Customer Reviews

The Taming of the Rake (Hqn)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
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4-1/2 stars

Desperate to escape a marriage to a horrible man at the hands of her brother, Lady Chelsea Mills-Beckman runs to the one man she knows will help her, her brother's enemy Oliver "Beau" Blackthorn. She knows Beau will help her if only to help himself revenge himself against Chelsea's brother. Even though they haven't seen each other in over 7 years, Beau and Chelsea run off to Gretna Green.

Haven't you always wondered what went on as couples eloped to Gretna Green? Most the stories just have a note: So-and-so ran off to Gretna Green to marry in haste. But I've never read a story revolving around the elopement.

This was such an enjoyable story! I LOVED Chelsea and Beau. They were so unique but still fit so perfectly into the time and era they lived in. There was great banter between the two, especially since they had no romantic feelings for each other as they started this adventure. Ms. Michaels did an amazing job of "showing" instead of "telling" us about Chelsea's and Beau's families, about their narrow escapes, about their loyalties, and more.

I must say that I was apprehensive about this story as I've only read one other story by Ms. Michaels and thought it was only okay (How to Wed a Baron (The Daughtry Family)). THE TAMING OF THE RAKE was so full of adventure, of story, of great characters, and romance that I thoroughly enjoyed myself and look forward to reading the stories of Beau's younger brothers, the other bastard sons of a Duke.

The Blackthorn Brothers Series
THE TAMING OF THE RAKE
A Midsummer Night's Sin
Much Ado About Rogues (Blackthorn Brothers)

First off, let me just say the the title is a bit mis-leading. Beau is not a rake, he is practical, vengeful, and smart, but he is not a womanizer. He is a bastard by birth, but more gentlemanly than many members of the ton. The title lead me to think that Chelsea was out to reform a rake while escaping her brothers plans for her. Chelsea was escaping her brother's plans, but reforming a rake was not necessary. Chelsea was running from an engagement to a dirty-minded charlatan of a reverend and the only person she could think of to run to was the long-time enemy of her brother, Beau Blackthorn. Chelsea convinced Beau that by eloping with her, they would both benefit, Chelsea would be saved from a horrible marriage, and Beau would get revenge on Chelsea's brother. So, the two were off to Scotland to be married as soon as possible, before Chelsea's brother caught them. As they spent time together on the road to Scotland, it became more likely that theirs could be more than a marriage of convenience.

I really liked this book, especially the characters. I was not sure what to make of Chelsea at first, she has a very dual nature. She is determined and selfish, but also smart and dedicated. There were times when she was almost obnoxious with her demands, not considering anyone but herself. Then again, when times got rough, she held her own and didn't complain. I grew to appreciate her character as the story went on. I really loved the Blackthorn brothers though. Beau was the more realistic brother who knew who he was and made the best of his situations. He handled Chelsea's demands with aplomb. Beau's brothers, Puck and Black Jack are intriguing characters as well, and I look forward to reading their stories in the future.

The characters do not spend a lot of time in London, in the ton setting with balls and soirees. The focus is on the main characters, their plight, and the development of their relationship. The Taming of the Rake gives a realistic bent to elopement in historical England, with dirty traveling conditions and fear of being caught. The romance develops throughout the story, and all together, The Taming of the Rake is a really good read.

Thanks to his somewhat fickle, Shakespeare loving mother, Oliver Le Beau Blackthorn and his two brothers, are bastard sons of a earl but raised with every convenience expected as heirs except for acceptance into society. So when a young, silly in love, Beau decides to propose to the beautiful Lady Madelyn, daughter of an earl, he dressed to impress and expects a delightful 'yes!'. Oh but what follows is cruel and beyond hurtful to both his pride and body and changes Beau from a happy, not to many cares young man into a grown man intent of revenge on Lady Madelyns spiteful brother, Thomas. He gives not much more than a passing thought to the young lady there who teased him and offered an apology, until she turns up on his doorstep seven years later.

Lady Chelsea, Madelyns younger sister, is in dire straits. Her now God-fearing brother Thomas has decided to marry his sister to his esteemed, but always wet mouthed (shudder) Reverend Francis Flotley. Naturally, this causes much alarm to Chelsea as she can plainly see that the reverend is just using Thomas for his money and refuses to marry the awful man. As she knows some of what Beau has been up to these past seven years, she decides to bring forth her proposition of them marrying as it would benefit them both. She would not have to marry the reverend and in return she will not tell her brother what Beau has been doing to his business earnings. When Chelsea arrives with this plan, in broad daylight and with no chaperone, even in his slightly drunken haze, he agrees knowing that it could mean his death from Thomas, who surely will challenge him.

What follows is a slightly mad-cap of comedies along the way to Gretna Green. We get the lovely addition of Olivers (as Chelsea calls him) brother, Puck who is quite of bit of fun and had me laughing quite a bit. We get to watch Oliver and Chelsea try to ignore their growing attraction and eventual fire they create together. Now, Chelsea is bossy and unpredictable, a mix of intelligence and naivete and this can get a bit annoying at times but I thought her overall determination and humor helped balance her out a bit. She has no problems telling Oliver what she thinks and how their plans should go about and Oliver didn't seem to have much of a spine and always listened (though her plans were normally on par for the situation). One of my favorite lines from the book that seems to sum up their relationship is this: "God make have taken a rib from Adam to give to Eve but, one way or another, Eve had been bashing Adam over the head with it ever since." Always makes me chuckle.

Overall, this was my first Kasey Michaels book and while I didn't love the main characters at times, I still rather enjoyed it. The secondary characters add some fun, drama and general creepiness and bitchiness (in the form of the now not-so-lovely Madelyn). I can not wait to read Pucks book, A Midsummer Night's Sin, and in the future the other brother, Black Jack, book. This isn't a serious book, but rather a book full of eyebrow raising moments and twists and turns that leads to a satisfactory ending for not just Oliver and Chelsea but also for Chelsea and her brother and the starting incident. 4 stars

I love screwball romance, and Kasey Michaels does that very, very well. Full of wit and humor. Just enough historical detail to keep the regency flavor.
I was going to give 4 stars because of a couple of plot quibbles, but upped to 5 because so few authors can sustain clever dialogue throughout a book. Also, she took an old premise, and gave it a fresh twist.

Kasey Michaels introduces another entertaining trilogy with one of her signature adventurous romp. Ms. Michaels continues to give us smart and witty heroines who totally match her hero.

Beau Blackthorn was born on the wrong side of the blanket but was acknowledged by his father, a Marquis. He meets Lady Chelsea when he tries to propose to her older sister years before the present day of the book. The proposal is met with less than welcoming sentiments from her entire family for different reasons. A very young Lady Chelsea admired how Beau handled the rejection although she felt that Beau should have seen right through her sister before it got to the proposal stage.

Years later, Lady Chelsea is being forced to marry a religious zealot and she is determined not to succombe to her brother's pressure. She runs away from home, finds Beau and asks him to save her from the unwanted marriage. Being a gentleman, Beau proposes marriage and the adventure begins. Her brother leaves no stones unturned looking for Lady Chelsea. The couple leads him a merry chase going from one escapade to the next.

Ms. Michaels has introduced some wonderful characters who will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. This is an excellent read and I can't wait for the next installment of this trilogy.

The Taming of the Rake, by Kasey Michaels, is the first book in her new trilogy about the Blackthorn brothers.

The most important thing to remember about the Blackthorn brothers is that they are bastards. That's not a value judgment, it's a statement of fact. Their parents were not married, at least not to each other. Their father, the Marquis of Blackthorn, loved their mother, but married their aunt to protect her from being sent "away" because she was a bit, well, simple. Not to mention slightly fey. And their mother wanted to be an actress, not exactly a respectable pursuit for a Marchioness. So everyone came out ahead. Except for the Blackthorn boys. All three of them.

Beau, legally named but never called Oliver, is the oldest. And he is forcibly reminded of his bastardy by Thomas Mills-Beckman when Beau makes a quite respectable offer of marriage for Thomas' sister Madelyn. Thomas has the servants horsewhip him for his effrontery, witnessed by the entire household, including Madelyn's much younger sister Chelsea.

This is not the story of Beau's and Madelyn's thwarted love. Madelyn is not worth two minutes of Beau's time. Beau takes his whipping like a man, picks up the shreds of his dignity and joins the Army. This is, after all a Regency, or close to it. Beau makes a name for himself at Waterloo. By the time he returns, Madelyn's little sister has grown up.

The story is Beau's and Chelsea's story. Chelsea needs to escape from her brother Thomas' desire to reform both himself and her by giving her in marriage to a scheming, fraudulent reverend with a perpetually wet mouth and wandering hands who only wants Chelsea for her access to her brother's money. She throws herself on Beau's probably non-existent mercy because she is sure he is the one man who will jump at the chance on using her to get revenge on her brother. And she is right. But instead of revenge, what Beau and Chelsea get is each other.

How Beau and Chelsea discover that what they really want is a future together is the heart of the story. These are two intelligent characters who find out that they have much more in common than a simple desire for revenge. On their way to Gretna Green for a hasty elopement, chased every step of the way, they still manage to have fun. And so does the reader.

The Taming of the Rake is the first book of the series, where you will be introduced to the three bastards sons of the Marquess of Blackthorn. Their name, given by their mother (who is an actress), are Oliver Le Beau Blackthorn (Beau), Don John Blackthorn (Black Jack) and Robin Goodfellow Blackthorn (Puck). They have been educated and have a lot of money, but they are still bastards and the society doesn't accept them.

Beau is the oldest son and realized a long time ago he was never going to be accepted in London's society. He's a good man, at least most of the time. He hates Thomas Mills-Beckman, the oldest son of the Mills-Beckman family. So it isn't exactly bad when Lady Chelsea Mills-Beckman, his youngest sister and soon to be married, finds him and asks him to elope with her. It would be the perfect revenge, taking the Earl's sister. Also, Lady Chelsea has grown up to be a beautiful woman. So, the plan is to reach Gretna Green before Thomas, Madelyn (Chelsea's older sister) and Reverend Flotley (her future husband) and get married. She will be compromised by that moment (and probably pregnant), and her family won't be able to take her again.

I fell in love with Beau. He was such a good man, really. Of course he was a little naughty (ok, a lot) but I understood his motives. He was brave and intelligent, and wasn't the usual alpha male who wanted to command.

Chelsea was always fun. I was always laughing with the things she said and liked that she wasn't as innocent as Beau thought. She was intelligent and was always making plans for them to escape her brother, and really enjoyed being with Beau. It's obvious they were perfect for each other.

Overall, I really liked this book. It was realistic and fun, and I would love to read the next one. I imagine it would focused on one of the Blackhorn Brothers, I can't wait to see who (Jack or Puck) is going to be the next one who finds love, and how their mother is going to react!

Lady Chelsea's older brother, Thomas, has just crossed the line. In the morning he intends to take her against her will to marry the wet mouthed Reverend Francis Flotley. Chelsea, not being one who takes kindly to being told what to do, especially when it comes to who she will marry, has a solution to her predicament.

Beau Blackthorn, bastard son to an English marquess and an actress mother, is at home recovering from his celebrations of his 30th birthday when a mysterious woman shows up at his door. It takes Beau but a moment to realize this vaguely familiar woman was once the cheeky little girl he had known several years ago. She was the little sister to the woman he once thought he was in love with, but Thomas had showed him the error of his ways. Enraged at a bastard having dared to ask for his sister's hand in marriage, Thomas beat him within an inch of his life. Chelsea, fully aware of what Thomas did all those years ago, has a proposition for him - to abscond to Gretna Green and marry. On their journey both Chelsea and Beau quickly find a decision meant to seek the ultimate revenge on the person they both equally loath is turning into something that they never imagined they would have in marriage - love.

While The Taming of the Rake was not badly written, as in the plot was solid and there was nothing that I would say that Michaels left out, I have to say that I just don't see what all the fuss is about. I was very excited to read it because Publisher's Weekly gave it a stared review. I didn't really feel any suspense within the story and I was not interested in getting to the end, which is a very big signal to me that I'm just not feeling the book.

Everything in the story to me felt too whimsical - in a teehee haha, we are all so clever and it's just lovely that we are all together on this challenging, but lively journey to Gretna Green way. The characters were very characterized - a wet mouthed, greedy man of the cloth; a fat, stupid brother; a cold hearted bitch of a sister who was stupid (because we all know all the bitches we know are stupid); the amusing, frivolous brother... I could go on and on.

While Chelsea and Beau do fall in love, I didn't feel that the book had a sufficient amount of romantic scenes and the ones that were in it were not very good. I had a hard time following the way Michaels described them. She is also overly fond of using her favorite sexual action - Beau flicking Chelsea's nipples. That's about as good as it gets!

And finally the title: where did that come from?! It's very misleading. Beau may have been around the block a time or two or three before Chelsea came into his life, but he's a good guy that in no way during the story needs "taming." While some might find this book charming and entertaining, if you need a little more originality, tension and romance in your stories rather than charm, this book is not for you.

In London, Lady Chelsea Mills-Beckman is desperate as all indications are that her brother who recently found religion will marry her to Reverend Francis Flotley. She needs a way out and decides scandal is it as the good reverend would never wed a woman with baggage. Her choice is Oliver Beau Blackthorn who loathes her brother Thomas for whipping him and holds a grudge against her sister Lady Madelyn for humiliating him years ago when he vowed to return one day.

Lady Chelsea offers Oliver a deal that will give him what his heart wants and her escape; she suggests they elope to Gretna Green so that she can be ruined and unworthy of Flotley. Though he tries to be a gentleman and refuse her proposal, he acquiesces. However, the trek proves harrowing physically and emotionally as they begin to fall in love, but he believes Chelsea deserves better but he knows he could not convince her otherwise; she believes Chelsea deserves Oliver.

The opening Blackthorn Brothers historical romance opens with an exhilarating romance due to a powerful cast, even the lead female's snobbish siblings come across as carrying baggage as Thomas feels he never obtained his dad's approval only his scorn. The story line is fast-paced and the race to Gretna Green is filled with dangerous action as love enters the coach if Chelsea and Oliver take a chance.

Harriet Klausner

One man's whipping sets a course of events that ultimately takes a path of vengeance and turns it into a journey of love. A reader will figure out that the two beleaguered protagonists will get their happily ever after, eventually. What happens along the way however, is a grand bit of storytelling where some of the characters end up in very different places than what a reader is initially presented.

Oliver "Beau" Blackthorn is the eldest of the Blackthorn brothers. For all of his aura of responsibility, cunning and deviousness there remains a youthfulness to him. A reader will see it early on but will also see how it got destroyed. After reading this story and watching him fall in love with Chelsea, I don't think it was demolished as much as suppressed, hidden and denied. It didn't serve him well at all in the beginning. But with the heroine, elements and hints of the young, hopeful and earnest man he once was start to surface. He learns to trust her and like a flower unfurling in the sun, Oliver experiences emotions and feelings he never thought he would. Certainly he had no idea what to do with them, and that was the beginning of the entertainment.

Chelsea's character is many things but the one thing that tops them all is, she's fun. I got a charge out of how alternately smart she was, then blushingly innocent, before shocking the hero with her cheeky wit and stunning him with her plans. You see, she always comes up with a plan. It may sound silly, it may be over the top or just plain genius, but she always comes up with something. And it cracked me up every time. It was one of the best things about her because of what it did to the hero. I can just imagine the author rubbing her hands briskly together with an evil "bwahahaaa" as she concocted another predicament to toss at the hero and heroine. It was one snafu after another and Chelsea never took no for an answer, nor did she ever take a defeatist attitude. She was plucky, inventive and quite charming. Oliver never stood a chance.

The first set of secondary characters is the Blackthorn siblings. I was introduced quite thoroughly to Puck. Again, I found myself giggling as I imagined this poor beset upon young man having to travel all over the country, chasing after his brother and hopefully wife-to-be. He was a cheery sort and seemed rather vacuous in demeanor. Nothing could be further from the truth. The scene at the Crown showed he was made of sterner stuff. Also he has the ability to think on his feet and is as dedicated and loving to his brothers as a reader could wish. He was a great support cast and I enjoyed getting to know him. Good thing too because the next book is about him. I'm excited. As for the other brother, Jack, the author pretty much kept me in the dark but threw some very interesting tidbits to whet a reader's appetite for the future. He's a real mystery not only to me but to his own family. Very cool.

The other secondary characters are the bad ones. They either participated in the wrongs of the past or are perpetuating future grievous harm now. The `crow' was truly the evil in the piece. It takes one to know one and ironically, Chelsea's sister recognized him for what he was right off of the bat. In a way, I liked her shrewish disposition because it was entertaining and I could tell she enjoyed twisting the figurative knife. Chelsea's brother is a bully. He's not inherently evil, but he's not a nice person. I sort of pitied him - but only a little. Even the bad brother had his own epiphany by the end of the story, but the truth didn't enlighten him for long. After learning about him, I don't think he could have responded any other way. He wasn't a strong man of character. In fact, sour grapes was quite fitting for him. Once you read the book, you'll know what I'm making reference to.

The family dynamics between Oliver's family and Chelsea's was fascinating to read about. The author took great pains to make sure I understood how unconventional the Blackthorn brother's childhoods were. It is on the one hand sad and on the other, really bizarre, especially for the time period. Chelsea's was normal yet that isn't a compliment.

I was completely charmed by the verbal byplay between Oliver and Chelsea, and then again between Oliver and his brother, Puck. It kept the story lively, intriguing and faced paced. Another thing
Ms. Michael's did extremely well was having Oliver introduce the heroine to `what the fuss was all about' between a husband and wife. Chelsea's response was entertaining and the results of some of the scenes were deliciously spicy. They were well spaced, effectively placed and sweet and saucy all at the same time. They were a credit to the story.

The Taming of the Rake is a rollicking good read. I laughed, I gasped and I giggled some more. The author kept surprising me with one fiasco or plot twist after another. The drama was light and enough to keep the story moving at a steady and energetic pace. I enjoyed the characters, the setting, the descriptions and the dialogue. I can't think of one thing the author could have done better, I had that good of a time. If a reader is looking for a story that entertains, makes a reader smile and provides a sense of justice satisfied, all the while making it hard to put down due to the twists and turns of the adventure, then The Taming of the Rake is a real winner.

Originally posted at LAS Romance Reviews