Taming the Rake (Lords in Love, #2) by Erica Ridley
Taming the Rake (Lords in Love, #2) by Erica Ridley
Publisher: WebMotion
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Format: Kindle
No. of Pages: 198
Date of US Publication: 24 March, 2023
My Rating: 2.5 Stars
My Thoughts
Gladys is a timid young woman whose parents haven’t allowed her or her sister to read newspapers or books, have companions, or do much of anything. At 21, her parents take her and her younger sister to the Marrywell Festival (a festival that is exactly as it sounds - one to find a spouse at), Gladys’s mother is manipulative and insists that Gladys not be a wallflower, but to smile and dance, and find a husband this year. Gladys tries. She dances, goes outside for a breath of fresh air after regretfully accepting a proposal that is all business) is kissed by Rueben Medford, a notorious rake who hides his serious insecurity behind the facade) in a case of mistaken identity. Having no understanding of social events or young people, she tells him where and how to find her for a proposal. He isn’t paying attention and doesn’t hear her. She returns to the festival where she is seen with outdoor greenery in her hair, gets the side eye from a lot of pearl-clutchers, and the next day the business proposal shows up, wanting to get his hands on Gladys’s dowry - a parcel of land, and she refuses him, certain that Medford will show up.
He doesn’t, and that’s that - Gladys is ruined. Her dreadful parents throw her out to fend for herself, so as to not to damage their younger daughter’s chances for a “good” husband.
With no prospects, no education, no references, no friends, or place to go, she turns to the only thing that will allow her to eke out a living - sex work. Some years later - Gladys is successfully retired, and she returns to the Marrywell Festival again, to seek revenge on Medford who isn’t what she imagined him to be.
I despised Gladys’s parents throughout the story and while I have no issue with sex work, the thought of anyone being forced into it is very upsetting. I really didn’t like Rueben’s behavior, and felt like Gladys’s endured trauma was not addressed after the second festival began.
Ms. Ridley is a terrific writer, and I tend to enjoy her stories a lot, but this one, though very well written and a page turner, left me more unsettled than anything else; it wasn’t for me.
I am looking forward to the next titles in the series.
Thank you to WebMotion and NetGalley for the DRC.
Description
Enjoy a fiery, passionate enemies-to-lovers revenge romance from a New York Times bestselling author!
All her life, Miss Gladys Bell was a wallflower whose parents despaired of her ever attracting a suitor. Then she met the man of her dreams, who said she was the woman of his. One passionate night later, Gladys awaits a marriage proposal that never comes. Reuben Medford, the ton’s most notorious rake, doesn’t even remember her name.
Thanks to his cold-hearted callousness, Gladys lost her reputation, her dowry, and her chance at love. But now she’s back, and bent on revenge. He’s trifled with the wrong woman: This wallflower has thorns. Once Gladys holds that damnable rake’s arrogant, fickle heart in her hands… She’ll crush it, just as he did to her.
This time, he’ll remember her name.
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