Anne Gracie

A pleasure!

Just how was a confirmed rake to woo a young heiress who’s always been told she’s plain and dumpling like?
Lord Randall, Horatio, known to his friends as Race, saw the inner beauty of Clarissa Studley the moment she’d supported her illegitimate sister at a ball years ago.
Clarissa’s strong suppressed feelings are mistaken for insipidness. Race is never confused.
Clarissa’s father had been a thorough going rake and cad. He’d married Clarissa’s mother for her fortune and then left her to wither away on his estate in Hampshire while he cut a swathe through London society. No rakes could not be trusted! Ever!
This story of a rake a-wooing, and the complicated thoughts of his beloved is absolutely a delight.
Of course things get tangled up and others add to that entanglement. There’s the wounded war hero making tentative overtures towards Clarissa. So charming! Race’s blood boils!
A story of hidden strength, with of course a fairytale ending.

A Berkley ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.… (more)

1st read: June 2021
2nd read: March 2023

This book is super sweet and I love it, but it has some annoying parts.

Gideon is really funny in the first half of the book and he's really sweet in the second half. Prudence is awesome, but she hasa lot to deal with throughout the book and has some insecurities.

Prudence's family bugs me a lot of the time. They mention a few times in the beginning that Prudence is "plain" and that no one will want her if they meet her sisters because they are so beautiful. (Gideon thinks that Prudence is gorgeous and that everyone who calls your "plain" is an idiot).

The fact that Prudence is "betrothed" when she kisses Gideon is bit problematic (but Philip is horrible, so it's not that big of a deal).

Gideon only has eyes for Prudence from the moment that he meets her, but his "Rake-ish" past isn't great.

And there's a scene when Gideon is holding Prudence and she tells him to let her go, but he keeps holding her until she hits him.

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Original review:
The Perfect Rake is really good! The plot had a lot going on and was interesting throughout. The main characters, Gideon and Prudence, are great.

Gideon is funny, sweet, and very in love with Prudence. He's tried to live a shallow life, but realizes that he wants more with Prudence. Prudence is strong for those that she cares for, but she's insecure. She falls in love with Gideon, but worries that she is misinterpreting his intentions. She also has some things from her past to deal with.

There were a couple things that I didn't like about The Perfect Rake. Some of the writing didn't flow well for me, but the plot and the dialogue were great, so it worked out fine. I also didn't love some of the secondary characters, but maybe they get better in later books.… (more)

3.5 - 4 stars?
I really liked that the MMC did not call the FMC ugly, plain and stupid over and over. He was smitten pretty much right away. Like, low fucking bar I KNOW but some of these histroms really think they are doing something when characters constantly call the others ugly until they bang and then SUDDENLY the person is not longer ugly but ugly and fucked.

Anyway. There were some really dark themes in here - child abuse, sa of underage person, trauma from abuse, gaslighting, robbery, etc. but I swear I laughed so often - there were some truly hilarious parts. I loved Prudence and her schemes that just would not go right.… (more)