who truly completed him.

Even though this book tried my patience at times, I really enjoyed Max and Auriela's story. These two stubborn characters had their work cut out for them when it came to their HEA, but they eventually figured it out and made for a great ending.

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