Review: Dark, Emotional, and Romantic-A Lovely Sequel!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 7, 2013
Dark, emotional, and romantic, The Passionate Love of a Rake was a brilliant historical romance! I loved book 1 in this series, so I had high hopes for this book. And, it met every one. Absolutely fantastic-I loved this book!Jane was a heroine who has been through a lot. She was forced into a marriage to a man old enough to be her grandfather, who liked to use her as a pretty object to attract envy. His son, her stepson, who is 20 older than her, has been trying to force her into being his mistress for the entire marriage, humiliating her in any way he could in the meantime. And, when the old duke leaves his fortune to Jane, the new duke isn't about to let it go. She was in a bad situation, but she got through it all. She was very strong and determined not to let the Dukes of Sutton bring her down. My only problem with her is that she pushed Robert away so much. He would have helped her is she had given him a chance, but she didn't want to involve him for his sake. That's a nice thought, but it just hurt them both. Otherwise, I really liked her. She was strong, kind, and clever. I thought she was great.Robert was complicated. When Jane told him that she was getting married to the duke, he thought that it was her choice and left without a word. He spent the entirety of her marriage broken hearted, building up a reputation as the epitome of a rake, and planning revenge. He was not the nicest person at first. But, it only took Jane coming back into his life for him to soften. He realized that he was still in love with her and set out to win her back. He was really sweet and wonderful. I loved how devoted he was to Jane. He was perfectly flawed and I adored him.The romance was lovely, both sweet and steamy. Despite Jane's marriage keeping them apart, both of them were still in love with each other. It was really sweet how, despite everything, their feelings remained constant. And, we're talking 9 years of longing, so, when they finally got together, it was downright explosive. I thought they were a perfect couple.The plot was fast paced. I was hooked the entire way through. One thing I really like about Jane Lark's books is that her antagonists aren't just caricatures, like they tend to be in other romances. In book 1, her antagonist was nasty and, in this book, that remains true. The new Duke of Sutton was obsessed, crazy, extremely powerful, and clever about how he took someone down. He was a formidable opponent. Which made it all the more significant when he was finally taken down. The constant danger he presented kept me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed the story and I thought the ending was perfect.The Passionate Love of a Rake was a wonderful historical romance. I loved this book! It was dark, thrilling, emotional, and romantic. I enjoyed every bit of it. Lovers of romance, this is a book you don't want to miss.*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review