Taming Rafe (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Suzanne Enoch (Author) "May?" Felicity Harrington called, anxiety making her voice shake..." (more)
Key Phrases: light green eyes, Forton Hall, Miss Harrington, Lord Deerhurst (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Setting: Regency England
Sensuality Rating: 9

Rafe Bancroft suffers from terminal wanderlust, much to the dismay of his family. They want him to settle down, while he wants to set sail for China. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the funds to wander so far. But when he wins Forton Hall in a card game, it seems as if fortune has finally smiled on him. Planning to sell the Hall in order to finance his next adventure, Rafe is disappointed to find that it is nothing more than a ramshackle estate--a money pit rather than the money tree he had first envisioned. But Rafe has no idea just what price fortune is going to exact, for the Hall may be nearly derelict, but it isn't empty of inhabitants. Residing in the once grand old house is beautiful Felicity Harrington and her precocious 8-year-old sister, May, both of whom will go to any length to protect their ancestral home. At first Rafe has a difficult time convincing the two women of his legitimate claim to their home, but, inevitably, they concede.

Ever the practical woman, Felicity makes plans to apply for governess positions--and desperately tries to suppress her growing attraction to the handsome charmer. Meanwhile, Rafe struggles with his own feelings for Felicity as well as his growing pride for his possession and his commitment to the Hall and its people. Will Rafe's urge to wander the world win out, or will his love for Felicity keep him at home? Before the two have time to work out the problems that may keep them apart, greed and danger raise their ugly heads and threaten not only the two lovers, but May and the Hall itself.

Fast-paced and witty, Taming Rafe is a sexy Regency romp underlaid with heart and humor. There's nothing quite as fun as watching a rake who considers himself beyond redemption be saved by the good woman who believes in him. --Lois Faye Dyer

Product Description

No Woman Could Tame Him

Rafe Bancroft was nothing but a scoundrel! But the sexy, infuriating man was now the owner of Forton Hall, Felicity Harrington's ancestral home. The fiery beauty was determined to save her family-and herself-from ruin at the hands of the handsome rake. But how can she, when she lies in bed each night longing for her irresistable enemy's touch?

Until He Met The Right One...

Rafe might have won Forton Hill in a card game, but he had no intention of settling down. No, his plan was to sell the place and be off on his next adventure-until he met Felicity. Suddenly days-and nights-spent with Felicity in his arms seem far more alluring than any exotic land. His roguish heart can't explain it...unless love is the greatest adventure of all!

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (March 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380798867
• ISBN-13: 978-0380798865
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #204,753 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A KEEPER!, March 31, 2000

By A Customer

This is only the second book I read by Suzanne Enoch. I wasn't sure if she was a flash in the pan when I read "Reforming A Rake." To my relief, she wasn't because I loved "Taming Rafe" as much "RAR." Her characters show a great deal of vulnerability and the story is told in the eyes of both hero and heroine which I enjoy...too many of the romance books are told through the eyes of the heroine only. I am going to find more of her books since I enjoyed these two so much.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new favorite!, June 23, 2000

By	Jesse Petersen "jessepet" (Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really loved this Regency period historical! Rafe wins an estate, Forton Hall, in a game of chance and goes to see it, hoping he can sell it to finance his next trip around the world. Unfortunately, Forton Hall is a decrepid place that already has residents, Felicity Harrington and her little sister Mae.

After am incident with a tea kettle, Felicity is sure poor Rafe is touched in the head, but decides until ownership of Forton Hall is determined that she should use him to fix up the place. He does so willingly, captured by the sparkle in her eyes. Soon she learns he really is the owner of her ancestral home and the owner of her heart. Can the love of a woman keep roaming Rafe from the wilds of Africa, India, and China? Only time will tell!

A terrific read! Very romantic and funny!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Can't really see what the big deal is..., February 10, 2006

By	Gemma "bookworm" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

Since I love Regency romance, I decided to give this author a try. After all, she appears to be one of the "big names" in the business, and has a loyal following.

But I will not be counted among that number. This book started off well. It was funny and really grabbed my attention. While it's a well-used plot device, we all find the idea that the heroine, believing that the hero is bent on attack, beans him over the head, only to fall in love with him later, to be an interesting one. I was eagerly reading when the entertainment value of this book just started to fade out to nothing.

After over 100 pages, I felt that I didn't know any more about the characters than I'd learned from the first ten. I find this annoying. Characters (especially the main ones) should become more and more real to the reader, so that by the end of the book, they feel like old friends. That wasn't happening here.

Also, some of the things in the book just didn't seem to make sense to me. Like, how on earth does a woman alone manage to take care of all that livestock and manage the household tasks of cooking, cleaning and mending all by herself? Wow, she must be superwoman or something. Why on earth did she think that Rafe was insane? I didn't see anything in his behaviour that would have led me to think that he was nuts, yet the heroine decided that he was from the moment she met him, then hung on to that view. This got to be really annoying.

I tried to get past all this and keep reading, but the book just couldn't hold my interest. I didn't feel like the characters were falling in love. It just felt like they were gripped in the throes of lust. While sexual attraction is necessary for a good romance, it needs to be handled more delicately than this for it to be satisfying to the reader. In other words, I like it to be a bit more on the back burner, while the relationship develops with tender feelings. Physical attraction should be present between hero and heroine, but it can't ben the only thing drawing them together. That was the case here.

I couldn't make myself finish this, as my eyes kept glazing over as I read it and my mind kept wandering. I might read another of this author's books, but only if I don't have to pay any money for it. If you want really satisfying Regency romances that are keepers, I suggest the works of Sabrina Jeffries, Jacquie D'Alessandro, Mary Balogh, and Teresa Medeiros.