The Merchant and the Rogue by Sarah M. Eden

Last week I listened to “The Healer” by Gregg Luke on my Deseret Bookshelf app. I laughed when I heard the following, “There was the usual assortment of medical books and journals, but he also noticed a number of fictional works, particularly those of Emily Brontë, Jane Austin, Elizabeth Browning, and Sarah Eden.” (chapter 32) Just replace the medical books and journals with books by Louis L’Amour and leave the rest as is and you’d have a good description of my sixteen year old daughter, Laura’s, very own bookshelves!

Laura loves Sarah Eden’s books so when the opportunity came to review her latest book, The Merchant and the Rogue, Laura, told me I had to do it. When the book came, she grabbed it to read it first. I had to wait. Ha! I told Laura she would “get” to help write the review. First here’s a synopsis of The Merchant and the Rogue.

London, 1865
Vera Sorokina loves reading the Penny Dreadfuls and immersing herself in tales of adventure, mystery, and romance. Her own days are filled with the often mundane work of running the book and print shop she owns with her father. The shop offers her freedom and an income, and while she is grateful for the stability it brings to her life, she often feels lonely.

Brogan Donnelly was born and raised in Ireland, but has lived in London for several years, where he’s built a career as a penny dreadful writer. He has dedicated himself to the plight of the poor with the help of his sister. But with no one to share his life with, he fears London will never truly feel like home.
Brogan and Vera’s paths cross, and the attraction is both immediate and ill-advised. Vera knows from past experience that writers are never to be trusted, and Brogan has reason to suspect not everything at Vera’s print shop is aboveboard. When a growing criminal enterprise begins targeting their area of London, Brogan and Vera must work together to protect the community they’ve both grown to love. But that means they’ll need to learn to trust each other with dangerous secrets that have followed both of them from their home countries.

Here’s Laura’s review:

“Sarah M. Eden has done it again and the third book in the Penny Dreadful series did not disappoint! I read the first two books to this series (The Lady and The Highwayman, and The Gentleman and The Thief) before I read this one. The story just keeps building and getting better. At some parts, The Merchant and The Rogue was a literal jaw-dropper for me! It might not be if you haven’t read the first two in the series, however this book could be read as a standalone, it just might not be as interesting. 😉 Brogan is so thoughtful and kind, even though his friends are turned against him. Vera was a very intriguing character and I loved trying to pronounce the Russian words (though I’m sure I said them completely wrong). I loved the mystery and the suspense, it was a page-turner and was hard to put down.”

I haven’t read any of the other books in the Dread Penny Society series but as Laura said this is a stand alone book. It wasn’t hard to get into the story, I didn’t need any background information or feel like any was missing when reading.

There are actually three books in The Merchant and the Rogue. Two are Penny Dreadfuls (short stories written by characters in the book) that are interspersed throughout the book. For me, it broke the flow of the book and I didn’t like that. I’d much prefer including the Penny Dreadfuls either at the beginning or the end of the book as a complete whole.

There were a few unexpected elements in this novel I quite enjoyed. Though the setting is London, England, Vera is from Russia and Brogan is from Ireland. They are both part of the working class but still do what they can to help those even less fortunate. It was so nice to get away from the Proper Romance novels that revolve around the upper-class who sit around wasting their days with fluff and frills.

There was mystery. There was suspense. There was love and even sage words of advice. One of my favorite lines came from Brogan who said,

“No matter how far one wanders from home, the heart still longs to know it.”
Brogan in The Merchant and the Rogue, page 284

Shadow Mountain and Sarah M. Eden are offering a launch bundle to those who purchase a copy of The Merchant and the Rogue between August 15-22. You can purchase The Merchant and the Rogue at Deseret Book, Amazon, and other major bookstores. Here’s what’s part of the bundle*: