Julia is a widow with a young son, but has to live under the strict rules of her publicly pious father-in-law. Since he happens to be a Duke, his decisions rule the roost so to speak and can I just say he was a jerk! Julia is trying to find a way to escape his clutches and keep her son with her, but her efforts are turning fruitless. Enter Garrett.

A chance encounter at the park, in a tree no less, Garrett is fascinated by Julia. Literally, all I could think was Garrett was like a moth to a flame. Time and time again he found himself in her company, content to do whatever she asked him to because 1) he got to spend time with her and 2) once he realized her predicament, he was determined to help her find an escape. It was nice, but Julia directed everything and Garrett just went along...okay, that drove me nutty. I wanted a little balance between the two.

To be honest, I didn’t connect with any of the characters. I felt like I was being told a story instead of being in the story, if that makes sense. Most of the story was Julia’s thoughts and wishes on what she would do-just her and son- when she was free. And Garrett could have been better developed as a character. I felt like he would pop up when something needed and /or would happen, and then we were back to Julia.
I wanted to feel something, but I just didn’t have a vested interest in Julia and Garrett’s relationship.

I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley/St. Martins and this is my honest review.

2.5-3 stars

While I do love a good regency romance, this one was a miss for me.

Pacing: ★★★
Characters: ★★★
Enjoyment: ★★

Gone with the Rogue is the second in the First Comes Love series, but like many other romances it can be read as a standalone—I, personally, can vouch for that as I'm a newbie to the series with this book.

Julia Fairbright's husband drowned at sea, leaving her with their young son and under the "protection" of her father-in-law, the duke. The duke is oppressive and controlling, and holds Julia's son over her head in order to make her follow his wishes. It's a clear-cut black and white situation. Julia wants out, but she's stuck.

Garrett Stockton is the owner of a prominent shipping company and a bit of a scoundrel (aren't they all?). He's dashing, he's independent, and he's always at the edge of polite society. So when he sees the beautiful Julia stuck in a tree, he's shocked at the surprising warm feelings towards her.

Obviously, these two characters are meant to fall in love—it's just Julia's pesky father-in-law and the societal norms of her status as a widow that stand in their way. Will their love find a way?

Now, please take my review with a grain of salt, because I'm pretty sure this was a case of "it's not you, it's me" reader syndrome. Gone With the Rogue was cute and filled with all of the right things, but for some reason I could not fully engage myself in the story. I found Julia to be an amalgamation of tropes, and Garrett too reactionary—he didn't seem to have much personality outside of his fixation on Julia.

However, this story does deliver on its sweetness, so if sweet and chivalrous is your thing give this one a try!

Thank you to St Martin's Press via NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I think the premise for this book and the actual summary are very different. From the premise, I assumed that Julia had done just that, created an independent life for herself and her son. Instead, I find that she's looking to escape an overbearing, awful father in law and she needs the help of the main hero to do it. There's nothing wrong with that premise, so i'm not sure why it was necessary to market this as a different story. The one I read was not what i thought I was getting. Overall, the book was good but shaky. I was very surprised to find that this author was already popular and successful. This feels like her first book. Very short, to the point sentences, and sometimes repetitive with things a romance reader is going to take for granted. For example, it's mentioned three times in the first two times you meet the male hero about his not going to see a mistress. I got it the first time, it's only been 15 pages. Overall, the story itself is fine. It was not a page turner, but I didn't stop reading. It never really drew me in. I wish the story had been a little more "pirate woos independent single mom" than "asshole duke blackmailing single mom whose never been independent and realizes it and pirate trying to help her". Thanks for letting me review!

This was a good fun read. I loved Julia and Garrett, they were a cute couple. While there is nothing remarkable about the story it is a good dependable regency romance.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book 2 in the First comes love series. In this book 12 have a widow who is trying to keep control of her son and out of the clutches of her father in law. We first met Julia in book one she had been widowed and was starting a girls school with a couple of friends. I did enjoy her story. She meets Garrett while stuck in a tree and thinks progress from there. I did enjoy the romance that grew between the two and am looking forward to book 3.

Julia, Lady Kitson, is the widow of a Duke's son meets Garrett Stockton, a younger son who chose to work over living off a small allowance from a wealthy relation. Both of them had been living a restricted life but found each other and sparks are there.

Lady Kitson has practically been treated like a prisoner by the Duke because he had serious trust issues regarding women. Julia yearns to live her life with her son freely and enjoy the moment. She sees only one way out of this prison. Find something on the Duke so that she can force him to get out of ruling her life. Garrett has made a fortune in the shipping industry. Julia and Garrett have so much in common and they realize that they must do something if they have any chance of being together. Together they look for information to free Julia and her son. I really enjoyed the rapport between the hero and heroine. This was an easy read that flowed very nicely. The only thing that I would have wanted more of is that the author should have put more into the scenes when the Duke gets his comeuppance.

This was a very good book. I give it a thumbs up!!

Gone with the Rogue is a delightful romance. It is the second book in the First Comes Love series. Great for fans of regency, we always buy Amelia Grey for our library.

Widowed Lady Julia Fairbright lives under the thumb of her controlling father-in-law, but she may have found a way out from her situation. However, she may just need the help of the rogue who rescued her from a tree.

I hadn't read anything by this author before, but I'm always a sucker for a Regency romance. This was a very sweet story and you can tell a lot about a hero by the way he treats the friends of his love interest (happy sigh). Although I prefer a bit more steaminess in my romance, this was an excellent way to spend a rainy afternoon and I'm looking forward to trying the other books in this series.