Book Review: A Rulebook for Restless Rogues by Jess Everlee

Everyone has ideas about what a historical romance can be especially given the recent adaptations but A Rulebook for Restless Rogues takes this to a different level.

Written by Jess Everlee, this is her sophomore effort with Carina Adores. If you didn’t know, the publisher focuses on LGBT+ romances and so far, they’ve published some of the best ones I’ve read.

If you’ve read D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding, The Romance Recipe, or For The Love of April French, you’ve enjoyed one of their titles. You might also recognize Jess Everlee’s first book, The Gentleman’s Book Of Vices.

Whether you’ve read the first book or not, A Rulebook for Restless Rogues is a delightful queer historical romance from Carina Adores. I’d also like to thank the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC.

A Rulebook for Restless Rogues is queer friends-to-lovers historical romance.

Historical romances have never been my favorite, but upon seeing the cover and the description for A Rulebook For Restless Rogues, I knew I needed to try it. Considering that this is Jess Everlee’s sophomore novel, I’m incredibly impressed and excited to see what’s next.

The book follows David who owns a popular gentlemen’s club named The Curious Fox which is a queer club. When the story begins, we meet David’s best friend, Noah who is his lifelong companion and also dresses in drag while in the club. Even though it starts great, things slowly start spiraling.

It seems like David is going to lose the club unless he works with the terrible landlord and one way is to get married. It’s not that simple though as David is trying to deal with his strong feelings for Noah and also working out a business plan in a matter of days. Meanwhile, Noah is struggling as a tailor and fighting his own feelings for David.

Coupled with a ragtag group of friends, this is a fast-paced friends-to-lovers story with a sprinkle of drag which I’ve never read in a historical romance. Since this is such a fast read, I don’t want to get into too much detail with the plot but if you’re interested, I’d highly recommend picking it up as I read this in two sittings.

I enjoyed A Rulebook For Restless Rogues, but my only complaint is it felt like the plot was disjointed at times. I was following it and then the next, I was confused. Either way, this one was a lot of fun and is one I know I’ll be recommending for a queer historical romance.

A Rulebook for Restless Rogues by Jess Everlee is out now wherever books are sold. 

Will you be picking up this new queer historical romance? Let us know in the comments.