Customer Reviews

The Chivalrous Rake (Harlequin Historical)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jack Hamilton is in a foul mood. He has broken his collarbone, making it impossible for him to participate during hunting season and visitors do not help his mood any. A dear old friend of Jack's family has arrived for an unexpected stay at his home. Dr. Edward Bramley and his daughter Cressida have come to stay for an undetermined amount of time. Jack and Cressida get off to a rocky start. Their tempers seem to flare whenever they are around each other.

Jack thinks there is a mystery behind Edward and Cressida's arrival (which there is) and Cressida is determined to keep her secrets. Their constant bickering continues but a secret attraction is growing as well. When Cressida's secrets are revealed, will Jack be willing and able to protect the woman who has snuck into his heart?

In The Chivalrous Rake, Jack and Cressida are very strong and emotional characters. They constantly go back and forth regarding their feelings for each other, which at first is an accurate depiction of their personalities but eventually it just feels frustrating. The Chivalrous Rake has an interesting storyline and many endearing characters, especially Cressida's father Edward. If not for the constant angst Jack and Cressida go through, I would consider The Chivalrous Rake to be a very good story.

Nannette

Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Having only read three novels by Ms. Rolls, I am new to her work. In general, I have found her work entertaining and I have enjoyed what she has had published. She has a wonderful grasp of the Regency eras social, class and political agendas. However, it does need to be stated that after reading three novels from her, her plots tend to be VERY repetitive, meaning that it is the same plot with a tweak and a twist in characters and thus predictable and therefore a wonderful story idea becomes lost and then goes stale.

I was annoyed with this story, The Chivalrous Rake (the plot is outlined in the books information). It was a good story, but I could have done with out the Vocabulary lesson. Peagoose, Ninnywit, Cockahoop and other vernacular aside, her use of weighty and tongue twisting words in various languages (mostly French and Latin) tended to sound pretentious. The use of these words didn't help the plot along; in fact I tended to find my self-skipping long blocks of writing JUST to get to the point of the conversation or the character's thoughts. The main characters do a round about "country dance" for so long that I actually got dizzy! By the third time that the main characters (Jack and Cressida) accuses, insults, threatens, and then laments their actions, or lack of action, I was ready to toss the book aside. I also found that the character wrap-ups were a bit thin and rushed. I would have liked to known what happened to Fairbridge and his mother in the end.

I can't say that I am not going to read anything from Ms. Rolls in the future, but I can say that this particular book has not made my shelf, and I am wondering if I can return this Kindle edition for a refund.

The Chivalrous Rake has a lot of strengths. The supporting cast of characters is well drawn and contribute depth to the story. The sexual tension, misunderstandings between the protagonists, and his unforgiveable behavior (in several instances) became tedious. This good story could have been excellent if repetitive angst had been edited out. I recently read Ms. Rolls's Lord Braybrook's Penniless Bride and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I did enjoy this read. I was really looking forward to Jack's book and he has been such a likeable character. Some of his actions in this book seemed a bit out of character to him. The fondness between Cressida and her father was very sweet. At times Jack was perfect and what we all would love in a man and then at times he was just so off his mark that it didn't make alot of sense. The ending was VERY good but it could have used a nice epilogue to finish it off. I especially liked that Cressida took care of the villain, instead of the man always getting all the fun.

This is the fourth Elizabeth Rolls novel I have read. The other three (A Compromised Lady, His Lady Mistress, and The Unexpected Bride) were all superior works. I found this novel entertaining, but flawed. Having been forewarned by another reviewer I was expecting to go to the Dictionary provided with my Kindle (The New Oxford American Dictionary) from time to time. At least nine adjectives used by Ms. Rolls were not to be found there. Referring to Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, I still found six adjectives deffinitionless in the context of their settings (henwitted, nod-cock, bubbled, corkbrained, codshead, and slowtop). It seems to me that readers should not have to go to that extend to find meanings to the words she uses. Not good!

The story, as another reviewer stated, did become tedious with the constant, contrived misunderstandings between Jack and Cressida. Believability became a real problem as issues of little consequence between reasonable adults were used to artificially manufacture tension. Not good!

On a positive note, I found real substance in the cast of characters. Ms. Rolls made each and every one come to life as the pages went by. I particularly liked the way she gave dimension to the servants as human beings. I also found the scene very well written where Jack maneuvered Andrew into calling him out so as to give the Jack the advantage of time, place, and weapons. Then, when Cressida preempts his planned duel with her own attack on Andrew, the unexpected twist became a highlight in the story. Though not flawless, the actual story line was interesting to me and resulted in an entertaining experience. Good work!

Finally, the whole reading experience took a definite nose dive when Ms. Rolls resorted to a rather lengthy and graphic bedroom scene. It reminded me of an experience as a teenager. After hearing me use a few particularly vulgar words I was reminded by a respected older friend that only people with very poor vocabularies use that kind of language and that he expected better of me. So it is with romance authors. Those with lesser skills resort to vulgar sex scenes in an attempt to create romance while great authors create a higher level of romance by eliminating the vulgar and crafting scenes of even greater beauty and depth. Often less is far much more. It is my opinion that Ms. Rolls has the skill to do the job without lowering her standards. Her decision to disregard her true skills cost her one star on my rating scale.

I enjoyed the reading experience but can only give Ms. Rolls three stars for this work.

This is the 4th I've read from this author. Plots are somewhat similar, but still very enjoyable. I loved this book. Jack was a charming character when he turned up in a previous book, and continues to be so in this story. His wit is very funny and the interaction between him and Cress was fantastic. Worth the price and read.

I have become a great fan of Elizabeth Rolls recently but found this book not quite as good as others I have read. In the book "The unruly chaperon", Rolls makes good use of the plot devise..'the misunderstanding'. She tries to do the same again here but I found it didn't work quite as well, and I found it got quite tedious at times. This is an enjoyable story but not one to go on my keeper shelf.

I've read a lot of Rolls' work, and this was my least favorite. It was well written and a pretty good story. But Jack was not in the least chivalrous. He was rude and at times down-right demented. I didn't see much difference between him and the villian in the story except he was 'chivalrous' enough not to act on his threats. That is chivalry? To threaten but not act on it? Hmm..

I also am not a big fan of cousin-romances. It kind of grosses me out. True, they are not 1st cousins, but I couldn't imagine my kids kissing my cousin's children. Quite disgusting. It was hard to get over for me. I did enjoy seeing Meg and Marcus again. I think they saved this book.

Oh. My. Goodness. I will admit that I've only read one other book from this author, but I seriously doubt I'll be picking up another. While the story line for the book is interesting, Cressida annoys the crap out of me. From the beginning, I wanted to reach into the book and smack her. First she acts like a spoiled child, then becomes a cross between a whiny five-year-old and a hormonal pregnant woman. The "misunderstandings" between her and Jack were too numerous to count and got to the point where the only misunderstanding I had was why I was still reading this book. I'm all about the angst in a love story, and the battle for the happy ending; but for crying out loud, sister, you should have given it a break after the third one! I'm not even finished yet (on p 197 of 218) and I am so irritated I had to write the review. Do NOT buy this book. Check it out from the library or something, but please, I beg you, do NOT spend money on this garbage. I'm going to be mad about it for a week.