When You Wish Upon a Rogue: A Debutante Diaries Novel

Anna Bennett

May 2020 · Debutante Diaries Book 3 · Sold by St. Martin's Paperbacks

About this ebook

"Something special." - New York Times Book Review

A New York Times Book Review Summer Read Pick!

Once upon a time in Anna Bennett's When You Wish Upon a Rogue, three young ladies vowed to record their first London seasons and to fill in the gaps of their educations.

She knows what she wants.

Miss Sophie Kendall is happiest arranging the secret meetings of the Debutante Underground, a group of women who come together to discuss the weekly advice column The Debutante’s Revenge. What makes Sophie most unhappy is her impending march down the aisle to a man she does not love. But her family’s finances are in increasingly dire straits.

He makes an offer she can’t refuse.

Henry Reese, Earl of Warshire, hasn’t slept in weeks. Desperate to escape his manor house and its haunting memories, he heads for one of his abandoned London properties. There he meets a beautiful, intriguing woman—trespassing. Reese is far less interested in Sophie’s search for a secret meeting spot than he is in her surprising ability to soothe his demons. So he strikes a bargain with her: his shop in exchange for spending one night a week with him.

Is this love for real—or just a dream?

Sophie never expected this to happen. But she cannot deny the fire Reese sparks in her—and soon their shared desire burns bright. Sophie is irrevocably promised to another. But maybe these two ill-fated lovers can find a way to risk it all—all the way to happily ever after...

"Sparkling." - Publishers Weekly on When You Wish Upon a Rogue
“Fans of...Eloisa James, Tessa Dare, and Mary Jo Putney will go wild.”—Booklist

Ratings and reviews

If you're looking for realism, regency romance probably isn't the place to go, but if you've read any, you already know that. So, it's safe to say that I wasn't looking for that when I read this one. Plus I have some experience with this series, so I kind of knew what I was going to find. I also expected things to be a bit over the top, and I got that too. Nevertheless, the story is a fun bit of escapism to while away a few hours. The characters are interesting, not exactly appropriate to the time period, but interesting, the story has a good pace, and the romance is adorable. I liked the premise and the fairy tale feel of the story, which goes a long way toward making that suspension of disbelief easier to swallow. All in all, When You Wish Upon a Rogue is a charming regency romance and a good addition to the series.

Sophie is an independent heroine, thinking outside the box, and who has a secret from all but her closest friends. While I enjoyed pretty much everything about her, there seemed to be something missing in her character. Not sure what it was, perhaps the lack of fire? However, I did enjoy her times with the hero, despite it being completely implausible. Reese is a damaged hero who has pretty much turned his back on having any kind of life for himself. I love a hero who is struggling due to his past and Reese was definitely in a struggle. The fact that Sophie seemed to calm the battle that waged within him endeared him to me. However, he was not overtly possessive which would have had me loving him. This is a relatively fast read, although I did find myself skimming parts of it that felt repetitive. The steam was pretty extreme but I felt the chemistry leading up to the smexy times were often lacking. Sophie’s friends added a bit of spark to the story but otherwise, this seemed a bit bland and I kept waiting for it to really kick up a notch. It was a pleasant enough read that I might have been able to enjoy more had I not been struggling in my own life during the time I read it.

When You Wish Upon a Rogue is the third book in the Debutante Diaries series. Sophie is looking for a new place for the Debutante Underground meetings when she is surprised by Henry. She is in his building. Henry carries so much grief and guilt about his brother’s death and the men he left on the battle field that he suffers from nightmares and often cannot sleep. Sophie’s mother suffers insomnia often. She gives Henry the herbal concoction that helps her mother. Henry is shocked that it works. They soon come to an agreement that he will let her use the building if she stays with him once a week and helps him sleep (risky, to say the least). Because of her betrothal (she doesn’t want to marry him, but family problems seem to make it necessary), they do not touch, become wonderful friends, develop a strong attraction, and soon fall in love (and there is touching). Is there any way to stop the betrothal and help Sophie’s family so that these two can be together? I love Henry and Sophie. They are both smart and caring people. The other characters are wonderful. Fiona, Lily, and the ladies of the Debutante Underground are sweet and fierce. This is a charming story. There is a bit of angst, some drama, a good dose of humor, healing, and, of course, romance. There are a few surprises, happy and sad. One of the biggest is what happens in the library at the engagement ball. I like this series. I enjoyed and recommend When You Wish Upon a Rogue. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My Review is voluntary.

About the author

Anna Bennett started swiping romances from her mom’s bookshelf as a teenager and decided that books with balls, dukes, and gowns were the best. So, when she had the chance to spend a semester in London she packed her bags—and promptly fell in love with the city, its history, and its pubs. She dreamed of writing romance, but somehow ended up a software analyst instead.

Fortunately, a few years and a few careers later, Anna found her way back to writing the stories she loves and won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart®. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three children, who try valiantly not to roll their eyes whenever she quotes Jane Austen.

Anna's books include the Wayward Wallflowers series and the Debutante Diaries series.