Review: Once a Rogue by Allie Therin

Once a Rogue (Roaring Twenties Magic #2)
Allie Therin

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MM

Blurb:
Two reformed scoundrels have renounced the battlefields and scandals for one another, but their troubled pasts could destroy everything they hold dear…

New York, 1925

Cranky and jaded Lord Fine—Wesley, now, to the kindhearted lover he cynically doubts life will let him keep—arrives in Manhattan with one goal: find the American paranormals and get their help with the relic burdening Sebastian. His plans are upended when the other paranormals seem to have vanished, and a mysterious letter warns Wesley that he’s in danger.

Sebastian has no doubts when it comes to his feelings for Wesley, but he’s still haunted by the time he spent enthralled by blood magic right here in New York. And now, his magic is unstable, bolstered by a relic that seems to drain energy from his very blood. But there is a threat to Wesley, and Sebastian needs control of his magic to protect him—even if former Great War captain Wesley wants Sebastian to rely on him for a change.

Chasing a trail that leads from Fifth Avenue’s bootleggers to a Halloween masquerade at a Tarrytown mansion, they must race to find their friends before devastation is unleashed on New York—and on magic everywhere.

My Review

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

I really enjoyed book 1 in this series and was excited to see there was a sequel and hit request as soon as I spotted it on Netgalley. This sequel is just as good as the first book. The plot continues after book 1 and now Wesley and Sebastian are in New York. They’re planning to meet up with Arthur, Rory, Jade and Zhang about a relic. And they get involved in another mystery with someone planning big things and them caught in the middle of it.

I though the plot was a bit slow to get going, but I didn’t mind that as the romance and the characters were plenty to keep me interested. As well as the hints of what was going on plot wise that are there from the start. The plot gets more intense further into the book and ends with quite the showdown toward the end where everything comes together and they face the bad guy of this book. It was an exciting wrap up and I liked seeing what happened and how everything played out.

I really like reading about Wesley and Sebastian, they make for such a great couple. And this series has one of my favorite grumpy/ sunshine romances. Wesley is the grumpy one, but in a way that feel so well done and fits his character instead of being annoying. His grumpy comments could be quite funny too and it’s obvious he really cares beneath his scruff exterior. He might not always believe the best of himself, but Sebastian sure does. Sebastian has been through so much and is still dealing with nightmares and having to face what he did while under blood magic, but he’s this ray of sunshine seeing the best in people. And these two together are just so awesome. I really liked reading about them and seeing their romance deepen even more.

Another thing I really liked about this book is seeing Wesley and Sebastian meet up with the whole cast from the first series, Arthur, Rory, jade and Zhang. It was so fun to see them all interact together. I wasn’t quite sure how it would work with the history between some of them, but I actually was really happy with how it all played out. I hope there will be more books in this series as I would happily read more about these characters.

To summarize: This is a great sequel. Wesley and Sebastian arrive in New York and are planning to meet up with Arthur, Rory, Jade and Zhang. Instead they get involved in a bit of a mystery. The plot starts a bit slowly, but builds surely and steadily to an exciting showdown toward the end. The highlight for me was Wesley and Sebastian’s romance, these two are just so great together. This is one of my favorite grumpy/ sunshine books, the differences in their personalities works so well and together they are just so fun to read about. I really liked seeing them grow closer and their romance deepen more. It was also really fun to see them meet up with Arthur and the rest and seeing how they all interact together. I hope there will be more books in this series ans I would happily spend more time reading about these characters.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.