A M/M spicy historical romance, enemies to lovers, forbidden love, redemption, revenge, and a whole lot more.

A club, brandy, parchment, scandal and threats. A story that pulls you in for a book adventure. In a world where finding love can be treason, two men will discover the challenges they face as they seek to save a friend from death.

DNF at 50%

“You know as well as I that you can’t protect someone who’s willingly steps into danger”

☆゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜★

[1,5]

☆゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜★

Well this was a huge disappointment. This is one of the cases where the book has a wonderful plot but its execution is… terrible. It is a slow book, very boring and that goes nowhere.

In The Revolutionary and the Rogue we find ourselves in a pre-revolution France, where Perrin deVesey, a nobleman and member of the Crimson Rose, a club for men who like other men, finds himself involved in a dangerous romance with a revolutionary named Henri Chevalier, a man who hates aristocrats and, in fact, wants to end them at all costs. That's it. That's what the book is about. I confess that I was excited. A pre-French Revolution gay historical romance and ALSO enemies to lovers? IT LOOKED INCREDIBLE! But at the beginning, little by little I realize how SLOWLY the book progresses. For 30% of the book the characters DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER! And for 40% they had already kissed. See? It's too slow for the plot, but the romance is cOnVeNiEnTlY fast.

Now, the only thing that seemed "acceptable" to me about the novel was the historical setting, which, in my ignorance of the subject, is quite accurate and I would have liked to delve deeper into the "real" history.

The characters are IRRITATING. Both Perrin and Henri become desperate the instant you meet them. They are two-dimensional characters whose only purpose is to have an internal monologue and a moral dilemma every 3 paragraphs. The rest of the characters don't even matter, really.

The idea is quite original, but the execution is… mediocre. I think with a better execution it could have been one of the best books of 2020, but it just wasn't.

MontFort says bye.

☆゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜★

I can't quite put my finger on exactly why, but this book was just pretty meh for me. It should have been a slam dunk--I was obsessed with the Scarlet Pimpernel after our high school trip to France--and it's a treat to read a historical that isn't set in Regency England every now and then. Add in enemies-to-lovers? Yes, please! So...I guess here it's the execution that's lacking. I had a tough time in the beginning (for some of the characters, all of the way through, honestly) keeping characters straight and the fact that my attention kept wandering throughout probably didn't help much. I really enjoyed the (secondary) characters of Quill and Phillippe, but most of the rest of it was just so-so. It's the author's first, so maybe later books will have more umph, we'll have to see.

Rating: 3 stars / C

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

This was an interesting m/m relationship that developed during the French Revolution. I love historical fiction and romance so I expected to adore this book, but it was a little unfocused and I would've liked a little more romance. It was just an okay read for me, but give it a try!
Thank you to Entangled Publishing and Net Galley for a gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Historical M/M romance…must enjoy French history!
I bought this book because I loved the cover. I was hoping for so much more. Oh well. This was a slow-moving M/M romance between two men from entirely different backgrounds during the French Revolution at the time of the Reign of Terror. There is intrigue and that was pretty good, but I wanted more of the M/M relationship. They spent most of their time denying feelings for the other because of their positions in society. By 46% of the book they finally get together! At about 50% the book began to move more swiftly. The ending becomes a nail-biter, which was also good. A few twists keep the story interesting too. Honestly, I kept reading to find out who was the Scarlet Crest.
The Aristocrat, Perrin de Vesey has isolated himself for a year mourning his beloved, Julien who was sent to the guillotine simply because he was of the family of a much-hated Count. He is English but moved to France where he hoped the new laws would lean in his favor being a sodomist (historic word for being gay). Citoyen Henri Chevalier is part of the new Republic serving in their police/military. He has already begun to doubt he’s on the right side with all the killings w/o a trial. They meet by accident where Henri saves Perrin from a mob. Their romance doesn’t really begin until about mid-way of the book.
The book is well-written but feels like it is written more from the historical angle than the romance. Trying to be fair to the book and the author, I would give this book 3.5 stars keeping in mind that I read this genre for the M/M love stories, which tend to be more interesting than straight love stories often times. I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through Entangled/NetGalley.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley for my honest review. Thank you for my copy. I liked the premise of enemies to lovers m/m romance. I was looking forward to reading this book because of it. Perrin and Henri were enemies but lusted each other from the beginning. I didn’t see the love between them. Somehow I missed it. The plot was a bit weak. I didn’t understand what was going on half the time. Scarlet Crest??? I just didn’t care after a certain point. The second half of the book picked up for me. Maybe because finally things were happening with friends being rescued and escaping from Paris.
Overall, it was an okay book. I would recommend this book to those who like historical romances.

This book was received as a Free ARC via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled with this book. Let me be clear - on the face, The Revolutionary and the Rouge is *exactly* the kind of LGBT historical romance I would like to read. It's an exacting historical period not already well-tread in novels, taking place in the years of The Terror in France. Perrin deVesey, wealthy "aristo," and Officer Henri Chevalier sounded like fascinating enemies to lovers characters. deVesey is a member of an exclusive club for gay men, and Chevalier is doggedly investigating the leader of said club, and by extension, deVesey. Perfect chase set up. Antagonism galore. Spying! Flirting! Celebrating the murder of the French Aristocracy! Madame Guillotine!

Except.

Oh, except -- this book never quite got me as invested as the premise of it promised it would. The meeting of our aristo and officer felt a bit overly hamfisted in regards to how instantly turned on they both were, (Chevalier saves deVesey from a mob, and holds him to protect him). And the motivations - especially for Chevalier just felt...like I was being explained to repeatedly why the wealthy aristos sucked and why he was justified working for the revolutionaries. I get the sense the author did do some research, but it came off like set dressing, and I'm not even fully sure I can articulate *why*. Perhaps it was because the characters themselves seemed so one-note. deVesey is Sad about his late-lover, except when he is an Aristo and wants to flirt/get under Chevalier's skin. Chevalier is Mad about the Aristos and how his family was treated, except when he has to think about how maybe Robespierre is Going Too Far, and that he is also turned on by an aristo (which also makes him mad.)

Look, this should be my absolute catnip. It really should. And I am so appreciative of the summary that I'm sure when Blake Ferre publishes their next book, I will also potentially check that out. But this suffers from a few things I've noticed I dislike (and think weaken) Romance Novels - the traumatic past is forgettable the moment you need to ignore it and then back when you want the character to angst (and yet it doesn't feel..genuine), there's far too many side-characters very early on in the book which makes them difficult to keep track of, and the chemistry goes from zero to "another person touched me I might have a boner," in about two seconds. deVesey's personality switch from depressed and traumatized to trying to be a take-charge flirt was jarring.

I think this book might've potentially been more successful if it has just gone the full "Erotica" novel, as opposed to just romance. It felt like the author's goal was to push everything in place to write steamy scenes and seduction in the front half of the book. Which is like, fine! It's great even! But I wonder if being more free to focus on the sex scenes would've helped the pacing, weirdly enough.

And the extended soup-sex-broth metaphor was weird.

I am sorry to say I found this very unenjoyable. I've never read a romance set in the period of the Terror before so there was a lot of potential here, especially since the two men were on different sides. But it was just botched, and in places quite boring and infuriating. The two men, one mourning the death of his lover by guillotine, who was executed without trial, and the other an officer of the Committee hunting down "traitors", are on opposite sides of the conflict, and quite entrenched in their opinions.

This book failed in a lot of ways for me, but the two main culprits have to be character and plotting. The two men have a ridiculous meet cute, one saves the other from a mob, and are attracted to each other right away before realizing they are on opposite sides, but their little "tryst" is nothing, just like a thigh in between two other thighs and a little inadvertent moaning (they are hiding from the mob at this point). And from that unremarkable meeting where almost nothing happens, they both become obsessed with each other and think about each other constantly and I did not buy it at all.

On top of that, the plot has them meet up in increasingly far fetched scenarios where they continue to up the ante on not acting like actual humans, and instead read to me as if they are human avatars for the author's lusty plot. I also think the author didn't do a good job establishing the emotional context of their backstories. I felt almost nothing for both men, except annoyance.

Don't really reccomend this one, although I see some people seem to have really liked it, but it was definitely not a book for me.

TBH I read it with the Scarlet Pimpernel in mind. I found it enjoyable and engrossing even if a bit slow at times.
It's a sweet story and i liked the characters and the vivid historical background.
The romance is sweet and I rooted for the characters.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The Revolutionary and the Rogue by Blake Ferre



Perrin and Henri are on opposite sides of the Reign of Terror. Perrin is an aristo and a member of a secret organization working against the government. Henri works for the government, and his reasons for hating aristos are more than political.

They have every reason to hate each other, and at first, that’s exactly what happens. But Henri is convinced that Perrin is up to no good (true) and follows him at every opportunity. As the narrative progresses, their lives become more intertwined and the line between the dual games of cat-and-mouse and seduction blurs.

I love queer historical romance and it was such a treat to get to read one set during the French Revolution. The most interesting aspect of this was that the biggest obstacle to their relationship was not that they were both men, but rather the political opposition. I don’t mean to imply that homosexuality was accepted during that era—it wasn’t—but Robespierre was much more concerned with sedition. That said, the specter of the guillotine served as an ever-present reminder of the consequences for the characters.

“Enemies to lovers” is one of my favorite tropes so I loved to see the animosity turn into warmer feelings. There’s a strong attraction, which comes out during the love scenes, which were scorching hot.

I would recommend The Revolutionary and the Rogue. The stakes were higher in this book than any of my other recent reads and had me worrying for everyone’s safety for the entire book. This is an excellent debut and I’m looking forward to reading more from Ferre in the future!

3.25 Stars
Perrin deVesey is a member of Crimson Rose, a secret club for men who love men, he’s taken the vow “to stand and shield.” Standing together during these perilous times is the only thing keeping their necks from the guillotine. Now their leader is using the club to rescue wrongly accused traitors. After losing a past lover to an unjust execution, the decision to support this treasonous cause is easy…until a devastatingly handsome Committee Officer complicates Perrin’s whole world. Officer Henri Chevalier hates aristocrats. But the man he finds while investigating Crimson Rose is more than just wealthy and fancily clothed. He’s a rogue that could take him to the heart of the uprising and stop it before it starts. His plan to get close to Perrin and steal his secrets backfires, though, when Henri finds himself falling for the damned aristo and his dangerous smile.
I believe this is the author’s debut novel & whilst it was well written & well researched it didn’t grab me. The pace was good & flowed well. However I didn't connect with either Perrin nor Henri & found them to be lacking depth & I had difficulty believing they fell in love & thought them just in lust. An interesting first novel & I’ll definitely read further books from the author
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I love a good regency romance and am really appreciating how many more queer regencies are coming out. This one was lovely and had a satisfying ending.

TWs: Off-page death of a partner, violence, homophobia, toxic relationships.

I received an ARC of this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book.

I thought I was going to love this book because it had everything I normally enjoy in a story; queer romance, enemies-to-lovers, and a historical setting during the French revolution. But unfortunately, it missed the mark on every single one of these aspects.

The story follow Perrin, a 'rogue', and Henri, a revolutionary, as they become entangled with each other while searching for the leader of a mysterious group The Scarlet Crest. The romance between the two was a little clumsy and felt very unbelievable. Within a few chapters, they went from despising each other to being in love with each other, without much progression or development of their feelings. Henri hated Perrin so vehemently at the beginning of the story, that I found it very hard to believe the sudden reverse of his feelings.

My main issue with this book, though, was the writing. The narrative didn't flow and the descriptions were really odd in places. Metaphorical comparisons also came off as strange or unnecessary, with two things being compared that just didn't need a comparison. One example that springs to mind is: 'the atrocious frivolity of the man's suit brought the texture of dried bread to Henri's mouth'. Why wouldn't you just say his mouth is dry? There's not really a need for a comparison there? I don't know, maybe it's just me.

The plot was also repetitive and sadly quite dull. Not much happens in the first half of the novel and none of the twists in the second half surprised or excited me. There were also inconsistencies with settings, where Perrin's house is described as having large grounds and a big walk way to the front doors, but is also described as being in the centre of the city with a view right onto the street from the windows. Those two things didn't really match up for me. (How can you have huge grounds but also be able to see right down onto the street?)

Something else I couldn't really get past was the fact that French terms were randomly dropped into the narrative, and a lot of the time they didn't make sense? One of the secondary characters, Quill, uses the word 'La' as an exclamatory term a lot throughout the novel. 'La' translates into English as 'the' and can only really be used as an article in conjunction with a noun (like 'la chat/the cat'). So when Quill exclaims 'la, there you are', he's literally saying 'the, there you are'. And it just didn't make sense?

So yeah, I'm sad. I thought I was going to love this, but instead I was pretty disappointed

Perrin de Vesey is still in mourning for his former lover Julien who was unjustly taken and executed by the revolutionary committee. He is roused out of his fog of depression by joining the secret organisation formed to rescue unjustly accused citizens. His path crosses that of Officer Henri Chevalier who hates aristos due to their terrible treatment of his family in the past. Sparks fly and as time goes on Henri finds it difficult to hate Perrin. I found this book a bit too repetitive and long, there were a lot of circular plotlines to get to the end. I did contemplate not finishing it but persevered. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Heat Factor: The fire is banked.
Character Chemistry: It’s that snapping, snarling: “I hate you and everything you stand for, why am I so horny around you?”
Plot: Trying to keep everyone’s heads attached to their bodies during the Reign of Terror
Overall: This book would have benefited significantly from better editing.

There are a number of conflict points occurring in this book:
- The protagonists are on opposite sides during the Reign of Terror
- The protagonists are men who love men during a time when living that way openly was dangerous
- Perrin is grieving the death of his lover, who was guillotined without trial, and Perrin is likewise in danger because of his politics and social standing
- Henri is grieving the death of his father and sister, who were essentially (there’s a lot to unpack there) killed by the French aristocracy prior to the Revolution
- Henri is also a good bad guy, because the Revolution is bad, but Henri has a heart of gold and would never, ever condone ruthless, unscrupulous murder or imprisonment without due process. (Right.)

This is to say, there’s plenty of meat here for magnificent quantities of tension in an enemies to lovers trope projection. Unfortunately, the book does not pull through in its execution.

My first note is that these protagonists should in no way be open and honest with each other on multiple fronts. They wind up at the same (historical equivalent of a gay) club right off the bat, so a mutual suspicion of homosexual preferences might not be unreasonable, but it seems absolutely wild that they would jump straight into sexual innuendo, if only because it would be unsafe to do so with people one didn’t know. Add to that the fact that they ran into each other prior to entering the club, so they both know they’re politically opposed to one another during a time when that’s actually deadly, and there’s even less reason for them to be anything but ruthlessly evasive with each other. And yet they are remarkably hypersexed and confrontational. It’s a missed opportunity for tension. Just think of all the subterfuge and innuendo that could draw things out!

My next note is that the text relies heavily on heavy-handed presentations of everything that’s occurring. And I do mean everything. Not only are we heavily invested in the enemies trope of Henri and Perrin constantly and harshly antagonizing each other (but OH! The SEXUAL TENSION that I want to think is the absolute worst but won’t go away!), but also we get studies in caricature when Henri is antagonized by an absolutely disgusting, sociopathic work colleague, and Perrin is besties with his servant. I could positively hear the birds carrying the ribbons in the background. Employer/employee relationships have a power dynamic. Pretending that’s not the case is ridiculous.

Then, too, if I am asking “BUT WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!” most of the time in the first third of the book (or really any third of the book), we have a problem. I should not be asking why two men who should want literally nothing to do with each other (except, fine, sexual attraction, but that can be a feeling not acted on) are making the choices they’re making to continue to be around each other. Perrin has multiple personalities, is one explanation, but I don’t think it’s the desired one. He flips from soft as a delicate cloud to bull-headed to sneering rage monster so fast I got whiplash. With respect to the bull-headed personality, he gets involved in a subversive political group, waltzing in like he’s got the chops to get the job done. He does not. As far as we know, he has no experience of soldering or espionage (not surprising since he’s an English viscount), and yet he inserts himself into extremely dangerous situations and throws fits about leaving Paris, which only demonstrates a serious lack of situational awareness.

Lastly, there is quite a bit of word misusage. It’s not full-blown Inigo Montoya “I don’t think that word means what you think it means,” but it was definitely a lot of ...that’s not used correctly in context. Like, “hoity” by itself is not a thing. Also, since we’re talking word use, there are many, many power words in this text, and they evoke feelings. This is good...except when we’re using words that evoke negative emotions to discuss the protagonists. I’m not sure I ever recovered from Henri referring to Perrin’s lips as a “dreadful, fleshy grimace.” 😬 So if all the notes above didn’t make it clear that the book would have benefited significantly from better editing, the text certainly gave it away.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

This book had so much potential, but I found it rather slow and repetitive. At times, it almost seemed like a parody of the traditional plot lines found in historical romances.

I was really looking forward to a good queer historical romance novel, add in the enemies to lover trope and i'm sold. Sadly, this didn't quite hit the mark for me.

There didn't seem to be enough of a plot, or it wasn't fleshed out enough, and it felt repetitive in parts. I felt like I read the same conversation fifty times. There was definitely some entertaining action and suspense. There were a lot of details about the revolution and a lot of characters that I sometimes struggled to keep straight.

I did like Henri more so than Perrin. Perrin seemed to go from depressed and mourning to very flirtatious pretty fast. They had a lot of lust, the heat was good but their overall relationship fell flat for me.

There’s nothing particularly wrong with this book other than it didn’t click with me. The enemies to lovers trope is up there among favorites of mine and Perrin and Henri certainly fit the bill, they were being on opposite sides of the French revolutionary movement and what considered as traitors (who fought the new blood-thirsty power).

The cat and mouse game played throughout the plot had me anxious - as expected for this sort of premises. But it also exasperated me how some of the characters seemed way too lax in how they comport themselves (I expected them to trudge and speak carefully, considering. Yet often they said ‘dangerous’ words or mentioned names that could get them in trouble heedless of place or without bringing down their voices). On top of that, both MCs were so emotional and impetuous most of the times. I guess it was understandable given the circumstances; but given their stature in that situation I was hoping they were level-headed most of the time (than what they showed in this book).

As much as I wanted to like this book, THE REVOLUTIONARY AND THE ROGUE was just an okay read to me. The overall concept is gripping enough but the characters were way too exhausting to follow their story.


Copy of this book is kindly given by the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is my fair and honest review, voluntarily given and in my own words, for this ARC. I requested this book because I thought, with the setting, subject matter and time, it would be a fantastic read. Unfortunately, I found the story slow and the characters lacking. I do not say this easily as I understand the heart and soul that authors put into their tales. To me, that was lacking.

For anyone who knows me, they know that I greedily devour nearly anything romance related from paranormal to contemporary to suspense in any pairing (or more!) available.

However.

Historical is not my normal go-to. There are a precious few authors that I will read across the board regardless of the time period, but on the whole I prefer hanging in a more contemporary or even slightly futuristic era.

However. 😉

When The Revolutionary and The Rogue popped up on my NetGalley homepage, I was immediately intrigued. The colors are very grabbing and the cover immediately captures your attention. But beyond that, I’m French and adore all things Frenchy. And thus your girl hit that request button with super quickness.

The Revolutionary and The Rogue takes a famous, yet painful time in French history and moves it from the macro scale lesson you learn in school to a micro level. Because even in the midst of social uprising and civil war, people are still living life. Still meeting. Still falling in love.

Even when they perceive their counterpart to be on the opposite side of the battle. In addition to a gripping love story, The Revolutionary and The Rogue also weaves a deeper storyline that is timeless about class bias and holding preconceived notions about anyone not like you.