The Notorious Rake - Mary Balogh

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The Lady and the Libertine


Lord Edmund Waite was everything that Lady Mary Gregg despised in a man. He was lewd, lascivious, mocking---the most notorious and successful rake in the realm. Happily, Mary had nothing to fear from this lord of libertines. A bluestocking like her could never tempt a man whose taste ran to pretty playthings for his pleasures.

How startled Mary was to find herself the object of Lord Waite's determined desires. But even more surprising was her reaction to his shocking advances. How could she remain a lady with this man who knew so well how to make her feel like a woman.

After meeting Lord Edmond Waite in The Trysting Place and Lady Mornington in The Counterfeit Betrothal I couldn't wait to get to their book. I was hoping to find a winner and I wasn't disappointed, this was my favourite book in the trilogy.

Lord Edmond is a rake with a really bad reputation, he is lucky that he is still received by the ton. Lady Mornington is a learned lady who likes to organise literary salons at her home and to spend time with like minded friends to discuss literature and politics. When they are paired up during a visit to Vauxhall Gardens none of them is very entusiastic about the company. Not only that but when they are caught by a thunderstorm that leaves Mary terrified, Edmond finds that the best way to calm her down is though sex. I thought Balogh wrote a powerful and violent scene and for a moment I worried where she was going with this story... They end up spending the night together and on the next day Lord Edmond is determined to make Mary his mistress, while she is quite determined to forget him... and so starts the pursuit.

Mary, a widow, as decided to remarry, she acknowledges she spent a pleasant time in Edmond's arms but she wants a husband not a lover and besides she doesn't think they would suit. They meet at the same events and Edmond even makes an appearance at one of Mary's salons much to the annoyance of her new beau but their relationship is difficult at best.

Edmond finds himself more and more captivated but he doesn't always conform to society rules and when people think the worst of him he can't help but behave according to those expectations. One of the things he has been accused of is the death of his brother and his mother and he acknowledges to Mary that he was indeed responsible. He tries to show her his good side on a one day visit to his aunt and while Mary can't help but feeling that the real Edmond is hidden and might be a lot more honourable and interesting that he lets on she still decides not to accept him. But they do meet again at a house party for his aunt's birthday (that Mary attends with her new fiancé) and when Edmond is confronted with his estranged family it is to Mary that he turns as a friend.

I really loved this story and the fact that both characters start with an idea of the other one that soon will change. Edmond thought Mary was plain and common but after spending time with her he sees her in a whole new light and can't stop thinking about her. Even when he decides not to pursue her anymore to obey her wishes he still thinks about her and decides to change his rakish ways as they give him no more pleasure. Mary thinks he is cold and unfeeling but throughout their relationship sees glimpses of the man behind the mask. Since there are so many mixed signals she takes longer to realise who he is and how she loves him. I also liked that Edmond had a real reason for his self destruction, 15 years seems a long time to be that way but I could accept that it was so. I liked Edmond more than Mary maybe because he seems more human, more fragile, despite his bad behaviour than her, who seemed at times a bit too perfect. Because of whom they are, and how unlikely it seems at times that they will get their happy ending, this was an angsty and poignant story, my favourite kind!

Grade: 5/5

THE DUKE’S WAGER – EDITH LAYTON

BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

Lovely Regina Berryman was pursued by two men--the two most attractive and infamous bachelors in London.

One was Jason Thomas, Duke of Torquay, whose skill and success in seduction had made him a legend of lordly licentiousness. The other was St. John Basil St. Charles, Marquis of Bessacarr, the devilish duke's only rival as the foremost rake of the realm.

These notorious gentlemen had made Regina fair game in a competition where all was considered legitimate strategy in winning her affection and capturing her virtue. And Regina's only chance of preserving her honor and protecting her heart was to turn the tables on her titled tempters--and change the dallying way Regency London played the game of love ...

The duke’s wager, the book that was published the month I was born – so that makes it as old as I am… :) Okay, except of that, this is also one of my top favorite books ever. And why is that, since the plot written above doesn’t state anything exceptional: 2 rakes trying to win the love of a beautiful innocent and also quite poor little miss … blah, blah. Well, it’s not as simple as that, especially since we’re talking about Edith Layton, who is quite well known for her in-depth character description and for her gift of truly immersing the reader in the world she’s depicting.

The heroine, Regina, begins the book as the very beautiful innocent, with absolutely no relations in the beau-monde, with very high morals, she also becomes destitute quite early in the story. And so, these are the reasons why she is to become the object of a wager between 2 infamous rakes. She is not very interesting at the beginning, quite common in fact, but as the story progresses we see her learn so many things about life, about right and wrong and how these can change so quickly, about what is moral and what is human, she will learn that life has more shades of gray and it’s not simply black or white, on the whole, we see her gain a lot of depth to her character, something that will become surprising to the reader and irresistible to the hero, who is not a simple character either.

The hero is something special too. Maybe it was just me not having read many romances at the time I first read this book, but I have to confess that I did not guess WHO the hero was, between the 2 main characters mentioned in the blurb, until very late in the story. So I won’t say anything about him, just that he really is one of the worst rakes ever, not a fake, misunderstood or exaggerated one. Nope, he is the real deal (even if the reason for it is a little romanticized). Another thing I liked about him is that he doesn’t invite pity, he has a crystal clear view of his life and the choices he made that lead him to what he is now, he accepts himself and doesn’t try to hide behind fancy words. He is honest, he doesn’t lie, to the world, or to the heroine. He is a cynic, but not the “my momma didn’t love me so I must go out and make everyone else to feel as miserable as I do” type, no, he is more refined than that, maybe a little cruel sometimes, but in the end, very human. The flawed character by excellence.

There are some other interesting characters depicted in the story, although I couldn’t say that any of them is a villain. Like always in Layton books, the secondary characters are very well drawn and maybe take too much space from the main ones. On the other hand, as a reader, you get a much better picture of the whole story, so the journey gets very enjoyable.

Pfiew… it seems I did it :) I wrote the review without mentioning anything about the plot! Since I enjoyed it so much, word by word, especially on my first read, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone else…

Grade: 5/5 with congratulations :)

THE NOTORIOUS RAKE - MARY BALOGH

The Lady and the Libertine

Lord Edmund Waite was everything that Lady Mary Gregg despised in a man. He was lewd, lascivious, mocking---the most notorious and successful rake in the realm. Happily, Mary had nothing to fear from this lord of libertines. A bluestocking like her could never tempt a man whose taste ran to pretty playthings for his pleasures.

How startled Mary was to find herself the object of Lord Waite's determined desires. But even more surprising was her reaction to his shocking advances. How could she remain a lady with this man who knew so well how to make her feel like a woman.

To my eternal surprise, this is a traditional romance and not a shorter version of a historical. Why do I begin by saying that? Because it needs to be said, I think it’s the most interesting feature of the book – the hero and heroine having sex at the beginning of the book has a tremendous impact over the way their relation develops throughout the story.

Usually I am not that fond of reading about sex scenes at the very beginning, especially when we’re talking about the Regency period and considering that in most books the hero and heroine meet for the first time at the beginning of the story. How can it ring true that the heroine would be that much sex starved to be willing to have sex with a stranger? In 1800 something? Or am I too narrow-minded?! Okay, nevermind that, Mary Balogh sometimes does this kind of plot, and even if I don’t like the excuse she used (heroine terrified of storms finds only one way to fight her fear and that is through sex!!!!! yep, pretty unbelievable), the fact that there was sexual intercourse between hero and heroine makes for a very special developing of the story.

For example, their dialogues are simply great – in my opinion, the best asset of the book. And they couldn’t have been so open and free in speaking if they haven’t had that scene. Another example are the hero and heroine themselves. As said in the blurb, they really are different, at least outwardly. There would have been little chance for them to begin a relation if it weren’t for that particular sex scene. And because it happened then it rings true that Edmond could try to persuade Mary, even harass her a little, just because he wants their affair to continue – they were after all, very compatible in bed.

These were the goodies… sadly there are also some parts that, even if I did not dislike totally, they were a little boring. Like the theme of the rake who is not actually a rake, or the hero’s conflict with his family that gets solved in the end. They were not badly written, but by the time I read the book, I had already read some other great books by this author with these particular themes.

Grade: 4/5