Book Review: The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie (Merridew Sisters #1)
One advantage of being a member of a Goodreads group is that you’re encouraged to pick up books you would never have bothered with otherwise. I read The Perfect Rake as part of an October challenge. I’d never heard of the book or the author. (The second part of this is surprising as Gracie is apparently Australian and usually I am at least aware of most published Australian writers.) Nor do I find the cover inspiring, so the odds of me reading it if flying solo were low. Hence I have my Goodreads group to thank for any enjoyment I achieved!
It fell into the ‘fake engagement/fiance/husband’ category for the challenge. It’s a trope that just never gets old.
The book started slowly. Gracie showed some details of the life Prudence and her four sisters were leading under their grandfather’s roof. I suppose these scenes were necessary to display his abusive nature and Prudence’s later desperation but, at times, I found them a little strange. Thankfully the tone changed considerably once the hero, Gideon, was introduced.
Prudence had managed to come up with a plan to flee their grandfather but it fell apart a little until she invented a fake finance. In a very funny meet cute, Gideon decides to play the role — and he does so admirably.
His and Prudence’s banter is golden, and their instant attraction and chemistry is quite believable. (I liked the running joke of Gideon not noticing the beauty of the other sisters.) If the book continued like this throughout, I would have rated it 5 out of 5.
The tone changed again, however, around the halfway mark. Gracie brought in a lot more darkness to the book and I obviously preferred the earlier lighthearted tone/banter scenes. She also introduced a couple more conflicts into the plot. I thought there was already enough conflict and it really didn’t work for me.
Another gripe was the corny 70s territory Gracie crossed into now and then with Gideon’s past lovelife/reputation as a rake. (It was the usual, he only bedded women who knew the score and wanted a frivolous bit of sex without the seriousness of a relationship and no one ever got hurt and blah blah blah. Ack.)
I also think she fell into some sort of trap when she included the sex scene. Yes, I usually crave a sex scene, especially ones which are written well (this one was) but I didn’t think it fit into the timeline of the book quite right. (Yes, perhaps that’s the problem. I didn’t mind the idea of a sex scene but it was to me ill timed and therefore, superfluous.)
There were a few bright moments in the second half of the book. Most of the jokes surrounding the character of Phillip, for example, were a hoot.
Overall too, I really enjoyed Gracie’s writing. I often notice inconsistencies when it comes to the historical aspect of these types of books, but I couldn’t find fault with Gracie’s word choices. She seems to have done quite a bit of research, in fact.
And I think I will probably give the other books in the series a go.
I’m teetering between a 3 ½ and a 4 out of 5 for this, the first of the series. Actually 3 and 3/4 sounds ridiculous but somehow almost perfect in my mind! LOL
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