| Title | : | The Rake (Lessons in Love, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 038082082X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780380820825 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 375 |
| Publication | : | First published June 4, 2002 |
Three determined young ladies vow to give three of London's worst rakes their comeuppance ― but when these rogues turn the tables, who truly learns a lesson in love?
Once upon a time, the notorious Viscount Dare charmed Lady Georgiana Halley out of her innocence ― to win a wager, no less! ― and now he must pay dearly. The plan is simple: She will use every seductive wile she knows to win Dare's heart...and then break it. But his smoldering gaze once again tempts Georgiana to give in to desire ― and when he astonishes her with a marriage proposal, she wonders: Is he playing yet another game...or could it truly be love this time?
The Rake (Lessons in Love, #1) Reviews
-
The Heroine
The Hero
ME!!!!!!!!!!!
Over it. -
I avoided reading this book for some time because I wasn't too keen on the idea of a hero ruining a heroine's reputation for a wager and going away without a care. Well, I should've known better than trust a book blurb!
The general idea is there, but events don't fold exactly like that... On the contrary, Tristan was a very likeable hero, who'd never meant to hurt Georgie and did everything he could to save her reputation - and succeeded! And that led me to question Georgie's actions: Why did she hate Tristan? How could she not know that he let everyone think he lost the wager when he had the means to prove otherwise? Was she blind and deaf? Ack!... Anyway, Georgie's care for his aunts and, especially, his brother Bit made me "forgive" her irrational feelings towards Tristan - and one can always argue that we're not completely reasonable when we're in love. ;)
The plot is basically centered around Georgie's quest for revenge and, considering how weak I think her motivation was, I can't say it was very believable. However, I did enjoy Tristan and Georgie's banter and the way they were constantly on their toes, trying to secondguess each other. It was fun and entertaining, if even for the "wrong" reason.
So everything was going rather smoothly until Enoch decided to put Tristan and Georgie in an "escapade" (I really don't have another word for it) near the end of the book. Oh boy, it was so out of context that I'm still trying to figure out where that came from.
This is the first book in Enoch's Lessons in Love series. I usually try to read series in order but, in this particular case, I'm glad I read the other (very good) books in the series first, because I'm not sure I'd have read them if I had stumbled across this one first. -
Started off so well, witty fun dialogue and interaction between the two characters. But good golly the middle and ending of the book was like wading through molasses in winter.
The heroine's trust issues with the hero appear and then reappear and reappear and reappear. Look lady, maybe instead of flipping the freak out immediately when a stranger relays some info you're upset to hear, perhaps instead, take a breathe and ask your dude "wtf, do you know what this is about?"
I can handle misunderstandings but not TSTL multiple ones. The hero/heroine had good chemistry, just not a supporting story. This should have been a novella. I was so meh towards the middle and end I sped-read. -
*4.5 Stars*
I first read this book so long ago that I don't exactly remember when it was. I have reread this trilogy many times over the years, but I still enjoy it each time. It's been at least a year or two since the last reread, so the dialogue and exact events had faded enough that it felt like a rediscovery.
I am a fan of second-chance-romances and the frenemies-to-lovers trope, and this definitely fit the bill for both. Second chances can sometimes be hard to accept, but the author did a fabulous job with it here.
Georgiana and Tristan have a past. For six years they have been sniping and feuding and everyone in the ton knows it. We first met them in a very loosely connected previous trilogy by this author--the
With This Ring trilogy. The third book of that trilogy,
A Matter of Scandal, is about Grey, Georgiana's cousin. We get our first tease about Tristan and Georgiana's tempestuous relationship there. It's not necessary to read that before starting this, but I thought I would mention it in case anyone was interested.
Georgiana and her two friends, Evelyn and Lucinda, the next two heroines, are feeling cynical about men and their treatment of women and write individual lists about their 'Lessons in Love.' They decide that writing the list isn't enough, they have to actually implement it. Georgiana can think of no one who deserves a lesson more than--you guessed it--Tristan, Lord Dare.
One of my favorite things about this book is Tristan. His portrayal was not what I was expecting with Georgiana playing the part of a woman scorned. Don't get me wrong, she had a definite right to be angry, but Tristan never disputed that. They sniped back and forth, but he never protested her right to be so angry. He wanted forgiveness, but he let her sink her claws into him for six years with no real protest. I had to respect that. It really made it easier for me to see his side of things. Yes, he was an ass, but he was young and he didn't mean for it all to blow up in his face.
On the surface Georgiana's plan seemed a little convoluted (but funny), but I can totally see where she was coming from. She needed to teach that lesson, and she couldn't resist getting up close and personal to do it. She wanted to be front and center to see it affect him. I liked that she was so vindictive. Because I can hold a grudge, and it always bothers me that romance heroines are so forgiving.
Not only were the main characters great, but we met a whole host of fabulous other characters. I adored the time that we spent with Tristan's family. They were excellent side characters and I loved that they were all so different. They felt like a real family and I loved that. Runt was adorable, especially when he talked about "rolling," but my heart broke for Bit. *sigh* He just makes you want to hug him so you can make it better for him.
This book never lagged. Tristan and Georgiana's interactions popped and kept me turning the pages. I am a fan of clever banter, and this book had it in spades. The humor made me giggle and I enjoyed the sense of fun this book had.
The only thing that really kept this from being a straight 5 star book for me was Amelia. I felt that she didn't have enough depth and that she was a bit of caricature. Also, although a scandalous scene at the end was funny, it felt a bit too silly and out of place.
Although this book isn't terribly unique or cutting edge, it's still one that makes me smile each and every time I read it. It's a lighter book, but not quite Julia Quinn light. Just don't go in expecting something terribly angsty while they resolve their differences. -
This could easily have been a great book for me: a hero and heroine who actually have a backstory that is actually interesting (he entered a wager that involved stealing a kiss and a stocking from her, he slept with her in the process, and after thinking he only did so to win a bet (because we must have a huge misunderstanding somewhere), she is now afraid to trust anyone), great supporting characters (I hope his brothers and aunts keep showing up later in the series), and adorable banter between a lovely hero and an okay heroine.
But then there's Georgiana annoying tendency to jump to conclusions and run away (to be fair, she has her reasons and she does get better towards the end, but there were just too many misunderstandings and people hurting each other out of a stupid refusal to have an honest conversation with each other for me), the girl the hero originally intended to marry to fix his money problems turned into a complete psycho , and then there was that huge WTF??? moment in the end that I am still trying to forget (proceed with caution...)
All in all, it had great potential, and I will at some point continue the series, but for now, I think I need to put some distance between me and that scarring incident at the end of the book... -
This is a Regency lovers to enemies to lovers story. The couple and the romance are okay, but it’s the hero’s family and the evil wannabe OW that make it.
Six years ago the hero and heroine had sex. He had made a wager to get a stocking and things got out of hand. She’s hated him ever since and he’s dawdled on a necessary grovel. The hero is a little lacking in my opinion, but the heroine vows to make him suffer a little and that’s always entertaining. No cruel actions just some lighthearted shenanigans as she moves into his house to take care of his aged aunts and annoy him. The H has a lot of male siblings and the family relationship are fun and sweet. It has a madcap quality to it along the vein of
My Family and Other Animals. The characters aren’t as well developed as My Family, but well done.
The H needs to marry an heiress and has his eye on a sweet young thang that is not sweet at all, and she manages to wrangle the hero into a corner on more than one occasion.
This reminds me quite a bit of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series so if you like that you would probably like this one.
Entertaining, fun, highly readable and almost a four star, but I’m just not crazy enough about the hero to mark it. -
Este libro lo leí hace años y no me acordaba más que de los abanicos ^^ pero si que tenía un recuerdo lejano de que me había gustado.
El caso es que esta #NaderíaEncantandora fue mi bote salvavidas en estos momentos en que mi mente/estado lector está sufriendo un cortocircuito.
Es una historia sencilla, sin una trama compleja, que invita a seguir leyendo para seguir sonriendo y para ver como resolverán sus diferencias los protagonistas.
De los protas decir que Tristan es mi favorito pero que se le va a hacer los bribones que en el fondo no lo son me encantan.
De secundarios destacar una amiga de Georgiana y uno de los hermanos de Tristan. -
Ahh...finally back to a book that falls in my "comfort zone". No spies, no suspense, no clues to follow and puzzles to solve. Just your everyday rake...handsome, charming, witty...who has a stigma attached that might as well be stamped to his forehead "Caution all females! If you can read this, you are too close!" And a heroine who is beautiful, gracious, (a little too) witty...who, apparently, can't read. LOL The book begins 6 years after the heroine was duped out of her virginity by the hero who had been acting upon a wager. Of course she has "hated" him all this time & decides to teach him a lesson by seducing him in return. He will fall in love with her and she will rip his heart out and stomp on it (so to speak). It will be a humbling experience that will forever alter his callous treatment of the fairer sex. However, plans go horribly awry; and, as most comfort zone romances go, the storyline is simply that of "falling in love"...the heroine, the hero, and me. Another keeper.
-
2 stars, but would’ve been a 3 if not the ridiculous last two chapters. The ending really killed this book for me, I’m actually angry about it.
Warning: Spoilers ahead. A fair bit of swearing too, because I’m that irritated.
Here’s a brief summary of the last two chapters. How this makes any bloody sense, I do not know.
1. Heroine, Georgina sneaks into her blackmailer’s (Amelia’s) house in the dead of night with the sole focus of stealing back incriminating evidence that would ruin her.
2. Surprise! Hero, Tristan also happens to have the same exact idea. They decide to team up. Mission: find aforementioned evidence in Amelia’s bedchamber and get out ASAP before anyone discovers them.
4. Tristan and Georgiana find what they’re looking for and hide. Except holy shit, they’ve stumbled onto an illicit midnight tryst between Amelia and Luxley.
5. Instead of taking the opportunity to make a clean escape while the lovers are indisposed, they get turned on by the sounds of lovemaking and decide to get in on the action too! While hiding behind a wardrobe in the same room!! Wtf. Priorities people?!?!
6. A vase falls and crashes. Amelia’s parents and servants rush into the room and see everything. Amelia is thoroughly compromised by Luxley. Georgiana and Tristan are grabbing each other’s parts. Unplanned orgy much?
7. Tristan and Georgiana finally fucking decide to haul ass out of the room and run away to safety.
8. They declare they love each other, gossips be damned! Tristan proposes, Georgiana accepts. HEA. THE END. No epilogue. Thank you Jesus.
Nothing makes sense to me. No to getting turned on while secretly hiding mere feet away as you listen in someone else’s sexy times. Especially not when that someone is your supposed blackmailer. No to completely unnecessary sex scenes as page filler. Especially not when more important shit is meant to be dealt with. Just no, No, NO. 🤦🏻♀️
There are plenty of things I happily put up with and gladly accept when reading romance but I cannot deal with grade-A stupidity. TSTL.
Okay. *deep breaths*
Rant over, but I don’t feel much better. Very disappointed. Mostly because I actually enjoyed Suzanne Enoch’s writing. Despite the mid-book slump fest, I was excited to read the next book in this series. Now I’m seriously reconsidering.
Why do authors write endings like this? Arrrghhhhh... -
This book is so good ! Tristan and Georgiana have this red-hot love/hate thing happening right up to the end. The jabs they give each other are wicked but all the while they’re aching desperately for each other which makes for top-notch romance. There are some great twists and turns and sex in some very unexpected places—refreshing for a regency! What’s so good is that it doesn’t follow the typical regency story-line: they meet, they don’t like each, there are the rules of the ton, they have sex/get married. Georgiana holds her own, sticks it to Tristan “real good” and does what she wants which makes the pages sizzle off your fingers all the more. The additional Shakespearean verse at the start of each chapter are excellent additions and the ending just leaves with you with the biggest smile on your face and your heart skipping a little beat :)
-
This was full of hurt and miscommunication. But oddly, it was also so charming.. I wasn't as mad as I usually would be.
Tristan and Georgie were delightful.
4/5 stars -
A really sweet and slightly humorous romance without anything extraordinary but very well written.
It's the story of Tristan and Georgianna who have a past; a past only the two of them know about and enmity is all that remains after 4-5 years. But now Georgianna decides to teach him a lesson about how a gentleman should really behave; break his heart in the process and leave him as he did with her years ago.
Of course trying to win his love means she has to be friendlier with him and charm him. Tristan is not stupid to not realize that Georgianna is up to something, unfortunately he cannot figure exactly what. He seizes this opportunity to ask her forgiveness for what he did all those years ago -got a kiss from her (and not only that) just to win a bet- and hopes she might be giving him another chance which he's determined not to screw up. He also has to convince Georgianna that he's changed and he's not after her money alone.
In the middle of this fray, comes a wealthy heiress that Tristan had courted before Georgianna attracted his attention once more. Amanda wants Tristan's title and he needs her money to say his family from ruin; she's not going to let Georgianna steal her prospective husband, when it becomes clear that Georgianna has more than lesson in her mind where Tristan is concerned. This leads to a few fast paced chapters near the end and some humorous situations.
Nice, sweet romance which I really enjoyed reading and would recommend to anyone wanting a light, easy read. However, I liked the other two of the trilogy better than this one. -
Witty, charming, lovely and sweet.
Suzanne Enoch is becoming one of my favorite authors! She writes books of quality. The language is great and engaging. I could really feel myself walking around the streets and going to fancy parties in regency London. I could feel the grass and the sunshine.
The story about Tristan and Georgiana was everything I enjoy in a romance! I loved Tristan’s family and Georgiana was so sweet, albeit a bit naive, moving in to help his aunt and to teach Tristan a lesson. It was not at all what I expected from the blurb, but much more amazing. The only thing missing was an epilogue.
It one of those books that makes you remember why you fell in love with reading in the first place. Thank you Karen for a wonderful recommendation! <3 -
Nuestra reseña en A la cama con... un libro
Me siento generosa y por eso le doy tres ⭐️ pero es un libro que no me dejará huella. -
Leído hace muuuuuchos años pero aún recordado.
No había puesto mi reseña y la verdad no recuerdo bien la historia. Pero las sensaciones que me dejó fueron todas buenas.
De los buenos libros de la autora toda la serie 😍👏🏻 -
It's... Not very believable for a historical romance. He ruined her for a bet and wasn't honorable enough to marry her so she's been harbouring this grudge. And then they meet again and they once again fall into each other's arms and have a chance at love again? Okay.
-
Very strange book. Georgiana and Tristan seemed very fun and interesting in the latter books in this series, but strangely enough their own book fell terribly short.
It had its great moments, because their backstory is actually interesting, and matters of trust always make for good romance stories. And the side-characters, Georgiana's friends and Tristans family are lovely.
Unfortunately one third of the plot hinged on Georgie's plan to make Tristan fall in love with her and then break his heart, and anyone who has ever read a romance novel knows that always comes back to bite you in the ass. So that part was so terribly predictable.
And then there was Amelia, the other woman in the equation. For some reason, she turned into some wanton evil masterbrain, and it totally didn't work. It was so terribly over the top.
Everything about the story that wasn't related to Amelia or to Georgie's lesson was actually quite good, and I enjoyed those parts a lot - I really loved their interactions and how their relationship developed there.
Unfortunately that just wasn't enough. Some chapters I sped through because they were so engaging and lovely. And then other parts dragged and dragged and dragged so that I actually put down the book for several days.
In the end I had to force myself to finish this, even when the ending had some flares of greatness. It just wasn't enough.
Now that I've read this entire trilogy, I'm not sure if Enoch is the author for me. I've yet to read a book from her that doesn't drag at some point or has totally non-important plot developments.She does have interesting ideas for characters and storylines, she just never seems to have enough for a complete book.
It's a shame. -
I knew that if I continued with this bodice-ripper obsession, I will eventually come across a dud.
This felt like a romance novel written by a neural network trained on tons of Mills & Boon. It almost read like one, but then you realised it was mostly nonsensical.
For the life of me, I couldn't understand what problem these two had but it didn't have to take 6 years, it could've been solved in a five minute conversation. I was exasperated. Everything was so illogical.
Additionally, I had to keep reminding myself that those characters were supposed to be 24 and 30 respectively but they acted and talked like teenagers in a particularly badly written YA novel.
And top it all, the hero never spoke like a normal person, he only 'drawled'. Thanks to the Kindle search function, I can tell you that Tristan drawled twenty-one times. This is not surprising, they both seemed a bit slow to be fair. -
Judging from the cover I was little hesitant to read this. But very soon great writing by new to me author pulled me in. And when Tristan appeared, he stole the book for me. Well, Georgiana is pretty cool too. This is a light funny and in parts, hot book. The plot held me turning pages and every single scene with Tristan was just absolutely enjoyable.
He is not your typical rake, broke viscount, more like.
I liked that usual regency proprieties were not so strictly held on to in this book. Our two main characters had plenty of alone time. And they were able to find some interesting places, like a coat room.
Even though our hero has a hole to dig himself out off, he does it very well and very responsibly.
Definitely recommend it if you are looking for fun reading.
I’ll read more from this series. -
I couldn’t stand them both.
-
The rake in this story, Dare, took the h's virginity when she was 18 (linked to a wager). The h, Georgiana, found out about the wager and refused to have anything more to do with him. He didn't tell anyone about it, which was nice, I guess, and does his usual screwing around etc. for SIX YEARS. She remains unmarried. With me so far? Some years later she decides to get even, (revenge is a dish best served cold taken to extremes), scheming to have him fall in love with her so she can jilt him. Of course, she falls in love with him and the feeling is reciprocated. Cue some evil machinations from a would-be wife to Drake, some more sex between Drake and Georgiana and then their HEA.
Firstly, I don't believe it would have been acceptable to take the virginity of a member of the upper classes (her Auntie is a Duchess) and not have to marry her. Secondly, I don't believe said member would have compromised herself so thoroughly. Georgiana was so stressed about being ruined- well, don't sleep with the guy! It was just too unrealistic for its time for me. He seemed to suddenly only have thoughts and feelings for her. Where were these feelings for the last 6 years? I just didn't buy the whole trope. Modern tale dressed in period costume. It wasn't awful, just not great. -
Una novela entretenida, con una galería de personajes encantadores que compensan algunas carencias de los protagonistas y una trama muy simple con un conflicto de pareja que solo se sostiene por la personalidad cada uno. Él es un personaje bastante plano que no me despertado mucho interés, sus pequeños defectos son perdonables por todas las cualidades que presenta. Ella, con su rencor y su insistente deseo de venganza, a pesar de lo que siente por él, me ha resultado algo infantiloide y poco coherente con su edad (en aquella época, claro) y con sus circunstancias familiares. Como no he conectado mucho con ninguno de los dos, ha sido una lectura agradable, pero no de las que dejan huella. Lo mejor de la novela, en mi opinión: el planteamiento de esas "lecciones de amor" que dan título a la saga y el interés que nos despierta por leer las siguientes entregas. La recomiendo solo a las adictas a la romántica histórica y si vais a leer la trilogía completa.
-
2 stars
Most of the scenes in this book pissed me the fuck off. I hated the heroine because she was so vindictive, close-minded, and assumed the worst on all the actions of the hero. Georgie sets her mind that Dare needs to be hurt because he have hurt him in the past. She was like "I need to make you feel what you've made me felt years ago".
And I really did not like that. I hated that part of her. She was full of hate.
Dare was a fool when he was young and made a huge mistake that made them both miserable for the last six years. He also took a long time apologizing which I think is a coward move.
They both have their stupid prides and doubts to each other which made this book borderline unbearable. Still, I forced myself to read it because I really don't want to dnf another book if I can help it. Along the way, it became bearable again. But I am still going to rate this a 2 star read because the characters are annoying as hell. The plot is cliche and some scenes were badly executed. -
liked the humour of the Carroway Family. Tristan and Georgiana were obviously a love, hate relationship. Enjoyable read
-
This might have been a 3 or 4 star rating up to the point where an 18 year-old debutante tries to seduce the hero in his own bed, after sneaking undetected out of her own house, at 2 in the morning, by herself, finding a hackney cab and simply walking into the hero's house and finding his bedroom in a mansion of 20 bedrooms, in total darkness. I just couldn't buy into that scene at all. After that it went pretty much downhill, and the gratuitous and trashy sex scenes near the end, especially the voyeur scene in the aforementioned debutante's bedroom, were the final nails in the coffin for me.
-
Honestly, I think this book should of been called The Wager.
I got a bit of whiplash in this romance, however in the end it was an enjoyable enemies to lovers historical rom-com in my mind.
My biggest star off was for the simple fact that I didn’t get a flashback to the EVENT or wager, that happened the 6 years before and I couldn’t rectify in my mind how blasé Georgiana was about it.....
Our Lord Dare, was a rotten man apparently at one time, and took her innocence in a wager. Yet, they’ve gone on thru the years and still interact within the ton......okaaaaaaaaay......?
Our fine Lady decides to teach him a lesson to return the favor of hurting her, apparently he did that on a bet, but never let it become public because he was shamed by what he did. (Hello? Rightfully so). They’re still carrying a torch for each other.
Lord Dare is broke, must marry, Lady Georgiana wealthy. But, she has a better plan. Make him fall for her and leave him, like he once did her. As she gets to know a new Tristan, we see his immense love for his 4 brothers and his elderly Aunts.....
It works....what she hadn’t planned was Tristan is not walking away this time and pursue her she does.
The second half of the book is eons more enjoyable.......
In the end though, I found myself laughing thru their antics several times. -
What a pleasant read this was. I really liked the chemistry between the H and h, it was clear that they both had sharp minds and wanted more from life.
Also a nice touch that the villain had more reasons than pure evil.
I was a little uncertain about this book in the beginning after I read some of the reviews but I am so happy I gave this book a chance.
4,5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟 -
4 ½ stars – Historical/Regency Romance
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The fans. Le sigh. They get me every time.
