Once a Rake by Eileen Dreyer (The Drakes Rakes #4)
Released: October 29, 2013
Historical Romance
Forever
Reviewed by Mandi
The Blurb:
Colonel Ian Ferguson may be a rake, but he’s no traitor. Accused of trying to kill the Duke of Wellington, the disgraced Scotsman is now a fugitive–from the law, the army, and the cunning assassin who hunts him. Wounded and miles from his allies, Ian finds himself at the mercy of an impoverished country wife. The spirited woman is achingly beautiful . . . and hiding some dangerous secrets of her own.
She was a child nobody wanted. Now for Lady Sarah Clarke, holding on to her vanished husband’s crumbling estate is her final chance to earn respectability. She knows that hiding the devastatingly handsome Ferguson will jeopardize her home. Common sense demands that she turn him in. But a single, delirious kiss shatters her resolve . . . and awakens a passion that neither of them can escape
The star of this book is not Ian or Sarah – it’s Willoughby the pig. This pig is enamored of a neighboring horse and will do anything to escape and make its merry (slighty blind) way to his eternal love. He is amusing and has quite a bit of page time and I thoroughly enjoyed him. But oh right – this is a romance book so onto the humans..
I liked Sarah a lot in this book. She is running a household by herself, trying to keep her slimy cousin at bay and secretly enjoys the thrill of hiding away the sexy stranger that shows up hurt at her house. She is tough and spirited and I enjoyed her. Ian is an okay hero. He has some witty lines and I liked how he is wrongly accused of attempted murder and such. Their romance though was disappointing – they just didn’t go together in my opinion. I didn’t feel that chemistry between them. Sarah falls for him pretty quick without really even knowing him. Sarah is too smart to be foolishly in love!
The overall conflict started out fun but I did find my interest waning after a bit. The villain is pretty intense though and I liked how it played out. As I said, the pig and the country setting were the hit for me. I’d rather read about the pig than the hero…is that wrong? *wink*
Rating: C+
Recent Reviews:
Just Janga
I’m disappointed to read this because I’d just recently read two of her other Rakes books and enjoyed them.
I’ll admit to being curious about the fact the pig gets notable “air” time in this story.
When you say the h/h didn’t work/fit, is it the opposites attract trope or, was there some other reason these particular two didn’t seem to sizzle? I’m not a fan of instant-love, so your reference to Sarah’s quick fall is a warning to me. I like overwhelming lust at first sight, but just want the characters to be smart enough to recognize the difference and not declare it love prematurely.
The love happened so suddenly. I felt like the heroine barely knew him before she was feeling love. I wouldn’t say there was overwhelming lust either. The hero is quite injured and dirty and stuff.
I’m giggling now – a pig as a supporting character, a dirty hero, and no overwhelming lust. Now that’s what I call breaking all the rules. I may have to read it just to applaud going against the grain (which I wholly support).
I was talking to my review partner Tori who has really enjoyed some of this author’s previous work – so I’m going to try some from her backlist
LOL! The pig over the hero, yeah that says a lot