The Taming of the Rake

Kasey Michaels

I am writing this review on behalf on netgalley.com  This book comes out on 26 July 2011.

I don’t usually read Harlequin books because in my mind Harlequin=trashy novels.  When I saw that this book was on netgalley.com, I thought it sounded interesting and I would give it a try in the hopes that they would prove my opinion to be false.  I must say, this book has changed my mind about Harlequin novels.  I loved this book.  I couldn’t put it down.  I was in the middle of reading another book by one of my favorite authors and had to stop that one so I could finish this book.  It was nowhere near  “trashy” as I had previously thought.

In this book, we are introduced to the three bastard sons of a daughter-of-the-local-squire-turned-actress and the Marquess of Blackthorn – Don John Blackthorn aka “Jack” or “Black Jack,” Oliver Le Beau Blackthorn aka “Beau,” and Robin Goodfellow Blackthorn aka “Puck.”  This first book in the trilogy is about Beau and his encounters with the Mills-Beckman family.  It tells of the hatred between Beau and the eldest son, Thomas Mills-Beckman.  After what was affectionately termed, “the incident,” Beau left London for seven years.  Upon his return, he is once again thrown in with this family.  The “pernicious brat,” Lady Chelsea Mills-Beckman, asks for Beau’s assistance to prevent the marriage of her to Francis Flotley and thereby getting the ultimate revenge on his enemy, Thomas. The story is about their journey to Gretna Green all while trying to keep one step ahead of Thomas, Madelyn Mills-Beckman (Chelsea’s older sister) and Reverend Flotley.  This book keeps you intrigued as it not only tell of the journeys of Beau and Chelsea, but realistic things also happen to the main characters.  These twists and turns keep you wanting to turn the pages.  I must say that I was disappointed when I finished the book, only because I would have to wait to read more on the Blackthorn sons.

Goodreads synopsis:

Meet the Blackthorn brothers— Three unrepentant scoundrels infamous for being mad, bad and perilous to love

 

Charming, wealthy and wickedly handsome, Oliver "Beau" Blackthorn has it all…except revenge on the enemy he can't forget. Now the opportunity for retribution has fallen into his hands. But his success hinges on Lady Chelsea Mills–Beckman—the one woman with the power to distract him from his quest.

Desperate to escape her family's control, Lady Chelsea seizes the chance to run off with the notorious eldest Blackthorn brother, knowing she's only a pawn in his game. But as Beau draws her deep into a world of intrigue, danger and explosive passion, does she dare hope he'll choose love over vengeance?

The colloquialisms used in this book are sometimes difficult to understand.  I found myself having to re-read some passages and research various terminologies to fully comprehend what was happening.  You can read the book and fully understand it without research, but I wanted to understand the nuances of that time period.  At first, the jargon makes the book difficult to understand, but it doesn’t take long before you figure out the meanings behind their terminology.  I will admit that I had to look up on dictionary.com to figure out the meaning of the title.  It is thoroughly a good book that will keep you thinking and wondering what is going to happen next.