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

by Sophie Jordan

[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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