Early Book Review: One Night with a Rake by Mia Marlowe, Connie Mason

One Night with a Rake is the second historical romance in the The Royal Rakes series by Mia Marlowe and Connie Mason. It is scheduled for release on June 4 2013. Nathaniel Colton is on the verge of scandal, and his only salvation or downfall might lay in the hands of the same woman. Lady Georgette is the sister of Nate's late fiancee, and a woman bent of reforming and saving the world. He has the initial intent to make her a conquest, not necessarily for the right reasons, but to win her favor Nate will need to convince her that he actually cares about more than himself. In the process he just might discover that he really does.

One Night with a Rake was a fun, entertaining read. There were some things that gave me trouble, which I will hash out first before moving on to the fun stuff.  The connection between Georgette and Nathaniel from the shared loss of Anne (his fiancee and her sister) was a complication that was not really needed- but acted as an excuse for his entry as a trusted member of the family. However, in those days I doubt that if would have been considered 'proper' for Nate to accompany Georgette all over the place (even with her maid in tow) since he is not a family member, rather just someone that was almost family via marriage. I did not understand the plot points about the war scandal or the need to disrupt certain potential royal marriages, although perhaps this was covered in the first book of the series, Waking Up With a Rake or explained in the final book of the series, Between a Rake and a Hard Place. My other issue with the book is that Nate never confesses to Georgette about his 'mission' to seduce her, which really bothers me. Georgette and her friends are smart, and I do not doubt that if everything comes out into the open and the plots all come out that she is going to be a rightfully unhappy wife.

Now, onto the good stuff. I enjoyed Nate's character, he acted the rake, but it was evident from the opening scene that he was much softer of heart than he would ever admit outright. I fully expected, and supported, his taking up of Georgette's mission to help women, even if he tried to convince himself that it was only to further his own cause. Georgette and her maid kept me laughing and otherwise entertained me. The family relationships, dialogue, and characters are the high points here.

I recommend One Night with a Rake to readers that enjoy the writing of Mia Marlowe and Connie Mason, can enjoy a historical novel without getting frustrated or overly distracted by situations that do not seem historically accurate.  If you enjoy the action and characters more that the history, than you can sink into this story.