I liked this book, overall. First, a summary, then a quick lowdown of what I liked and what didn't work so well for me.
Summary: Emma is a young woman who is masquerading as a widowed peeress in Regency London. Her aim is to amass a modest fortune to invest and provide her with an independent living. The Duke of Somerhart (Hart) has a reputation for being cold and ruthless and controlling, having re-drawn his own character after a humiliating episode is his youth. When the two meet, they are helplessly drawn to one another, despite seeing the other as a danger - in Hart's case to all he has achieved and in Emma's case, to all she wants to achieve.
Here's the lowdown, pros and cons-wise:
The Pros
1. Nice prose. Dahl can write.
2. Interesting heroine. Might be criticised as anachronistic by some but there is a reason given (she grew up in her debauched father's home seeing adults behaving appallingly). Emma is very far from risk averse. She is reckless, she gambles, she drinks and she feels lust.
3. Hero with a humiliation in his past. Echoes of Black Silk here. I quite like the idea of a hero who's had to overcome being a laughingstock.
4. Good sex scenes - Dahl writes hot-ish scenes but not in a way that feels out of step with the period (for me - there's a good chance others will disagree).
The Cons
1. The book lost its tension for a while in the middle. There were a few chapters that felt flabby and as though they weren't really advancing the story.
2. (This was my major irritation) Emma's resistance to Hart went on far too long and for reasons that felt unconvincing. There came a point when I felt the conflict between Emma and Hart had been exhausted already and then, in the last tenth of book, we had to go through it all again. Felt rather like flogging a dead horse.
3. Emma felt too mature for her age to me. We discover at one point that she is only 19 but she behaves at least five years older. There was no hint whatsoever of her relative youth. Her thinking, her behaviour, her outlook on life - everything felt older to me. I almost had to edit this out. (Feel free to disagree and cite period at me etc. It won't change the fact that this *feels* off for me.)
So that's A Rake's Guide to Pleasure in a nutshell. Overall, it's a win and I think I'll try a Dahl contemporary to see if I like her in that genre better. I suspect I may. Reccs?
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7 comments:
Hmm. I have One Week as Lovers in my TBR, and I loved To Tempt a Scotsman. This one I don't remember, so it must not have been an outstanding read for me.
I like all of her contemps, especially Talk Me Down. Lead Me on is very thought-provoking, though. The heroine's past/class issues detracted from the romance, IMO, but also made the book memorable and unique.
I really hate what I call "page plumper conflicts" (actually, I just made that up. As if you can't tell.). It's as if a certain word count has to be reached, but the HEA can't comes at the end, so what do you do? Rinse, lather repeat for a few chapters.
I haven't read this one. Like Jill, I enjoy Dahl contemps, but have yet to try one of her historicals.
I've read all of Dahl's books except the most recent contemporary, and I think her voice does work better with the contemporaries - however, I've also enjoyed the historicals, and am still buying them. I like that she stretches the genre in ways that many authors don't bother to try.
I haven't read any Dahl historicals, but I did enjoy Start Me Up, which is one of her contemporaries. I thought her voice lent itself well to the contemporary setting. There are a few aspects of the plot of Start Me Up that I found a little hard to swallow (heroine looking for a casual fling not being my favorite plot), but I ended up liking the book.
Jill:
I have One Week as Lovers in my TBR
No you don't! You sent it to me! I quite liked it - it was a similar level (B/B-) of enjoyment to this one for me. Does this mean that wasn't an outstanding read for you either?
Jessica/Victoria/Lynn - I'm going to try one of her contemps.
I've read all of Dahl's books and I have to say I prefer her contemps. Her voice seems more natural in the modern setting (IMHO) and the conflicts are more realistic. I'd recommend her Tumble Creek series - Book 1 is Start Me Up - the hero is the sherrif who's very concerned about his reputation and the heroine secretly writes erotic novels so the conflict is built right in. It's funny and smart and I don't recall the conflict going overlong like it did in A Rake's Guide to Pleasure.
No, no. I have my One Week right here. Someone else must have sent you that. I haven't read it.
About the conflict--I think Dahl does independent heroines very well in her contemps. For those who get frustrated with that character type (resistant to love), it might not work so well. YMMV. I like anti-doormat heroines, but I might also be thinking: "He's perfect for you! Stop messing it up already!"
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