Disinherited Andrew, Lord Drake, (a drunken rake) is trying to find a respectable lady to date so his dying father will put him back in his will and think he has changed his bad ways. Andrew’s friend (Cade Hargreaves) has an older sister (Caroline) who is a spinster at twenty-six, but she is very respectable. Caroline has been worried about her young, impressionable brother carousing around town with Andrew, losing money at the gambling tables, etc. So, Andrew and Caroline make a deal… Andrew will pay off her brother Cade’s debts, and quit taking him around town with him, if Caroline will date him for awhile so his father will think he is changing his ways before he dies and will put him back in his will. As time goes by, Caroline becomes impressed by Andrew when he seems to be making an effort to be a gentleman. And Andrew is finding himself very attracted to Caroline, who is not his usual type of woman. This was an enjoyable short story. I thought it was sweet how Andrew was always cleaning Caroline’s spectacles for her. And I liked the way he was changing his unsavory ways. There was a little bit of Christmas towards the end of the book. An entertaining historical romance by Lisa Kleypas. ( )

Nice novella ( )

2.5 stars
It was far too rushed for me to believe in the love story. If it had been fleshed out I would have had the opportunity to see and believe their growing love and the hero's change. ( )

A novella. A quick read and it was okay. Rascal needs a respectable woman to introduce to his father, the Duke, so that he won't disinherit him. He convinces her by saying he will pay off all her younger brother's gambling debts once his ill father passes away. The pretend courtship turns real and he becomes a better man and she seems to have adopted the 21st century morals with the rake handicuffed to a bed. ( )

This is a quick read, but just okay. Andrew is a dissolute rake who has been disinherited by his father. He hopes to get back into his good graces by courting Caroline, a bookish spinster. They make a deal and fall in love. There are a very bumps along the way, but this was a fairly predictable story. The couple is cute though there wasn't much in the way of Christmas to do with the story. ( )