Review: another fabulous read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 21, 2014
The Passionate Love of a Rake,  Jane Lark.Review from Jeannie Zelos Book reviewsSo having read the first book in Jane's historical series and loved it I was keen to read this story about older brother Robert.In much the same way as Ellen from the first book, Jane was also stuck in a lifestyle she didn't want and couldn't escape.  Her elderly husband has died and left her his fortune, but his  estranged son isn't happy – he's got the estates and lots of property but he wants the money too. He's a terrifying man and threatens Jane, telling her he always gets what he wants, and this time its not just the money but Jane herself. He's got a wife and eight children, but plans to make Jane his mistress. Her marriage to his father was unhappy, she was forced into it by her parents at just sixteen and Sutton used her as a show-piece, something to display to friends, and show off his control and domination of her. Trying to escape Joshua she flees to an old friend who's living in London.There's she meets childhood friend Robert one evening at a function. He thinks she left him for money, that their relationship meant nothing to her, and he's spent the intervening years strengthening his reputation as the most notorious rake in Society. Once he sees Jane though all his old feelings for her come back, and he realises they never really left. He still sees her as a money grabber though, but through a series of events they take up a friendship, with him constantly trying for more. He's under the assumption that she must have had affairs in the past, so why not with him, but she stands firm – ish...:) After all he's a smooth tongued, handsome man, and once was so much more to her. She keeps seeing the old Robert, and not the one in front of her. Its a backwards and forwards romance, full of drama and emotion, misunderstandings and mistakes, and shows far too well just how powerless women were in Regency times. I loved the little day to day descriptions, how real Jane and Robert felt to me, and of course the deliciously erotic sexual encounters. Robert had learned Alot since they parted! Its priced at 2.99 for 339 so lots of time to really expand the drama and scenes :) If you love historical romance this is a great book for you, its more than just a sweet love story, with plots that keep on being revealed, til they add up to one huge conclusion.Stars: Four and a half. Really enjoyed it, not an insipid historical novel but one full of passions and drama.ARC received via Literati Author Services.