86 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4 1/2 *s Can a rake be not just redeemed but become a hero?, June 6, 2005
I've read and enjoyed (to one degree or another) every book Ms Foley has ever written. I love her heroes in particular - smart, sexy, brave, often tortured and usually with a sense of humor. Readers of this series are very familiar with Lord Alec Knight. He's a rakehell to be sure and has done some pretty unsavory things. He whores, he gambles, he drinks to excess and he's arrogant and proud as hell. His worst crime of course, was breaking his sister's best friend Lizzie Carlisle's heart (in Lady of Desire). But second to that is the year he spent "servicing" wealthy, wicked widow Lady Campion in exchange for her paying off his gambling debts.
Ever since losing Lizzie to one of his friends (Strathmore in Devil Takes a Bride), Alec has been in a sort of funk. Things he used to enjoy he now finds tiresome. His faith in humankind is about nil as, in his experience, no one is innocent. One evening he and his friends discover a young woman asleep on a stoop and, of course, take her for a whore. They wake her, but she doesn't look or act like a whore (at least not a practiced one) to Alec and he warns his friends to back off to no avail. After some well-placed kicks and punches, she takes off running. Alec pursues her to ensure that she is alright, and because it's the most interesting thing that's happened to him lately. He catches up with her and determines that there is an air of innocence about her regardless of her profession and he decides to take her home with him. It's been months since he's had a woman and he wants her. She decides to go with him for reasons of her own . . .
She is Rebecca Ward and she is in some serious trouble. She's come to London from her country home in Yorkshire to report a crime. With the death of her grandfather, her cousin, Russian Prince Mikhail Kurkov has become her guardian. He and his band of Cossacks have taken over her home and surrounding village terrorizing all who live there. Mikhail has made it clear that she is under his control, she will do as he says and that he has lecherous intentions toward her. She also witnesses him and his men murdering a man. The local magistrate is the Duke of Westland who is currently at his London residence and so Becky flees to report the crime to the duke. But after days on the run she is cold, wet, exhausted and she doesn't know her way around or have any friends to turn to. Alec Knight may be a rake, but she senses that he is also inherently kind with a certain honor. She allows him to take her home mainly to elude the Cossacks following her, but also because she's very attracted to Alec.
OF course they share One Night of Sin, and the next day several revelations come to light causing Alec to vow to help her. He devises a plan to win enough money at the gaming tables to first, buy back her home from Kurkov and then get him arrested for murder. But in the meantime, Becky must remain hidden and so she and Alec remove for the summer to the Knight family villa in Brighton where the big stakes games will be found. Will his good luck return and allow him to save Becky? And, in a way, himself?
This is a redeemed rake story and I felt that it was pretty well done. Alec has to face many of his past misdeeds and admit to them once he discovers he has real feelings for Becky. Becky has a no-secrets, total-honesty policy and she doesn't make it easy for Alec to win her. It's going to take more than charm this time to get what he wants. I enjoyed watching Alec grow up and, by the end, actually attain hero status. Becky was a strong, pragmatic heroine but her no nonsense attitudes at times seemed a tiny bit shrewish. But I think she was just what Alec needed.
These Knight boys have some serious issues with their long-dead mother that affect their relationships with women. I almost shudder to think of second son and blacksheep Jack's demons! But I can't wait for his story which is, finally, next!
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
All in all a very good read!, June 29, 2005
Alec was quite a rake - I mean being a kept man is probably reacing the very bottom even during the Regency period. I was really angry with Alec when he tried to interfere with Lizzie and Devlin because I loved them as a couple so much. I don't think I truly understood how low Alec's life was until this book - he was not the usual rake still able to live a high life - he was rock bottom broke and seemed to be in more than just a minor funk - enter Becky and it is true - sometime real love can in fact turn a rake around. When Alec meets Becky, his life has purpose, he has a chance to be a hero, to really be needed. It was wonderful watching their love bloom - I mean he was fascinated by Becky - just everything about her made him happy. The love scenes in this book sizzled - this couple truly had chemistry!!! It was great to see Lady Champion finally get her just due - she was beyond annoying. Enjoyed too Alec's friends - they could have books of their own. Would have enjoyed a little more of Alec's family at the end - those reunions are special in these series books - and Alec really had missed his family. All in all this was a super book - those who like Foely will not be disappointed!
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Reformed rakes make boring heroes, November 3, 2005
I was intrigued by the idea of seeing Alec Knight, the baby and wastrel of his family, become the hero of this novel. I also liked the first section of the novel, where he and Becky first meet (though I too didn't care for her name). His roguish charm, the sexy interplay, and the tension between them kept the plot going strong. Once he becomes self-aware with the help of her rather unconvincing unconditional love, the interest lags for me. We were just waiting for him to say I love you and the murder plot to unravel. The romantic tension was lost. The plot of the story itself loses fire because of the gaming focus. As the backdrop to the action, it's fine, but cards in themselves are not the most fascinating of subjects, and not manly enough for the heroic rescue. That is why it was critical to maintain the tension between the two lovers. I agree also that the actions are ludicrously anachronistic, with Becky, the daughter of an aristocrat, in particular acting like a novice porn star before nonscandalized servants, with nary a care! The graphic sex isn't a problem; it is the over-the-top mushiness that did the intimate scenes in for me. The excessive use of pet names and endearments just wasn't convincing, on her part especially. It was tough to imagine the original Alec living ever after in this sentimental bliss. This hero need to be more alpha male. That is what made him "icky" for me.
The best of the Knight series is The Duke, with Master of Desire a far second, although he becomes emasculated by his position too. In short, Foley has one great novel in this series, but the rest failed to match it.
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