A Rake's Guide To Pleasure (Zebra Historical Romance) [Paperback]

Victoria Dahl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2008

Raised by a titled, yet degenerate, father, Emma Jensen never imagined the gambling lessons she learned as a child would one day serve her well. When she finds herself in dire need of money, she concocts the alias of Dowager Lady Denmore and sets off to bewitch London's noblemen by engaging them in games of chance. The fact that respectable ladies do not gamble does not intimidate her in the least. But the darkly handsome Duke of Somerhart does - for he's awakened a deep, sensual hunger in her...The dashing Duke of Somerhart has the notorious reputation of being one of London's most incurable rogues. When he meets the alluring Lady Denmore, he is immediately intrigued. Her recklessness and innocence intertwined titillates him as no other woman ever has. But what secret is the lovely Lady Denmore hiding? He's determined to find out. But first he must seduce her until she surrenders completely to his most wicked desires...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Emma, Lady Denmore, is the talk of London’s ton. Always in the middle of a game of chance, the young widow flouts convention by betting on anything. Emma’s plan is to win enough money and then disappear from London before anyone who can unmask her charade arrives in town for the season. Growing up with her debauched father, Emma never entered society and wants nothing to do with it; she only wants enough money to live a simple life in a small cottage. She is well on her way to achieving her goal when Hart, Duke of Sommerhart, appears. When she was a child, he allayed her fears concerning her father’s degenerate guests, and she remembers him as her knight in shining armor. But now he is an obstacle, blocking her way to independence. Dahl is a new author who will soon be a favorite among fans of sensual historical romances, given her intriguing and dynamic characters. --Patty Engelmann

Review

"Dahl brings a highly sensual, emotional and moving story to the pages with aplomb. Her clever plotting and engaging characters drive the story forward at a fast clip, and the depth of emotions will keep you enthralled." -- Romantic Times BOOKreviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1420100165
• ISBN-13: 978-1420100167
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,112,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great story for the first 20 chapters. Wickedly Yummy Lovescenes! The heroine turns annoying in the last few chapters., August 10, 2008

By 

Alyce In Wonderland "The Looking Glass" (Over the hill or underland, or just behind a tree) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Rake's Guide To Pleasure (Zebra Historical Romance) (Paperback)

Victoria Dahl's historical series:

To Tempt a Scotsman

A Scotsman's Surrender (short story)

A Rake's Guide to Pleasure


I really enjoyed Dahl's first in this series, so I was definitely looking forward to "A Rake's Guide...". The first 20 chapters did not disappoint. The story moved well with both main and side characters I found easy to like. (And not like when appropriate.) The villain was more of a lost soul with mental infirmity than a truly villainous man, which made it possible to sympathize with his plight. "Wicked" is the absolute perfect way to describe the love scenes. The leading couple was perfectly matched.


Emma's whole family has died and left her destitute. A neighbor family kindly took her in as a teen, with hopes she would marry their son. When Emma learned that the son was not mentally stable, she ran and hid from everyone who knew her. In order to support herself, she has disguised herself as the widow of her late uncle. On the London scene, she frequents gambling tables to earn money. Once she has saved enough, she will flee London and find herself a quiet cottage by the sea where she can live without fear.

Hart, the Duke of Somerhart, is known for being cold as ice. Many jokingly call him "Winterhart". London society is shocked to see him showing emotion where the young widow Emma is concerned. Emma is finding Hart hard to resist, but she refuses to become his next mistress. Although her mind is filled with naughty thoughts of what she would love to do with him, she knows he could find out the truth of her identity and end her dreams of freedom. Hart wants Emma. He knows she wants him, too. He is delighted to find her weakness: Emma wants a man who takes control during intimacy. The Duke gladly takes that role.

Hart suspects that Emma is not all she claims to be. Having been betrayed by women before, he prays he is wrong. When Emma disappears, Hart untangles her lies to learn that a madman has been stocking her. Is Emma nothing but a lying thief, or is she really a woman scared for her life?


The story flowed and made sense until the last few chapters. The demise of the villain actually occurred in a way that made me feel sorrow for everyone involved. I found I could like the "bad guy" and wish things had been different for him. That is a rare story trait that always appeals to me. Other than that, the final chapters annoyed me because the heroine became nasty to the hero with the pretense of her being a woman with a wounded inner child. Throughout the book she was a strong and determined woman with a secret wicked side. Again, that was the perfect match for the wicked duke. At the end, she was constantly screaming at him and telling him things like "I don't want you." and "You disgust me!" He became a combination of a whipping boy and Dr. Phil, willing to take her abuse and analyze her reasons for acting that way while begging her to marry him. Ooof!

Still, the book as a whole is a great read. I'm excited to see that the next book is going to be about the Viscount Lancaster, whom you will come to know and love in this book.


Want to read the series? Here are the links to the first two stories:

To Tempt A Scotsman (Zebra Debut)

A Scotsman's Surrender


If you like London historical romance, you'll love Gaelen Folie's long- running series. Here are the first 5 titles to get you started:

The Duke

Lord of Fire

Lord of Ice

Lady of Desire

Devil Takes a Bride

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok story about a woman gambling to earn money to support herself and using a fake name., December 4, 2008

By 

Jane (Chicago, IL, United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: A Rake's Guide To Pleasure (Zebra Historical Romance) (Paperback)

STORY BRIEF:
Emily's family has died. She has no money, so she pretends to be a titled widow so she can attend London parties and gamble with men. She is a skilled gambler and plans to earn enough money so she can support herself with the interest income without getting married. Hart is a Duke planning never to marry. He sees Emily gambling and is attracted to her. She doesn't want a relationship and is planning on leaving within about a month. Her fear is that someone may find out that she is not who she says she is.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I like strong, independent, smart women, and I enjoyed the way Emily bested men at gambling. But for some reason I did not enjoy the rest of the story around her. I did not like some of her choices. In addition, she must lie throughout the book to keep her secret, but even in the end, she continues lying - to herself and to Hart. Hart realizes this and knows he just needs to see through her to the truth and pay no attention to her words. It was ok as a typical romance novel, but it didn't hold my interest as well as other books have. I wasn't surprised or delighted, and a couple of times, I wanted it to be over.

DATA:
Story length: 289 pages. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 4. Length of sex scenes; 1 to 15 pages. Total number of sex scene pages: 25. Setting: 1844 England. Copyright: 2008. Genre: historical romance.

OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other books by this author, see my 4 star review of "Lead Me On" posted 3-23-10.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wow I hate this book, June 21, 2009

By 

K. Hamilton "Romanceaholic" (atlanta,ga) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Rake's Guide To Pleasure (Zebra Historical Romance) (Paperback)

Wow I hate this book - I love Victoria Dahl - I read To Tempt a Scotsman and Talk Me Down - loved both of those stories and read the reviews of this one before buying and knew this was going to be a great read - I didn't finish this book - as reviewer stated, which is true there is no romance in this story, the heroine, Emma fought so hard to stay independent, which I respect in a character, but prevented her from ever forming a real connection with the hero, Hart. She seemed closer to another gentlemen in the story,Lancaster. I tried to finish this book , but all I wanted it to be is done - the last straw was her having her stalker thrown in jail with the help of Lancaster not the hero, Hart - the secondary story didn't bother me so much - although it was ridiculous - It was the waiting for the emotional connection to Hart and honestly I didn't like Emma