Customer Reviews

A Rake's Redemption (Signet Regency Romance)

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Lady Sarah Mallory, dubbed "the Welsh beauty" by members of the ton, has high hopes of finding a husband this Season. Whenever Lord Dunnelly comes near, her body always trembles with anticipation. Why does he have that sort of effect on her?

After Theo, Viscount Dunnelly, has a brush with death (he was escaping the bedroom of a woman who claimed to be a widow), he decides to change his amorous ways. He decides to find a wife--but it can't be just anyone. He wants someone beautiful and exciting, someone who will stimulate him intellectually and passionately. Does such a paragon exist? Maybe there is more to shy Sarah than meets the eye?

When I started to read "A Rake's Redemption", there were several young people dancing at a ball. It was an intriguing, humorous beginning, and I thought an intricate love tangle would emerge. When one of Sarah's other suitors (appropriately nicknamed "Nasty Ned") came into the picture, I was even more intrigued. Somewhere before the middle of the novel, the book suddenly lost its steam. The intriguing secondary characters disappeared. Nasty Ned didn't come around for at least 100 pages. Theo fell in love too quickly, and the plot got pretty stagnant. I was waiting for something interesting to happen, and it never really did.

All in all, "A Rake's Redemption" is a dull novel by a good writer. Given a good premise, Ms. Carleton can work magic. This is not one of her best. It's average at best. I was just hoping for something better. After all, the back of the book boasts, "Can He Be Tamed?" (referring to Theo being a rake) Why, yes he can! ...After the first 20 pages.

Theo, Viscount Dunnley, has decided it's time to stop being a rake and to find a wife. Since his friends have married members of "The Six," he decides to check out the remaining single ladies of the group, reasoning that if his friends found suitable wives there, so would he.

Sarah Mallory seems a likely prospect, but she tends to act a bit strangely around him, as if she doesn't like him. Theo's intrigued enough by this to focus his attention a little more closely on Sarah.

Sarah is a bit frightened by her reaction to Theo, but she's more frightened by a threatening stalker-like suitor. As she and Theo get to know each other better, she begins to rely on him to protect her from Nasty Ned.

The good:
Sarah's problems with Ned really highlighted for me the everyday perils of a young woman of the ton, for whom reputation is everything, or nearly so. Any action she could take other than avoidance would have much more negative consequences for her than for him.

I loved the hero's logical way of going about the business of finding a wife--it seemed typically male, and was written with great affection.

As always with this author, the witty dialogue is a pleasure to read.

The bad:
Sarah's physical reactions were a bit overdone.

There's not a lot of conflict.

The verdict:
A Rake's Redemption is a charming story that really pulled me in.

It was also fun seeing the characters from the connecting stories again, and I'm looking forward to seeing which one of The Six finds true love next.

Yes, this novel is fairly uneventful in many ways, and I wish that some few more (normal) events might have occurred, but after reading a lot of HIDEOUS Regency romances, I was impressed with this writer.

This book, more than most, gives the reader an idea of what it would be like to be a young lady in Regency England. There is no freedom, the idea of being left alone in a private room with a man who is not a relative is relatively disconcerting, and if one is harassed by a man, there is almost no one to turn to.

Yes, there are no murders, or evil plots to avert, but, honestly, after reading so many of those, I get extremely tired of Regency romances that NEED to add those to stay interesting. I liked that the young lady in this was a lady and that the gentleman was exactly that.

I think that this author could do with a few lessons in not repeating herself (as she does now) too often, and with learning to add some more interest to a story.

However, all in all, I'll be getting more of her stuff. I hope she never feels the need to add a murder, or a novel wherein characters act like they live in 2000 rather than the 1800s.

Theo Middleford, Viscount Dunnley has a reputation as a rake. Sure he has a healthy appreciation for the pleasures that women can provide, but he never dallies with innocents or married women. When he is surprised by the husband of a so-called widow, he decides to give up willing widows which means he needs to find a wife. He wants a wife who is not just a hostess or a "brood mare," but someone who will be a friend and companion as well as a lover. He doesn't have far to look, being fond of the new wives of his cousin George and George's friend Elston, Theo decides to look more closely at Beth and Karla's friends and decides to pursue Lady Sarah Mallory, the reserved Welsh beauty. He understands that Sarah's musical talent shows that she has a passionate nature underneath her reserve. Sarah is not new to London. In her second Season, she vows to find a husband before the end of the Season, which is a rather daunting task for someone who is as shy as Sarah. When Dunnley begins to pay attention to her, Sarah feels like butterflies are taking flight in her stomach! Dunnley helps protect Sarah from "Nasty Ned" Simpson who continually harasses Sarah with lewd comments. Dunnley is all that is kind and considerate but Sarah can't figure out why she feels so nervous around him. Dunnley feels he can better protect Sarah if they are married or at least betrothed, but the problem is breaking down Sarah's reserve and convincing her they belong together. This is a sweet romance story that's a little on the short side. I liked Sarah and could relate to her reserve, but sometimes she didn't behave like someone who is very reserved. I was also confused as to how the cool, reserved Sarah of previous books turned into the shy, nervous Sarah of this book. I wouldn't label Dunnley as a rake. He behaves more like his cousins than a typical Regency rake. He's someone I could see any sensible girl falling in love with. I like the way the relationship between Dunnley and Sarah develops. I think it's very realistic. loved the family reunion scene though it was kind of long and unnecessary. This is a quick read and the kind of book that makes you feel warm and happy inside. It isn't entirely necessary to have read the previous books in the series, but it would help.

As a lover of the Regency Romance genre I have to say that this author is not one whose style particularly appeals to me. I prefer the ones written in a lighter style with lots of witty dialogue.

But this book was not bad in spite of the fact that Lady Sarah Mallory suffered from what appeared to me to be a mild seizure disorder that would manifest its self every time she was under stress of any kind. Luckily Viscount Dunnley had an overdeveloped protective instinct so you knew that this was a match made in heaven.

The best character in the book was Viscount Dunnley's long time mistress Jani Brooks. During the first part of the book I was hoping that Dunnley would come to his senses and marry her but as the book progressed I realized that a Jani is far too independent and emotionally stable to marry a man like Dunnley.

I almost can't believe I read this book to completion. The only saving grace was the subplot with the twins. I also read Twin Peril, and wish I had read it first, and skipped this one entirely. The heroine in this novel was the most insipid character I have ever, EVER imagined. She was like a caricature of every vaporish ton female that the other books make fun of. Good grief, when she meets her future husband's family, they all like her and approve of her, but she faints at the table anyway because of the "strain". I have ordered other books from this author, and am now wondering why in the world I did that. I sure hope better things are to come.

I am not a fan of regencies that devote almost the entire story to a couple solving the "big misunderstanding" concept that usually could have been solved in one conversation. That being said, however, SOMETHING needs to happen to make a story interesting. Lady Sarah Mallory, the Welsh beauty, and Lord Dunnelly, while attractive, were, well, boring. I have to agree that there is really no way outside of Sarah being an idiot, that she would not have realized that her nervous trembling reaction to Dunnelly was attraction. Yes, I know, some girls were quite shelted but her cluelessness was silly. The evil twin and the brother were the only interesting people in this story. I am about ready to give up on Regencies for good!

A bit of a rake, Theo Middleford, Viscount Dunnley, has decided to reform and look for a wife. But his wife must not only be beautiful and of an acceptable family, she must also match him in intelligence and passion, and someone he will be able to fall in love with and spend the rest of his life happily with. And since his cousins' wives seem to embody everything that he's looking for in a wife, he looks to the ladies' circle of friends for a likely candidate, and becomes intrigued by Lady Sarah Mallory. Dubbed the 'Welsh Beauty' Lady Sarah seems to the very embodiment of everything he's looking for: beauty, intelligence and a generousity of spirit, but she also seems to be very shy and trembles visible whenever he is near her. Could her shy nature hide a passionate nature, Dunnley wonders? Fascinated by her beauty and reserve, Dunnley decides to see if he can decipher the lady, only to discover that he has fallen quite deeply in love with her. But can he get the lady to reciprocate his feelings?

Given that "A Rake's Redemption" was a very well written novel, in which the author seems to have, effortlessly, gotten the feel and minute details of the period right, I was rather disappointed to discover that it was an extremely bland read. I kept reading on and on, waiting for something to happen. Well, it eventually did, a few chapters before the end. But what an anticlimactic, hurried something it proved to be! Every novel needs a conflict, whether it's big or small. Unfortunately, "The Rake's Redemption" had very little conflict -- I suppose you could call Nasty Ned (the oaf who keeps sexually harassing Lady Sarah) a conflict, also Lady Sarah's inability to realise that Dunnely's in love with her and she with him, a conflict also. But because the author made these conflicts seem almost like by-the-way irritations, they made very little impact. Nasty Ned was easily taken care off; and I really wondered about Lady Sarah's innocence: how could a young lady reach the age of 22 and not realise that her feelings were actually signs of attraction for the hero? Novels, poetry, and songs of the period would have clued her into understanding some of the symptoms she suffered -- if some blunt talking amongst friends in her group had not. And while I understood that a young lady of that period would have led a rather sheltered life, I really doubt that recognising the signs and symptoms of love and attraction in herself would have been anything a young woman would have been ignorant about! Also, when I started to become more interested in a projected romantic pairing between another couple than on the featured couple on hand, I knew that, sadly, "A Rake's Redemption" was not holding my interest. Which was a shame because the book really had a lot of potential, and Susannah Carleton is a good writer. So, will I read another novel by Susannah Carleton? Of course I will! I need to see whether of not Fairfax and Lady Deborah end up together, and where her evil twin fits into everything. Given that Lady Deborah has an evil identical twin gives me hopes of conflicts a plenty and that that book at least will not be a bland read!