The Perfect Rake is the first of the Merridew Sisters books by Anne Gracie.
I mentioned long ago that I had liked this book very much, and I still like many things about it. However, it suffers in the re-read, because I have a lot less patience for some tropes than I once did.
I am indulging in another re-read, a historical romance. This is the first book in a trilogy about the famed Bow Street Runners of late Regency-era London. 1
Reader beware: there’s graphic sex on the page, some adult language, attempted rape, and a fair bit of whorephobia.
Oh, and I spoil a key plot point in the review–though, if you’ve read some romance, you likely already know, from the blurb alone.
Once again, first things first: heed all the warnings. The world of A Gathering of Dragons is very, very dark.
These are romances, there is always consent between the protagonists, the world building is very progressive in its sexual politics, but the background is of violence, sexual and otherwise. There’s gore and a lot of very explicit sex on the page, and the language reflect this. Also, while considerably shorter than the first novel, this one is still almost 400 pages. Reader, beware.
Once upon a time, I read a novella called “The Beast of Blackmoor”, from the Night Shift anthology. Like all the best short stories, it introduced me to a world I got utterly lost into, where I wanted more, more, MORE!
Years passed, and while that novella was the one memorable one in the anthology, I stopped checking the author’s website for updates on upcoming books (oh, reader slump from hell, you most hideous of fiends!). Then, on the last day of the horrible, terrible, no-good year of our doom 2021, a tweet crossed my feed: the first two full-length books in the series were on sale for just $1.99US each. What’s a reader to do?
"A review is at its heart the expression of the reviewer’s opinion–in this case, my opinion. Regardless of how the book in question ended up in my hands, I will not insult your intelligence by assuming that you will blindly buy any book I like, or that you’ll avoid reading any book I don’t like. Instead, I’ll give you credit for making up your own mind, and buying and/or reading whatever you think you’ll enjoy."
Please be aware that some of the books I review, talk about, or plain mention in passing, in this blog, have been given to me by the author, or someone else on behalf of the author, with the express purpose that I review them. (Those reviews are tagged ARC or review copy.)