Eva Leigh: A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction

In USA TODAY bestselling author Eva Leigh's final Last Chance Scoundrels novel, a young lady and her former betrothed get a second chance at love when they’re stranded at a remote country house… 

After Dominic Kilburn left Lady Willa Ransom at the altar, she vowed never to reveal how badly she was hurt. Following a year abroad, Willa wants to move on with her life, so she accepts an invitation to a house party. She's determined to leave her humiliation behind, as well as the scorching attraction she still feels for the man who jilted her.

When dark secrets from his past surfaced right before his wedding, Dom knew he didn’t deserve Willa. So, he bolted. But he still burns for the only woman who ever claimed his heart. To escape the memories of all he lost, Dom heads to a friend’s estate on an isolated Scottish isle. Yet one of the other guests is the very woman who haunts his every thought and makes him wish for the impossible.

Thrown together by well-meaning family and friends, Willa and Dom try to resist the fiery pull between them. Soon the line between love and loathing begins to blur, and their attraction explodes. But Dom’s past lurks on the edge of their rekindled passion and Willa fears she’ll be devastated all over again. Can these star-crossed lovers find their happily ever after, or will everything detonate a second time?  

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The third book in the Last Chance Scoundrels Series, A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction is a second chance romance story featuring two MCs with a fair amount of childhood baggage who finally get to know the real person behind the former infatuation.

I had read the first in the series a few years ago and vaguely remembered the characters, but it wasn’t critical and this book worked as a standalone.  I did make a note in the Good Girls Guide to Rakes review that is worth repeating here: This title is part of a recent theme of “guides” and instructional type titles that don’t actually mean the MCs are doing anything in the book resembling the title.

I am not a huge second chance romance reader, but I vaguely remember Dom leaving Willa at the altar in the first book so I thought I would give it a whirl.  I have to be honest, even with understanding his backstory at the conclusion and enjoying how Leigh makes it clear their first “chance” at romance was mostly superficial, I am still not clear on why he left her at the altar.  I don’t remember clearly how it was presented in the first book, but I felt like the callback to that scene wasn’t here.  There also wasn’t a ton of callback to the driving force of the series, which is these three former rakehell besties need to get married within a year in order to gain their inheritance.

Lots of readers in other reviews loved this book.  And there is a lot to love.  A house party at a dreary island in the Hebrides for debauchery, a strong and salty heroine who bucks convention and a former dock worker hero who is also brilliant and sensitive.  The first quarter of the book kept me glued trying to figure out where Leigh was going.

Then, it started to slow way down for me.

There was a funny competitive scene that brought the MCs together and then a forced proximity/one bed scenario that wasn’t exactly the most believable but was fun nonetheless.  Despite this, a lot of what was in between was a will they/won’t they tension that wasn’t really interesting or compelling for me.  By the time Leigh cracked into the intimate scenes (and there was one that was more on the spicy side), I honestly didn’t care.  I skimmed it.  And I skimmed the rest of the book.

I think in the setup there was a lot going right.  Leigh does a good job showing why these two probably shouldn’t have married at the first but were still right for each other.  Normally, with second chances I feel like the adage “an ex is an ex for a reason” is good soup.  I didn’t have that sense with these MCs.  However, his reason (or what I think was his reason) for jilting her was sort of anti-climactic.  It was predictable, and serious, but also sort of understandable given the violence of his surroundings.

There was also a little angst but to me it gave more of the misunderstanding feels.  So I think that is why I lost interest in the characters.

There were a lot of appearances from the MCs of the first two books which will be satisfying for readers who have stuck with the series from the start.  There are also some other, interesting characters that I would love to read in their own stories.

I think if you enjoy second chance romance, this may ring your bell.  There is good character growth (although it feels like we are coming in on the tail end of it) and many readers adore these MCs.  It also contains some spicy (BDSM) bedroom scenes which some readers will enjoy.

I won’t reread, but I would read books about the host or Miss Steele.