Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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

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

An arrogant, entittled duke seduces a nineteen year old young woman posing as a widow while gambing to avoid poverty.

Hart seems to think Emma owes him sex from their first meeting. Emma has been abused as a child, is without funds to care for herself and currently has a stalker. The Duke is much older than Emma, and even though she does express some attraction to him and has a bold attitude, the way he dominates such a vulnerable young woman turned my stomach. In fact, she continues to tell Hart to leave her alone, but he ignores her attempts at boundaries. For me, his behvior seemed abusive and was recreating some of Emma's earlier childhood trauma. I am very surprised at this book's current 4 star rating.

Yes, I agree, this book has its faults not least the sub plot which is distracting and an ending that sort of fizzles out but...I still love it. I think what Victoria Dahl has to realise is that a book can rest alone on the relationship between a man and woman without any so-called action that distracts and detracts from the main story. Some of my favorite books are those of Mary Balogh who just focuses on relationships - no spies, psychopaths or werewolves - just human frailties and triumph.

I absolutely love this book. Victoria Dahl is a wonderful author and she has become one of my must buy authors!! She brings the story alive and makes you feel like you are actually a part of it.

A Rake's Guide to Pleasure is a well-written, sexy romance with two mature characters who want totally different things in life. The Duke of Somerhart refuses to take the word "no" for an answer from Emma Jensen, who pretends to be the widowed Lady Denmore. You would think this would get a bit annoying after awhile, especially since Emma is so adamant in telling Hart to, "take a hike", but Hart's chase of Emma is the highlight of the novel. Emma may be a virgin in body, but not in her mind, and the reasoning she gives Hart to remain so, made me want to take her in my arms and rock her. Emma has been dealt some bad cards in her life and because of this, she decides to live her own way, by her own set of rules, and won't allow any man, especially Hart tell her otherwise.

Emma has come to London for a specific reason and it is not to enjoy the festivities that the Ton usually involves itself with. This is a woman on a mission, to make as much money as she can before the rest of London society arrives after the winter holiday. Emma uses her time wisely either gambling or placing bets with various gentlemen in order to come up with enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her days in a little cottage by the sea. Emma has secrets and will lie to her advantage. She tells these little fibs so she will be able to fleece those who are gullible. Emma's past is quite shocking mainly because of her father, who lived a life of debauchery where he gambled, drank and whored till the day he died. Emma saw many things as a young and impressionable child and refuses to fall into that trap where she will be desolate or seduced and left pregnant. She plays a dangerous game, flirting with the various titled gentlemen to get what she wants. She is very close to meeting her goal when, she is noticed by the one man who could destroy her well-laid plans, the Duke of Somerhart.

Emma met Hart about a decade ago during one of her father's late night parties. Hart made quite the impression on the nine year old Emma and she daydreamed that Hart would be her knight in shining armor and come rescue her. Of course this didn't happen and now years later, Hart has a reputation of being heartless, ruthless, cold... well, you get the picture. Emma is disgusted by these rumor's especially the ones about Hart's countless lovers. The boy she dreamed about was a fantasy after all and she realizes that they must never be more than passing acquaintances. Hart's reputation is mostly true but he has a new outlook on life. He will try to give up those vices he enjoyed when he was younger man. But he can hardly deny his lust towards Emma. When it comes to Emma, he finds her to be a different type of creature all together. She dances around any questions he may have and places herself in dangerous situations for money. Something is off about this so-called widow who has arrived out of nowhere. He wants to find out her secrets and thinks his excellent powers of seduction will enable him to solve the puzzle that is Emma.

I love when the heroine gives the hero a merry chase and A Rake's Guide to Pleasure is exactly that. Emma seriously does not want to be bothered with Hart even if he makes her tingly inside. Where as the hero is the one who may seem cold and refuses to admit his feelings, Dahl has turned things around where it is Emma who tries her hardest to acknowledge any feelings she may have for Hart. She is not willing to take the risk or the consequences for a moment of pleasure. But Hart has a way of breaking down her defenses, not because this is a game to him, but because Emma calls out to him where he wants to protect and cherish her. He feels they are kindred spirits.

I can't help but compare Emma and Hart's relationship to a cat and mouse game that will end in the bedroom. There are two love scenes that especially caught my eye that are so very erotic. The very first one is where Hart is giving Emma pleasure and doesn't ask for anything in return. Thank you so much for that scene Victoria! And as well as the next one where Emma gets her own revenge against Hart for rocking her world and destroying all the walls she has placed around herself.

Even though the main focus is Emma and Hart, there is a subplot that deals with an obsessive suitor of Emma's from her past who comes out of nowhere quite suddenly. Some may find that this takes away from the on-going drama between Emma and Hart, but for the most part, I was pleased with the results, mainly because I am still a sucker for the hero who ends up saving the damsel in distress.

Even though the title may seems a bit misleading, because Hart doesn't really have a guide he follows to make sure a woman is pleasured, A Rake's Guide to Pleasure has everything I want to read in a historical romance from two engaging characters, wonderful dialogue and very creative and luscious love scenes. I am overjoyed that Berkley has such an author like Victoria Dahl writing for them and A Rake's Guide to Pleasure is one romance you will not want to pass up.

Katiebabs

Great story for the first 20 chapters. Wickedly Yummy Love scenes! The heroine turns annoying in the last few chapters but love love the hero

The best part of this book was in the beginning when Hart meets Emma as a little girl and soothes her fears. The rest is okay, but nothing memorable.

Little by little Hart's personality changes from the kind young man he'd been to the skeptical man he becomes.

When compared to "To Tempt A Scotsman" this story is not as captivating, but a good story in its own right.