Customer Reviews

Rake's Redemption (Five Star Romance)

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Lawrence, Earl of Hardcastle, is hot on the heels of a young man he believes is trying to renege on a wager. Although he has no need of the young man's estate--having four estates of his own--honor demands that he "persuade" the impulsive young man to comply with his responsibilities.

Unfortunately, he is attacked by highwaymen and left for dead. When he awakens, he is in the humble home of a retired vicar and his beautiful daughter, Phaedra. Having never met a woman so beautiful, intelligent, and good, Lawrence at first is reluctant to let her know his true identity, since his reputation as a debauched rake is widely known.

So when she first learns of his true identity, Phaedra has already had a chance to get to know the man, "Mr. Lawrence," behind the scandalous name. She suspects that he is not a hopeless case, that he has the potential to be redeemed. But when she discovers that the errand that brought him to their village will ruin the lives of her friends, she begs him not to follow through on it. The young man who recklessly wagered and lost his estate is all but engaged to her best friend. The young man's sister, another of Phaedra's friends, is an invalid widow of a fallen soldier, and their mother is incapacitated as well. If their estate is taken away, they will all lose their home and livelihood, and the young baron would certainly never be in a position to marry the woman he loves.

But the earl just shakes his head and insists that he has no choice but to claim the wager, that his own honor would be impugned if he did not, that the young man will have to live with his shame, that Phaedra, being a woman, cannot possibly understand the way of the world. And while Phaedra is shattered by the devastating blow that is about to be delivered to her friends, the earl is wondering how he can seduce her.

Actually, he doesn't have to do much, because Phaedra, in spite of being a vicar's daughter and a pillar of the community, decides to wager her virginity against the forgiveness of the young man's debt. Well, she loses, of course, and--surprise--now she is required to "pay" the price with her sexual favors, like any common whore. The good news is that she's in love with the earl and not exactly reluctant to be seduced. The bad news is that she will always feel like a whore, even though no one else will ever know about it (unless she gets pregnant, the possibility of which is never mentioned).

While I liked this book a lot, I do feel that the earl's "redemption" takes a little too long to be believable. Or maybe his character is just too far gone to be a believable hero. He's this evil man with nothing on his mind but seducing an innocent young girl and claiming a gambling debt that will ruin the lives of many people and then--bang--he's reformed. At least in Carla Kelly's "Libby's London Merchant," you can see the progression as the hero learns to change his thinking and his lifestyle. And it seems to me that in such a situation, an earl would more likely dispatch a servant or a Bow Street Runner to go after the young man and secure the estate than jump on a horse and gallop hell for leather without even a valet to do the job himself.

As for Phaedra, well, I was a little disappointed that she would do such a stupid thing as wager her virginity without thinking of ALL the consequences, if you know what I mean. I guess her concern for her friends temporarily overpowered her common sense.

"Hardhearted Hardcastle" was a good name for the conniving evil-minded "hero" of this story. Yes, he was redeemed in the end, but it was only his reluctance to take the virtue of Phaedra that made me see him as anything but a liar and schemer. Phaedra seemed set on losing her virtue to him - with or without the "helping a friend" game of cards. A little ridiculous -- she was a vicar's daughter and "so good" up till now.

Despite all this, I still found the story enjoyable. I thought the secondary characters were wonderful. Phaedra's father lived with his head in the clouds yet came up with insightful speeches to present to the Earl. Mrs. Lovett was earthy and delightful - one of the few characters in Regency novels that expresses herself so well. She certainly enjoyed taking care of the Earl's personal needs while he was incapacitated!

Donna Simpson's books are hit and miss - some wonderful beyond belief and other's just an ok read. This one is just an ok read. Hated the cover of this book!!

I have now read four of Donna Simpson's novels and, judging from the reviews posted about all of her books, I think I have read the best of them.

A Rake's Redemption is about just that with a consideration of the power of love in redemption from evil - but to say that does not really do it justice. There is a measure of philosophical reflection in this story that allows the reader to understand how the hero comes to terms with his own past, learns to deal with the results of his own actions and to watch the heroine deal frankly with her own awakening sexuality.

There is also an examination of the rules of life then applicable to men and to women without denigrating either. The H/H also examine the ramifications of gambling and look at the morality of the code of honour then attached to it. Both the Earl of Hardcastle and Miss Phaedra Gillian feel very sincerely that they have the right of moral argument presented but have the grace and courage to learn to see the other's perspective.

There is little action and not a great deal of conversation in this novel and what conversation there is is not fluffy or unfocused - every interaction furthers the moral argument.

I seem to have made some rather heavy comments here but I have to say that I enjoyed this novel immensely - it was a pleasure to watch two people struggle with their hearts and minds over serious issues. Yet, love was always the key here and the growing attraction and deep love that develops between them makes this a very satisfying read.

Lawrence Jamison, the Earl of Hardcastle, is a rake and a gambler with standards. And when the young Baron Fossey looses his estate to him, and then leaves London before settling his debt, an irate Hardcastle pursues him into Oxfordshire. But before he can reach Fossey's estate, he is set upon by two ruffians, who leave him concussed and beaten. The next thing he knows, he is being rescued by Miss Phaedra Gillian, the spinster daughter of a retired vicar and who looks and behaves like an angel. Soon, Hardcastle is ensconced in the Gillian household and treated kindly by both Phaedra and her scholarly father, and astonishingly, Hardcastle, who had always thought of himself as a creature of the ton, finds himself enjoying the simple pleasures of intelligent conversation, chess and the angelic and chaste charms of Phaedra Gillian. What on earth could be happening to him? For Hardcastle finds to his surprise that he is quite reluctant for his new friends (Phaedra especially) to discover who and what he really is.

Phaedra Gillian had quite resigned herself to her spinsterish existence, when this handsome and vital stranger practically landed on her doorstep. And now this very innocent young woman discovers that she is highly susceptible to the charms and good looks of this unknown gentleman. And then Phaedra discovers that her invalid is actually a hard boiled rake with a reputation that makes her blush. But she cannot reconcile this two differing pictures of Hardcastle. Which is the real Hardcastle? Phaedra hopes that her notion of who Hardcastle really is, is the true one. But what will happen when Phaedra realises that Hardcastle has it in his power to cause great unhappiness to dear friends, and that he intends to cause them grief anyway because of a principle?

This is a well written novel, and Donna Simpson has done a wonderful job in rounding out the characters (both secondary and primary) of all the characters involved in this novel. Nevertheless, the plot premise is a common one -- of how a rake is redeemed by the love and compassion of an intelligent and sweet natured young woman. However what really lifts this novel out of the realms of 'the usual' is the character of Phaedra's father, Phineas Gillian. Usually, the scholarly fathers are portrayed as absentminded innocents, who have very little inkling of the kinds of temptations and threats that rakes can pose. Mr. Gillian however, while is of the scholarly bent, is an intelligent and kindly man, who while he seems to understand and empathise with Hardcastle, also realises fully the threat that Hardcastle poses to his daughter's reputation. I also like that Hardcastle when finally faced with a compliant Phaedra, pulls back from making love to her because he realises the very wrongness of the whole thing. For me, that really signaled the change in Hardcastle's status from full fledged rake, to a redeemed one. (If only more romance heroes behaved in a similar manner!)

All in all, "A Rake's Redemption" was a very satisfying read. There is a lot more conversation and philosophizing in this romance novel than one usually finds in this genre, but I reveled in debate that Hardcastle, Phaedra and Mr. Gillian partook in when they discussed the issues of love and redemption and honour -- it made for a nice change of pace. "A Rake's Redemption" is truly a delightful read.