Author: Gillian Hawser
Publisher: Matador
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 298
Format: eBook - EPUB
Genre: Historical Romance
Source: Review Copy via NetGalley
It is the turn of the 19th Century and Lord Jaspar Heddington is a rich handsome rake, who womanises with impunity, indulged by the world he inhabits who turn a blind eye to his peccadilloes. However, when Jaspar seduces the beautiful, innocent Laura Ludgrove, the enusing scandal is different.
To escape the fallout, his beloved sister, Nillie, orders him out of London and back to Bardfield, his estate in the country. On the journey, he encounters a mysterious and beautiful girl who captivates him - and then unexpectedly shoots him. Wounded and bleeding, his life is ultimately saved by young Dr Horace Sugden, a trailblazer of the new scientific world.
Overwhelmed, Jaspar struggles to understand why he was shot. Still haunted by the strange encounter, Jaspar decides to search for the girl who invades his dreams - but will he emerge with more than he bargained for?
The Rake by Gillian Hawser had both pluses and minuses for me. On the plus side, I enjoyed the story line with its tale of redemption and its enemies-to-lovers theme. Jaspar Heddington was not at first a likeable character, but we did see him change and grow throughout the story, and I enjoyed following that transformation. On the negative side, the pacing of the story was a little off. The opening and ending were entertaining, but things floundered for a while in the middle, with a wide range of side characters drawing the action away from the main plot. Also, although this book was published back in July (and was therefore not an ARC still awaiting final proofreading), there were a fair number of typographical and grammatical errors, which did jerk me out of the story at times as I paused to work out what the sentence was trying to convey. Despite these minuses, though, The Rake was still an entertaining story overall and if you are a fan of Regency romance with rakish heroes, I am sure you will find enjoyment in this piece. It gets 3.5 stars from me.
I received this book as a free review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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