Jen’s review of When the Rogue Returns (The Duke’s Men #2) by Sabrina Jeffries.

Victor Cale never imagined that his sweet, shy bride, Isabella, would use her talents for creating exquisite imitation jewels criminally. But there’s no denying that her handiwork was used in the theft of the Dutch royal diamonds– right after Isa disappeared into the night. 

Ten years later, Victor is sent to Edinburgh to investigate a wealthy baron’s mysterious bride-to-be… who turns out to be Isa, masquerading as an alluring widow. No longer the meek girl he once knew, Isa boldly asserts that it was Victor who abandoned her, after he helped steal the royal diamonds!

Piecing together the truth of the past reawakens their volatile passions, which burns hotter than ever. But with a decade of secrets between them, Victor and Isa must trust each other to bring the real thieves to justice– without getting burned themselves.

At the start of the book, Isabella is a shy, meek young bride to former soldier Victor Cale. Though Victor doesn’t have much money, he and Isa are clearly in love and looking forward to a future together. However, Isa’s scheming sister and brother-in-law not only tear them apart but make them both unknowing accessories to a major jewel theft. Both Isa and Victor end up believing the other a lying thief who abandoned their marriage, a betrayal neither ever get over. Fast forward almost 10 years, and the two meet again when Victor is hired to investigate Isa, now living under a new identity in Scotland. They have to untangle the truth of what really happened a decade ago and find a way to move beyond the past.

Isa is a rare historical heroine in that she actually owns (part of) her own business. Her father was a clockmaker, and before he died she learned to make extraordinary imitation gemstones to adorn his clocks. Believing her husband to have abandoned her and wanting to escape her criminal family, she apprentices herself to a jeweler who specializes in making imitation gems, moving with him to Scotland and eventually becoming part owner in their very successful shop. She transforms herself from a meek and easily frightened young girl to a confident woman who takes care of herself, trusts her instincts, and shapes her own destiny. She’s exceptionally skilled at her job, and the glimpses we get of her working show her as a real artist. I have doubts about this all being historically plausible, but it did make Isa a very appealing character.

I also appreciate that the couple’s road back to happiness isn’t without bumps. Both have trouble trusting the other, even though they want to. There was such a mountain of lies between them, including many that Isa and Victor had created. They may have had good reasons, but those kind of lies erode trust, and they both needed to rebuild that. They are also, understandably, quite different people after a decade apart. Both have grown more cautious and wary, and both have others in their lives to protect. Moreover, they didn’t really know each other that well when they married in the first place–they realize along the way that while they had love, neither had ever been truly open with the other. They have to acknowledge that things have changed, and slowly work to negotiate their “new” marriage.

I thought the author did a nice job explaining how Isa and Victor came to be fooled and why they both reacted the way they did. They had a very brief marriage, and the villains used that lack of knowledge and trust to drive a wedge between them. What was less well explained, though, were all the coincidences that led Isa and Victor back together. It just happens that someone hires Victor’s friend’s investigative agency to look into Isa at just the moment that Victor comes to ask his friend if he can join the agency. (He has no need to pressing need work, having conveniently recently been “discovered” to be part of a wealthy Duke’s family, which I believe takes place during book 1 of the series.) And it just happens that his friend doesn’t want to take on this case, so he sends Victor instead, and the woman he’s investigating happens to be his long lost wife. And then of course it just happens that the evil sister and brother-in-law finally track them down soon after they reunite, which forces a confrontation. The end solution to their problems was awfully tidy, as well. There were many such coincidences in the story, and while they weren’t downright unbelievable, it did feel a little too opportune at times. I also felt like I didn’t get enough insight into Victor. He’s clearly a good man, and as we learn more about his past it’s obvious he has been carrying around a lot of shame about his family history. Still, I wasn’t quite sure what always drove him, beyond his love for Isa.

This book is the second in a series, though it can certainly be read as a standalone. I assume the other investigators in the agency will be the future heroes, and in fact in this book we get an intriguing glimpse of Lady Zoe, someone I presume is a future heroine. If she’s as confident and self-assured as Isa, I think it will be a joy to read her story as well.

Grade: 3.75 out of 5

This book is available from Pocket Books. You can purchase it here or here in e-format.  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.