The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes

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Eva Leigh and her Scotsmen are at it again.  In the first volume of this brand-new series, bad boys meet good women and find themselves tempted by family ties.  The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes combines Leigh’s characteristic spice with some earthy language and a heroine who doesn’t back away when confronted with her guy’s naughty side.

Notorious rake Kieran Ransome is in deep trouble.  After years of carousing, he’s finally caused a scandal big enough to upset his father – providing an out for his best friend (also his sister Willa’s fiancée) Dom, who jilts Willa at the altar because his Dark Past will not allow him to Sully Her Reputation And Soul By Marrying Him.  Lying about Dom’s true motive, Kieran and his brother Finn now have to marry before the end of the year or face major consequences – they’ll be cut off financially by their families.

In desperation, Kieran turns to Celeste Killburn, Dom’s sister, for help in cleaning up his reputation.  Everyone loves Celeste, and her reputation is beyond reproach. But Celeste wants to Live and Have Adventures not just maintain a clean reputation so she’ll be accepted by the ton.  Celeste agrees to introduce Kieran to some classy girls –if he’ll take her into London’s notorious underbelly so she can Experience Real Lust and Life before marrying a stuffy Earl. She wears a mask, becomes Salome, and experiences all the gambling hells, erotic salons and wild drunken partying she’s been denied.  But Celeste’s lessons in lust soon prove to be far more hands-on than anticipated – and she and Kieran find themselves falling in love.

The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes is decadent in the best of ways.  We have a rake who writes erotic and romantic poetry falling in love in spite of himself, and a seemingly sweet miss dying to don a mask and find out about gambling, those ubiquitous erotic books, and all the various social ills she must avoid to come to the marriage bed pure as a daisy.  Leigh has fun, the reader has fun, and even a cameoing Beverly Jenkins has fun.

Leigh’s overall message – that everyone has different sides to them, no rake is purely a rake, no society miss a pure society miss – is a true and fun one.  Kieran and Celeste have wonderful, earthy, evenhanded chemistry.  Kieran is a good guy who cares about his family, though his parent’s cold marriage has turned him off the subject.  Celeste wants to avoid the family mantle for awhile, which doesn’t mean she doesn’t like her folks.  In between, there is much erotic temptation to be had.

I liked Kieran’s beery, brawling relationship with Finn, and the book does a great job setting up those that will follow (if Dom and Willa don’t end up back together, I’ll eat my hat).  The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes is marvelous and worth a good, long afternoon’s enjoyment.

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Reviewed by Lisa Fernandes

Grade: A-

Book Type: Historical Romance

Sensuality: Hot

Review Date: 24/02/22

Publication Date: 02/2022

Recent Comments …

  1. excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.

Lisa Fernandes is a writer, reviewer and recapper who lives somewhere on the East Coast. Formerly employed by Firefox.org and Next Projection, she also currently contributes to Women Write About Comics. Read her blog at http://thatbouviergirl.blogspot.com/, follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thatbouviergirl or contribute to her Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/MissyvsEvilDead or her Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/missmelbouvier

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elaine smith
elaine smith
Member
02/28/2022 7:26 am

Looks like the hero is wearing elbow warmers ;-)

Dabney Grinnan
Dabney Grinnan
Admin
Reply to  elaine smith
02/28/2022 7:35 am

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

He also looks to be wildly uncomfortable. I tried standing like that over Dr. Feelgood and almost fell over.

elaine smith
elaine smith
Member
Reply to  Dabney Grinnan
02/28/2022 4:23 pm

That must have been good for a laugh!!!

Dabney Grinnan
Dabney Grinnan
Admin
Reply to  elaine smith
03/01/2022 9:38 am

Well, coordination is NOT my strong point so, to be fair, I might have tipped over even if I weren’t contorting myself!